I hate to make this a black white issue but the main reason that science has been kept out of our communities is the fear of our knowledge capabilities. Science is clearly connected to everything that we do and how we live. Science contains an abundance of truth, with respect to the universe and even religions. We as Black people are kept in the dark because if we as a people knew half of the scientific facts about a number of things, our situations in this so called democracy would change. Malcolm X said that Black people need to be more involved in politics. I believe that Black people need to be more involved in Science.
RCA
· 8 months ago
Thank you so much for beginning this conversation. As a black woman in a STEM field, I can definitely agree that this is a topic in need of attention.
Adria Richards
· 8 months ago
Danielle,
I know science and technology are important because they allow people to dream of things bigger than their current reality. Look at how many people were inspired by the NASA space program. The first time I dreamed about a computer problem, I felt surprised, happy and...a bit weird. Now I'm happy to know that other people "dream in code".
Although I have a strong technology background, I help people understand that solving problems is about logic, documenting your steps and thinking through the problem. Sometimes taking "a step back" reveals the true challenge and not just a symptom.
As Brown people, I know it's important for us to feel intelligent, empowered and able to make good decisions. Society and the media push stereotypes at us or people call some of us, "the exceptions".
My goal is to help every human being see their true potential to contribute something meaningful to the world and I think technology is a tool everyone can grasp.
Thanks for listing me in the group of blogs!
I told the A+ Hardware students in the course I taught at the Minneapolis Urban League there is one way to tell if you're Black or not...
"If a White person would never think of you as White, you're Black".
Some of the students were teasing someone, saying she "talked White". We talked about not rejecting intelligence, acknowledgement of a gift, respect, and not being ashamed to enjoy learning. These were adult students ranging from 18 to 54 years of age and I am still in touch with some of them.
I consider myself Black and Jewish and say so on my blog, ButYoureAGirl.com
ybpguide
· 8 months ago
Great advice Adria. I peeped all of your sites. You're doing some really neat and cool things. We'll have to connect one day for an interview!
Samia
· 8 months ago
Thanks for including my blog in your list, Danielle. :) As always, you write insightfully and succinctly.
cvj
· 8 months ago
Hi,
Excellent post on this issue. Thanks for the link to my blog! (Readers can find lots of discussion there about these and related issues in the categories "black people in science", "science and society", "minorities in science", "women in science", "science education", and others.)
Best,
-cvj
Gee
· 8 months ago
It's crazy that I stumbled upon this post because I was considering adding a science section to my magazine, but didn't know how black women (my audience) would take it. I feel that our community only finds science boring because of how it's presented to us. Well in my case, every school I went to (with the exception of middle school), was equally filled with black and white students, so it was presented to everyone the same way.
Were any of you ever exposed to the Weekly Reader magazine in elementary schools? They tended to have really great science/math articles, and it was embedded into our curriculum. However it seemed like the only kind of science that we found interesting were the things we read in those articles. We were never given anything hands-on that was based off of any of the articles written.
There was never anything aside from the typical vinegar and baking soda volcano's. It bubbles up for like seven seconds and then what? Nothing. It definitely didn't make me refer back to it out of fascination, and think "Wow, science is cool!" as I drifted off to sleep that night.
Then in middle school, it seemed like we got more boring book work more than anything. It was just your basic science filled with formulas that produced nothing that could "wow" us. In high school, it was basically the same as middle school. More book work with terminology we didn't care to understand. And if we did anything hands on, it was never anything great. And we were often steered with no direction. Half the time, we didn't even know what we were supposed to be producing. We just mixed a bunch of crap together and thought "Ok, is it working yet? What is it supposed to do?"
NOT ENGAGING ENOUGH² x SUPER BORING³³²³ = Complete Lost of Interest³³³³³³³³³³³³³³³³³³³³
If I didn't have the urge to search for science that wasn't so boring (thanks to Bill Nye the Science Guy...LOL), I would probably grow to hate science. But not everyone is going to have that urge because they were turned off back when it was being taught to them in school.
I think the style of teaching needs to be reversed, first of all:
1. Present something that will "wow" the students. Show them how to make grape bubblegum, or how to make slime that they can play with, or how to make smoke turn into four different colors; something interesting like that will catch their attention. And do it without adding in all the formulas and big words because they're not going to pay attention to it right away.
2. After doing number one, more students would want to learn how it all works. It will then be easier to slide in the terminology and the formulas.
