Exploring the Science Attitudes of Urban Diverse Gifted Middle School Students

Bobby Jeanpierre¹, Rachel Hallett-Njuguna²

¹School of Teaching Learning and Leadership, College of Education and Human Performance, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USA.
²Seminole County Public Schools, Sanford, FL, USA.

DOI: 10.4236/ce.2014.516166                

Abstract

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) is a central focus in science education, research, economics and politics. With this increased focus on STEM, it is important to know urban gifted students’ perceptions and attitudes toward science. Overall, these 6th and 8th grade gifted students reported a lack of interest in science. This is troubling, if we want to see more diversity in the science professions. One group, minority girls, did provide a bright spot in their responses which had not been commonly reported in the research literature. They liked science the most and were positive about science, which was encouraging. To develop a diverse STEM workforce, it is imperative to provide the quality of education and means to support all students interested in pursuing these fields, including urban diverse gifted students.

Keywords

Urban, Diverse, Gifted, STEM, Middle School, Science

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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