Service Through Outreach to Underrepresented Students in

Science and Engineering

Steven Vilwock
Honors 232D
3 June 2013

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The article Exploring the Responses of Underrepresented Students in Science to an

Elementary Classroom Outreach Program describes and discusses the results of a two-year
study conducted with the Scientists in School (SiS) outreach program and two school boards in
Ontario, Canada. It explores the responses of elementary school students from underrepresented
groups in science to those in the SiS outreach program. The responses explored include
enjoyment, interest, perceptions of role modeling, and future career choice in a scientific field.
Findings suggest that girls, students from low-achieving schools and ELL students found the
program increased their understanding, interest, and enjoyment of science even more so than
other students. The study was unable to determine long-term effectiveness of the program, but
we can speculate that such programs lead to students, especially underrepresented students, to
remain in science longer during their educational years (Baker et al.).
The difficulties ELL students have learning science in elementary school is discussed
quite a bit in this article. In an ideal situation, mathematic and scientific instruction would aid in
English and literacy development as the students learn and apply new terminology. Additionally,
improving English skills would allow for greater understanding of the scientific and
mathematical content. However, in most schools, the less-developed English speakers are
presented with the content in English without the proper instructional support (133). This method
leads to the students struggling greatly to understand the material. This frustration is likely one
major factor in the low numbers of ELL students pursuing science later in life. I am currently
volunteering at Concord International School which has a large population of ELL students and
the percentage of students that meet standard in science is much below the state average. I had
the opportunity to a second grade classroom in which many of the students were still in the
process of English. The main focus in the class was learning to read and write English, and there

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was very little time set aside to work on scientific learning. I agree with the author of the article
that Hands-on programs offer the potential of low-stress engagement with science and scientific
language, while participating in activities that reduce the dependence on language
proficiency(133). I believe Concord should start implementing these hands-on scientific
programs to increase interest in a way that doesnt require the students to have a strong Englishspeaking background.
Students in low-achieving schools were also found to benefit greatly from the Scientists
in School outreach program as they generally gained a greater enjoyment of science. I was
alarmed by a statement made in the article. It said that in the United States especially, The
outcome of low scores is often severe reductions in science instructional time due to the urgency
of literacy and numeracy programs(134). This seems very wrong to me as these students will be
significantly harmed in the future when they score lower on standardized tests and are put in
classrooms with others who have a much stronger scientific background, but are expected to
perform just as well. Underachieving schools also receive less money, so scientific learning is
often done through text books and not hands-on experiments. These factors largely contribute to
the development of a more negative attitude toward science. Outreach programs like SiS have
the funds to bring fun, yet educational experiments to the classroom which researchers found got
the students more excited about science, better able to understand the science [they] did in
class, and more encouraged to consider a career in science and/or technology (136-137).
Since public school funding is such an issue these days, I think increasing the number of
outreach programs would be highly valuable.
We discussed an asset-based approach to community involvement earlier in the quarter. I
believe that programs like this are a great way to build assets within the community. SiS helps

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tighten the community by getting volunteers to come into classrooms and get students interested
in science. These volunteers act as leaders and role models. Low-achieving schools generally
produce a high number of drop-outs who have an increased likelihood than those who stay in
school to commit crimes or become homeless and have a negative impact on the community.
Having role models like SiS provides I think is extremely important because the student is given
the idea of how successful they can be if they too give science a chance. The study revealed that
SiS was indeed successful in getting students typically underrepresented in STEM fields to
consider careers in science. Many of these children who receive that extra push toward pursuing
such a career will grow up to become community leaders themselves and help the kids that were
in the same situation that they were in.
As an engineering student, I thought that any service I would do in the future would have
to be completely separate from my career because the two didnt seem to be related. I chose to
volunteer at Concord International School because of the importance of education and the
difficulties Ive seen ELL students have at my high school even though there was no connection
to engineering. However, this article has helped me see a way to incorporate service with my
chosen course of study. After reading about the struggles that girls, ELL students, and students
from low-achieving schools have that cause them not to pursue careers in STEM fields, I realized
I will be in a position where I can help. There are programs like SiS and MESA with which I can
volunteer and use my scientific background to encourage students to become passionate about
math, science or engineering in a way that is not being done currently in schools. By leading
workshops or activities with the kids, I would also act as a positive role model. Having a positive
impact on others and being able to work a subject I am passionate about would be a highly

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rewarding experience that would keep me motivated to carry out my service to the best of my
abilities.

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Works Cited
Lindsay Baker, et al. Exploring The Responses of Underrepresented Students in Science To An
Elementary Classroom Outreach Program. School Science & Mathematics 111.4 (2011):
131-142. Academic Search Complete. Web. 3 June 2013.