Research Matters - to the Science
Teacher
Teaching for Gender Difference
by Dale Baker
Introduction
All teachers want to provide the best instruction and create the
best learning environment for their students. Yet, the research
indicates that females are getting a significantly poorer science
education than males, even when they are in the same classroom. The
consequences of this poorer education can be seen in gender
differences in attitude toward science and differential course
enrollment patterns. Females hold more negative attitudes toward
science than males and are less likely to continue studying science
in high school and beyond.
Of course, these male-female differences in attitude and enrollment
are not solely the result of what happens in classrooms. However,
many teacher behaviors and teaching strategies have been identified
that contribute to these problems. These teacher behaviors and
strategies are often employed without malicious intent. Nevertheless,
the result is gender inequity in science instruction which
contributes to negative attitudes toward science and science
avoidance on the part of females.
Classroom Interactions
Teacher-student interactions are the clearest form of classroom
inequities. Teachers call on boys more often than girls, ask boys
more higher-order questions, give boys more extensive feedback, and
use longer wait-time with boys than girls. Teachers fail to see
girls' raised hands, and limit their interactions with girls to
social, non-academic topics. Girls are rarely chosen to give a
demonstration or help with an experiment. Boys are usually target
students and overall they receive more teacher attention than girls.
The proportion of teacher attention given to boys increases as the
students move from elementary to junior and senior high school. Even
nonverbal teacher behaviors, such as head nodding and encouraging
smiles, favors boys over girls.
Grouping Students
Cooperative learning groups have been promoted as a good way to
bring about positive attitudes toward instruction, mastery of
content, and self-esteem. However, when group dynamics are examined
carefully, some disturbing interactions are seen. Simply making mixed
gender groups does not promote good cross-gender relationships or
dispel stereotypes. Group dynamics often reinforce stereotypes. Boys
will take leadership roles and girls will defer to their decisions.
Girls have less opportunity to speak in groups. When they do speak,
they have difficulty holding the boys' attention or their ideas are
rejected. Girls are often found in stereotypical roles, such as
secretary, and they take a passive rather than active role in
hands-on science activities.
Other examples of frequently used but poor grouping strategies
include assigning tasks, making seating arrangements, or arranging
students according to gender when any other criterion would work just
as well.
Classroom Climate
Boys and girls react differently to various aspects of the climate
of the classroom. Girls react more negatively than boys to friction
between students, strict rules, and teacher favoritism. The presence
of these factors in a classroom are related to a general decline in
attitude toward science. The more negative response of girls
contributes to the poorer attitudes toward science held by girls.
A classroom that is highly structured, teacher controlled, and has
clear directions and constant feedback is associated with achievement
in science and is favored by girls. However, this climate inhibits
interests and activities outside of class. This latter situation
becomes a special problem where girls are concerned because they
report fewer outside science activities and opportunities.
Teachers who emphasize the difficulty of science also create a
negative learning climate for girls. Girls, unlike boys, avoid tasks
labeled difficult and don't return to difficult tasks if they
experience failure.
Materials, Topics, and Activities
Despite the efforts to change textbooks, females are still under
represented. Pictures of women appear less frequently than men and
more often show women in traditional roles. When men and women are
shown in the same picture, the woman is in a subordinate role, such
as the female nurse with the male doctor. Further examination of
textbooks reveal that even when the pictures show equal numbers of
men and women in traditional and non-traditional roles, the text may
still use sex-biased language and contain no examples of women
scientists.
Many of the traditional topics of science and examples favor boys'
interests and experiences. Girls favor topics that emphasize health,
food, and safety rather than the more common topics that relate
science to industry and the military. Examples from contact sports
may help the boys understand a concept or law, but for girls, they
confuse more than clarify.
Girls also have fewer classroom experiences than boys actually doing
science. They engage in fewer activities and have fewer experiences
using a variety of scientific equipment.
Testing
Some testing formats and test materials are less effective with
girls than boys. Girls dislike being tested individually, orally, or
in small group situations. In addition, girls are more likely than
boys to answer "I don't know" to questions that have a masculine
theme, such as football.
Teaching Strategies
Changing behavior and creating a learning environment that
promotes equity takes time and effort. Teaching that promotes equity
must be active and intentional behavior. It also requires
sensitivity, tact, and a willingness to examine one's own behavior
and assumptions.
