2013 - Science Identity Trajectories of Latecomers to Science in College

Attribution: Jackson, Phoebe A., & Seiler, Gale
Researchers: Gale SeilerPhoebe A. Jackson
University Affiliation: McGill University
Email: phoebe.jackson@mail.mcgill.ca
Research Question:
  1. What trends in science identity trajectories are latecomers to science able to construct during their first year in a college science program?
  2. How are latecomers' identity trajectories constrained by or improvised with the cultural models and associated resources available in the figured world of a college science program?
Published: Yes
Journal Name or Institutional Affiliation: Journal of Research in Science Teaching
Journal Entry: Vol. 50, No. 7, Pp. 826-857
Year: 2013
Findings:
  1. Latecomers’ persistence was greatly constrained by two cultural models from the science program: good science students follow a paradigmatic sequence of courses and consistently earn good grades. Occasionally, latecomers improvised to resist these constraints.
  2. Once in the science program it is very difficult to construct an inbound trajectory, unless one already has inbound momentum.
  3. Not all students entered the program on inbound trajectories, suggesting that the recognition associated with being accepted into the preparatory program is insufficient to support inbound trajectories.
  4. Science identity trajectories of latecomers were shaped, and in many cases constrained, by the cultural models in the figured world of the science program. These cultural models make available a narrow range of resources for latecomers, thus truncating effective improvisation and contributing to the instability of individual trajectories.
  5. Of the nine latecomers who participated throughout the year, only two were able to sustain inbound trajectories, highlighting the instability of latecomers’ trajectories.
  6. For all latecomers, improvisation involved authoring themselves within and through the cultural models of the program by using resources in new ways and acquiring new resources.
  7. Two of the student’s efforts to graduate quickly and another students attempts to make sense of and work around his slower than normal progress demonstrate the need for many acceptable trails through the program and for resources that help latecomers make sense of their progress in ways that afford their ability to identify with school science.
  8. Teachers can support alternative pathways by being careful of the assumptions they make about students’ histories and educational trails.
  9. Latecomers with histories of non-recognition would benefit from environments in which asking for clarification or help is accepted and even encouraged. This would necessitate working with instructors to change their instructional approaches and even their personal views of latecomers.
  10. Peer interactions are able to provide new experiences of recognition that afford identification with science.
Scholarship Types: Journal Article Reporting Empirical ResearchKeywords: CollegeIdentityPreparationScienceRegions: InternationalMethodologies: QualitativeResearch Designs: Case StudiesInterviewsAnalysis Methods: Content Analysis Sampling Frame:Latecomer Science Students
Sampling Types: Non-Random - PurposiveAnalysis Units: StudentData Types: Qualitative-Longitudinal
Data Description:
  • This research utilizes the theory of identity-in-practice and the concept of figured world, as well as an adaptation of identity trajectories. Identity is shaped by the resources, including the positions available for use by actors, how others recognize and respond to such bids, how actors respond to ascribed subject positions, as well as the figurings and meanings that actors construct of their actions, interactions, positionings, and recognitions. A figured world is a set of simplified stories, or a “realm of interpretation” that capture what is taken to be typical in a given context. A science identity trajectory is an individual’s unique sequence of science-related identity constructions and is representational of the psychosocial formations that develop over a person’s lifetime.
  • All participants were members of a make-up physics course taught by the first author at Island College in the fall semester, 2009. The course consisted of 41 students, 18 of whom were latecomers to science trying to access the pre-university science program.
  • A wide variety of data sources, collected over two semesters, were used to envision the latecomers’ educational trails and identity trajectories. A student background form provided basic demographic information such as age, gender, country of origin, generation of immigration, reason for taking make-up physics, missing high school prerequisites, and a description of high school science grades. Online journal entries and discussion forums, which were course requirements, were also used. CEGEP grades and enrolment records were accessed for all 18 latecomers, and one end-of-year, semi-structured audio-recorded interview was conducted with nine participants in the study.
  • During the first semester all students wrote reflective journals every 3 weeks, totaling five during the 15-week course. The first topic was intended to stimulate consideration of past science experiences: Why do you think you did not take (or pass) Physics 11 in high school? Students used the instructor’s responses as a prompt for subsequent entries. All members of the course also participated in five online forums during the first semester where they discussed their experiences in science with each other.
  • The authors constructed an educational trail for each latecomer by mapping events and decisions related to school science from Grade 9 until the end of their first year at Island College. This was done in two parts: high school, using the background data forms; and CEGEP, using information from enrollment status and grades. In a few instances, factual information was obtained from the narrative data to fill gaps.
  • The authors developed three categories that represented recurring themes in the ways that nearly all latecomers authored their relationship with science: (a) Stories of recognition, which included their narrations of past experiences in which they were recognized (or not) as moving towards science, (b) Connecting science to my life, which included participants’ narrations of science as connected to their lives in the present; and (c) Projecting my future, which included participants’ narrations of their future in relation to science careers, the courses they wanted to take next semester, or a test coming up.
  • Each latecomer’s identity trajectory was categorized by layering their narrative accounts on top of their educational trails at various times during their first year at Island College.
Theoretical Framework:
Relevance:STEM Persistence and Retention
Archives: K-16 STEM Abstracts