“In the outskirts”: Exploring science identity development in biology education using insect natural history collections and self-determination theory

Coburn, Kaitlyn Nicole

Permalink

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/121539 Copy

Description

Title

“In the outskirts”: Exploring science identity development in biology education using insect natural history collections and self-determination theory

Author(s)

Coburn, Kaitlyn Nicole

Issue Date

2023-07-18

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

McElrath, Thomas C

Committee Member(s)

• Darner, Rebekka L
• Berenbaum, May R

Department of Study

Entomology

Discipline

Entomology

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

M.S.

Degree Level

Thesis

Keyword(s)

• Science Identity
• Lepidoptera
• Natural History Collections
• Self-Determination Theory
• Scientific Thinking
• Biology Education

Abstract

The importance of science to human thriving has been reawakened amongst the challenges of a developing global pandemic, climate crisis, and attacks on gender and reproductive rights. These developments have centered the value of investing in systems of science that support individuals as they grow more prepared to approach science in current events and policy. Science educators function as catalysts for this growth by creating opportunities for individuals to engage in scientific thinking—a skill that enables individuals to approach science in current events and determine the reliability of information. Because time with students is limited, educators design curricula with the intention to motivate students to apply scientific thinking proactively throughout their lives beyond instructional contexts. These forms of motivation are considered self-determined motives, because they persist even in the absence of external pressures present in classroom contexts. Unfortunately, evidence of declines in motivation in STEM classrooms, decreases in STEM literacy, and extinction of experience with the natural world challenge the efforts of science educators in designing curricula that are engaging and impactful for students. In collegiate settings, these challenges are presented to instructors generally untrained in pedagogy, who reasonably struggle to navigate curricular development with minimal administrative support. To address these concerns, I applied self-determination theory (SDT) and insect natural history collections resources to classroom settings. SDT provides a framework of three key basic psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness that must be supported for students to achieve self-determined motives toward behaviors such as scientific thinking. Novelty is a proposed basic psychological need that is not fully accepted as a requirement for self-determined motivation, but can be utilized by educators to gauge familiarity with course topics and materials. Further, SDT describes the external and internal origins of motive, and the types of behavioral regulation that determine actionable motives to internalize and apply content long-term. As this framework has been applied to educational contexts to inform pedagogy for years, it shows promise for science educators who benefit from its use as a tool to interpret the essence of the developmental experiences of students in the classroom. Using survey tools developed to assess self-determined motives and support of psychological needs in-action, I assessed the use of insect natural history collections as instructional materials with unique supportive qualities. As the most diverse and abundant animal taxa, insects are a key point of entry for recreational scientists. Further, the prevalence of insects lends them to broader potential for connection with students’ lives and interests—vectors affirm relevance to medical science; insect declines affirm relevance to environmentalism; diverse sexual expression and reproductive behaviors affirm relevance to gender/sex and reproductive rights; and developing nature identification technologies bring nature discovery to the fingertips of many individuals. Digitization of natural history collections further creates databases widely available to students and researchers around the globe, while opening opportunities for students to directly contribute to collections progress from anywhere in the world as a form of service-based learning—even amongst quarantines. Museums have a long history of displaying artifacts to support discovery and curiosity, which emphasizes their value in object-based learning activities. For these reasons, I connected students in introductory biology for non-majors at both R1 and R2 institutions with insect natural history collections in service-based and object-based learning activities, respectively. I recruited students to participate in online surveys to observe the support of their basic psychological needs, behavioral regulation, and resulting motivational qualities throughout their instructional lab experience. I further surveyed student enjoyment of the learning activities and interest in science, and interviewed students from a R2 institution about their experiences with science identity and science culture to expand understanding of identity development beyond survey representations, while informing the interpretation of collected quantitative data using details revealed through qualitative discussions with students. We found that service-based collections activities enabled external forms of behavioral regulation that are reflective of non-self-determined motives; supported psychological needs of competence and relatedness, but not autonomy; decreased amotivation; and resulted in significant self-reported learning activity enjoyment, interest in science, and self-reported resulting increase in science interest amongst students in introductory biology for non-major students. Object-based collections activities did not support any forms of behavioral regulation—external or internal; supported competence significantly more than instructional activities without collections, but had no impact on relatedness, autonomy, or novelty; and decreased amotivation. Qualitative results revealed the values of “real science” for students, and emphasized potential differences in student perceptions of the authenticity of socio-contextual factors in science learning activities. I concluded that insect natural history collections have supportive potential for competence in learning activities and as such provide a promising foundation for building autonomy into student curricula, as students feel uniquely capable when working with insect collections compared to non-collections instructional activities. Though museum representatives are finding opportunity in engaging students in service-based learning, I emphasize the importance of centering support for autonomy amongst students when approaching collaboration with science educators to avoid risks of exploitative interactions when applying materials with histories strongly linked to colonization. My findings further reveal the nuance of what constitutes “real science” for students enrolled at institutions with differing research funding procurement and research productivity, which is valuable in considering the application of insect collections to educational contexts. That is, for students enrolled at less research-intensive institutions, insect collections may represent inaccessible aspects of science hierarchies that are not perceived as authentic without connection to the everyday lives of students, or a greater purpose connected to the values of students. On the other hand, though insect collections may be perceived as a part of “real science” by students at more research-intensive institutions, further research is necessary to conclude how this perception reflects hierarchies of science in its own right, and how educators and collections managers may apply natural history collections to education while centering rising efforts to decolonize systems of science, associated science curricula, and methods of instruction.

Graduation Semester

2023-08

Type of Resource

Thesis

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2023 Kaitlyn Coburn

Owning Collections