The mean and standard deviation in performance on math test scores are only slightly larger for males than for females. Despite minor differences in mean performance, many more boys than girls ...perform at the right tail of the distribution. This gender gap has been documented for a series of math tests including the AP calculus test, the mathematics SAT, and the quantitative portion of the Graduate Record Exam (GRE). The objective of this paper is not to discuss whether the mathematical skills of males and females differ, be it a result of nurture or nature. Rather we argue that the reported test scores do not necessarily match the gender differences in math skills. We will present results that suggest that the evidence of a large gender gap in mathematics performance at high percentiles in part may be explained by the differential manner in which men and women respond to competitive test-taking environments. The effects in mixed-sex settings range from women failing to perform well in competitions, to women shying away from environments in which they have to compete. We find that the response to competition differs for men and women, and in the examined environment, gender difference in competitive performance does not reflect the difference in noncompetitive performance. We argue that the competitive pressures associated with test taking may result in performances that do not reflect those of less-competitive settings. Of particular concern is that the distortion is likely to vary by gender and that it may cause gender differences in performance to be particularly large in mathematics and for the right tail of the performance distribution. Thus the gender gap in math test scores may exaggerate the math advantage of males over females.
In this study, the objective is to analyse the sports participation motives of high school students by gender, age, school type and doing sports regularly. In the research “relational screening ...model” was used. 770 high school students studying in Malatya participated in the research. In the research, “Sport Participation Motivation Scale” was used. The scale was delivered to the students over various social media tools through the Google survey application. As a result of the research, it was observed that age, gender, school type and doing sports regularly affect the sports participation motives of the students at different levels. On the other hand, the results of the research revealed that the high school students participated in sports by getting affected from different motives. Furthermore, it was observed that the female students had overcome their fears and concerns about sports participation, and they were willing to make use of sports more to meet their physical, spiritual and social needs. The results of the research also show that regular sports activities have a positive effect on sports participation and the students take this effect for granted
The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) Achieve, Inc. represent a broad consensus that teaching and learning expectations must change. Rather than memorizing and reciting information, students ...are now expected to engage in science practices to develop a deep understanding of core science ideas. While we want to share in the optimism about NGSS, the standards are not a silver bullet for transforming science classrooms. They are, instead, another reform document designed to suggest opportunities for students to actively engage in knowledge construction themselves—to be doers of science, rather than receivers of facts. A foundational contradiction underlies these efforts—while we want students to do science, we seem to mean that students should mimic practices others have selected as important to learn, and content others have selected as foundational. As a result, students are rarely positioned with epistemic agency: the power to shape the knowledge production and practices of a community Stroupe Science Education 98:487–516. We argue that unless the field tackles significant questions around precisely how students can be active agents in knowledge construction, we will likely continue to implement learning environments that position students as receivers of scientific facts and practices, even as classrooms adopt NGSS. In this conceptual analysis article, we unpack the construct of “epistemic agency” and its relationship to the NGSS, using a vignette to illustrate how students are typically positioned in researcher‐developed curricula. The vignette, which describes a seventh‐grade class exploring which of two lakes is more at risk for invasion by the spiny water flea, provides an exemplar of what we take to be a loose consensus about learning environments consistent with the NGSS. However, when we look beneath the surface of the consensus, the vignette reveals contradictions and unresolved issues around epistemic agency.
Self-determination theory (SDT) has served as a theoretical framework for considerable research on teaching behavior and student motivation. The majority of studies have focused on need-supportive ...teaching behavior at the expense of need-thwarting teaching behavior (i.e., the "dark side" of teaching). The goal of the present study was to examine motivational dynamics involved in controlling teaching behavior in the context of physical education (PE). The majority of studies on observed teaching behavior were conducted in the laboratory. To augment the ecological validity in the present study, the behavior of PE teachers was videotaped to rate their controlling teaching behavior in a real-life setting. In a sample of 56 teachers and 702 secondary school students, controlling teaching behavior during a specific PE class, as observed by external raters, was related positively to students' perceived controlling teaching behavior and, through these perceptions, to controlled motivation and amotivation. These associations were obtained in spite of the low incidence of controlling teaching behaviors, suggesting that students may be quite sensitive to controlling teaching behaviors. No associations were found between observed controlling behavior and student autonomous motivation and students' perceptions of autonomy-supportive teaching. Practical implications and recommendations for PE teachers' professional development training are included.
