Studies in science education are examining more closely this segment of the population in an effort to attract and retain urban girls' interest in science.

Angela Barton, an MSU professor of teacher education, and colleagues at the Teachers College of Columbia University, New York City, found that among girls in urban high school settings that the appropriate use of science projects, storytelling, and identity role-playing were all ways in which girls could get and stay interested in science.

Barton said, "Through our research we have identified merging science practices which allow the social worlds of girls and the world of school science to merge in class, allowing girls to engage deeply in science without having to give up their social identities."

This article appeared in the April 13, 2007 edition of the MSU Today.

http://msutoday.msu.edu/research/index.php3?article=13Apr2007-1

Published Tuesday, Apr. 17, 2007