To be effective equity strategies must be continuous and integrated
into daily instruction. They must pervade all aspects of classroom
life. Token or intermittent exposure is not effective because people
don't generalize from single examples and because boys and girls have
been exposed to differential treatment and expectations from
birth.
Given all of this, what can teachers do? To start, classroom
interactions can be monitored. A colleague can observe your teaching
using a simple interaction analysis sheet to record the number of
times you call on boys and girls and the types of questions you
asked. He or she can record the number of instances of positive and
negative feedback, disciplinary and social interactions, as well as
the name and sex of students who do not receive your attention. The
observer could also look for examples of biased language, such as the
use of predominantly male nouns and pronouns and male-biased examples
from sports or the military. Wait-time, although a difficult behavior
to change, could also be monitored. A conference between the observer
and the observed should be held as soon as possible after the lesson
has taken place so that the experience is still fresh. Alternatively,
a teacher can be video taped and self or group analyses could take
place.
When inequities are identified, the following strategies have been
found useful. Work on one problem at a time. Don't try to change the
level of questioning as well as the kind of feedback all at one. Use
a list of students' names and check them off after you ask a
question. Alternate questioning boys and girls. Ignore raised hands
when selecting students, but allow students the option of saying "I'd
like to pass on that question now." This makes students who are
reluctant to raise their hand more comfortable and will in time
increase the number of students who do raise their hand. Prepare a
list of questions ahead of time which are categorized into higher and
lower-level questions. Prepare a list of examples that reflect the
interests or experiences of both males and females or that emphasize
a female activity. Try teaching a class in which all names or
pronouns are feminine. Talk with your students about how they felt
when you used female names and pronouns and be candid with them about
your own reactions. Monitor your progress periodically with
additional observations and video taping.
A positive classroom climate can be created by reducing favoritism
and friction. Classroom observations will help you identify instances
of these two problems. Impose more structure by using clear
directions, both verbal and written, and make expectations for
assignments and grading criteria clear.
Present science as a subject that everyone can learn rather than an
elite and difficult subject. Motivate your students to solve a
problem for the fun of it or the satisfaction of getting a right
answer, not because it is a really tough problem that will show you
how smart the students are.
When using groups for activities, such as lab work, assign each
student a specific role. Keep a record of these roles and rotate
students through the different roles. This gives girls opportunities
to be the team leader and boys to be the group recorder. Observe the
group dynamics and praise positive cross gender interactions. Use the
Student Team Achievement Division (STAD) approach in which students
do their own work, but a single grade is given to the group which is
the average of all individual grades of the group members. Discuss
sex segregation and male domination of groups. Last of all, never
assign any task by gender.
Examine texts and other materials for women in science. If women are
not mentioned as contributing to science, discuss the omissions in
the text with students and point out examples of stereotyping. Infuse
the extant district curriculum and inservice programs with equity
materials such as COMETS, EQUALS, or SPACES. If you are unaware of
materials that promote equity or focus on the accomplishments of
women, contact the affirmative action or equity director of your
district or state board of education. Other good sources of
information are the Women's Resource Center or Women's Studies
Program at a university or college.
Look for, create, and use a test bank and set of examples that are
gender neutral or emphasize female interests. Have the students
participate in this process by writing short reports about female
scientists and creating their own examples and test questions.
Bring role models into the classroom. Invite women scientists to talk
about their careers and their academic preparation. National programs
such as Women and Mathematics (WAM), Visiting Scientist Program, and
community groups of professional women such as the Math/Science
Network have speakers who want to come to your school. Use peer
tutoring with older girls providing help in math and science for
younger girls and boys.
Encourage participation and make girls aware of out-of-school
activities in science, such as a junior science academy at your local
museum, or Expanding Your Horizons, or other science conferences for
girls. Provide extra credit or other incentives for participation.
Start a science club for girls with activities that focus on their
interests such as the physics of ballet or the chemistry of
cooking.
At this point, a word of caution is needed. It is possible that the
boys in your class may not be comfortable with all the suggested
equity strategies. This is particularly true with materials that
emphasize women's contributions to science or grouping strategies
that reallocate roles. Some research suggests that boys feel
neglected and will resist giving up their central role in the
classroom. This is best handled in open discussions of fairness.
If things are not going as well as you would like, remember that
change takes place slowly. Teaching for gender equity implies
everyone in the classroom, boys, girls, and the teacher must
critically examine their behavior and assumptions to create an
environment that supports and encourage learning for all
students.
Research Matters - to the Science
Teacher
is a publication of the National Association
for Research in Science Teaching
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