Why are There So Few Female Physicists? Examining the High School Physics Classroom and the Effect it has on the Female Learner by Laura Ann Robertson. A paper written in 2003 as an undergraduate at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York. Laura graduated in 2004 from Vassar with an A.B. in physics. As of 2007, she lives in Washington, D.C. [email protected]
This paper is abridged as an article of the same title in The Physics Teacher (March 2006) Volume 44, Issue 3, pp. 177-180. Available at
ABSTRACT
This paper examines the physics classroom and the effect it has on the female learner. In today’s society, females are no longer explicitly discouraged from participating in physics, but a gender disparity continues to exist. (AAUW, 1998) As females get higher up in the academic ladder, they are less and less likely to pursue physics. (Ivie & Stowe, 2000, p. 1) This paper assumes that is because of the social factors in the classrooms and American society, and not because females are less “able” to study physics. The essay begins with a broad discussion of the social norms inherent within American society today, and the effects they have on the overall interaction of females with the school system. The essay then moves on to how students are counseled in physics, though there was very little research in this area available. The physics classroom is then specifically examined concerning students’ relationships to themselves, their teachers and their fellow students. There are often negative interactions between females and those that surround them in the classroom, thus inhibiting them from involving themselves in physics. Lastly, we look at extracurricular activities for females in science, as well as looking at how the male student is disenfranchised in the classroom. This paper was written using relevant research, as well as results from a survey (with Institutional Review Board approval) that was emailed to two Physics List Serves, which asked teachers about the interactions they had observed in their own classrooms. A copy of the survey can be seen in Appendix B. Gender Roles in Physics 2
How can the physics classroom be changed to better educate the female students?
A Introduction
I. Social Norms in General
II. Choosing Physics: Guidance Counselors & Parents
III. How Females Relate to Self in the Classroom
IV. Inside the Classroom: Everyday Interactions
V. Student-Teacher Interactions
VI. Student-Student Interactions
VII. Textbooks, Computers, Examples Used in the Classroom and Other Resources
VIII. Extracurricular Activities
IX. Male Disparities in Education
X. Conclusion: Further Pursuits and Encouragement
Maria Mitchell: “In my younger days, when I was pained by the half-educated, loose and inaccurate ways that we [women] had, I used to say, ‘How much women need exact science.’ But since I have known some workers in science who were not always true to the teachings of nature, who have loved self more than science, I have now said, ‘How much science needs women.’” (Orenstein, 1994, 753)
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INTRODUCTION
It is 1962 and an adolescent female is trying to decide what classes to take, the principal urges her, “a girl has no need for physics” (Sadker & Sadker, 1994, p. 120). Statements like this may no longer be spoken by school counselors or administrators; however, the perspectives that shaped that sentence are often part of the hidden and subtle discriminatory attitudes still active in today’s schools. Therefore, the classroom environment must be studied to determine how these attitudes are revealing themselves so we can work to overcome these manifestations and create an equal opportunity for both genders. Gender disparities in the classroom need to be properly addressed because all students should be able to pursue the field of their choice based on individual interests and achievements, and not on outside influences like their gender or socio-economic status. The fields of mathematics and the sciences have been historically male- dominated, and the gender inequalities in physics tend to be the highest among the sciences (AAUW, 1998, p.3). From Galileo to Newton and Einstein to Feynman, the predominant figures of the field have been men. Women have been told throughout history that they have a different type of brain, less suited for the high-level problem solving necessary for physics. Currently, it is socially incorrect for counselors to discourage females from taking classes in the sciences, but it must be noted that this has only changed within the last 10-15 years, so many of the attitudes within that framework are still present today. The point of this paper, working off MaryAnn Martin’s idea, “While many barriers to a girls’ education in science education have been recognized, some still lie hidden waiting to ensnare us,” (Martin, 1996, p. 8) is to reveal and assess these barriers and suggest practices to counter them. Before delving into the issues involved in females’ education in physics, it is important to show that the physics classroom in the United States is biased, and then describe a few assumptions that the paper will be based upon.
Female Participation in Physics, at All Academic Levels A few highlights from past research show that, “male students receive more of every type of classroom interaction…. Most teachers are unaware of their differential treatment of students based on gender.” (Jones & Wheatley, 1990, p. 873). Teachers have been known to, “teach [boys] more actively [than girls],” (Sadker & Sadker, 1994, p. 5) as well as spend more time praising males’ responses to questions than females (Jones & Wheatley, 1990, p. 867). Therefore, females are not treated fairly within the classroom.
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High SchoolCourses Male Females Algebra I 65%s 68% Geometry 68% 72% Algebra II 55% 62% Trigonometry 17% 17% Analysis/Pre-Calculus 16% 18% Calculus 9% 9% Biology 92% 95% Chemistry 53% 59% Physics 27% 22% * From (Kleinfeld, 1998, p. 28) It is also disturbing to see the trend that, “Girls’ AP and honors course enrollments are comparable to or greater than those of boys, except in physics.” (AAUW, 1998, p. 292) In the figure on the previous page, (Kleinfeld, 1998, p. 28) the comparison of males and females enrolled in various academic subjects can be observed. While the numbers are encouraging for all other subjects, there still continues to be a disparity with regards to physics education. Therefore, the number of students enrolled in physics classes is affected by gender. However, the number of females participating in physics is increasing, “Figure 1” below speaks to that assertion.
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Though the number of females enrolled in high school physics may be increasing, “Women’s participation in physics decreases with each step up the academic ladder.” (Ivie & Stowe, 2000, p. 1) and, “physics is not attracting women as quickly as other fields.” (Ivie & Stowe, 2000, p. 4). This trend can be seen in the graphs on the next page. “Figure 2” shows that females are only 31 percent of the majors in two year colleges, while “Figure 3” shows that, as of 1998, 19 percent of Bachelor’s Degrees in physics were awarded to females, while only 13 percent of PhD’s in 1998 were awarded to females.
Discrimination must be occurring in the high school and college physics classrooms that discourages females from pursuing this subject. The objective of this paper is to examine the high school physics classroom and discover the ways in which females are disenfranchised.
Assumptions this Paper is Based Upon The first assumption I will make is that females are just as capable as males at learning physics concepts. So, it should trouble us when we learn that, “A marked gender gap persists in physics, where girls’ enrollments lag behind boys.” (AAUW, 1998, p. 3) In my personal conversations with people, I have heard many say that the sciences are simply easier for males and the male brain, justifying the discrepancies through biological predestination. “Some observers have hypothesized that women do not have personality characteristics that are compatible with science.” (Ivie & Stowe, 2000, p. 12) If one were to argue that a specific race was better at a specific school subject, it would be unacceptable, however, it seems to be okay to say that males are ‘just better at science’. Labudde showed in his research that, “girls and boys – when beginning with their first physics course in the upper secondary level – have a different background and different interests in physics, but similar spatial and language abilities.” (Labudde, et al., 1996, p. 5) Therefore, the students have similar abilities, and all students, regardless of gender, can excel in the subject. This leads to the next assumption; the large discrepancies in the number of females participating in physics are a result of social and environmental factors that can be changed. Many females are disenfranchised around puberty. Jones & Wheatley note, “The fact that few or no gender differences are apparent until puberty suggests that socialization may contribute part of the explanation for these differences.” (Jones & Wheatley, 1990, p. 862) Therefore, we should examine the existing social pressures for these adolescents during their teenage years, and determine what methods of intervention we can implement to facilitate their continued interest in physics. Another assumption, closely related to the first assumption stated, is the idea that all people can excel in physics. This can start off on a basic level, with a quote from Sizer, “If a child does not learn, we must blame his school, not him.” (Sizer, 1996, p. 35) It is not that some concepts are too difficult to grasp, it is that the teachers need to work to explain the concepts to all members of the classroom. Lemke noted, “If some students do badly in science, it is not because science is so difficult or because they are so dumb. It is because the way science is presented to them seems too unfamiliar. If the teaching of science is so arranged as to make it seem otherwise, that too favors the interests of
5 Gender Roles in Physics 6 those who find it convenient that the mass of people leave science in the hands of a small elite.” (Lemke, 1990, p. 139) This paper is dedicated to determining ways to make physics truly open to all students, regardless of gender. The last assumption I make is that it is in everyone’s best interest to make sure that females are encouraged. At a conference at Bridgewater State College, Neil de Grasse Tyson gave a talk on the future of science education in the United States. The George W. Bush Administration had asked him to do a survey of science education in the United States, compared to other countries. His results showed that the United States was lagging behind, and we were in a precarious situation for our future. (October 25, 2002) America is a supplier of technology and research to the world, if we are failing at this assistance; we are not doing our part as citizens of the world. Thus, it is vital that we are not also losing 51% of our future physicists simply because they are females. The American Association of University Women points out, “If we continue to compromise the education of half our work force, America will lose its competitive edge. The equation is that simple.” (AAUW, 1998, p. 5) Title IX requires that we create school environments that do not discriminate with regards to gender. However, especially due to top down government politics, research concentrating on gender has been stifled in the past. Title IX, which was passed in 1972, faced much opposition after it was declared law. For example, “In 1974 Congress had passed [the Women’s Educational Equity Act] to establish model educational programs to combat sex bias…President Reagan first tried to abolish the agency and when that failed, to withhold funds.” (Tyack & Hansot, 1992, p. 26) We must ensure that the American public and politicians understand the importance of conducting research on gender issues in education. Lastly, it is imperative to stress that improving the learning environment for females will enhance the educational experience for all students. As Barbara Guzzetti notes, “Males are also disenfranchised when gendered discourse occurs in science classrooms.” (Guzzetti, 1998, p. 8) By becoming sensitive to the issues females encounter in learning physics, we will be able to have resources to help all types of learners in the classroom. One physics teacher notes, in her paper, “This is not just a woman’s issue…. I know from experience that the gender bias in science is a matter of concern to both male and female teachers.” (Parker, 2002, p. 12) As this is a topic that affects all students, it is something that should be studied by all teachers, regardless of their own gender. In this paper I mainly used research conducted after 1995, with a focus on the most recent research. I felt that any work from earlier times would not apply, as there have been many changes to the education system. I also made an effort to use research specific to physics. This stems from my reading of Anastasia Kostakis’ work, which showed that you cannot look at research in one subject and apply it directly to another. (Kostakis, 1987) There are many factors besides gender that influence the physics classroom: race, socioeconomic status, discipline records, urban vs. rural school environments, etc… Barbara Guzzetti notes, “Recent investigations have shown…that other influences, like ethnicity, do interact with gender and impact students’ instructional interactions.” (Guzzetti, 1998, p. 3) However, due to the confines of my topic it was necessary to concentrate on gender.
