The (ES)2 STEM Learning Lab conducts research centered around the STEM learning of students of African descent. Specifically we focus on STEM education as a vehicle for improving the social condition of African people. Areas of work in this research program include: (a) the development of socially transformative STEM education materials for K-12 students and teachers; (b) explorations of what happens when students and teachers encounter socially transformative STEM curricula; (c) explorations of the conditions that mitigate against socially transformative STEM education; and (d) advocacy for curriculum, instruction, and educational structures that are conducive to socially transformative STEM curricula.

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Theoretical Publications*

• Mutegi, J. W., & Momanyi, L. O. (2020). Windows and mirrors: three images of the US science curriculum as reflected through Kenya's Jua Kali. Cultural Studies of Science Education. (Full Text • Editorial Cartoon • Invited Lecture)

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• Mutegi, J. W., Phelps-Moultrie, J. A., & Pitts Bannister, V. R. (2018). The snare of systemic racism and other challenges confronting hip hop based pedagogy. Teachers College Record, 120(11), 1-17. (Full Text • Editorial Cartoon • Infographic • TCR Vialogues)

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• Pitts Bannister, V. R., Davis, J., Mutegi, J. W., Thompson, L. R., & Lewis, D. D. (2017). "Returning to the root" of the problem: Improving the social condition of African Americans through science and mathematics education. Catalyst: A Social Justice Forum, 7(1), 4-14. (Full Text)

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• Mutegi, J. W., & Pitts Bannister, V. R. (2014). A critical analysis of hip hop pedagogy: Guest editors’ commentary. African American Learners, 3(1-2). (Full Text)

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• Davis, J. L., Pitts-Bannister, V. R., & Mutegi, J. W. (2014). Hip-hop and mathematics: A critical review of Schooling Hip-Hop: Expanding Hip-Hop Based Education Across the Curriculum. Journal of Urban Mathematics Education, 7(1), 96-106. (Full Text)

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• ​Mutegi, J. W. (2013). "Life's first need is for us to be realistic" and other reasons for examining the sociocultural construction of race in the science performance of African American students. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 50, 82-103. (Full Text)

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• ​Mutegi, J. W. (2011). The inadequacies of “science for all” and the necessity and nature of a socially transformative curriculum approach for African American science education. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 48, 301-316. (Full Text  • Editorial Cartoon)

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• Lewis, B. F. (2003). A critique of literature on the underrepresentation of African Americans in science: Directions for future research. Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering, 9, 361-373. (Full Text)

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• ​Lewis, B. F., & Aikenhead, G. S. (2001). Introduction: Shifting perspectives from universalism to cross-culturalism. Science Education, 85, 3-5. (Full Text)

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Empirical Publications*

• Mutegi, J. W. (2020). A critical examination of the influence of systemic racism in shaping the African STEM research workforce. In E. O. McGee & W. H. Robinson (Eds.), Diversifying STEM: Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Race and Gender (pp. 107-121). New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press. (Full Text)

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• Mutegi J. W., Sorge B., Fore G. A., & Gibau G. S. (2019). A tale of two camps: A mixed methods investigation into racially disparate outcomes in a nanotechnology research experience. Science Education, 1–22. (Full Text • Editorial Cartoon)

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• Mutegi, J. W., & Pitts-Bannister, V. R. (Eds.). (2014). Critical Analysis of Hip-Hop Pedagogy (Vol. 3).

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• Mutegi, J. W., Pitts-Bannister, V. R., Nichols, B., Priester, D., Murdoch, Y., & Richardson, L. (2014). Tales from the mic: A content analysis of 10 years of hip-hop lyrics. African American Learners, 3(1-2). (Full Text)

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• Dowdell, T. S., & Mutegi, J. W. (2014). “‘You’re going to teach this to kids’?!: A beginning teachers’ experience using hip hop based pedagogy to teach mathematics to urban elementary students. African American Learners, 3(1-2). (Full Text)

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• Collins, A. C., & Lewis, B. F. (2008). How rituals and traditions are used as tools of socialization at Black women's colleges. Journal of Thought, 43(3&4), 47-57. (Full Text)

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• Pitts, V. R., Jamar, I., & Mutegi, J. W. (2007). Line graph learning: The development of one student's graph interpretation skills. Science and Children, 45(2), 30-32. (Full Text)

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• Lewis, B. F., & Moin, L. J. (2006). Exploratory study of a tool to promote preservice teachers' reflection on students' science knowledge. Journal of Research in Education, 16, 58-68. (Full Text)

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• Thompson, L. R., & Lewis, B. F. (2005). Shooting for the stars: A case study of the mathematics achievement and career attainment of an African American male high school student. High School Journal, 88(4), 6-18. (Full Text)

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• Lewis, B. F., & Connell, S. (2005). African American students' career considerations and reasons for enrolling in advanced science courses. Negro Educational Review, 56, 221-231. (Full Text)

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• Lewis, B. F., Pitts, V. R., & Collins, A. C. (2002). A descriptive study of pre-service teachers' perceptions of African American students' ability to achieve in mathematics and science. Negro Educational Review, 53, 31-42. (Full Text)

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• Lewis, B. F., & Collins, A. (2001). Interpretive investigation of the science-related career decisions of three African-American college students. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 38, 599-621. (Full Text)

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Translational Scholarship*

Translational research is inter-disciplinary, it has the goal of making a difference in people’s lives, and it takes knowledge generated from scientific inquiry and transforms that knowledge into practices and solutions. These publications represent our translational work.

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• Mutegi, J. W., & Gee, V. (2021). The molecules that make me unique. Science Scope, 44(3), 44-49. (Full Text)

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• Morton, C. H., & Mutegi, J. W. (2013). Red Alert: A simulation. Mathematics Teaching, 234, 29-32. (Full Text)

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• Mutegi, J. W., & Morton, C. H. (2012). Socially Transformative Science Pedagogy for African American Males: Dispatches from the Vanguard. African American Learners, 1(2). (Full Text)

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• Mutegi, J. W. (2011). Scientists in the Making: Promoting African American Students’ Interest in Science through Inquiry-based, Culturally Relevant Instruction. Contemporary Issues in Education Research, 5(1), 51-61. (Full Text)

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• Hermann, R., & Lewis, B. F. (2004). A formative assessment of geologic time for high school earth science students. Journal of Geoscience Education, 52, 231-235. (Full Text)

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• Hermann, R., & Lewis, B. F. (2003). Moon misconceptions: Bringing pedagogical research of lunar phases into the classroom. The Science Teacher, 70(8), 51-55. (Full Text)

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*Full text copies for most articles are available through ResearchGate. Some publishers block access to full text articles through this platform. If an article you want is not available here, please "Request Full Text" and we will provide it to you.

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