Proposal Part A - Draft

Proposal  Part A

If one was to travel to the outskirts of Guanajuato Mexico, one would find teenage students eager to learn but with the limited resources and a struggling school system. They do not have the same opportunity as would be found here in Provo Utah.  Some of these students, either by family relations, immigration or other means, end up in an American public school like Provo High. There they find a very different atmosphere and a new culture. They then have to dive head first into a classroom to collaborate with other student and teachers who have little to no experience or knowledge of the magnitude of their recent transition.  These immigrant students find themselves bombarded by new benchmarks quantifying their intelligence in comparison to the others. Luckily, ESL is substituted in for their English classes to aid with the language barrier, but there are other needs left unattended.  The sciences already provide difficulties to many native English speakers, but the change is magnified even more to those from limited foreign communities.

 After a thorough study of the local high schools, I will travel to Guanajuato Mexico and experience firsthand their education system. I will investigate its quality using RTOP and simple observations to determine to what degree it compares with what is found in Provo Utah. The purpose to this research is to better understand what changes are needed to better accommodate to the needs of transferring immigrant students in science education.

Considering that I aspire to be a high school physics teacher, this experience will greatly prepare me to accommodate to the needs of students from diverse cultures. I will also gain the significant understanding to what works well when teaching science to teenagers.

I estimate that my research will conclude that the science education is Guanajuato is of a greatly lower quality due to inadequate resources and inexpert teachers. To then accommodate to the specific need of immigrant students, a curriculum could be designed in the format of an after school club, that will focus on engaging exploration activities that teach science principle that are commonly omitted or misunderstood  in their science education.

To carry out my research I will conduct various RTOP grading procedures of the public high schools, both in Provo and Guanajuato Mexico. I will also compare observations in science classrooms in both locations.