How Technology Cheats Girls
Abstract
The project involved integrating history, philosophy, and science by requiring
students to read about the origins of scientific thinking beginning with the
Greeks. The students then discussed the changing roles of women in science,
the influence of religion and Plato's and Aristotle's view of the universe. She
shared her project at a meeting in the form of a paper. Her hypothesis
development and subsequent statistical analysis are a part of Action Research,
but not a requirement.
Introduction
Chemistry is a college preparatory science taught at Burlingame High School, an ethnically
diverse, urban public school of about 1300 students located in San Mateo County. The class
requires one year of algebra as a prerequisite and therefore contains students who are not fully
representative of the school's population. Each year approximately 200 students, primarily juniors,
are enrolled in the chemistry sections.
During the first semester, 90 students were assigned a research project which asked questions
about the history of science in the context of western civilization. One of the goals of the project
was to develop a framework for integrating information from other subjects taught at Burlingame.
A second goal was to provide a type of assignment which might encourage young women in the
area of science.
For the past several years, research has shown that females are less likely to pursue careers in the
field of physical science than are males. Lack of appropriate role models, test biases and
perceptions of science as being "male domain" have been cited as reasons for this observation.
This project was structured to take advantage of areas in which female students have traditionally
performed well - philosophy, history and relationships. Additionally, the required reading and
related questions pointed out that historically females have been largely denied a voice in the
evolution of scientific thinking beginning with the classical age of the Greeks.
Design
- Prior to the project, individual students were asked to construct a chart comparing and
contrasting the views of Plato and Aristotle. Information for the chart was found in a teacher
prepared written summary. No other sources were suggested.
-
The main project required reading a teacher prepared summary of portions of a western
civilization book The Passion of the Western Mind. Essay questions about the origin of
various scientific ideas were asked followed by a vocabulary list and historical timeline.
Students were also encouraged to seek other sources of information. Two of the five questions
required female points of view in the answers.
-
Students were permitted to work alone or in pairs of their own choosing for the main project.
No class time was devoted to the project nor were computer or library research techniques
taught.
Project Results and Comparative Data: N = 42 males & 48 females
|
Aristotle and Plato pre-project assignment: |
|---|
|
Average Score Out of 25 Points |
| 47 females submitted the chart
|
20.8
|
|
35 males submitted the chart
| 17.2
|
excluded from analysis:
7 males and 1 female who did not submit an assignment
|
Main Project: |
|
|
Average Score Out of 100 Points |
|
10 female students worked alone |
91.1% |
|
15 female student worked in pairs |
87.3% |
|
5 females worked with a male partner | 76.8%
|
|
15 males worked alone |
89.0% |
|
8 males worked with a male partner |
89.6% |
excluded from the data analysis:
2 females who did not complete all the work
2 males who failed to do the project
1 female whose parent objected
2 males who did not complete all the work
|
Final Examination: 100 multiple choice questions |
| |
Average Score Out of 100 Points |
|
48 females |
56.9 % |
|
42 males |
60.4% |
Semester Grade (1/3/96), before including the project or the final examination: |
| |
Average Percent |
|
48 females |
75.9% |
|
42 males |
75.5% |
Observations and Analysis:
- The comparative chart of Aristotle and Plato was completed on a piece of legal size paper
provided by the teacher. Most of the charts were submitted in handwriting. Although many
charts also had artistic touches which were not required or suggested, no additional credit was
given. Females performed significantly better than males on the assignment (p<.001). 7
males and 1 female did not turn in the assignment and were not a part of the analysis.
-
No statistically significant differencesbetween males or females working alone or with the
same sex were found in the final project grades, although females working alone had the
best scores. However, when females worked with a male partner, their grades were
significantly lower than any other combination (p<.001).
-
The average final exam score was higher for males than females. Although the difference
was not statistically significant (p<.13), this bias is reported elsewhere when multiple choice
exams are used.
- Males and females were equal in semester grades
prior to the final and the project scores.
Conclusions
A working hypothesis for the design of this project had been that females should perform better
than males on a project which emphasizes writing, philosophy and history. In the main, this
hypothesis was not supported. Except in the case where females worked with a male partner, the
final project grades were statistically equal.
While reading the projects, an additional variable became apparent. The computer and peripheral
equipment played a key research as well as word processing role. A follow-up survey of student
computer use for this project showed that about two-thirds used on-line and/or CD ROM
technology to gather information. The majority found these sources very helpful. Unfortunately,
computers are viewed as part of the male domain, particularly when introduced in the context of
math classes. This observation is true despite the fact that chemistry students began playing video
games and using computers at the same average ages (9 or 11 years), regardless of gender.
However, one difference is the fact that males are statistically more likely to be frequent users of
games AND have a greater interest in on-line interactive computer research tools such as the
Internet and World Wide Web. The computer portion of this project may have not only been a
grade "equalizer", but reinforced the sense of male domination in science.
When the assignment did not involve computer use, the females not only had superior scores, but
16% of the males failed to do the work. While this is one explanation for how the females' lower
test scores on the final exam can be off-set in calculating the final semester grades, females
reportedly give more credence to test scores than grades.
References
AAUW Report: How Schools Shortchange Girls, 1992
Sadker: Failing at Fairness, 1994
Tarnas: The Passion of the Western Mind, 1991
Carolyn Csongradi
Chemistry Teacher
Burlingame High School
(415) 342-8971 ccsongradi@aol.com
1/25/96
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