Race to the Future: Integrating 21st Century Skills into Science Instruction

Race to the Future is an exciting and dynamic activity modeled after the reality television show The Amazing Race. It exemplifies how 21st century skills can be incorporated into core subject instruction and at the same time positively enhance student engagement. In this activity, students work quickly and cooperatively with their teammates and use 21st century skills to successfully decipher five clues related to science content. We have used this activity with excellent results with different groups of students (middle school, high school, and university students), for different purposes (ice-breaker, team-building, course assessment, and evaluation), and in broad curriculum areas (science and math). However, the activity is especially powerful when introduced during the first day or week of class. The meaningful and enjoyable student collaboration, the upbeat class environment, and the enhanced student engagement achieved at the conclusion of this challenging activity set an optimal teaching and learning environment for the entire quarter/semester.     

A Model Approach for Studying Race: Provocative Theory, Sound Science, and Very Good History

The Problem of Race in the Twenty-First Century. Thomas C. Holt. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2002. 146 pp.
Race in Mind: Race, IQ, and Other Racisms. Alexander Alland Jr. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002. 219 pp.
The Funding of Scientific Racism: Wickliffe Draper and the Pioneer Fund. William H. Tucker. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2002. 286 pp.     

Race: A population concept

Abstract

The conceptual model presented allows for the identification and organization of different kinds of fertility policies and programs, as they affect fertility, and the relevant elements of the sociocultural variables, dichotomized into “structural” and “cultural” components, that can be associated with fertility. Support for the model was obtained by “fitting” Puerto Rican fertility policies and programs, and structural and cultural components, to the model. Seventeen regression equations using polynomials to the third degree are used for the statistical interpretation of the Puerto Rican data. The results indicate that the use and interpretation of the model and some of the polynomial regression analyses are successful.     

Race: a fallacious concept

The current reappearance of the word race to define human biological differences is misleading. It creates social and political problems. In the present synthesis we try to point out the historical responsabilities on the origin of this fallacious concept, and to clarify the misleading overimposition of physical, cultural and religious differences among human populations.     

Biomedical Science Ph.D. Career Interest Patterns by Race/Ethnicity and Gender

Increasing biomedical workforce diversity remains a persistent challenge. Recent reports have shown that biomedical sciences (BMS) graduate students become less interested in faculty careers as training progresses; however, it is unclear whether or how the career preferences of women and underrepresented minority (URM) scientists change in manners distinct from their better-represented peers. We report results from a survey of 1500 recent American BMS Ph.D. graduates (including 276 URMs) that examined career preferences over the course of their graduate training experiences. On average, scientists from all social backgrounds showed significantly decreased interest in faculty careers at research universities, and significantly increased interest in non-research careers at Ph.D. completion relative to entry. However, group differences emerged in overall levels of interest (at Ph.D. entry and completion), and the magnitude of change in interest in these careers. Multiple logistic regression showed that when controlling for career pathway interest at Ph.D. entry, first-author publication rate, faculty support, research self-efficacy, and graduate training experiences, differences in career pathway interest between social identity groups persisted. All groups were less likely than men from well-represented (WR) racial/ethnic backgrounds to report high interest in faculty careers at research-intensive universities (URM men: OR 0.60, 95% CI: 0.36–0.98, p = 0.04; WR women: OR: 0.64, 95% CI: 0.47–0.89, p = 0.008; URM women: OR: 0.46, 95% CI: 0.30–0.71, p<0.001), and URM women were more likely than all other groups to report high interest in non-research careers (OR: 1.93, 95% CI: 1.28–2.90, p = 0.002). The persistence of disparities in the career interests of Ph.D. recipients suggests that a supply-side (or “pipeline”) framing of biomedical workforce diversity challenges may limit the effectiveness of efforts to attract and retain the best and most diverse workforce. We propose incorporation of an ecological perspective of career development when considering strategies to enhance the biomedical workforce and professoriate through diversity.     

Blood and Nation: The European Aesthetics of Race; German Bodies: Race and Representation after Hitler

Blood and Nation: The European Aesthetics of Race. Uli Linke. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999. 332 pp.
German Bodies: Race and Representation after Hitler. Uli Linke. New York: Routledge, 1999. 274 pp.     

The Cladistic Race Concept: A Defense

Many contemporary race scholars reject the biological reality of race.Elsewhere I have argued that they have been too quick to do so. Part ofthe reason is that they have overlooked the possibility that races canbe defined cladistically. Since the publication of the cladistic raceconcept, a number of questions and objections have been raised. My aimin this paper is to address these objections.