Cargando…

Experiences of Judeo-Christian Students in Undergraduate Biology

A major research thrust in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education is focused on how to retain students as STEM majors. The accumulation of seemingly insignificant negative experiences in STEM classes can, over time, lead STEM students to have a low sense of belonging in t...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Barnes, M. Elizabeth, Truong, Jasmine M., Brownell, Sara E.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: American Society for Cell Biology 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5332041/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28232586
http://dx.doi.org/10.1187/cbe.16-04-0153
_version_ 1782511479095820288
author Barnes, M. Elizabeth
Truong, Jasmine M.
Brownell, Sara E.
author_facet Barnes, M. Elizabeth
Truong, Jasmine M.
Brownell, Sara E.
author_sort Barnes, M. Elizabeth
collection PubMed
description A major research thrust in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education is focused on how to retain students as STEM majors. The accumulation of seemingly insignificant negative experiences in STEM classes can, over time, lead STEM students to have a low sense of belonging in their disciplines, and this can lead to lower retention. In this paper, we explore how Judeo-Christian students in biology have experiences related to their religious identities that could impact their retention in biology. In 28 interviews with Judeo-Christian students taking undergraduate biology classes, students reported a religious identity that can conflict with the secular culture and content of biology. Some students felt that, because they are religious, they fall within a minority in their classes and would not be seen as credible within the biology community. Students reported adverse experiences when instructors had negative dispositions toward religion and when instructors were rigid in their instructional practices when teaching evolution. These data suggest that this may be a population susceptible to experiences of cultural conflict between their religious identities and their STEM identities, which could have implications for retention. We argue that more research should explore how Judeo-Christian students’ experiences in biology classes influence their sense of belonging and retention.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-5332041
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2017
publisher American Society for Cell Biology
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-53320412017-03-14 Experiences of Judeo-Christian Students in Undergraduate Biology Barnes, M. Elizabeth Truong, Jasmine M. Brownell, Sara E. CBE Life Sci Educ Article A major research thrust in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education is focused on how to retain students as STEM majors. The accumulation of seemingly insignificant negative experiences in STEM classes can, over time, lead STEM students to have a low sense of belonging in their disciplines, and this can lead to lower retention. In this paper, we explore how Judeo-Christian students in biology have experiences related to their religious identities that could impact their retention in biology. In 28 interviews with Judeo-Christian students taking undergraduate biology classes, students reported a religious identity that can conflict with the secular culture and content of biology. Some students felt that, because they are religious, they fall within a minority in their classes and would not be seen as credible within the biology community. Students reported adverse experiences when instructors had negative dispositions toward religion and when instructors were rigid in their instructional practices when teaching evolution. These data suggest that this may be a population susceptible to experiences of cultural conflict between their religious identities and their STEM identities, which could have implications for retention. We argue that more research should explore how Judeo-Christian students’ experiences in biology classes influence their sense of belonging and retention. American Society for Cell Biology 2017 /pmc/articles/PMC5332041/ /pubmed/28232586 http://dx.doi.org/10.1187/cbe.16-04-0153 Text en © 2017 M. E. Barnes et al. CBE—Life Sciences Education © 2017 The American Society for Cell Biology. This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). It is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0). “ASCB®” and “The American Society for Cell Biology®” are registered trademarks of The American Society for Cell Biology.
spellingShingle Article
Barnes, M. Elizabeth
Truong, Jasmine M.
Brownell, Sara E.
Experiences of Judeo-Christian Students in Undergraduate Biology
title Experiences of Judeo-Christian Students in Undergraduate Biology
title_full Experiences of Judeo-Christian Students in Undergraduate Biology
title_fullStr Experiences of Judeo-Christian Students in Undergraduate Biology
title_full_unstemmed Experiences of Judeo-Christian Students in Undergraduate Biology
title_short Experiences of Judeo-Christian Students in Undergraduate Biology
title_sort experiences of judeo-christian students in undergraduate biology
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5332041/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28232586
http://dx.doi.org/10.1187/cbe.16-04-0153
work_keys_str_mv AT barnesmelizabeth experiencesofjudeochristianstudentsinundergraduatebiology
AT truongjasminem experiencesofjudeochristianstudentsinundergraduatebiology
AT brownellsarae experiencesofjudeochristianstudentsinundergraduatebiology