Strengthening Informal Science Education in the Latino Community, March 2009

Latinos are the largest ethnic/racial minority group in the United States, but Latino students score lower than national averages on math and science achievement tests, enroll at lower levels, and are underrepresented in undergraduate and graduate science and engineering programs. How to increase participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) among young Latinos was the subject of an NSF-funded conference held earlier this year by the Self Reliance Foundation (SRF).

Expanding Informal Science Education to Latinos, held March 26-29, 2009, in Albuquerque, New Mexico (#0742157), was attended by more than 100 participants from informal science and science research institutions and representatives of Hispanic organizations, media, and educational programs. Together, they helped to lay groundwork for the development of strategic partnerships for involving Latino audiences in informal science learning.

Among these partnerships is the Hispanic STEM Initiative, which will be launched September 14 in Washington, D.C. by the National Association for Hispanic Education (NAHE). Mike Acosta, a member of the Initiative's advisory committee and national president of the Society of Mexican American Engineers and Scientists, points to the "urgent importance" of this initiative, "given that less than 2% of the STEM workforce is Hispanic and almost 20% of the country's youth population is Hispanic."

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News and Updates

• November 19—Deadline for full proposals to NSF's ISE program. Useful reference material can be found on the CAISE Resources page.

Upcoming Meetings and Events

• October 30-November 2—Coming up at the ASTC Annual Conference, Fort Worth, Texas, are these and many other sessions of special interest to readers of the CAISE Newsletter:
• Building on Research to Improve Practice: Applying What We Know about Learning Science in Informal Environments. Workshop based on forthcoming National Academies book Surrounded by Science: Learning Science in Informal Environments, organized by Dennis Schatz, Pacific Science Center (Friday, October 30, 1:00-4:00 pm)
• CAISE Forum: Putting Informal Science Education on the Map (Saturday, October 31, 12:30-1:45 pm)
• Dimensions of Public Engagement: Finding Your Footing in a Paradigm Shift, with Larry Bell of NISE Net and Museum of Science, Boston, and other members of CAISE Inquiry Group (Sunday, November 1, 12:30-1:45 pm)
• Increasing Science Literacy Through Participation in Research, with Rick Bonney, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and other members of CAISE Inquiry Group (Sunday, November 1, 4:00-5:15 pm)
• What’s the Evidence Base? The National Academies Informal Science Report, with Kirsten Ellenbogen and other members of NRC Committee on Learning Science in Informal Environments (Monday, November 2, 3:15-4:30pm)
• NSF Informal Science Education Program Officer Roundtable, organized by Sylvia James, NSF (Tuesday, November 3, 10:45-12 noon)
• September 14-18—Join Rick Bonney and other members of a CAISE Inquiry Group in an online discussion in the CAISE Forum about Public Participation in Scientific Research, subject of recent CAISE Inquiry Group report (PDF). Set up an account in ASTC Connect and join the CAISE Forum using the keyword "informal."
• Late September—Follow up on our July CAISE Forum discussion about ISE and the learning sciences with organizers of the NSF-funded Intersections workshop held in Milwaukee last month.
• Hold the date—The ISE Summit 2010 is scheduled for March 3-5, 2010 in Washington, D.C.

• In April, members of the ConCiencia News team were awarded a trip to the US-Mexico border by the Sierra Club to investigate environmental impact of the NAFTA agreement. ConCiencia’s chief editor, Karina Flores-Hurley, and ConCiencia’s reporter and assistant editor, Isabel Morales (pictured), spent three days in Tijuana and San Diego talking to government officials, non-profit organizations, organized groups, and sources on the ground, in order to develop in-depth pieces on the maquiladoras and their effect on water quality and air pollution. Courtesy Self Reliance Foundation