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CHAPTER ONE: SOCIAL NORMS IN GENERAL
By the time physics students reach the classroom in 11th or 12th grade, much gender socialization has already occurred. “By the time children reach adolescence, they have internalized many socio-cultural norms from their experiences with parents and peers. Children construct gender in the context of socio-cultural norms that favor particular ways of knowing for males and females.” (Robinson, 1996, p. 2) These students are familiar with the gender roles they are expected to play in society, and have often conformed to these stereotypes. This makes changing the physics classroom difficult, as students have frequently become complacent and scared of change, or even intimidated of talking about the need for change. Barbara Guzzetti reflects, “Females expressed their fears of repercussion in attempting to violate these norms,” (1998, p. 31) and, “I am still struck by the resistance on the part of both males and females to confront the problem publicly, despite their complaints to me privately...” (1998, p. 36). It is a travesty that the systems students have become a part of could discourage them from pursuing physics. Teachers also play a huge role in the maintenance of gender roles in the classroom, “Hence, it is not necessary for teachers to be overtly sexist, but to merely follow socialization conventions to encourage gender bias.” (Guzzetti & Williams, 1996, p. 6) It is important to note that males and females are different. Beverly Tannen writes, “Pretending that women and men are the same hurts women, because the ways they are treated are based on the norms for men.” (1990, p. 16). Males and females interact differently to the world around them because they are socialized differently in our society. Beverly Tannen’s argument can be seen when she writes, “The desire to affirm that women are equal has made some scholars reluctant to show they are different, because differences can be used to justify unequal treatment and opportunity… Recognizing gender differences frees individuals from the burden of individual pathology.” (1990, p. 17). Therefore, when we can accept that males and females are different, we can accept that it is necessary to be sensitive to their varying needs both inside and outside the classroom. Research has been done on the effects of society on female’s learning expectations, and the ways that students apply the social expectations that are forced on them to their intellectual and professional pursuits. Mary Stewart recognizes the socialization that females are expected to conform to when she states, “This early socialization, which Kelly (1981) calls ‘the cultural theory’, may lead girls away from science ‘by virtue of the toys they are given to play with, the hobbies they are encouraged in, the household jobs they are asked to help with and the masculine image of science and scientists in books, films and television.’” (Stewart, 1998, p. 284) A recent article in a magazine advertised as “A Feminist Response to Pop Culture” discusses the ways toys are manufactured and advertised for boys and girls. They observed that for a Push & Ride toy made by Little Tikes® the marketing was different for the girls and boys, showing that, “The Little Tikes website says of the Doll Walker, ‘The doll seat on the cute toddler-mobile holds a favorite doll or stuffed toy’; it calls the Racer [same Push & Ride, but pale blue in color] ‘sporty toddler-mobile’ with a ‘high spoiler.’” (Jervis & Zeisler, 2003, p. 35)
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In adolescence males and females are going through many changes: physical, emotional and social. The American Association of University Women did a study to determine what students were proud of with regards to their lives. They found that, “Almost twice as many boys as girls refer to their talents as what they like most about themselves…Girls are nearly twice as likely as boys to mention a physical characteristic as the thing they like most about themselves.” (AAUW, 1994, p. 8) This concentration on physical beauty can affect the value that the students place on their studies. It is important to understand why female students concentrate on their physical beauty, and why this may in fact harm their attentiveness and involvement in the classroom.
At What Point Do These Changes in Interest Occur? The American Association of University Women performed research in 1994 and found that, “For what happens to girls in school is cause for grave concern. Girls begin first grade with comparable skills and ambition to boys, but by the time girls finish high school, most have suffered a disproportionate loss of confidence in their academic abilities.” (AAUW, 1994, pp. 4-5) It is vital to understand this change from motivation and determination to apathy and acceptance.
When exactly do these changes occur? Clewell and Ginorio note that “Attitudes that influence course taking in high school are present at middle grades. Some girls are already avoiding science electives….” (1996, p. 622) The middle school years are pivotal in students’ perceptions of self and self in relation to society as a whole. These years are also essential for students’ pursuit of their future endeavors. Many students’ involvement in middle school classes will directly affect their involvement in high school classes. For example, at my middle school, if students did not get into honors math in 7th grade, they would have difficulty advancing to calculus in high school. Because mathematics classes can be prerequisites to studying physics at both the high school and college levels, it is necessary to analyze females’ participation levels in these subjects. Many of the social pressures during puberty require that females overlook their own desires and aspirations and instead follow the desires of the people around them. “Educational gender differences begin their escalation around puberty. The socialization influences encourage girls to be ‘good girls’; they are pleasers, compliant and selfless.” (Schrof, 1996, p. 43) The desire to be complacent will limit a student from getting involved in physics (Guzzetti & Williams, 1998), so, these attitudes that can influence a student outside the classroom must be confronted in the learning environment.
Social Pressures Apparent in High School As students are taking physics in high school, it is also important to look at the social pressures that female students are facing outside the classroom. Many females feel that they must, “be smart and appear dumb...The point is not whether you are smart, but whether you are in tune with the social cues and willing to hide your capabilities in public…” (Brown, 2002, p. 208) Interviewers who traveled the country heard many female students express, “…the pressures to be ‘nice’ and quite, to get along with everyone, to avoid conflict or even notice.” (AAUW, 1996, p. 243) This is a difficult contradiction the females feel pushed to maintain in their lives, affecting how they are able to express themselves in the classroom.
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However, not all females feel pressure to conform to these stereotypes. One article examined females who rebelled against the social and classroom norms for their gender. In an article entitled “How Girls Negotiate School” published by the American Association of University Women, the authors found that some female students are able to, “identify male privilege and turn it to [their] own advantage.” (AAUW, 1996, 266) It is important to show that there are things that can be done to assist females in overcoming these expectations, and there are females who are not as disenfranchised in the classroom environment. Throughout this paper, we will examine ways to encourage females to talk about and overcome the social norms that discourage them from pursuing physics.
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CHAPTER TWO: CHOOSING PHYSICS - GUIDANCE COUNSELORS & PARENTS
“Girls’ failure to take more top math and science courses remains an obstinate problem, with a long-term impact. Data on college majors and degrees earned indicate that girls may not make the transition from high school math and science courses to advanced post-secondary courses in these fields. This failure threatens to make women bystanders in the burgeoning technology industry of the 21st century and keep women underrepresented in high-salaried, intellectually challenging engineering, biochemistry, and biotechnology careers.” (AAUW, 1998, Course Taking Patterns, pp. 293-4)
There is currently a disparity between the number of males and females enrolled in physics. Throughout this paper, we are examining possible reasons for this gap, and here we will look at how the mentors in their lives affect the courses they pursue. Are females being encouraged by their parents, counselors and mentors to take physics? Are they being affected by how physics is viewed in our society? Current research has shown that, “students who aspired to nontraditional careers had high academic achievement, self-esteem, internal locus of control, parental expectations, and socioeconomic status.” (Mau, 2003, 2) It is often these high-achieving students who are more likely to continue onto nontraditional subjects. Physics should be arranged in such a way that males and females of equal intelligence pursue it, not only the exceptional female science students.
Socialization of Physics
Different levels of participation can occur for many reasons, one of them being that, “We do not just teach science, we also communicate, often without realizing it, a set of harmful attitudes about science.” (Lemke, 1990, p.127) Our society is constructed in such a way that the math and sciences are the “hard subjects”. I have been told by grown men and women that they, “just don’t do math.” Brotherton notes, specifically with regards to physics that it, “has an unproven reputation that prevents students from trying to learn about it. This prejudice is particularly strong in the female student population.” (Brotherton, n.d., p. 1) This can be seen vividly whenever I mention that I am a physics major. People are automatically impressed, and usually share some story of how hard physics was for them in high school. In this way, physics is an “untouchable” subject. The idea seems to be that only the very brave and very intelligent should attempt to master it. In this regard, students can be discouraged from studying physics because it is too difficult. In reality, physics is simply another subject; if taught in the proper way, every student can understand the basic concepts of the material.
