Alberto Martínez, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of History
Director, Certificate Program in History & Philosophy of Science
John E. Green Regents Professorship in History
University of Texas, Austin

Improved stories about Galileo and Darwin: How to fix historical myths in STEM Education

Abstract:  Was Darwin really inspired by finches? Did Galileo drop objects from the Leaning Tower of Pisa? As part of the UTeach program, I teach a course titled “Perspectives on Science and Math,” since 2005. UTeach is a STEM teacher preparation program that has been replicated in 46 universities in 22 states. Early on, its directors chose to include history of science and mathematics as a required component for training science and math majors to become schoolteachers. For decades, history and philosophy of science had grown into professional research fields, so the goal is to incorporate accurate academic findings into STEM education. I will discuss two such examples, about Darwin and Galileo. As a professor, for years I taught traditional discovery stories about them until I gradually did my own research in history of science using primary sources. I found that there are myths in popular stories, but that these stories can be improved and converted into discovery learning activities in which students confront a scientific puzzle in ways similar to how past scientists originally encountered them.

Teaching to increase equity in STEM: Empowering underrepresented students using culturally-responsive strategies

Abstract: The Teaching to Increase Diversity and Equity in Science (TIDES) subdivision of the Project Kaleidoscope was dedicated to increase the learning outcomes and retention of students historically underrepresented in the STEM disciplines, particularly computer science. A main problem alluring Latinas to fields like Computational Biology (CB) is how to preserve their femininity in these male-dominated careers.  Consequently, an empowering program, “Cybernetic Girls can be Pinky”, to allure Latinas into CB was implemented with a series of culturally-responsive strategies in three core courses in Biology.  Courses were revamped, for example, the Molecular and Cell Biology Laboratory implemented the Tiny Earth were students conducted a research project with local soils. All Tiny Earth modules were translated to Spanish to promote equity and make them more accessible to students. To fully empower students we also provided a Women in Science course that emphasizes the accomplishments of Puerto Rican scientists nowadays.  At the faculty level, we started regional meetings in collaboration with the Project Kaleidoscope (PKAL) and invited STEM faculty at Hispanic Serving Institutions to share their success stories.  The meetings not only contemplated their best practices but also highlighted the culturally-responsive strategies implemented that resulted in an increased retention of Latinos in their STEM classrooms.  As a consequence of those initiatives, a Puerto Rican Outstanding Undergraduate Diversified (PROUD) Program addressing Inclusive Excellence at the University of Puerto Rico-Humacao (UPR-H) under the guidance of professionals from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes was recently established.  The main goal of the program is to establish a Center for Teaching and Learning to support STEM faculty in how to publish their educational strategies, particularly those addressing Latino retention.  We plan to describe how the Center operates within Puerto Rico to then impact Latinos at other HIS’s.  Please join us for an interactive and informative session in how to increase equity and inclusion for Latinos in STEM classrooms.

Publishable STEM Education manuscripts: A practical guide for research and dissemination at regional universities

Abstract: The generation of new knowledge is one of the most critical functions of a university. At research universities, reduced teaching loads allow faculty to engage in sponsored research and frequent publications. However, regional universities tend to be teaching-centered, with faculty assigned to higher teaching and service responsibilities. The increased workload demands reduce faculty’s opportunities to improve their scholarly productivity. The institutional culture of some regional universities might not foster scholarly activities, nor help faculty pursue grants or stimulate publishing. Individual, organizational, infrastructure, social, and economic factors can prevent faculty, who are passionate for their discipline and otherwise would have a significant publication output, to reach their scholarly goals. Using my professional experience as a framing device, my goal is for faculty to discover new ways to generate knowledge, even with high teaching and service loads. The concept of pedagogical action research will be discussed in the context of carefully planned in-class events (documenting student perceptions and attitudes with questionnaires; evaluating implementation of innovative curriculum, activities, technologies and assessments) and how they can lead to publications. In addition, scholarly development (summer fellowships, sabbatical, Fulbright fellowships, collaborating with undergraduate students in capstone projects and action research) can also lead to publishable results. Furthermore, I will highlight the importance of community science and local implications of new scientific discoveries, and how they can be used by faculty to write quality dissemination articles, publishable through venues such as Ciencia Puerto Rico, Diálogo Digital, and personal blogs.