Brian's Class Materials- Spring 2014 - SEYS 562
Queens
College/CUNY
Education Unit
Spring 2014
Please choose true or false for
each question and then think about how you will explain your
answers.
Note: The purpose of
this quiz is to promote discussion. The answers are
not cut and dried and depend on the individuals involved and
the context of the situation.
- It is best to group children by gender in science
classes. For example, if you were doing a lab
activity it would be best to put all girls in groups
and all boys in their own groups. COMMENT: It is not usually a good
idea to do this. What works better is to make sure everyone
in a lab group has a substantive role. This
ensures that boys and girls will participate in
hands-on activities and that some don't always get
"stuck" recording data or watching.
- Girls tend to be called on by teachers more often in
science classes. COMMENT: A good strategy is to alternate asking boys
and girls questions. It has been noted in
studies that boys are called on more often than
girls in science classes.
- In traditional science textbooks, males are pictured
more often than females. COMMENT: In the past there was a
definite bias towards including more males in
science textbooks. Now this is improving but
it is still something to watch when you are looking
for a new text book. Pay close attention to
how the males and females are portrayed and what
they are pictured as doing.
- In traditional science textbooks, females are
pictured doing more complex science tasks than
males. COMMENT:
False: In the past in a science
textbook, a women might have been pictured
cooking at a stove while a man is shown operating a
computer or launching a rocket.
- Boys tend to have more opportunities to use
computers than girls. COMMENT:
Boys tend to use computers more than girls and there
are a variety of reasons for this. In some
schools boys actually have more access although this
is changing since schools are getting more computer
labs and computers in classrooms.
- Boys are better than girls in the physical sciences
and mathematics. COMMENT: Not true at all. In
secondary schools boys and girls do equally well in
science and math the differences start to appear as
one moves through the pipeline. What seems to
happen is that many talented females lose interest
in science and turn to other career choices.
- Girls get better grades in science than boys in
secondary school. COMMENT:
This is true in many schools.
- Science teachers tend to favor boys in science
class. COMMENT:
Sometimes this happens and a teacher may not even be
aware that she or he is favoring one gender over
another. Many boys will demand attention and
when a teacher begins to call on boys and girls
equally, the boys may actually feel slighted.
- Boys are more likely to have ADHD than girls.
COMMENT: ADHD is a
whole can of worms that we won't deal with in this
class. Unfortunately, many boys are diagnosed
with ADHD when the problem might lie elsewhere and
be caused by ineffective and inappropriate teaching
methods.
- Most girls are treated differently from boys from an
early age and this affects their interest and attitude
towards science. COMMENT: True. Just think about the
gifts you give to boys and girls from an early age.
- The numbers of males and female scientists are equal
in most areas of science. COMMENT: This is not
true and this is a major reason why all science
teachers need to pay attention to this issue.
- A teacher should have high expectations for all
students, both male and female. COMMENT: This is
definitely true. Students will perform up to
your expectations. At times teachers will give
female students praise for an answer to a lower
level question and then have higher expectations for
a male student, and ask the male student a more
challenging question.
- The numbers of females receiving graduate degrees in
the Physical Sciences in increasing each year. COMMENT: "The
number of master's degrees earned by women rose more
rapidly than for men since 1990. By 2002, women
earned 44 percent of S&E and 63 percent of
non-S&E master's degrees, up from 34 and 58
percent, respectively, in 1990." Source:
http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/wmpd/fige-1.htm.
Gender
information
on
doctoral
degrees can be found here. In spite of
the fact that the numbers of women receiving degrees
in science is increasing, males still greatly
outnumber females in the science and engineering
professions.
- Women are more intelligent than men. COMMENT: The statement
is ridiculous and irrelevant for science
teachers. Intelligence is an artifact created
by psychologists and psychometricians and there is
no consensus on how it can be objectively
measured. Needless to say, all students can
learn, and both males and females can excel in
science.
Summers on Women in Science