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Posts Tagged ‘STEM’

More Blogging While Brown About Science

  • By: dnlee
  • April 7, 2009
  • 8 comments

A follow-up to my first Blogging While Brown…About Science is in order.

Blogging While Brown

Thanks to the great comments made here and at Jack & Jill Politics, I realized that you all were absolutely right. I’ve got to push through the discomfort, create my own air for this issue. So here I am sounding off about scientific literacy and the African-American community.

Our community’s relationship with math and science is a rocky one. Many of us, both children and adults, are just averse to science and math. We avoid it. Too many of our students score poorly on state tests in these subjects and too few pursue science careers. Which leads me to wonder, how is science communicated to the African-American community, and what’s the best way to communicate science to this community?

The first thing I know is that the existing science communication vehicles have failed to effectively reach the entire general public. One setback is the declining state of science journalism in this nation. Newspapers, news radio, and television stations have drastically reduced or eliminated science news.

Science Editor Journal
Creative Commons License credit: moria
Are Science Magazines one-dimensional?

Second, popular science magazines tend to attract a readership that is primarily white, male, and middle-aged. Communities like African-Americans, immigrants, or economically disadvantaged groups are not being reached. In fact, these audiences are often described as “underserved”.

Why is that?

With successful media outlets that specifically target black audiences like Ebony Magazine, Black newspapers, Black America Web, BET, and nationally-syndicated radio programs, why hasn’t science news reporting been a regular feature? Why haven’t science communication professionals considered marketing science to specific audiences? Why is science so hard to sell to minority communities?

I think the internet may provide the best answers to these questions. As my science blogging friend Daniel, so eloquently states, science blogging is the future of science communication.

Blogs allow readers to interact directly with scientists and researchers. Blogs offer a rare look into the minds and labs of scientists and engineers at different career levels – student, post-doc, and professor. The immediacy of the internet allows quick dissemination of information about new discoveries and technologies that before were only shared among researchers.

Johnson Publishing, Michigan Ave
Creative Commons License credit: JOE M500
Where are #blck magazines in STEM?

As often as we use blogs to follow celebrities or politics or economic trends, we can also follow engineering breakthroughs, medical discoveries, and environmental issues. Blogging gives us the opportunity to initiate the conversation. Though Blacks comprise a smaller number of the PhDs in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) there are more of us than you may think. There is a growing number of science bloggers of color, too. (See the list at the end of the post). Science-related topics can be discussed in different ways – such as discussing the science behind controversial issues, commenting on health statistics, expounding on green technologies or profiling role models.

I believe that science can be communicated effectively to people if it is presented in a relevant manner. It’s time for the conversation to begin.

List of science blogs written by persons of color
Asymptotia *
49 Percent
Reconciliation Biology
Scientist Mother
The Urban Birder *
SES: Science, Education & Society *
Not Exactly Rocket Science
Thesis With Children *
Physics for Girls
Life’s A Lab! Science Chicago *
TechTechBoom
But You’re A Girl.com *
Chick With PhizzleDizzle
Diary of a PhD Student *
Science To Life *
Urban Science Adventures! © *
* persons who might be considered African-American or Black

Also check out the Diversity in Science blog carnival. Inspired by workshops about STEM diversity at the ScienceOnline09 Conference, bloggers of every genre contribute articles about various topics about achieving more diversity in science, engineering and math. It’s been a great outreach tool to communicate science to larger audiences. Check out our two editions so far, 1 and 2.

Posted in: Career, Featured

Nurturing the Scientific Mind

  • By: dnlee
  • December 31, 2008
  • 1 comments

Falling for Science is a book of essays edited by Susan Turkle. She asks scientists and college science majors at MIT:

“Was there an object you met during childhood or adolescence that had an influence on your path into science?”

So what was mine?

I was six years old and the thing that got me hooked was hunting for four-leaf clovers. I spent my summers outside playing in local city parks. My mother would often keep me occupied by assigning me the task of finding four-leaf clovers. I took to the activity like Velcro. I was an ace. I could spot the abnormal clover quicker than most other kids and I could find more. I soon challenged myself further, searching only for clovers with five or more leaves. A seven-lobed clover was the highest I found.

Four Leaf Clover 068
Creative Commons License credit: cygnus921
The Curiousity of the Four-Leaf Clover

I credit this playful exercise for cultivating my ‘scientific thinking’ abilities. It helped me develop a keen sense of observation and critical evaluation early in life. This ability to find four-leaf clovers or needles in the haystack soon translated to my fondness of word puzzles – word searches, cross-words, Scrabble ®. These analytical skills: observation, scrutiny, break down and synthesis are essential tools in my chosen field of animal behavior research. My engineering friends tell similar stories of playing with Lego ® blocks, and the destruction and construction of electronics or other household appliances – usually to the dismay of their parents. These are examples of early behaviors of that indicate a leaning to STEM interests. A question I often ponder, What happens if such a child does not receive adequate encouragement and support to foster those curiosities and critical science skills? Do we potentially lose our next Einstein? What can we do to nurture the scientific mind in our children and students?

My answer is simple – take them outside.

Today, many educators are concerned about an epidemic of disconnectedness and anxiousness of today’s students. Urban youth and adults especially seem to be suffering from a mass case of Nature-deficit Disorder. Being disconnected from nature robs students of personal experiences that are essential for hands-on learning – not just about the environment, but about life. Having the opportunity to experience – see, touch, interact with people, objects and wildlife – provides the foundation for referent learning. Take a walk in your neighborhood – to the park or store. The pedestrian experience of your neighborhood is completely different than the one you have when you are driving by. You see things more closely, more fully. You see and hear things you never had before.

For the New Year, resolve to make new memories and share special experiences with your friends and family. Resolve to foster scientific thinking and nature interaction with the youth in your lives. Leave No Child Inside, no matter the season or temperature. Nature always has a gift for us.

Posted in: Featured, Lifestyle

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