No abstract

Due to the growing number of students from populations underrepresented in the sciences, there is an intensified need to consider alternatives to traditional science instruction. Inquiry-based instructional approaches provide promise and possibility for engaging underrepresented students in the activities of science. However, inquiry-based instruction without culturally relevant pedagogy and instructional congruency, may not be sufficient to support non-mainstream students in science learning, and may even serve to challenge students' cultural ways of knowing. This conceptual paper suggests that aligning reform efforts in science education to the field of multicultural education would buttress efforts to reach underrepresented student groups in science. This includes providing culturally relevant instruction and instruction toward making the assumptions of science explicit, in particular. To this end, this paper draws from literature in multicultural education to propose that deconstructing science through instruction in NOS may support Latino, African American and English language learning students in science learning.Keywords Inquiry Á Underrepresented Á Multicultural Á Instructional congruency Á Nature of science Resumen EjecutivoEl propósito de este estudio conceptual es abordar el problema sobre cómo apoyar a grupos de estudiantes de poblaciones marginadas en el aprendizaje y el incremento de su interés por la ciencia. Combinamos puntos de vista teóricos procedentes de la educación científica

This study investigated how student participation in an authentic scientific investigation may shape underrepresented students’ views of science and support students in learning science. The research centered on the instructional approach used in a fifth‐grade classroom to engage English language learning students from Latino backgrounds in a geological investigation using Devonian fossils. The teacher combined the use of inquiry with multicultural education strategies and explicit instruction in nature of science. The unique combination of these instructional strategies, which we refer to as “multicultural inquiry,” provided students with opportunities for experiencing scientific activities and negotiating their understandings about scientific culture. Through this instructional approach, students demonstrated science learning and also came to view science as (1) more than just a subject at school, (2) different from media‐based depictions, and (3) aligned with the actual disciplines of geology and paleontology. Students also demonstrated self‐identification with scientists and interest in pursuing scientific careers. These changes highlight the value of bringing actual scientific practices into classroom settings as related to student views of science.

No abstract