scholarly journals Supplemental Instruction in Introductory Biology I: Enhancing the Performance and Retention of Underrepresented Minority Students

2007 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 203-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth A. Rath ◽  
Alan R. Peterfreund ◽  
Samuel P. Xenos ◽  
Frank Bayliss ◽  
Nancy Carnal
Keyword(s):  
San Francisco ◽  
Supplemental Instruction ◽  
State University ◽  
Underrepresented Minority ◽  
Introductory Biology ◽  
Underrepresented Minority Students ◽  
Student Misconceptions ◽  
Biology I ◽  
Laboratory Component ◽  
Course Material

Supplemental instruction classes have been shown in many studies to enhance performance in the supported courses and even to improve graduation rates. Generally, there has been little evidence of a differential impact on students from different ethnic/racial backgrounds. At San Francisco State University, however, supplemental instruction in the Introductory Biology I class is associated with even more dramatic gains among students from underrepresented minority populations than the gains found among their peers. These gains do not seem to be the product of better students availing themselves of supplemental instruction or other outside factors. The Introductory Biology I class consists of a team-taught lecture component, taught in a large lecture classroom, and a laboratory component where students participate in smaller lab sections. Students are expected to master an understanding of basic concepts, content, and vocabulary in biology as well as gain laboratory investigation skills and experience applying scientific methodology. In this context, supplemental instruction classes are cooperative learning environments where students participate in learning activities that complement the course material, focusing on student misconceptions and difficulties, construction of a scaffolded knowledge base, applications involving problem solving, and articulation of constructs with peers.

Increasing the Recruitment and Retention of Historically Underrepresented Minority Students in Higher Education

1998 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 39-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terry Irvine Saenz ◽  
Toya A. Wyatt ◽  
John C. Reinard
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Academic Success ◽  
Minority Students ◽  
State University ◽  
Underrepresented Minority ◽  
Underrepresented Minority Students ◽  
Recruitment And Retention ◽  
Dynamic Relationship ◽  
Communicative Disorders ◽  
University Training

There is a need for more bilingual and/or minority speech-language pathologists to serve an increasingly diverse population. To recruit and retain minority students, faculty in university training programs should increase their awareness of minority students’ needs and expectations. This paper reviews the literature pertaining to the factors relating to minority students’ success in higher education and reports the results of a survey designed to assess students’ perceptions of factors related to academic success. It also delineates how faculty of the Department of Communicative Disorders at California State University, Fullerton, used these results to improve the recruitment and retention of minority students. Because there is a dynamic relationship between faculty, students, and institutional requirements, other communicative disorders departments are encouraged to use this survey to better understand and respond to their students’ needs.

scholarly journals Despite Similar Perceptions and Attitudes, Postbaccalaureate Students Outperform in Introductory Biology and Chemistry Courses

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. ar3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin E. Shortlidge ◽  
Liz Rain-Griffith ◽  
Chloe Shelby ◽  
Gwendolyn P. Shusterman ◽  
Jack Barbera
Keyword(s):  
Active Learning ◽  
Education Reform ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Common Mechanism ◽  
Underrepresented Minority ◽  
Introductory Biology ◽  
Student Groups ◽  
Underrepresented Minority Students ◽  
Perceptions And Attitudes ◽  
Traditional Age

Embedding active learning is a common mechanism for meeting science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education reform goals. Researchers have identified student benefits from such strategies, yet these benefits may not be universal for all students. We sought to identify how students at a nontraditional university perceive introductory biology and chemistry courses, and whether perceptions relate to course type, performance, or student status. We surveyed students ( n = 601) using open-ended prompts regarding their perceptions of factors that impact their learning and interest, and about specific learning strategies. Generally, students did not differ in what influenced their learning or interest in course content, and students mostly perceived active learning positively. Attitudes toward active learning did not correlate to final course scores. Despite similar perceptions and attitudes, performance differed significantly among student groups—postbaccalaureates outperformed all others, and traditional-age students outperformed non-traditional-age students. We found that, even with active learning, underrepresented minority students underperformed compared to their peers, yet differentially benefited from nonsummative course factors. Although students generally perceive classroom environments similarly, undetected factors are influencing performance among student groups. Gaining a better understanding of how classroom efforts impact all of our students will be key to moving beyond supposing that active learning simply “works.”

