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Program Management System - 21st BCCE - Poster Presentations - Introducing traditional cultural beliefs into the undergraduate chemistry curriculum in the Mexican-American border region

Paper Title: Introducing traditional cultural beliefs into the undergraduate chemistry curriculum in the Mexican-American border region
Symposium: Poster Presentations
Session: Part 3 [2010-08-04 12:30:00 - 13:30:00]
Paper Start Time: 12:30:00
Author: K. Christopher Smith
Presenter: K. Christopher Smith
CoAuthors: Angelica Cardenas
Abstract: Traditional cultural beliefs and practices were collected by 14 general chemistry university students in the Mexican-American border region. These beliefs and practices fell into four categories related to health/wellbeing/child care, luck/prosperity, relationships/interactions, and spirits/witches. Subsequently, 7 beliefs were selected from the health/wellbeing/child care category, and 21 general chemistry students completed an initial survey on their levels of agreement with each belief, followed by a short research paper on the congruence of conventional science with any one of the selected beliefs, and finally a second survey on the impact of the project on them. The initial survey indicated that on average, 46% of the students would practice each traditional belief, although on average only 25% of the students agreed with each traditional belief. In addition, through their research papers, the students found conventional scientific evidence supporting 5 of the 7 traditional beliefs. The second survey indicated that 95% of the students reported that their knowledge of traditional beliefs had been increased, while 86% reported that their knowledge of science had been increased. In addition, 62% of the students reported that their interest and appreciation of traditional beliefs had been increased, while 86% reported that their interest and appreciation of science had been increased. Finally, 81% of the students reported that they now saw how science was involved with traditional beliefs. These results and their implications will be presented.
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