Practical Research: From Interest to Identity
Thu, May 23, 2019 2:47 PM
Great for New Teachers
As a soon-to-be first year teacher, I found this article very helpful in laying out guidelines not only for myself but for my class, as I work towards creating a science classroom that students enjoy. I have found that as students age, they lose interest in science because it is "boring" or "hard." This journal article lays out of the four constructs found in STEM identity (demonstrating competence in science knowledge and practices (Carlone 2012), belonging to a community of practice (Wenger 1998), meaningful recognition by others and self (Carlone and Johnson 2007), and a discovery orientation that includes ways of thinking, feeling, and acting when immersed in a field of science that motivates one to persevere in sense-making activities (Hill et al. 2017; Jaber and Hammer 2016). Additionally, the author provides goals and types of "talk" that should be used in the classroom so STEM is cultivated and encouraged in our students, rather than made dull and uninteresting.