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The teacher has exposed students and their families to people, programs, resources, and connections that can open doors for them, and they are able to navigate and access those opportunities.
Purpose
Purpose
The purpose of Speak with a Scientist is to increase access for students by engaging them in possibilities for real scientific work through conversations with scientists, researchers, and medical professionals. Many of my students shared in their long-term goals that they hope to pursue an occupation in the medical field. However, without access to information regarding how to get into a scientific field such as medicine and without an understanding of what scientific work looks like, it is difficult for these occupations to become a reality for many of my students. Further, research demonstrates the importance of having role models that look like you, particularly in STEM, and especially for students of color. Researcher Sabrina Zirkel (2002) found that "all young people know that some people grow up to become physicians, but race and gender-matched physicians provide young people with the information that 'people like me' sometimes grow up to become physicians" (Zirkell, 2002, p. 357). I thus designed and implemented Speak with a Scientist in my classroom to connect my students with real scientists that look like them or have similar backgrounds to them. This initiative opened up opportunities for students to be inspired by the scientists' work, ask questions about potential career pathways, and form relationships with the scientists.
Planning Process
Planning Process
To plan for Speak with a Scientist, I reached out and connected with scientists that I believed my students would be inspired by. Specifically, I hoped to bring in perspectives that were different from students' pre-conceived notions of who scientists were. At the beginning of the year, students filled out a graphic organizer where they drew an image to answer the questions, What is a scientist? What do they look like? What do they do? The majority of students drew images of older, white males in lab coats. It was clear that most students had a distinct image of what a scientist should look like and that this image did not include them. As such, I knew that the scientists I brought in should have backgrounds that are similar to my students'. I wanted to increase students' understandings of what many scientists look like, what scientists do, and how they can positively impact the world.
In order to determine which scientists would come speak with my students, I reached out via email to past contacts and individuals I had done work with to determine if they would be interested in speaking with my students. I made sure that these scientists had similar backgrounds or experiences to my students and were involved in interesting and critical scientific work. I will share one scientist in particular, Dr. Alfica Sehgal, who spoke with and inspired my students.
I connected with Dr. Alfica Sehgal through a a mutual colleague in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where I am from. Although she does perform work in a lab (which is similar to my students' narrow opinion of what scientists do), I believe that her work is important and her background is similar to my students' backgrounds. Like many of my students, Dr. Sehgal immigrated to the United States and grew up in a financially disadvantaged community. However, through persistence and hard work, she received her PhD and eventually became the head of Translational Science performing critical research on diseases with Marauder Therapeutics.
I was excited for the opportunity to connect with her and introduce my students to her given her impressive background and similarities to my students. I was especially thrilled to share the work of an accomplished woman of color in science, as most of my students believe that scientists are white males. I hoped that Dr. Sehgal could provide my students with a different perspective of what it means to look like a scientist and perform important scientific work.
Email Correspondence to Plan
Email Correspondence to Plan
In my email correspondence with Dr. Sehgal, we agreed to speak by phone regarding the focus of her presentation. Following our phone conversation, I wrote back to her to share some of the questions I would ask her during the question and answer portion of the presentation so that she could be prepared.
Student Pre-Work
Student Pre-Work
In order to prepare students for the Speak with a Scientist initiative, I thought it would be important to introduce students to diversity in terms of scientific figures. Students engaged with a lesson regarding important and diverse figures in science and then, following, created their own presentations on an important female scientist and/or scientist of color. In this way, I wanted to facilitate students' understandings of diverse figures in science - opening them up to the idea that scientists are not all white and male and that there is a plethora of different types of important scientific work that scientists perform. This pre-work was critical in students' access to understanding that scientists can have diverse backgrounds, experiences and be different races, ages, and nationalities.
Diversity of Historical Science Figures Powerpoint
Diversity of Historical Science Figures Powerpoint
Scientists of color.pdfThrough this presentation on historical figures in science, students learned about important women and scientists of color whose critical discoveries have had long-lasting impacts on our society. I purposefully curated a presentation regarding scientists of various races, ethnicities, genders, and time periods in order to demonstrate diversity in science to my students. This presentation helped broaden their perspectives as well as prepare them for Speak with a Scientist.
Speak With A Scientist Pre-Work
Speak With A Scientist Pre-Work
Super Scientists.pdfFollowing the presentation on the diversity of historical figures in science, students completed this "Super Scientists" mini project where they researched and presented on one important scientist of their choice.
Day of the Event
Day of the Event
Speak with a Scientist was created in order to bring diverse perspectives on science into my classroom as well as increase students' access to understanding the different types of science and scientists that exist. I believed that this goal could still be met without ever having to physically bring the scientists into the classroom; students could meaningfully engage with the scientists (and even observe their labs) through a video call.
