Teaching Science to Academically Underprepared Students

Abstract

A major problem facing science education in the United States today is its failure to produce enough well-educated minority students in the natural sciences and engineering. In most cases, the early difficulties encountered by these students in middle schools persists for years and prevent majority of them from pursuing advanced degrees and careers in the sciences and engineering. Thus, the need for new teaching approaches that will motivate and channel these students, who represent the fastest growing segment of our society into science and engineering. A number of factors contribute to this underrepresentation, amongst which are perception, exclusion, and instructional strategies. Here, we report on some important factors and teaching strategies, which, when proper considered, would influence the success of minority students in the sciences. Transitional strategies are techniques that facilitators may use to help underprepared students to learn to bridge or relate different parts or situations to one common idea, fact, or skill. It is hoped that when this strategy is infused with content, along with study skills, learning styles, and sequence as well as students' personal inventories, minority performance in science and mathematics will improve.