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The Groundwork for Physics – Mathematics
Many female students do not have the same level of math instruction as their peers, and in this way do not have the foundation to study physics. As the American Association of University Women noted in one of their studies, “…girls are more likely than boys to end their high school math careers with Algebra II” (AAUW, 1998, p. 279) This restricts the females from being able to move on to calculus-based physics or to fully understand the concepts discussed in class because much of physics depends on math. The reasons that females are avoiding higher-level mathematics are probably similar to the reasons why females are avoiding physics. Because of this, it is vital for school counselors to encourage females to take the advanced math and science classes that can lead them into physics. Experimental research has shown that, “Schools do not identify girls for their mathematics and science talents in the same proportion as boys, who, likewise, are not identified for their English, language or art abilities in the same proportions as girls.” (AAUW, 1998, p. 291) In this way, females who are talented in the math and sciences might be overlooked because of their gender; something must be done so all can be encouraged to take these classes. The American Association of University Women suggest that, “In developing curriculum standards, states should make rigorous courses of Algebra I and geometry mandatory for all students, as the gatekeeper classes for college admissions and for advanced study in math, science, engineering and computer science.” (AAUW, 1998, pp. 294-5)
Counselors School counselors play a vital role in encouraging or discouraging students to take specific classes. They are the ones (in most school systems) who sign off on course selection cards, thereby approving the students’ class decisions. Tyack and Hansot observed that, “Counselors often held sex-stereotypes notions of what courses or careers were appropriate for males and females…” (Tyack & Hansot, 1992, p. 19) It is also the job of the counselor to encourage students to pursue different classes. Wei-Cheng Mau notes, “Given the importance of self-efficacy, it is crucial for career counselors to develop interventions that build minority and female students’ confidence and increase their self-understanding.” (Mau, 2003, 6) These counselors can provide an important role of intervening and influencing female students’ beliefs regarding their capabilities. In the survey that was sent out to the physics teachers, three out of the 15 respondents felt that the counselors did not encourage the female students in the sciences to the best of their abilities, one teacher wrote, “The counselors and administration are mostly English/history types and don’t really promote science.” Therefore, physics teachers must make a special effort to educate the counselors regarding these subjects. This was successful for one of the respondents to the survey who wrote, “They were/are quite responsive to our help with their education and can talk intelligently to our students about their preparation requirements and college options if they are interested in [math, science and engineering].”
Parents
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Parents also play a vital role in what classes their children take in high school. As Horn and Chen found, “students whose parents frequently discussed school-related matters and/or had high educational expectations were much more likely than other students to enroll in postsecondary education” (Horn & Chen, 1998, p.1) As one female physicist recalled her childhood years, “Both my parents supported my interest in science. My parents bought me a telescope, a chemistry set, geology kits, and electronic kits. My mother woke me up for every US space launch and watched the paper for special astronomical events.” (Ivie, Czujko & Stowe, 2001, p. 7) Here, we can see that a professional physicist remembers being affected by her parents’ interest in physics/astronomy; we should never underestimate the power of a supportive parent. The impact of students being encouraged by their parents is clear – if they do not expect Jenny to study science because she is a female, this will affect the types of courses Jenny will have a desire to study. We must acknowledge that the attitudes of all people involved in a student’s life affect how they view the importance of their studies overall, and with regards to certain subjects. Many social stereotypes need to be addressed before the female learner can feel encouraged to pursue the field of her choice. Parents can take an active role in encouraging a female to pursue all subjects, and not limit herself to what is socially expected of her.
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CHAPTER THREE: HOW FEMALES RELATE TO SELF IN THE CLASSROOM
To begin to understand the physics classroom environment for females, we will start by examining how the female learner relates to herself in the classroom. It is impossible to separate this from how she relates to other students and the teacher, as all of these combined create the classroom environment where she exists. However, by examining the way the female student acts in the classroom, we can begin to have deeper insight into how interactions with teachers and students can affect her participation and motivation. Barbara Guzzetti writes strongly about how females’, “lack of presence [in the classroom] was evidenced by the absence of their voice in classroom discussions, their physical seating away from the teacher, their withdrawal from class activity, and, in some cases, by absenteeism.” (Guzzetti, 1998, p. 24) The worst interaction a student can have towards a learning environment is a lack of participation and feeling of worth in it. This was also seen in observations by Brown when interviewing Theresa, a physics student, who referred to her place in the classroom as “invisibility.” (Brown, 2002, 213) If a female student does not believe she is a vital part of the classroom, that student will not feel comfortable to add her own ideas to the classroom discussions, lab groups or other classroom interactions. Many quotes from students involved in physics talk about the lack of respect in the classroom. One student remarked, “[one male student] treats me like I don’t know anything knowledge wise” (Guzzetti, 1998, 27). These interactions, because they are not a one-time action but an ongoing struggle that female students face on a daily basis, affect the levels of involvement they are willing to put into the classroom. If a female student perceives herself as less worthy in the classroom, she will be afraid to speak up to answer a question, afraid to try to make lab equipment work, and afraid to challenge herself. This will take her away from the necessary interactions to learn physics, and create a larger distance between her and the material she is attempting to learn. These attitudes lead to a fascinating discrepancy between male and female learners, “males blame their failure on lack of effort and females blame their failure on lack of ability” (Jones & Wheatley, 1990, p. 869). This is important, because it shows that females are more likely to put themselves down and remove themselves from active involvement in physics if they feel that they are unable to do the difficult work. Therefore, it is vital that female students perceive they are a valuable part of a classroom environment, and that the environment is constructed so that it is acceptable to make mistakes. If females sense that other students or the teacher do not value them as a scholar, they will be less involved in their studies. Thus, if females even perceive discrimination in their classroom they will be less likely to apply themselves to their studies. Guzzetti & Williams saw this in a high school physics classroom with a specific student, “Whether actual or imagined, however, Marcey’s perceptions that she was being discriminated against by Oz due to her gender was real to her. She was too upset to continue in her lab group, and felt the need to confide in a friend. Her perceptions took her off task.” (Guzzetti & Williams, 1998, p. 16) Females are well aware of the gender issues in a classroom (AAUW; 1996; Brown, 1998; Guzzetti, 1998; Martin, 1996) Throughout their educational career, in history class and even in English class, they are used to reading books by and about men.
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For example, as Sadker and Sadker state in their book on studies of textbooks, “the typical history text gave only two sentences to enfranchising half the population…each time a girl opens a book and reads a womanless history, she learns she is worth less” (Sadker & Sadker, 1994, 7 & 13) Though females may be aware of the gender discrimination in the classroom, many still feel reluctant to speak up about these gender disparities. Guzzetti and Williams have performed research in the high school physics classroom, spending time observing and interviewing students. Though students would talk to the researchers when it was an individual interview, “females were reluctant to react to our data, and refused to elaborate on their complaints in a whole-class discussion… One girl stated that, ‘it just isn’t worth it.’” (1998, 16) Thus, the student is afraid to even discuss that she feels discriminated against; therefore, teachers must be sensitive to these issues and encourage the females to talk about their experience. If a female physics student is afraid to involve herself in the classroom environment, and feels that all her mistakes are due to her lack of ability, she will struggle to understand the basic concepts in class. This student is far less likely to pursue physics in her future, “If female students perceive themselves as less able in science, they may therefore fail to enroll in any further science courses except those that are required.” (Jones & Wheatley, 1990, p. 869). This situation must be changed – females need to feel they are capable of studying physics, and that they are as entitled to this knowledge as anyone else. The following chapters will show how those around them affect the female students. Myra and David Sadker interviewed women and were surprised to find that, “What is fascinating about these incidents from the past is how intensely women remember them twenty, thirty and forty years later. It might have been just a phrase, a comment in class, a counseling session, a meeting in a school administrators office, but they changed attitudes, self-esteem, career goals, and the direction of women’s lives.” (Sadker & Sadker, 1994, p. 35) Though these statements might not mean much to those speaking them, females, and all people, are highly influenced by the attitudes of those they respect.
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CHAPTER FOUR: INSIDE THE CLASSROOM: EVERYDAY INTERACTIONS
By examining how female students relate to themselves, their fellow classmates and the other students – all things I have already touched upon, or will do in the next two chapters, we can understand the female’s experience in the physics classroom more fully. It is also vital to look at day-to-day classroom structures and methods to see how gender issues affect them. The two things we will examine in this section are classroom discussions and lab groups. By examining research by Barbara Guzzetti, Wayne Williams and Beverly Tannen, we can see additional ways to make the physics classroom equal for all.