3. After you teach them everything there is to know about it, let them put everything they learned to the test by having them do it themselves.
I feel like this will make more people (not just more black students, but more whites, Asian's, etc.) want to get into science even more.
And this is a great blog by the way. I'm going to check these websites out.
DNLee
· 8 months ago
Thanks Gee,
You're right. I hate the boredom pedagogy of science, eg. sit down and memorize vocab. It's ruining our society's interest in science (and impacting scientific literacy). Or worksheets. I hate worksheets!.
However, there are some great programs and educatorsout there who are doing some great hands-on science. Much of what many of us science and education bloggers promote is a better way to engage people (youth and adults). Relevance is the name of the game and it works at any age and education level.
All Comments
I know science and technology are important because they allow people to dream of things bigger than their current reality. Look at how many people were inspired by the NASA space program. The first time I dreamed about a computer problem, I felt surprised, happy and...a bit weird. Now I'm happy to know that other people "dream in code".
Although I have a strong technology background, I help people understand that solving problems is about logic, documenting your steps and thinking through the problem. Sometimes taking "a step back" reveals the true challenge and not just a symptom.
As Brown people, I know it's important for us to feel intelligent, empowered and able to make good decisions. Society and the media push stereotypes at us or people call some of us, "the exceptions".
My goal is to help every human being see their true potential to contribute something meaningful to the world and I think technology is a tool everyone can grasp.
Thanks for listing me in the group of blogs!
I told the A+ Hardware students in the course I taught at the Minneapolis Urban League there is one way to tell if you're Black or not...
"If a White person would never think of you as White, you're Black".
Some of the students were teasing someone, saying she "talked White". We talked about not rejecting intelligence, acknowledgement of a gift, respect, and not being ashamed to enjoy learning. These were adult students ranging from 18 to 54 years of age and I am still in touch with some of them.
I consider myself Black and Jewish and say so on my blog, ButYoureAGirl.com
Excellent post on this issue. Thanks for the link to my blog! (Readers can find lots of discussion there about these and related issues in the categories "black people in science", "science and society", "minorities in science", "women in science", "science education", and others.)
Best,
-cvj
Were any of you ever exposed to the Weekly Reader magazine in elementary schools? They tended to have really great science/math articles, and it was embedded into our curriculum. However it seemed like the only kind of science that we found interesting were the things we read in those articles. We were never given anything hands-on that was based off of any of the articles written.
There was never anything aside from the typical vinegar and baking soda volcano's. It bubbles up for like seven seconds and then what? Nothing. It definitely didn't make me refer back to it out of fascination, and think "Wow, science is cool!" as I drifted off to sleep that night.
Then in middle school, it seemed like we got more boring book work more than anything. It was just your basic science filled with formulas that produced nothing that could "wow" us. In high school, it was basically the same as middle school. More book work with terminology we didn't care to understand. And if we did anything hands on, it was never anything great. And we were often steered with no direction. Half the time, we didn't even know what we were supposed to be producing. We just mixed a bunch of crap together and thought "Ok, is it working yet? What is it supposed to do?"
NOT ENGAGING ENOUGH² x SUPER BORING³³²³ = Complete Lost of Interest³³³³³³³³³³³³³³³³³³³³
If I didn't have the urge to search for science that wasn't so boring (thanks to Bill Nye the Science Guy...LOL), I would probably grow to hate science. But not everyone is going to have that urge because they were turned off back when it was being taught to them in school.
I think the style of teaching needs to be reversed, first of all:
1. Present something that will "wow" the students. Show them how to make grape bubblegum, or how to make slime that they can play with, or how to make smoke turn into four different colors; something interesting like that will catch their attention. And do it without adding in all the formulas and big words because they're not going to pay attention to it right away.
2. After doing number one, more students would want to learn how it all works. It will then be easier to slide in the terminology and the formulas.
3. After you teach them everything there is to know about it, let them put everything they learned to the test by having them do it themselves.
I feel like this will make more people (not just more black students, but more whites, Asian's, etc.) want to get into science even more.
And this is a great blog by the way. I'm going to check these websites out.
You're right. I hate the boredom pedagogy of science, eg. sit down and memorize vocab. It's ruining our society's interest in science (and impacting scientific literacy). Or worksheets. I hate worksheets!.
However, there are some great programs and educatorsout there who are doing some great hands-on science. Much of what many of us science and education bloggers promote is a better way to engage people (youth and adults). Relevance is the name of the game and it works at any age and education level.