scholarly journals An Initiative to Broaden Diversity in Undergraduate Biomathematics Training

2010 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 241-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory Goins ◽  
Mingxiang Chen ◽  
Catherine White ◽  
Dominic Clemence ◽  
Thomas Redd ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Learning Community ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Academic Career ◽  
Community Support ◽  
Underrepresented Minorities ◽  
State University ◽  
Underrepresented Minority ◽  
Underrepresented Minority Students ◽  
Academic Courses ◽  
The Many

At North Carolina A&T State University (NCATSU), there was a critical need to better coordinate genuine research and classroom experiences for undergraduates early in their academic career. We describe the development and implementation of a faculty alliance across academic departments to increase biomathematics research opportunities for underrepresented minorities. Our faculty alliance is called the Integrative Biomathematical Learning and Empowerment Network for Diversity (iBLEND). The fundamental purpose of the iBLEND alliance was to inspire underrepresented minorities to pursue research careers by increasing the visibility of research conducted at the interface of mathematics and biology at NCATSU. Because of the many positive impacts, iBLEND gained significant buy-in from administration, faculty, and students by 1) working from the ground up with administration to promote campus-wide biomathematics research and training, 2) fostering associations between research and regular undergraduate academic courses, 3) creating and disseminating biomathematics teaching and learning modules, and 4) enhancing learning community support at the interface of mathematics and biology. Currently, iBLEND is viewed as a productive site for graduate schools to recruit underrepresented minority students having specific competencies related to mathematical biology.

Unexpectedness

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
John-Carlos Perea ◽  
Jacob E. Perea
Keyword(s):  
American Indian ◽  
San Francisco ◽  
Interdisciplinary Research ◽  
Ethnic Studies ◽  
College Of Education ◽  
Present Moment ◽  
State University ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
Short Survey ◽  
Wide Range

The concepts of expectation, anomaly, and unexpectedness that Philip J. Deloria developed in Indians in Unexpected Places (2004) have shaped a wide range of interdisciplinary research projects. In the process, those terms have changed the ways it is possible to think about American Indian representation, cosmopolitanism, and agency. This article revisits my own work in this area and provides a short survey of related scholarship in order to reassess the concept of unexpectedness in the present moment and to consider the ways my deployment of it might change in order to better meet the needs of my students. To begin a process of engaging intergenerational perspectives on this subject, the article concludes with an interview with Dr. Jacob E. Perea, dean emeritus of the Graduate College of Education at San Francisco State University and a veteran of the 1969 student strikes that founded the College of Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State University.

scholarly journals “Looking at Myself in the Future”: how mentoring shapes scientific identity for STEM students from underrepresented groups

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaitlyn Atkins ◽  
Bryan M. Dougan ◽  
Michelle S. Dromgold-Sermen ◽  
Hannah Potter ◽  
Viji Sathy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Career Pathways ◽  
Underrepresented Minority ◽  
Stem Fields ◽  
Underrepresented Minority Students ◽  
Research Mentorship ◽  
Demographic Similarity ◽  
Stem Students ◽  
And Mathematics ◽  
Scientific Identity ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract Background Mentorship has been well-established in the literature as fostering scientific identity and career pathways for underrepresented minority students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Mentorship is prioritized by programs that aim to increase diversity and support future leadership in STEM fields, but in-depth understanding of mentorship in these contexts remains limited. Drawing on qualitative interview data, we sought to understand the relationship between mentoring and scientific identity among a diverse sample of 24 students in one such program, in order to inform program development. Results Qualitative analysis of the data revealed that mentorship, especially research mentorship, was common and played a role in formation of scientific identity. Students with research mentors tended to say they strongly identified as scientists, whereas those who lacked research mentorship varied in their level of scientific identity. In interviews, research-mentored students described mentors as colleagues who gave them opportunities to grow and as examples to look up to. Students valued mentors with whom they identified on the basis of demographic similarity or shared values, as well as those who challenged them in their academic and research endeavors. Conclusions Our analysis highlights how different mentoring experiences can contribute to development of future STEM leadership. We discuss implications for practice, including the need for tailored mentoring approaches and research-focused mentoring, and offer several recommendations for research and programming.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document