This dissertation examined changes in urban youth's attitude towards science as well as their perception of the informal science education setting and third space opportunity provided by the BioBus, a mobile science lab. Science education researchers have often suggested that informal science education settings provide one possible way to positively influence student attitude towards science and engage marginalized urban youth within the traditional science classroom (Banks et al., 2007; Hofstein & Rosenfeld, 1996; National Research Council, 2009; Schwarz & Stolow, 2006; Stocklmayer, Rennie, & Gilbert, 2010). However, until now, this possibility has not been explored within the setting of a mobile science lab nor examined using a theoretical framework intent on analyzing how affective outcomes may occur. The merits of this analytical stance were evaluated via observation, attitudinal survey, open-response questionnaire, and interview data collected before and after a mobile science lab experience from a combination of 239 students in Grades 6, 8, 9, 11, and 12 from four different schools within a major Northeastern metropolitan area. Findings from this study suggested that urban youth's attitude towards science changed both positively and negatively in statistically significant ways after a BioBus visit and that the experience itself was highly enjoyable. Furthermore, implications for how to construct a third space within the urban science classroom and the merits of utilizing the theoretical framework developed to analyze cultural tensions between urban youth and school science are discussed. Key Words: Attitude towards science, third space, mobile science lab, urban science education

As a former journalist and a columnist for the very first community newspaper in Chatsworth: the Chatsworth SUN, which is no longer in circulation, and a teacher of English Home Language at secondary school level for twenty years, my research project combines an interest in print media with my efforts to promote a pedagogy in which issues of inclusion, access, and identity are addressed. The impetus for this study was a research assignment I conducted in 2002 for the "Introduction to Research Methods" module of this degree. I carried out a survey at my school that aimed at ascertaining the media habits among a class of Grade 10 learners. The survey revealed important information regarding 'newspaper reading habits' . Almost every learner read the weekly community newspapers or 'knock and drop' publications circulated free of charge to almost every household in Chatsworth, south of Durban, where the majority of learners, of Indian descent, resided. In some cases these were the only publications that learners read. In 2003, I therefore decided to involve the same learners in a research project for the dissertation component of the degree. The Project would allow the learners to become active and critical participants in the media culture that is omnipresent in their lives. Interesting perspectives on issues of identity, ethnicity, and gender would emerge from this heterogeneous sample, which included five African learners, in the deconstruction of community newspapers that targeted Indian readers. Community newspapers, by virtue of their convenience of access, are potentially very influential publications and the research project provided the opportunity to assess and change attitudes to the discourses that arise from reading such newspapers. Particularly important are the ideologies, hegemonies and issues of power found in the language of these community newspapers, as well as the technological and production processes involved. Hence, the main objective of my study was to narrow the divide that exists between educational experience and the real world. I demonstrate this in the thesis through the interactive application of Critical Literacy theories to printed texts by learners who deconstruct, critique, and subvert taken-for-granted assumptions that result from submissive interpretation ofmedia like the community newspapers. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

Traditional views on science education focus solely on content learning in the classroom, however more contemporary perspectives harness science content to help students become active citizens and lifelong learners outside of the classroom (Daher & Saifi, 2018; Vedder-Weiss & Fortus, 2011; Yacoubian, 2018). Project-based science is a reform pedagogy that emphasizes real-world utilization of science to solve problems that are personally relevant to students’ everyday lives (Kanter & Konstantopoulos, 2010). Unfortunately, there is no uniform theory or approach to project-based science. The diversity that exists in the interpretation and implementation of the project-based learning theory and model has resulted in a variety of research and developmental issues across disciplines, often resulting in confusion about what counts as being project-based and what does not (Kokotsaki et al., 2016; McNeill & Krajcik, 2007; Yu et al., 2018). While the goal of project-based science is to positively impact all students’ motivation for and achievement in science learning, there has been little research on its use as an instructional strategy with diverse students in urban schools (Kanter et al., 2001; Krajcik et al., 2006; Panasan & Nuangchalerm, 2010; Scheneider et al., 2002; Shwartz et al., 2008). Even as newer studies are published (Fitzgerald, 2020; Nainggolan et al., 2020; Wang, 2020), the field is stagnant, and research is still needed that looks into the ways in which culture influences the way American secondary students learn science (Brown, 2020). One of the characteristics of project-based science that makes it appealing, is its ability to drawing on the lived experiences of students, but most of the work done to date has not included or reflected the lived experiences of urban students of color. The goal of this mixed methods instrumental case study was to provide a glimpse into what it would look like to use a reconceptualized approach to project-based science that was more inclusive of urban students’ identities and lived experiences, while also being intentional about the nature of science and science epistemology. This involved the creation and use of a project-based science unit that included both implicit and explicit design features of the nature of science and science epistemology, along with pedagogical practices that were aligned with the theoretical underpinnings of project-based science (active learning, sociocultural theory, constructionist theory, constructivist theory, and situated cognition); along with the frameworks of Black feminist thought and reality pedagogy, which have not yet been considered in project-based science settings. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected and analyzed for trends and emergent themes. Quantitative data were collected from a diverse sample of fifty urban 9th grade New York City Living Environment students ranging in age from 13 to 15 years old. Ninety eight percent of participants had ethnic backgrounds other than White. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) repeated measures statistical tests and mixed between-within ANOVA statistical tests were used to examine quantitative data. The findings revealed that 96% of participants developed understandings of the local, state, and national level science standards and learning outcomes, aligned to the unit used in this study; and made significant gains on pre, midterm, and post multiple-choice and free response exams. While both genders made significant improvements, the male participants in this study outperformed the female participants. Qualitative data were collected from a total of 13 students, ranging in age from 13 to 15 years old, who participated in two gender-specific cogenerative dialogues. One hundred percent of cogenerative dialogue participants had ethnic backgrounds other than White. Thick descriptions and analysis were used to make sense of students’ experience with the project-based science unit. All cogenerative dialogue participants seemed to developed understandings of the nature of science and science epistemology. Implications for practice and future research are considered.

A review of financial literacy education programs in the United States revealed that the voices of youngsters, particularly urban adolescents enrolled in high school, are lacking in the discussion about financial literacy education. By neglecting the experiences with which these adolescents come to learn financial literacy, educational researchers, teachers, and policymakers are unwittingly limiting their educational outcomes. In this qualitative inquiry, the researcher prepared in-depth interviews and surveys conducted by the researcher to determine how 19 urban students at one high school perceived that financial literacy education could build on their personal literacies and expand their educational outcomes. In addition, the researcher prepared interview questions and provided them to a third-party company which included them in a survey it conducted of adolescents throughout the United States to determine how they perceived financial literacy education could build on their personal literacies and expand their educational outcomes. The overarching finding of this study was that the adolescents’ financial literacy education should focus on their self-identified goals rather than on financial literacy topics prescribed by a financial literacy program. Furthermore, financial literacy education should integrate adolescents’ everyday experiences from outside the classroom into their in-class educational experiences. Recommendations offered for teachers and policymakers, adolescents, and future researchers. Given multiple factors that affect culturally and socially responsive and engaging financial literacy experiences for adolescents, consideration of the appropriateness of recommendations should take place on an individual basis.