| Chapter 1: | Introduction |
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Specifically related to teachers, both documents provided a map for (a) teachers to develop curricula with improved content, teaching methods, and assessment; (b) higher education to refine programs for learning science through inquiry; and (c) professional development of science teachers (AAAS, 1993; NRC, 1996). Researchers emphasized the importance of exploring safe and creative science instructional environments in which both students and teachers can explore, experiment, and take risks while constructing new science knowledge through learning experiences in content and pedagogy (Arambula-Greenfield & Feldman, 1997).
In the past, American educators assumed that scientific explanation is a natural part of American student culture. However, in the United States, educators face two crucial facts. First, American society is increasingly pluralistic. Second, not only is there widespread lack of interest in science among students, there are several cultural subgroups traditionally underrepresented in science, for example, women, African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans (Vetter & Babco, 1987). There is ample reason to consider the possibility that, as in Africa, science is indeed a second cultural experience for many American students (Cobern, 1993). Traditionally, African American students have not pursued degrees in science, mathematics, and engineering. Many factors influence attitudes and achievements in African American students. Some of these factors are associated with parental and family influences, others are related to individual characteristics, and additional factors include attitudes toward school influences such as class climate, teachers, and administrators (Atwater, Gardener, & Wiggins, 1995). Additional factors that contribute to underrepresentation of urban students in the sciences include a lack of early encouragement and motivation, lack of financial support and limited opportunities, limited recruitment in science programs, institutional racism, lack of tradition, perception of science as too difficult and unrewarding, and lack of role models. Researchers identify other characteristics of school science that alienate underrepresented groups—in particular women and minorities. For example, science is often presented as a very technical field that has been stripped of all human elements, and projects