The day of Speak with a Scientist with Dr. Sehgal, she unfortunately had a technical issue working the video call capabilities. However, we were still able to have her present to all three classes of my students through FaceTime and phone calls. Dr. Sehgal explained her background, how she pursued science, what her work is now, and why it is important. Following her presentation, students had the opportunity to ask her as many questions as they wanted to. Students were eager to hear about her current research as well as how she developed in her career. At the end of the conversation, Dr. Sehgal broadened the conversation and spoke with students about planning for their futures. She insisted that it is never too early to begin thinking about and planning for the career you want to pursue. Students were extremely receptive to her and were engaged throughout the presentation.
The Speak with a Scientist initiative continued with other scientists as well. That way, students could interact with and learn from a multitude of scientists doing different and important work. More exposure to the possibilities of science careers is important in opening doors for my young, driven scientists.
Prior to the event, students did their own research on Dr. Sehgal and her work. They came prepared with questions. As Dr. Sehgal shared with the students, they had the opportunity to ask their questions or other questions that they thought of while she presented. This opportunity to ask a scientist questions about their work and career is a significant access point to many of my students who may not know or have had the chance to talk with a researcher before.
Students engaged during presentation
Students engaged during presentation
Speak with a Scientist increases students' access to learning about potential future careers in STEM. Whether the conversation took place virtually (as Dr. Sehgal's did) or in person (such as this example here) students were able to listen to the experiences of real scientists that look like them and were able to ask them questions about their work and backgrounds. In this way, students developed their understanding of different kinds of scientific careers and learned more about potential future occupations for themselves. Students were extremely engaged throughout the presentations and were given insights that might help them develop as future STEM leaders of color.
Student question for speaker
Student question for speaker
During the presentation, as students listened, they recorded questions for the scientist. Therefore, after the scientist finished presenting, they had the opportunity to ask them personal or career questions.
Student question examples
Student question examples
Students were engaged in the work of the scientists - especially when the work overlapped with our own studies in class. For example, students were able to connect Dr. Sehgal's work with what we were learning in our life sciences unit.
The majority of my students shared that they had never before had the opportunity to speak and interact with a "real scientist." Speak with a Scientist opened the door for students to understand an interesting and important career option for themselves.
Students were especially engaged when scientists talked about their own research and findings. Students had practiced the scientific inquiry process throughout the year. Thus, students gained access into what "real" research looks like and how this process works.
Impact on Students
Impact on Students
I believe that Speak with a Scientist has had a significant impact on my students. For many of my students, this access point represented the only possibility they have had in their lives to interact with a scientist in the field. Students were able to learn from and about a scientist that has a similar background to their own. They were able to learn about her career trajectory, and they were able to ask her questions.
For example, following the conversation with Dr. Sehgal, students completed surveys in order to provide feedback about the event. Students were asked if they had any comments or reactions for Dr. Sehgal. Students overwhelmingly expressed their gratitude for her time and shared that they enjoyed learning from her and hearing about her work. Students were also able to pose follow-up questions, which I shared with Dr. Sehgal.
Overall, I believe that Speak with a Scientist was very beneficial for my students. Students were able to interact with an individual who has a similar background to themselves performing important scientific work, and they were able to engage with her and ask her questions that sparked their curiosity. I believe that this initiative opened students' minds to the possibilities of future science careers for themselves.
Students Navigating Future Opportunities
Students Navigating Future Opportunities
Following conversations with scientists such as Dr. Alfica Sehgal, students began to describe scientists differently. At the beginning of the year, students had, almost exclusively, described scientists as old white men in lab coats. However, after these opportunities and similar conversations in class, students began to call each other scientists and shared with me other examples of scientists that do not fit the traditional bias of what a scientist looks like. This demonstrates that students began to internalize the idea that any one of them has the opportunity to access their own goals and pursue future opportunities in the STEM field.
In addition, the majority of students excelled in science and became curious about future options in a STEM career. Opportunities such as Speak with a Scientist, combined with initiatives such as Career Day, and Science Fair, allowed students to speak with and hear advice from experts in the field. Many students started tracking their year-long and long-term SMART goals more closely.
The next year, in 8th grade, my first cohort of students excelled exponentially in science. This was demonstrated when they received the highest average score in the district on the Next Generation Science Standards assessment. Although not exclusively due to this initiative, students grew substantially academically in science; it is likely that opportunities such as this increased their engagement in scientific academic work. It is important to provide opportunities for students to increase their access and exposure to a range of what scientists can look like and what they can do for work. Students were inspired by Speak with a Scientist and used this experience as motivation to help them pursue their own academic and long-term goals.
With one of my former students who won this year's district high school Science Fair.
References
References
Zirkel, S. (2002). Is there a place for me? Role models and academic identity among white students and students of color. Teachers College Record, 104(2), 357-376.
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