Classroom Discussions Research has been done with regards to how males and females discuss ideas, “[Females] are forced into lower positions in the discussion by men not giving them a chance to talk, by men disregarding what they say when they do get a chance, by men not taking them seriously as equal participants in the discussion. Women have fewer conversational rights than men – e.g., the right to finish a turn, the right to not be disturbed while speaking, etc. Those who have more rights, more power, can more easily be successful. Success is constructed for the more powerful and not for the most able.” (Tromel-Plotz, 1985, p. 7) Classroom discussions and lectures are the most important part of a student’s conceptualization of physics. It is through these teachings and the questions that come out of them that the student learns physics. Guzzetti and Williams have completed work on the physics classroom discussion. Through their research, we will be able to more fully comprehend the ways teacher and students relate in the classroom. When looking at this information, the assumption we make is, “when males are not socialized to listen to others, they, too, are disenfranchised, denied a strategy that enables learning through collaboration, by talking with rather than to others.” (Guzzetti & Williams, 1996, p. 46) The lack of a female voice in discussions is seen in the culture at large, thus it is not only in the classroom that these issues come out. “Women are believed to talk too much. Yet study after study finds that it is men who talk more – at meetings, in mixed- group discussions, and in classrooms where girls or young women sit next to boys or young men.” (Tannen, 1990, p. 75) This phenomenon persists in the physics classroom, “In the honors physics class, only one female expressed a proclivity to talk in whole-class discussions, and then only if she was positive of her idea. By contrast, 40% of the males in this section stated they participated often in their class discussions.” (Guzzetti & Williams, 1996, p. 14) We can also see that the type of discussions involving students reacting to one another’s hypotheses and thought processes can favor male learners, “Fifty percent of the boys stated they were likely to argue a point, whereas 70% of the girls reported they would not.” (Guzzetti & Williams, 1996, p. 14) We need to realize that these differences are tangible, and work to understand how we can overcome these barriers. The teacher’s treatment of students in a classroom discussion will have a huge effect on these learners. There is factual evidence that teachers spend more time listening
16 Gender Roles in Physics 17 to an answer from a male student, than from a female student, (AAUW, 1994, p. 14) a concept that will be discussed in Chapter Five. Why are females afraid to speak out? The overall issue is most likely the pattern of socialization that these female students have been implicitly taught to conform to. Female students, as was noted in the last chapter, can also feel unworthy and unintelligent in the classroom, which causes them to hold back from speaking up in a classroom filled with their peers. “…Females’ reasons for not speaking out were not only because of their lack of self-confidence or fear of violating social conventions, but also because they felt intimidated.” (Guzzetti & Williams, 1996, p. 42) Teachers might not be aware of female’s fears to speak out in class, and might be oblivious to the power dynamic evident among students. With regards to the students in the class being unaware of the power dynamic, Barbara Guzzetti and Wayne Williams observed a high school physics classroom and found, “Almost all of the males (93%) nominated a boy as the person who talked the most in class, but only 50% of them stated that they noticed gender differences in classroom talk.” (1996, p. 13) Though a male being the one who talks most in class does not guarantee that there is inequality in the learning environment; the finding that half of the students did not notice gender differences speaks volumes. The concern here is not only that the males are dominating the classroom discussions, but also determining the reasons for this need of control, and the environment that is created when such domination occurs. When examining the ways that students reacted to one another in the classroom, researchers found, “males to be competitive and, on the whole, unlikely to incorporate verbal suggestions from females.” (Guzzetti & Williams, 1996, p. 43) This is occurring at the same time when the females are holding themselves back, “Comments from the girls were characterized by self-doubt and lack of self-confidence…By contrast, comments from males were more likely to be characterized by self-assertion and self- esteem.” (Guzzetti & Williams, 1996, p. 13) Thus, we can see that the classroom environment can seem abrasive to the female learner. If a female is unable to add her own ideas to the discussion, the entire class is losing out on valuable ideas. Beverly Tannen in her essay “You Just Don’t Understand,” writes, “It is not surprising that women are most comfortable talking when they feel safe and close, among friends and equals, whereas men feel comfortable talking when there is a need to establish and maintain their status in a group.” (1990, p. 94) By looking at this, we can observe that males and females engage in conversations on very different levels. Females are more likely to hold themselves back unless they know they have the right answer, whereas males are less afraid to say what they believe and stand up for this even when other students dispute the validity of their statements. This will be touched upon more when we discuss the teacher’s use of different types of learning in the classroom. For now, we can discern that there are power structures apparent in classroom discussions, and that females feel less comfortable when they must confront other students and directly argue with their points. Do these differences in participation even matter? Can’t females learn just as many physics concepts by listening to their classmates? No. Physics is a subject where it is important to make personal connections to the material. Karen Williams examined the levels of speaking in a college physics class and compared those to how well a student’s
17 Gender Roles in Physics 18 knowledge of a specific subject matter in physics improved. Her research concluded that the higher a students level of apprehension for participation, the lower the increase in their pre- and post-test testing for a specific topic. (Williams, 2000, p. 235) She determined that, “Memorizers tend to make fewer connections between concepts, thus their learning is more isolated than those who don’t memorize.” (Williams, 2000, p. 232) Therefore, it is possible to conclude that students who were less active learned less material, thus necessitating a classroom environment where all pupils participate equally. So, how can this problem be fixed? If one of the main issues, as we saw in a previous reference, is that teachers give females less time to answer a question than males, then simply allowing females more time to answer their questions should help. “Individually, teachers find that calling on students equitably, or simply waiting for a moment rather than recognizing the first child who raises his hand, encourages girls to participate more readily in class.” (Orenstein, 1994, p. 734) Scott Robinson believes it is an issue of not being sensitive towards the female learner, “The loss of the feminine voice in the physics class is not so much of an issue of not hearing the words spoken by the female students, it is a failure to listen to their language through connectedness and caring.” (Robinson, 1996, p. 15) Guzzetti and Williams make the recommendation to “Expand acceptable notion of science and ways of talking about science…Teachers can demonstrate that they value females’ language strategies by presenting women’s tendencies to question as positive rather than negative, and modeling questioning as a legitimate way to ‘talk science.’” (1996, p. 45) Lastly, Standler, Duit and Benke recommend asking more, “Open questions [which are] more similar to real questions that are used in daily life…” (2000, p. 418) These researchers believe the females are more likely to answer questions of this sort because they are more tied to relating physics to the outside world, something many educators have noted that females are concerned about. The results of this study can be seen below, and could facilitate the ways that educators formulate their questions: Girls Boys Teacher’s questions and students’ answers
Open questions are more frequently answered by …closed questions answered more frequently by the the girls… boys.
Girls’ answers: complete sentences, in everyday Boy’s answers: half sentences, clipped telegram language, without using physics technical terms. style, use of technical terms.
Social and verbal behaviour in group work
More frequently ask questions of the content in Ask questions how to further proceed in the process question. Reveal their uncertainties. Like to of making sense of the phenomenon. Hide their overcome them in discussions. uncertainties. Use imperatives and instructions more often.
Relate physics to their everyday knowledge (use Move into the framework of science (use scientific everyday language). Speak in a personal way about terminology). concrete situations, and use anthropomorphic explanations more often.
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Look for possible fields where they might find a Tend to look for concrete solutions to a problem. solution *From: (Standler, Duit & Benke, 2000, p. 421)
Laboratory Working Groups
Classroom discussions are very important for facilitating student’s understanding of physical concepts, whereas physics laboratory assignments help the students to apply the knowledge they have learned to tangible situations. Interestingly, though past research in the field hypothesized that gender roles will become less pronounced when students are arranged in small groups – they can actually become more prominent. “Gender inequalities were most evident in our observations of team work in laboratory assignments, consistent with Tobin’s (1988) observation that females are less likely to be involved in operating lab equipment.” (Guzzetti & Williams, 1996, p. 9) As well as, “contrary to expectations from the literature…females, when placed in small groups with males, did not talk more than they did in whole-class discussions.” (Guzzetti, 1998, p. 21) This is consistent with the ideas that children can often be assertive enforcers of gender roles. One physics teacher in response to the survey question asking if they observed gender stereotypical actions when their students worked in lab groups, wrote, “…some of the females will allow a male to take over the equipment and ‘run’ the lab…I have had very few females take over the experiments.” Another teacher wrote, “…sometimes the girls let the guys take charge and just sit passively…” However, these problems can be fixed. One teacher writes, “I constantly walk around and point out that [the females] need to participate to get points…” In Guzzetti’s observations of a high school physics classroom, the girls tended to act as secretaries while the boys performed the hands on experimentation. (Guzzetti, 1998, p. 23) Not only were these places where the gender roles were exerted, they were more pronounced in these situation than large group discussions. This is a trend that has been observed in other learning situations in the sciences, possibly because the males are more comfortable with the technology, but also because the boys are expected to take roles that are more active. Because of these observations, single-sex groupings in small groups are a solution to these disparities. If laboratory groups are arranged according to sex, members of both genders are forced to be the observer, machine worker, secretary and facilitator. This is one of the only ways to ensure that students do not depend on their gender to decide their role in the activity. Single-sex classes are often encouraged by educational researchers (Martin, 1996); however, it is important that males interact with females as peers and this effort is thwarted when they cannot interact on a high-school level.
