In a “Scientist Spotlight” Intervention, Diverse Student Identities Matter

We report on a brief, simple, online course intervention designed to reduce identity gaps and help students see their “possible selves” in working scientists. Students (n = 238) in a large-enrollment, introductory biology course for nonmajors were assigned nine podcasts, distributed throughout the s...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:
Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Azariah Yonas, Margaret Sleeth, Sehoya Cotner
Formato: article
Lenguaje:EN
Publicado: American Society for Microbiology 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/ca01c7f1db77461da614bbf14b89095e
Etiquetas: Agregar Etiqueta
Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!
Descripción
Sumario:We report on a brief, simple, online course intervention designed to reduce identity gaps and help students see their “possible selves” in working scientists. Students (n = 238) in a large-enrollment, introductory biology course for nonmajors were assigned nine podcasts, distributed throughout the semester. These podcasts each featured a scientist telling a “true, personal story about science,” and we intentionally selected podcasts featuring scientists from diverse backgrounds. We hypothesized that this intervention would serve to broaden student perceptions of science and scientists, and we used a mixed-methods approach to analyze (a) survey data and (b) short written responses about how these podcasts impacted students’ views of the people who do science. Student survey responses confirm that students overwhelmingly found the podcasts valuable, engaging, and relatable, and student impressions varied as a function of student identity (gender, religiosity, sexual orientation, etc.). Further, these podcasts changed student perceptions of the sort of people who do science. This work builds on earlier findings and expands the current work to include a look at how students from a range of different identities—hidden and visible—respond to a simple intervention designed to counter stereotypes about scientists.