Through the IDEA Lens

In this second part of our conversation with Dr. Bonnie Schmidt of “Let’s talk science” (LTS) we talk about inclusion in STEM. Mahadeo and Peter discuss their own experiences with not seeing students who “looked like them” in their high school science classrooms. We talk about “science identity”, and what kind of consequences there are when kids with disabilities don’t remain in the skill-based science space because teachers don’t have the time to teach them differently and they are discouraged about thinking about STEM at home.  “For us, with Let’s Talk Science, its not just about trying to create more workers out there, who are science-based workers, but it is about how to empower citizens and develop a citizenry that is engaged, has the skills that it can do whatever it wants, and will have at least a level of literacy that will help serve it well later. You can find Let’s Talk Science at letstalkscience.ca and Idea-STEM at idea-stem.ca.

In this third episode of Through the IDEA Lens, Mahadeo Sukhai and Peter Field talk with Dr. Bonnie Schmidt of “Let’s talk science” (LTS). LTS was started over 30 years ago by Bonnie Schmidt when she was completing her PhD in Physiology at Western University. It was started at a time when the then economic recession was cutting funding to science research. 35 years later, LTS now spans early childhood to grade 12, with 70% of its work anchored in the school system. There are about 15,500 schools across Canada, and last year LTS programming supported about 40% of them. In this podcast we start an engaging conversation about the power of questioning, and the importance of getting people to think about what science really means. We talk about curiosity, where it comes from and how it gets cultivated in our children, including kids with disabilities and indigenous youth. “The joy and creativity and the curiosity that you’re seeing when kids are really young, that’s what we’re losing later” says Bonnie Schmidt.  “We’re bringing in the work habits, and while more and more teachers are doing enquiry-based learning, and there’s some very interesting things going on there, still, as a culture, we don’t seem to embrace questioning and curiosity and that whole idea of play-based learning, even as adults”. You can find Let’s Talk Science at letstalkscience.ca and Idea-STEM at idea-stem.ca.  

Picking up from our last conversation with Dr. Shohini Ghose of Wilfred Laurier University, Mahadeo and Shohini draw more connections between “good science is inclusive science”, covering  topics like inclusion in citizen centred science, advances in women’s health, and the continued persistence of biases in hiring processes. They also discuss when it is that inclusion skills need to be learnt - spoiler alert all of the time! Finally they conclude with the belief that if inclusion is going to take hold in the scientific community, that community needs to be engaged in terms it most appreciates - curiosity. “Addressing inclusion should be framed as a curiosity- driven research  problem. Then maybe people will actually be open to learning about it”.

Dr. Mahadeo Sukhai, check out his bio on the IDEA-STEM web site.

Dr. Shohini Ghose Wilfred Laurier University.

In this inaugural episode of the Through the IDEA Lens Podcast Dr. Mahadeo Sukhai introduces listeners to what is inclusive science and why it matters. He then enters into the first of a two-part conversation with Dr. Shohini Ghose, Professor, Physics and Computer Science at Wilfred Laurier University, and Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Chair for Women in Science and Engineering. Mahadeo and Shohini pick up the discussion on why inclusive science is good science, or rather, why good science is inclusive. They explore that science is a human right and that, without including everyone, science loses its credibility. For more information on Mahadeo Sukhai go to his bio on the IDEA-STEM web site. For more information on Dr. Shohini Ghose, go to  Dr. Shohini Ghose Wilfred Laurier University.