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CHAPTER FIVE: STUDENT-TEACHER INTERACTIONS
The teacher plays a vital role in the physics classroom. “The role of the teachers as leader, rule-maker, and shaper of the social organization is key to making education work.” (Campbell & Wahl, 1998, p. 726) The teacher will set the precedent for the acceptable classroom behavior – both in their treatment of all students, and their mode of discipline. As such, the teacher’s sensitivity (or insensitivity) to gender roles in the classroom is very important. Research has been done on teacher’s understanding of how gender plays a role in their classroom environment, and many are surprised to see that it plays a role at all. In the survey I sent out to teachers, asking if they perceived any gender issues in classroom interactions, 7 out of the 15 teachers wrote that they did not notice any stereotypical gender issues during in-class discussions, while working in small groups (i.e. problem sets) or while working in the lab. This coincides with Barbara Guzzetti’s statement that, “…teachers typically are unaware of gender bias, both in their interactions with students, and in their methods of instruction (Sadker & Sadker, 1994; Tobin, 1988).” Therefore, it is not that the teachers do not care, but that they do not understand that gender is playing a role in their educational environment. Though the teachers may be unaware – the students are not. “In a recent survey, students in Michigan were asked, ‘Are there any policies, practices, including the behavior of teachers in classrooms, that have the effect of treating students differently based on their sex?’ One hundred percent of the middle school and 82 percent of the high school students responding said ‘yes.’” (AAUW, 1995, p. 370) Female students constantly complain about the way they are treated, saying things like “When I’m with boys, I feel really threatened, like I’m there to collect the data and write it down.” (Guzzetti & Williams, 1996, p. 31) One researcher examined the way the teacher and the students related when they were going up front for extra help, “All of the students who came to the teacher’s desk had their questions answered, but clearly the girls had determined their place. None of them edged into the group closest to the teacher, nor did any of them point out that a boy who joined the group later had usurped her turn. Further, none of the girls benefited from the teacher’s answers to the boys’ questions, nor the answers to the other girls’ questions. Each talked with the teacher separately, and only for the answer to her own question.” (Streitmatter, 1994, p. 372) In interactions like the one mentioned above, the teacher could have taken a more active role in ensuring that the females’ questions were answered in the proper order – and not allow them to be silenced by assertive boys. As Brown states, “The problem, in fact, seems not to be that the teachers do not care, but that unexamined class and cultural divides prevent shared understanding between the girls and their women teachers.” (Brown, 2002, p. 240) One of the most important overall focuses is that teachers need to believe in their students – and thus, only allow the best work from them. A psychology experiment was done where the researchers had students take an exam, which teachers were told would be, “a predictor of academic blooming or spurting. In other words, teachers believed that students who scored high on the test were ready to enter a period of increased learning abilities within the next year.” (Rosenthal & Jacobson, 1966, 95) However, the researchers disregarded the results from this test, which was actually an IQ test, and randomly assigned students
20 Gender Roles in Physics 21 to a top-ten list of bloomers, and then gave the teachers a copy of this list. By testing the students at the end of the year, they were able to see which students made the most academic gains in that school year. The results of their experiment showed that, “the teachers’ expectations of their students’ behavior became a self-fulfilling prophecy.” (Rosenthal & Jacobson, 1966, 96) However, we must make clear, that in this experiment, “the effect was very strong in the early grades, and almost nonexistent for the older children.” (Rosenthal & Jacobson, 1966, 96). Thus, the perceptions of the teacher may play a larger role in middle school than in high school, but it is important to see that the teachers’ expectations and attitude do affect the students. We need to make sure that the gender of the student does not determine whether the teacher believes that student has potential. “Erin would be a promising candidate for a future scientist. But would she be as likely to be recognized as promising by a teacher who did not make the special efforts needed to understand her way of explaining things? And would the teacher be more likely to make that effort if the student in question were male, white, middle-class, and of a higher-status ethnic group?” (Lemke, 1990, p. 47) Therefore, it is the teacher’s responsibility to look at the students and treat them as students, not as females less likely to continue in physics, nor as a pleaser or a homemaker, but as an intellectual. We can see that, “the attitude of teachers toward girls’ abilities in physics are crucial to each girl’s self-image” (Stewart, 1998, p. 286) However, this is something that is much more easily mandated than implemented. Teachers are part of the social structure that enforces the gender roles, and thus have difficulty breaking away from the preconceived notions for their male and female learners. Students have a need to be able to connect to their teachers, a desire to see them as people who can understand their adolescent troubles. Teachers should not become psychologists and counselors for the students, that is not their job. However, students perform better when they feel that the person teaching them is supporting them as a person, and not just as an intellectual. The teachers need to be predictable, so that students know their standing in the classroom. A group of students at a school were interviewed, and the researcher noted that the, “…girls generally feel that their teachers cannot be counted on to respond, to care, or to understand what is really going on in the classroom; from the girls’ point of view their teachers’ moods are unreadable” (Brown, 2002, p. 226) It is also important that the students feel validated by the teacher, and that they are allowed to express their feelings. “Although these girls feel anger and often openly express it, they say that they are told time and time again by their women teachers that anger is not an appropriate emotion to express in school.” (Brown, 2002, p. 236) Anger is a proper emotion to feel when a female student feels left out of the classroom discourse, or is frustrated at the way she is being treated. The teacher and student need to work together to determine what the proper channel for these sentiments are, and how to use them to produce a healthier classroom environment for all students. The gender of the teacher can also affect students, though it is not necessary for women teachers to teach woman students and male teachers to teach male students. Different gendered teachers create their teaching environment in different ways. For example, “Male teachers asked significantly more direct questions of students than female teachers. Male teachers asked an average of 1.00 direct questions for each student, and female teachers averaged 0.49 direct questions per student.” (Jones &
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Wheatley, 1990, p. 866) Teachers also serve as role models for students, and if there is a lack of female physics teachers, the female students may be less inclined to feel they have a future in the subject. It is important to work through gender barriers, but it is also necessary to understand that the gender of the person teaching a student can affect their learning.
Discipline in the Classroom It is the responsibility of the teacher to establish an environment where all students feel safe to explore their educational interests. “Students feel psychologically safe and comfortable in classrooms, in one student’s terms, ‘when all of my other classmates respect me and they don’t mess around. When you don’t have side comments, like sometimes when I try to speak in front of class because I’m afraid of what people are going to say.’” (Ginorio & Huston, 2001, p. 572) Teachers can set the precedent for how to treat others in the classroom environment. “The tone and climate that the teachers set in the classroom had an impact on the incidences of teasing and bullying that we observed…teachers tended to use authoritarian measure, such as yelling at students, or making comments that embarrassed them or demeaned them.” (Stein, 1999, p. 419) Because of this, teachers must take extra precautions to ensure that both genders are being disciplined in the same way. To ensure that this occurs teachers can make a sheet on expected classroom behavior, and list the punishment when students do not conduct themselves in an appropriate manner.
Teaching Styles
Refutational discussion is a common tool in the physics’ classroom. This type of learning asks students to debate each other regarding a topic, and a specific student is usually asked before class to have a determined opinion that is wrong. Refutational learning on the surface looks powerful because it encourages the students to back up their own opinions. However, because females tend to be quiet in class discussions, especially when asked to correct their peers, it often serves to increase the gender inequalities (Guzzetti & Williams, 1996, p. 11). A group performed research on ways that students learn and found that written forms of refutation were one of the most useful ways for students to change their invalid, preconceived notions. (Guzzetti, et. al., 1993) Though using refutational discussion in the classroom may not be a tool that fully engages all students, a journaling assignment where students must write through their ideas has been shown to be helpful. This can further been seen in the concept that, “Girls tend to take the task of writing down ideas very seriously. It appears that this activity significantly supports the process of understanding science.” (Stadler, Duit & Benke, 2000, p. 422) Another teaching style is that of Report Talk, “formal public discourse where a speaker imparts information to those who are less knowledgeable.” (Robinson, 1996, p. 13) This can be a necessary tool with regards to difficult physics concepts which students need to learn. However, this does not engage the students, or force them to connect themselves to the material. Therefore, this method must be used in conjunction with other teaching styles to further enhance the student’s learning.
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Yet another type of learning is, “circle talk…an informal instructional method designed to create a learning atmosphere that facilitates question and answer conversations which enhance student learning.” (Robinson, 1996, p. 14) This is less of a lecture-type activity, and more of an equal discussion. Circle talk can be used to determine the thought processes of students, and help them discover concepts for themselves. The way that the teacher uses these teaching styles, and treats the student throughout the lessons can affect the student. Teachers should determine the best way to teach to engage all students. This will be commented on in Chapter Eight concerning the examples used in classrooms, but it is important to determine that students learn best when multiple teaching styles are put to use. When teachers put concepts in a context of what they know and already understand, they are more likely to make the connections to facilitate their long-term understanding of the concepts. It is also important to insist that the students have a say in the own education, we will see that, “As students are empowered to make decisions about their learning they become co-creators of the classroom environment.” (Martin, 1996, p. 8).
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CHAPTER SIX: STUDENT-STUDENT INTERACTIONS
Do the ways peers treat other students in the classroom affect their learning? Through looking at research of sexual and verbal harassment as well student group interactions, the answer is a convincing ‘yes’. It is imperative for teachers to understand the necessity for females to feel safe in their own classroom. Often, the other students in the class make it uncomfortable for female learners. “Indeed, one study found that teachers were surprised at the extent to which the dominant and harassing behavior of boys was impeding girls’ educational progress.” (Campbell & Wahl, 1998, p. 726) When a student feels put down by others, especially females who take this type of teasing as a reflection on the capability (Jones & Wheatley, 1990, p. 869) they will be less likely to speak up in class to share their ideas and questions and less likely to enhance their own knowledge (Williams, 2000). The issue of sexual harassment is a vital one to a female’s educational environment. However, as this is a larger issue in a school system – I will touch upon it only briefly here. As Thorne noted, “Boys also bond by aggressing against girls.” (Thorne, 1993, p. 129). There are huge cultural and social implications behind the idea that putting down someone of a different gender will lift up the other. These implications need to be realized and overcome in the learning environment for it to be comfortable for both genders. To further understand this phenomena, we can turn to Orenstein’s work on gender relations, “One need only consider that the most shameful insult that one boy can hurl at another is still ‘girl!’ (or ‘pussy’ or ‘faggot’, which have similar connotations) to understand how aware children are of female powerlessness, how important it is for boys to distance themselves from that weakness in order to feel like men.” (Orenstein, 1994, p. 462-63) The teacher’s reactions to these are very important, as we can see, “The gym teacher, who is male, has largely ignored the [sexist and derogatory] remarks [by males, spoken to females], although he has occasionally punished the most insolent boys by making them run a lap around the school track.” (Orenstein, 1994, p. 459-60) As discussed in the previous chapter, the teacher’s reaction to these remarks carry much weight– but we also need to work to understand why the students feel this is a way to obtain more power, and work to resolve it. As noted in the Chapter Three, females are aware of the different ways they are treated due to their gender. One group performed a survey of high school females and found, “females were well-aware of gender inequalities. All of the girls reported that they noticed gender differences on how often and the ways boys talk in class, and all of the girls nominated a male as the person who talked most in class.” (Guzzetti & Williams, 1996, p. 13) Research on children showed that they highly reinforce gender stereotypes while creating their “gender schemas” (Tavris & Wade, 2001, pp. 236-240). The student’s fear in violating these social norms was apparent to Guzzetti when she was doing her research on high school students. (Guzzetti, 1998) Therefore, we can see that both children and adolescents tend to reinforce gender stereotypes.
