The African American Science Teacher & African American Student Motivation

1. The African American Science Teacher & African American Student Motivation presented by Jeffrey C. Miller University of Texas at Dallas Fall 2004

2. The African American Science Teacher • Underrepresented in hard sciences • Teach in underrepresented environments • Diverging backgrounds & experiences

3. African American Students in Hard Sciences • Smaller portions taking hard science courses • Diverging concepts of racism • Cultural expectation of failure • Social life, community service, music, sports • Peer influences

4. What do you mean motivation? • Influence appears to be non-academic • Motivation to pursue science/technical careers • Students with science related majors • Students enrollment in higher science courses • Student attitude toward peers perusing science • Students self-concept of intelligence

5. African American Science Teachers’ Areas of Impact • Teacher Student Interaction Factors • Mentoring & Support Systems • High student expectations • Individual Students Factors • Positive self-concept • Perception of racism • Cultural Factors • Identification & awareness • Benefit of experiences

6. Benefits of Completing Advanced Science Courses • Academic & Professional • Decrease achievement gap • Success in both postsecondary education and the labor force • More than test scores • Self-realization • Cultural shift

7. Research It • Science Teachers vs. Humanities Teachers • Peers in Humanities vs. Peers in Sciences • Students in Humanities vs. Students in Sciences

8. Summary, Conclusions, Questions • African American Science Teachers have the potential to play a vital role in the improvement of the African American students’ self-perception of intelligence and therefore influence their academic achievement.

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