By: Sarah Sawyer
“By 4th grade [most] girls will say they don’t like science and math, even more so with girls of color.”-Patty Born
STEM education isn’t an easy task for many teachers but with a clear gender divide in STEM fields it is imperative that we reach out to girls. Hamline Elementary has a few programs that are incorporating different methods of learning and bringing in diverse representation in STEM fields. Makerspace and Science from Scientists are both working towards making science more inclusive and relevant to all students, including girls.
Patty Born has been working with the master’s program of environmental education at Hamline for 4 years. She also was previously the director of STEM education at St. Kate’s. She has worked at nature centers, the science museum, and has done science consulting. Her career has been focused on making content in science methods culturally relevant. “People tend to shut themselves out of science fields if they don’t see representation and relevant content.” said Born, “Storybooks need more than white men doing science.”
Science is important for everyone. How can we make something so universal geared towards girls? According to Born, making science relevant to girls is more than pink and purple notebooks. “Look at things that girls really love. They [researchers] found they love collaborative problem solving and making clear connections on how STEM can help others.” Born said, “They like being able to share their work through galleries and presentations.”
One program that encourages creativity and collaboration in STEM is run by Born and is called Makerspace at Hamline Elementary. Makerspace is an extended day program, usually with a theme or a project to guide the students. It’s a room set aside for students to engage in the creative aspects of science. There are tools, cardboard, gears, strings, adhesive pieces, and a variety of other materials. The program is meant to be student driven and collaborative. They have done a variety of projects including, cardboard furniture, motorized lego contraptions, and stop-motion animation videos recorded on their student iPads. “My hope was to have a screening for parents and community members.” Born said.
The kids in Makerspace love the program. One girl said that Makerspace is just cool stuff and she really enjoyed making slime. Another girl, Jennifer, said the lego tops were her favorite and would definitely consider a career that involved making stuff. Curtis made a bag to hold things and enjoyed making helicopters. He hopes to make flying cars out of paper one day. The kids seem to enjoy the creativity and variety offered in Makerspace.
Another STEM opportunity at Hamline Elementary is Science from Scientists, a non profit STEM education program. Renee Piersa is the head of operations for Science from Scientists. The program started in Massachusetts but came to Minnesota three years ago. They bring in scientists from the field, two at a time, to teach an entire grade for an entire year totaling 18x per year. “The program is unique because they are an in school program to ensure that they reach all kids regardless of background.”Piersa said, “We try to have an inclusive group of teachers and keep our modules gender neutral.” The program gives out surveys to principals and teachers to measure how successful the program is. It has received nothing but positive reviews and seems to be having a genuine impact on how engaged students are with STEM. The program also gives out quizzes to the students to measure performance. According to the Science from Scientists website, in the 2017-2018 school year quiz scores went up by 16% and MCA (Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment) improvement went up 22%.
Overall schools will be able to better reach girls interested in STEM by bringing in the collaborative and creative aspects of science and by bringing in positive role models for girls to look up to. These changes will impact how girls view the STEM fields.”Public education has so narrowly defined what is science and how it should be practiced.” Born said, “ Science is more about process and more about creativity than we thought.” By incorporating a variety of teaching methods and presenting science in a relevant way to girls schools can work to close the gender divide in science.
Women of Science 