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An interesting realization regarding students’ treatment of one another was seen when Barbara Guzzetti explained the results of her gender study to the students. “When confronted with these findings, the males appeared to be proud of their oppressive behavior, while females seemed to be accepting.” (Guzzetti, 1998, p. 30). If the males are proud of disenfranchising half of their peers, there is a larger problem that goes beyond just giving the females more opportunities. In my discussions with people, I have heard the argument that making physics fair for females will hurt the male’s interaction with physics in the classroom; currently they are ahead of the game, they are the ones who hold privilege in the physics classroom. In this way, it might be difficult to get the male students to want to change the gendered relations in their classroom. Nevertheless, it is crucial to understand that both males and females are disenfranchised when females are not talking. (Guzzetti, 1998) The school has much to learn from females, and if they are silenced, we will lose 50% of the helpful ideas that could be shared. When we make the physics classroom better for the female student, we will be making the physics classroom better for all students – a collective environment where all can be treated with respect. One way to help the students express their thoughts on how they are being treated in class, and the ways that the other students are treating them, could be to have each student write in a journal once a week. One female teacher did this in her single-sex physics classroom and asked the students to talk about what they had learned, but also add any of their own thoughts about their learning experience. (Martin, 1996). For example, when the students went sledding to understand the laws of physics, “In their journal accounts of the sledding and snow lab, they talked of the fun and freedom. In their lab books, they wrote of the science.” (Martin, 1996, p. 15) In this way, the students had a space to explicitly discuss gender issues they are encountering, on a comfortable level that does not require them to speak up in class. This could facilitate the suggestion from the American Association of University Women that, “Classrooms must become places where girls and boys can express feelings and discuss personal experiences…The schools must find ways to facilitate these processes.” (AAUW, 1995, p. 368)
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CHAPTER SEVEN: TEXTBOOKS, COMPUTERS, EXAMPLES USE IN THE CLASSROOM AND OTHER RESOURCES
The resources that teachers use in the classroom have a large effect on male and female learners. In the early 1990’s, professionals began to notice that textbooks and other resources were not “female friendly” (Sadker & Sadker, 1994) and much has been done to fix this inequality. There are now government initiatives that are looking into these disparities, and textbook companies realize the need to appeal to all of their audience to make a profit. By examining textbooks, the use of computers, examples used in the classroom and other resources we can determine how these can best be used to facilitate students’ understanding of physics.
Textbooks Myra and David Sadker referenced that, “Another recent study of five new science texts reveals that from two-thirds to three-quarters of drawings are of males. Not one of the five books analyzed included a drawing of a female scientist.” (1994, p. 132) It is vital to realize from these statistics that when females look at the textbooks and only see males, they are less likely to relate to the textbook and more likely to feel that physics is a “man’s realm”, one where they are not welcome to be participants. Perhaps that is why when one teacher asked seventh grade students to draw what they thought a scientist looked like, all students drew pictures of men in lab coats that looked like the “crazy scientist”. Then the teacher took the students to Fermilab to meet the actual scientists. When the students returned and were asked to draw pictures of the scientists – they drew men and women of all different diverse backgrounds. (Bardeen, 2000) Female learners are highly affected by their lack of representation in these books. This is revealed in the following quote by Camilla, a physics student, “Women aren’t mentioned in this science textbook at all. I mean, they are in a couple incidents, but not to the proportion that men are, which just further proves that science is a male-dominated field.” (Guzzetti & Williams, 1996, p. 11-12) When females perceive that they are less represented in the teaching material it affects their participation in the current class, as well as their interpretation of their future career possibilities. Ms. Logan, a high school teacher of gifted and talented students who works hard at creating a female-positive classroom states, “‘because I include women, I’m seen as extreme. If I took those lessons out and concentrated only on men’s experience for a whole year, that would be ‘normal’”. (Orenstein, 1994, p. 743) The norm in the current school curriculum is to concentrate more highly on male’s experiences; therefore, effort must be made to focus on the female’s accomplishments.
Computers Computers are another valuable resource in the physics classroom – students can use this technology to compile data from a physics lab, build a roller coaster exploring the laws of friction, potential and kinetic energy, or research a paper on a famous
26 Gender Roles in Physics 27 physicist. However, teachers need to understand that all students come into the physics classroom with different comfort levels concerning the computer, and that these levels can vary largely depending on gender. To first delve into this topic, I would like to begin with a discussion on how females relate to technology on a broad level. In an article entitled “Girls and Design” the authors discussed that, “Women commonly saw technological instruments as people connectors, communication, and collaboration devices…The men, in contrast, tended to envision technology as extensions of their power over the physical universe.” (Honey, et. al., 1998, p. 331). It is necessary to understand the ways the different sexes can relate to the instruments brought into the classroom so their use can be as affective as possible. The American Association of University Women conducted a study on computer games (AAUW, 2000) and found that, “most computer games today are designed by men for men…most software ‘feels’ like it is targeted for boys: action packed, scoring points, winning situations.” (AAUW, 2000, pp. 345-6) they interviewed girls and found that the games females were most interested in, “allow role playing, identity experiments, and simulations to work through real-life problems.” (AAUW, 2000, pp. 347). Though it might be difficult to create a graphing program that females can ‘relate’ to more, the way these programs are used in the classroom can be changed. The commission also gave “10 design characteristics…conducive to engaging a broader array of learners, boys and girls, with computer environments.” (AAUW, 2000, pp. 356-7). The full list of these characteristics can be found in Appendix A: the ideas listed range from making the programs goal-focused, incorporating many levels, to allowing students to create their own technology.
Examples Used in the Classroom Classroom examples are vital to help students understand and relate the physics concepts to their world. As Mary Stewart notes, “…One of the major recommendations about science teaching emerging from feminist theories is to situate science learning ‘in the lived experience of students’. Unfortunately, physics has traditionally been taught in an abstract rule-dominated way, which appeals more to boys than to girls.” (Stewart, 1998, p. 285) Scott Robinson interviewed females and noted that one of the students, Sally, “wondered why she was blamed for not understanding something she had not been taught. Sally wanted to have laboratory activities, demonstrations, lectures and lecture notes to learn the physics concept.” (1996, p. 9). It is important for all learners, including the female learners, that the physics concepts are incorporated into tangible illustrations in which they can see the laws of physics. One teacher asked the students in her classroom what sports they played, and then made sure to give examples from each of those specific sports so each child had a physical interaction to relate it to. (Martin, 1996, pp. 13-14). This corresponds to the idea that, “Instruction should be activity-based, proceed from concrete to abstract, and encourage active involvement with a variety of manipulative materials at all ages.” (Clewell, 1992, p. 311) Using these examples allows the students to obtain the conceptual framework to understand abstract ideas, while at the same time applying the knowledge and seeing it on a first-hand basis.
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The use of mathematics in physics is one thing that sets it apart from the other high-school science subjects. The level of mathematics required to understand physics concepts is more complex than in biology or chemistry. The issues with this can be seen when we realize, “Females appear to prefer teaching and learning experience to be contextualized. Instead of physics being taught in an abstract and mathematical way, they would prefer the course content to be set in the context of everyday life experiences, as evidenced by their wish to see more sociological applications.” (Stewart, 1998, p. 292) Moreover, when the students were asked how the classroom should be changed, “Males are more likely to suggest that there should be a greater mathematics input and females are much more likely than males to consider that there should be more examples of sociological applications of physics (Stewart, 1998, p. 291). Because it is vital that the physics classroom be fair, a balance of both sociological and mathematical examples should be used so all students can fully grasp the concepts of physics. The mathematics must be incorporated as it is an indispensable part of the material, but there are ways to make it more manageable for all students. This would also facilitate learning for all students, because not all females prefer sociological examples, and not all males prefer mathematical ones. Bringing female scientists into the classroom can also encourage females to succeed. “It is strategic to have women as guest speakers and as tour guides for field trips. Reading biographies of famous women scientists is one more technique to encourage the female student to enjoy physics.” (Brotherton, n.d., p. 2) I know that growing up the female scientist I was shown was Marie Curie. I learned about the difficult life she led – having to choose between heat in her apartment and buying books for her classes. This showed me how lucky I was to be surrounded by state-of-the-art equipment in my high school, and gave me hope that if she could do it, I could too. “When teachers bring women who work as scientists into the classroom, the impact is powerful and shows girls that science also belongs to them. And when teachers humanize science, showing that it is relevant and accessible, boys like it better too.” (Sadker & Sadker, 1994, p. 124) In this way, we can understand that to make the classroom equal for males and females, bringing in examples for all learners is vital. In this way we can realize that, “learning is enhanced when concepts are presented in a framework of personal experience.” (Martin, 1996, p. 11).
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CHAPTER EIGHT: EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
Extracurricular activities can be a source of empowerment for female learners. I remember going to about three women in math and science conferences in middle school, and these had a huge impact on my desire to study these subjects. By meeting female role models in the sciences and learning how my interests in math and science could facilitate my career choices, I was able to believe in myself as a solid intellectual. I was then able to remember those experiences when I was teased in my math/science classes because I was female – or when a teacher did not believe I should move ahead in math. There are a variety of models of extracurricular activities to encourage females in the math and sciences. The three we shall look at are: computer games, science camps, and lastly, mentoring. It is also important to understand that activities like the Girl Scouts, though they do not specifically encourage females in math and science, do impact students self- esteem, which will in turn impact the way the respond when they are belittled in a science classroom. In an article titled Diversity in Girls’ Experiences, the authors write that, “An unexpected finding was the frequent mention of athletics as an activity that made girls feel good about themselves.” (Erkut, et. al., 1996, p. 503) One teacher who responded to the survey wrote that, “…Some of my most vocal students are athletes.” Another instrument known to have a positive impact is the girl’s magazine New Moon. This magazine deals with adolescent female issues on a real level, and as Brotherton noted, “While New Moon magazine does not directly address the concept of physics, it does aim to empower the young girl.” (n.d., p. 4) We shall not forget the impact that these types of activities and magazines have on the female as a whole – which will indirectly affect her experience in the sciences.
