High school students are very seldomly, if at all, taught that race is a social rather than biological construct, and this pedagogical omission has led to biological essentialism. Biological essentialism is the belief that race can be used in predictable ways to determine intellect and/or behavior. Biological essentialism can result in the belief…

In her scholarship of the past five decades, Sylvia Wynter has woven a critique of education in Caribbean, European, African, and American societies. In addition, her work demonstrates how education globally structures a particular cultural, historical, and onto-epistemic anti-Black/anti-Indigenous worldview. In Wynter's most neglected piece of…

This study investigated deference to scientific authority [Brossard, D., & Nisbet, M. C. (2007). "Deference to scientific authority among a low information public: Understanding U.S. opinion on agricultural biotechnology." "International Journal of Public Opinion Research," 19, 24-52] as it relates to support for science…

Much of the nature of science research has been focused on high school students. High school students are primarily the target of such research to aid and to guide them in making informed decisions about possible career choices in the sciences (Bell, Blair, Crawford, & Lederman, 2002). Moreover, during review of the literature, little to no…

Describes an interdisciplinary approach that integrates the strengths of a research and teaching institution to address issues in a complex problem: the study of race, science, and health. The model involved a feedback loop among two undergraduate courses and a weekly seminar. (SLD)

Research addressing equitable science teaching and practices is expanding. However, comparatively little attention has been given to preservice teachers' studies and their views toward diversity and race. If we want to prepare these preservice teachers for the diverse classrooms in which they will be working, we must first understand their views.…

This paper examines the usage of "race" in high school physical education textbooks in Australia. In particular, it examines the concept of biological "race" in connection with human performance in sport. DNA studies do not indicate that separate classifiable subspecies (races) exist within modern humans. A content analysis of…

This article is targeted to faculty teaching race and ethnicity, racism, diversity, and multicultural courses. Many students equate race with skin color. The premise of this article is that to teach students about the social construction of race, teachers must first know enough science to teach students that race is not biological. This article…

Standard histories of NCTE attribute the organization's beginnings in 1911 to rebellious teachers who opposed college entrance requirements imposed upon them by elite colleges and universities. This narrative offers an appealing account of NCTE's history. In this article, however, the author pursues a different line of historical inquiry by…

Using a phenomenographic design, this research reports on a study of a cohort (N = 22) of graduate students' conceptualizations of difference as they progressed through the only required diversity course in a science education program at a large, urban university in the American northeast. Data collection included biweekly course reflections, a…

The purpose of this study was to examine whether possible relationships might exist between the quality of reform-based science instruction and science and reading achievement in second grade. The study also examined separately possible interactions between quality of instruction and gender and race. The study involved an analysis of data…

"Identity diversity" (race, gender, sexuality, etc.) makes no contribution to science argues John Staddon in this article. The evidence comes from history, anecdote, and from science itself. From Newton through Maxwell, Helmholtz, and Charles Darwin it was a homogeneity of culture, if not race, that led to the novel set of beliefs and…

The problem that was addressed in this study was underrepresented minorities' low interest in pursuing computer science as a profession. The purpose of this quantitative, quasi-experimental study was to measure underrepresented youth's attitudes toward computer science. The issue remains a pressing challenge in the U.S. This study explored the…

This paper discusses conceptions of identity in relation to science education and presents material from a series of interviews and focus groups with graduate students in science and technology. Given difficulties in retention and levels of significant participation by minority students indicated by aggregate data, the issue of race, as it informs…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to understand demographic group (race, first-generation college graduate, gender, age) differences among perceived family and faculty social and family financial support within the US graduate school admissions pipeline in the social sciences. Design/methodology/approach Using data from a cross-sectional…