Computer Games There are a variety of computer games available on the Internet and in other circles that allow students, and females in particular, to get involved with the concepts of physics. One of the most widely known is an online community called ‘Whyville.” (Colvin, 2002) This is a community where female (and males, if they choose) can interact with an online community of students from across the county. As Colvin noted, “The coin of this realm is ‘clams,’ and they’re earned in two ways: by engaging in one of the web site’s 12 science or four math activities or through profits generated by the sales of one’s product…Once someone has enough clams, she can buy a plot of land, build a house, decorate it and have friends over for chat feasts.” (2002, p. 1) The students do not necessarily realize how the fun activities they are asked to do relate to physics or science. As one of the founders of the site described, “When users choreograph a dance routine, ‘we don’t tell them, but what they’re actually doing is learning about vectors using the Cartesian system,” (Colvin, 2002, p. 1). In this way, the female students can become familiar with the concepts of physics in a friendly and non-threatening way. An interesting characteristic of this game is that students play with other students across the country, but are behind the mask of a cartoon character. In this way the students can explore while feeling safe and accepted.
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Another project starting in England is that of Jemma, an Internet cartoon who is a science student at a fictitious university. (Smithers, 2002) Students can go online and learn about her academic and social life, thus creating an environment where students can see a positive female role model who can relate to them regarding science. However, this could also become a problem because the producers plan to write about Jemma’s love life as a way to encourage the girls. The creators are trying to introduce the girls to the sciences through a route that could turn many of them away from science as it has been shown that around puberty girls tend to care highly about the socialization process. The girls using this program could turn their focus on Jemma’s love life and not get involved in her academics; however, it is providing a fascinating girl engaging in science, and so it could encourage the adolescent females to pursue science on their own. Taking into account our realizations from the chapter on the types of computer games used in the classroom, we can see a different side – those games that are specifically designed to encourage the female students, and we can recognize that they can have a positive affect on engaging the females in the physics material.
Science Camps There are two major types of science camps: those designed and implemented by those who have graduated from college (and often have a masters or Ph.D.), and those overseen by high school physics students for younger physics students. We will begin our discussion with an examination of two different camps created by university professors, and then turn to the student-run and created camps. Swindell and Phelps created a science camp to, “increase scientific interests among disadvantaged females and minorities, grades 7-11, in science…designed to expose the students to some interesting and enjoyable aspect of science.” (Swindell & Phelps, 1991, pp. 3-4) This summer camp took place in the early 90’s and allowed the students to interact one-on-one with scientific experiments and activities. It also gave the participants a chance to interact with scientists, who they could look to as role models. These programs are similar to ones in which I participated during middle school. They allow female and minority students to be surrounded by other students they can connect to; giving them a space where they can speak about their love of science. As seen before, females can often attempt to cover up their intelligence (Robinson, 1996; AAUW, 1994), and being in an environment where they are free to express their passion for the subject can be empowering. It can also have lasting effects, as the researchers noted, “Evaluation of student responses to self-image questions [that were asked before and after the experience] indicated a trend toward a more positive attitude toward self.” (Swindell & Phelps, 1991, p. 4). Not only did this provide a valuable experience for their science pursuits, it also could have a positive effect on their overall educational experience. Another type of program is one in which high school female physics students design a program for elementary or middle school children. Two such programs are discussed below. ‘GIRLS’ (Smith & Zannelli, 2000) is a 10-day summer camp where the high school students (in small groups of 2-3) plan the courses and activities for fifth and sixth- grade females. This is a great program because it influences both sets of students involved in the project. The high school students are carefully chosen, and as the faculty sponsor notes, “The older girls are ideal role models, old enough to inspire and teach, but
30 Gender Roles in Physics 31 young enough to render science ‘cool.’” (Smith & Zannelli, 2000, p. 46) This program shows the high school students that they are thought to be capable scientists, and trustworthy to affect the lives of the younger students. It can also have a positive impact on their views of the subject, as one female stated, “Perhaps the most valuable part of my experience with the GIRLS Science Camp was that, as I searched for a way to teach other students to love science, I rediscovered my own fondness for the subject.” (Smith & Zanelli, 2000, p. 47) The younger students are taught by people they can look up to, but still relate to on some levels. It can assist the fifth- and sixth-graders in their pursuits of science because the subject will be introduced on a level that is not overwhelming, but instead shown through exciting activities like playing on rafts to understand buoyancy or learning astronomy by observing the stars. (Smith & Zanelli, 2000, p. 46) The people in the girls’ lives seem to believe it has a positive effect on the participants, “100 percent of the camper’s parents believe that their daughters’ participation in the GIRLS Science Camp has increased their confidence in understanding science.” (Smith & Zanelli, 2000, p. 47). Another similar program that occurs during the school year was discussed in an article entitled, “Show and Tell Physics.” (Jones, et. al., 1996) This program pairs high school students with fifth graders to allow them to create a science experiment together. Once all of the projects are created there is a convention where they are put on display. The benefits to this program are very similar to the ones mentioned for GIRLS. The authors of the article write that the “Program incorporates and synthesizes scientific inquiry, hands-on activities, and creative and critical problem-solving approaches in a motivating and fun atmosphere.” (Jones, et. al., 1996, p. 25) These programs have all had positive feedback from those involved in the activities. These allow the students to make personal connections to physics, which can further encourage them to pursue science as a career. As Smith and Zanelli state, “We should never underestimate the power of girls teaching girls science.” (Jones, et. al. 1996, p. 47).
Mentors The last type of extracurricular activity to discuss is that of mentoring. As we saw in the last section, pairing fifth grade girls with tenth grade females in physics can provide them with motivation in the subject. I know that the adult mentors in my life, especially a math teacher in my middle school, Ms. Schecter, encouraged me to pursue science. Simply having one person in my educational career, besides my parents, that felt I had the skills and intellect necessary to pursue science gave me the desire to persevere. Sadly, “women students encounter fewer potential role models and same-sex mentors than men do.” (Sax, 2001, p. 155) Because it is harder for female students to find role models, women in high-level physics should make themselves available to such programs. These female role models can discuss everything with the students from what classes they should take, to the personal struggles inherent with being a female in science. As Clewell and Ginorio note “The exposure of students to role models in science has been linked to a corresponding improvement in attitudes.” (2002, p. 626) This should come as no surprise, because relying on the research throughout this paper we can see that a large part of female’s participation in physics can rely upon her “mirror-image self” that is discussed in Sadker & Sadker’s Failing at Fairness. (1994, p. 100) If a female does not think that those around her believe she is capable of studying physics, she will
31 Gender Roles in Physics 32 often lose confidence in herself and distance herself from the material. At the same time, if a female feels encouraged to pursue her aspirations, she will not only continue it, but also strive to be her best in the classroom. By ensuring that these females are encouraged outside the classroom, we can assist females in discerning their different treatment in the classroom, and possibly give them the courage to stand up for themselves when they feel they are being treated unfairly because of their gender.
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CHAPTER NINE: MALE DISPARITIES IN EDUCATION “’We expect too much of boys – and we don’t expect enough.’” (Quote from a second grade teacher, Kindlon & Thompson, 1999, p. 166)
This paper has examined how the female learner is disenfranchised in the physics classroom. However, recent research has suggested that the situation in the American public high school is not perfect for the male learner, either. While males are excelling in physics, many believe that their overall educational experience leaves much to be desired. As Myra and David Sadker write, “Girls are shortchanged, but males pay a price as well…boys are more likely to fail a course, miss promotion, or drop out of school.” (Sadker & Sadker, 1998, p. 182) It is important to understand the educational experience for both genders. However, because this paper concentrates on the experience of the female in the physics classroom, only a brief exploration will be included on the situation for males. The overall social expectations for adolescent males in America tend to assert that they are aggressive troublemakers. As William Pollack points out, “The phrase ‘Boys will be boys’ is saying, in effect, that boys are prisoners of biology.” (Pollack, 1998, p. 89) However, many researchers still believe that, “Because of their dominance by the hormone testosterone, aggression and physical risk-taking are programmed into boys.” (Gurian, 1996, p. 104) While the assumption is made at the beginning of this paper that females are affected by both nature and nurture, the same assumption holds true for males. We should not force males into the gender role stereotypes that society has set out for them. If we do, they will be thwarted from growing and pursuing their own interests. Pollack goes on to state that this acceptance, “allows us to shrug off a boy’s behavior when it crosses the line from active to aggressive.” (Pollack, 1998, p. 89) The problem of discipline is largely written about with regards to the male learner. For example, “When we discipline girls in school, we say to two girls who have had a rough go at each other, ‘Now, why did you do that to her? Don’t you think you hurt her feelings? Put yourself in her shoes. How would you have felt?’ I use it as an opportunity for empathy training, right? But with a boy, I am likely to stand over him and use my body and say, ‘Cut it out, I don’t want to see it in this classroom.’” (Harvard Education Letter, Jossey-Bass, 488) In this way, the female is taught to be more socially responsible for her actions, while the male is taught to change his ways by using intimidation to have power over him. Kleinfeld notes that, “more boys than girls are suspended from school.” (1998, pp. 20-21) If males learn that the way to get attention in the classroom is through acting up, the problem will only get worse. Researchers think that many of these behaviors come from the fact that, “from the time [boys] are little kids, boys are taught that the worst thing to be is a sissy or a coward or a mama’s boy. If we are ever going to raise a generation of males who grow into less violent men, then it seems to be we have to start challenging some of these stereotypes about masculinity.” (Harvard Education Letter, 1999, p. 479) There are also studies that show that many ways in which the education of children is formatted can be preferential to the female learner. Studies have demonstrated that children learn to read when the female learner is ready, but far before the male is. This can affect their first years in elementary school – and thus have a large effect on the
33 Gender Roles in Physics 34 trajectory of their school experience. Dan Kindlon and Michael Thompson discuss, “...when we compare the average boy with the average girl, the average boy is developmentally disadvantaged in the early school environment.” (Kindlon & Thompson, 1999, p. 155) This is further developed when they write, specifically, “the fact that it’s clearly easier for girls to adapt to [the school environment] meant that, in some unseen way, the expectations reflect girls’ abilities and sensibilities.” (1999, p. 155) Thus, many believe that from the first day of school the females in the classroom are given priority over the males with regards to what type of information should be learned at what point in their educational career. Also, the table on page four shows that, except in physics, a higher percent of females are enrolled in various academic courses than males. It is a long-standing trend that, “On standardized achievement tests, females typically surpass males in writing ability, reading achievement, and certain other verbal skills.” (Kleinfeld, 1998, p. 12). While males tend to be stronger in the math and sciences, females tend to be stronger in the English and language classes. While it is important to fix the problem for females in subjects like physics, it is also important that we work to ameliorate the disparities males face when they are studying English. Lastly, males tend to feel that gender issues are only a female problem. Guzzetti writes how she was amazed at how prideful the males were for impeding on the females’ educational experience. (Guzzetti, 1998, p. 30) Peggy Orenstein hypothesizes that it is possible that boys, “ cannot imagine that their experience is mediated by gender. On the other hand, their very neutrality may reveal that, at times, silence can affect boys as profoundly as girls.” (1994, 745) They also learn, according to Sadker & Sadker, “a destructive form of division – how to separate themselves from girls…Schools that do not permit racist, ethnic, or religious slights still tolerate sexism as harmless bigotry.” (Sadker & Sadker, 1998, p. 199) We should also remember, as stated in Chapter Four, that when males fail to learn to listen to females as equals, they are losing out on valuable life skills. (Guzzetti & Williams, 1996) Until both males and females can relate to one another on even ground in an educational environment, both genders will be disenfranchised and prohibited from reaching their highest academic potential.
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CONCLUSION: FURTHER PURSUITS AND ENCOURAGEMENT
The failure of the secondary school system to fully engage female learners in physic classrooms has a long-term impact in the students’ lives. Fine states that, “Public schools constitute a sphere in which young women could be offered access to a language and experience of empowerment. In such contexts, ‘well-educated’ young women could breathe life into positions of social critique and experience entitlement rather than victimization, autonomy rather than terror.” (Fine, 1993, p. 401) Sadly, this does not occur – female students are disenfranchised in their physics education and are less likely to pursue this subject as they grow older. Ivie and Stowe also found that, “Women’s participation in physics decreases with each step up the academic ladder.” (Ivie & Stowe, 2000, p.1) Proof of this can be seen in the introduction, with only 13% of PhDs being awarded to females. (Ivie & Stowe, 2000, 4) This leveling off in participation can be for many reasons. Firstly, women can lack the courses necessary to pursue these subject, “boys are more likely than girls to take all three core science courses – biology, chemistry and physics – by graduation.” (AAUW, 1998, p. 3) In this manner they are restricted because they simply to not have the necessary skills to pursue their education. Secondly, if the high school physics environment was abrasive they are less likely to have a desire to go onto higher levels of education in physics. This can be seen in the communication that “Observers have offered various explanations for women’s poor representation in physics. Many of the explanations do not hold up in light of available data. It is possible that women still experience subtle discrimination leading them away from physics and that women choose careers that are less clearly linked to physics.” (Ivie & Stowe, 2000, p.1) Chapters One through Seven of this paper give examples of the disparities in education for males and females; discrimination is evident in the high school physics classroom and we cannot deny that this affects the female learner. Though this paper is focused on the high school classroom, we can see that the Master’s Programs and PhD Programs are not neutral with regards to gender. One female physicist stated, “In graduate school, I was in an extremely hostile environment… It was an incredibly sexist place….” (Ivie, Czujko & Stowe, 2001, p. 9) Also, “…women are disadvantaged by structural obstacles, such as lower-status positions, lower pay, and limited access to key social and professional networks.” (Sax, 2001, p. 168). Thus, not only can the graduate school environment be hostile, women have less bright futures in the field of physics and this could certainly lower their interest in pursuing the subject. Further research should also be done to see what takes females away from studying physics, Linda Sax found in her research that, “Driving many men away from the pursuit of SME [Science, Math, Engineering] graduate degrees are their desires for status and authority and their wish for employment in fields where they enjoy working with their colleagues. For women, the desires to influence social change, make a contribution to society, and raise a family influence the decision not to continue with SME at the graduate level.” (Sax, 2001, pp. 167-168) Studies need to be done that interview those that drop out to see why they are stopping their pursuit of physics.
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Because, “Gender stereotypes are still a major force in shaping the career expectations of young people,” (AAUW, 1994, p. 13) we need to develop systems for students to determine their passion, regardless of their ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status or any other stereotypical observation and assist all students on pursuing what they are best suited for. In this regard, it is vital that students receive continued support throughout their academic career, “Bright young women and underrepresented minorities simply cannot be recruited into the [science and engineering] pipeline without continued support and encouragement.” (Mau, 2003, p. 6) To further encourage females in physics, “K-12 and undergraduate education [should] better educate women (and ideally all students) about the many ways in which scientific work aims at improving society and the human condition…” (Sax, 2001, p. 168) The high school physics classroom is the ideal place to begin to improve the physics education of female students. We have seen that social norms continue to affect students (Chapter One); that guidance counselors and parents influence the involvement students have in their academic work (Chapter Two); that everyday interactions within the classroom can be formatted so that the females do not engage themselves to their full potential (Chapter Four); that the way the teacher and other students relate to female students in the classroom determines the atmosphere of the classroom (Chapters Five and Six); and that the textbooks that are used and the examples given in class will influence the female learner (Chapter Seven). There are specific ways in which to improve each and every one of these areas, and it is imperative that we begin to make changes so the female learner will be able to pursue her dreams, and not let them be affected by her gender.
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APPENDIX A (AAUW, 2000, P. 356-7)
“The following 10 design characteristics are conducive to engaging a broader array of learners, boys and girls, with computer environments:
1. software that is personalizable and customizable. This type of software allows students to create their own characters, scenarios, and endings, and allows them to work independently or collaboratively 2. games with challenge 3. games involving more strategy and skill 4. fames with many levels, intricacies, and complexities 5. flexibility to support multiple narratives 6. constructionist design – one that allows students to create their own objects through the software 7. designs that support collaborative or group work, and encourage social interaction 8. coherent, nonviolent narratives 9. ‘puzzle connections,’ such as rich mysteries with multiple resolutions 10. goal-focused rather than open-ended games
The following four content features have been found to be ‘girl friendly’:
1. ‘identity fames’ that enable girls to experiment with characters and real-life scenarios. Some of these games enable girls to invent online personalities, identities, and worlds. Some of these games enable girls to experiment with choices about peer pressure, smoking, sexual relationship, etc., and ‘play out’ the consequences of their action 2. software that has realistic as well as fantastical content; games that function as simulations of authentic contexts and situations 3. software structured around a conflict with possible resolution 4. games that have themes of mystery and adventure.”
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APPENDIX B
Greetings, My name is Laura Robertson and I am a senior at Vassar College who is writing a thesis on gender roles in the physics classroom. I will specifically be looking at the issues that females deal with. I would greatly appreciate it if you could take some time to fill out this questionnaire. Thank you, Laura Robertson [email protected]
------I know that some of these questions are a bit broad, but I really want to give you space to add what you feel is relevant information.
1) Do you notice any stereotypical gender issues in your classroom: a) During in-class discussion? (In "Changing the Pattern of Gendered Discussion" Guzzetti & Williams writes, "Females' reasons for not speaking out were not only because of their lack of self-confidence or fear of violating social conventions, but also because they felt intimidated") b) While working in small groups? (e.g., problem sets?) c) While working in lab? (have you done any work on single-sex working lab groups?) 2) Have you used inquiry learning in your classroom? Do the students react differently to this, as opposed to traditional methods? 3) Has your school done any training with regards to the issues of gender roles in the classroom/sciences? 4) Is this something that is talked about in your professional circle? 5) Do you find there are extracurricular activities that help your female students become more involved in physics? 6) Do you find the textbooks are relevant to both male and female learners? 7) Have you used computers in your classroom? If so, do males and females appear to be at the same comfort level with them? What types of programs do you find most helpful to the physics material? 8) In your opinion, do you think the school counselors encourage the female students in the sciences to the best of their ability? 9) Have you had experience teaching in single-sex classrooms? If so, what differences did you notice between that and a coeducational environment? 10) Do you find that the social pressures of adolescence affect the female students in the classroom? 11) Are there any additional observations you would like to add?
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