Despite the striking reversal of the gender gap in education, women pursue science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) degrees at much lower rates than those of their male peers. This ...study extends existing explanations for these gender differences and examines the role of the high school context for plans to major in STEM fields. Building on recent gender theories, we argue that widely shared and hegemonic gender beliefs manifest differently across schools so that the gender-specific formation of study plans is shaped by the local environment of high schools. Using the National Education Longitudinal Study, we first show large variations between high schools in the ability to attract students to STEM fields conditional on a large set of pre–high school measures. Schools that are successful in attracting students to these fields reduce the gender gap by 25 percent or more. As a first step toward understanding what matters about schools, we then estimate the effect of two concrete high school characteristics on plans to major in STEM fields in college—a high school’s curriculum in STEM and gender segregation of extracurricular activities. These factors have a substantial effect on the gender gap in plans to major in STEM: a finding that is reaffirmed in a number of sensitivity analyses. Our focus on the high school context opens concrete avenues for policy intervention and is of central theoretical importance to understand the gender gap in orientations toward STEM fields.
Scientific explanation plays a central role in science education reform documents, including the Benchmarks for Science Literacy, the National Science Education Standards, and the recent research ...report, Taking Science to School. While scientific explanation receives significant emphases in these documents, there is little discussion or consensus within the science education community about the nature of explanation itself. However, debates about scientific explanation have been a mainstay for philosophers of science for decades. We argue that a more clearly articulated conceptualization of scientific explanation for science education is necessary for making the vision of science education reform a reality. In this essay, we use major philosophical theories of scientific explanation as lenses to examine how the science education community has constructed the idea of explanation. We also examine instructional practice in school science settings, including our own classrooms, where teachers and students are working to explain natural phenomena. Using these examples, we offer suggestions for preparing both educators and young learners to engage in explanatory discourses that are reasonably accountable to authentic epistemic practice in science.
Based on an accelerated longitudinal design involving three cohorts of secondary school students followed during 3 consecutive school years, this study had three main objectives. First, we sought to ...identify different profiles of students following distinct trajectories of self-determined motivation over the secondary school years. Second, we examined whether different sources of relatedness (father, mother, teachers, peers) predict membership to these motivational trajectory profiles. Third, we looked at the consequences of these motivational trajectory profiles in terms of adaptive and maladaptive outcomes. Nine hundred forty-one students (56.1% girls) from three distinct cohorts participated in the first measurement time (309 students initially in Secondary 1, 346 students initially in Secondary 2, 272 students initially in Secondary 3). Results revealed that no generic decline in global levels of self-determined motivation was observed during the secondary school years. Five distinct trajectory profiles in which the proportion of students varied were identified. The many comparisons made between these five profiles indicate few significant differences on sources of relatedness. However, teachers and fathers were important positive predictors of membership to the profiles characterized by higher self-determined trajectories, in addition to having a direct effect on initial levels of self-determined motivation observed within each profile (teachers) and on within-profile increases over time in global levels of self-determined motivation (teachers and fathers). Finally, students in profiles characterized by low self-determined motivation trajectories showed lower levels of adaptive outcomes and higher levels of maladaptive outcomes.
Educational Impact and Implications Statement
This study suggests that there are distinct subgroups of secondary students defined by how their motivation changed over a 5-year period. Although most students experienced an increase in their motivation over 5 years, for some students, their motivation remained stable and quite low. This last group of students experienced low levels of adaptive outcomes (low grades and engagement) but high levels of maladaptive ones (high aggressive and risk behaviors). Moreover, students with high levels of motivation over the 5-year period were those who perceived relationships that are more positive with their teachers and fathers. These results suggest that we need to determine ways of improving motivation by focusing on teachers' and fathers' relationship quality.
In this paper, we take the view that school classrooms are spaces that are constituted by complex power struggles (for voice, authenticity, and recognition), involving multiple layers of resistance ...and contestation between the “institution,” teachers and students, which can have profound implications for students’ science identity and participation. In particular, we ask what are the celebrated identity performances within science classes, how are these re/produced and/or contested, and by whom? Analyzing data from 9 months of observations of science classes with nine teachers and c. 200 students aged 11–15 from six London schools and 13 discussion groups with 59 students, we identify three dominant celebrated identity performances (“tick box” learning, behavioral compliance, and muscular intellect) and discuss the complex ways in which these are promulgated both institutionally and interpersonally by teachers and students, drawing out the implications for students’ performances of science. The paper concludes with reflections on the equity implications for science education policy and practice.
ObjectivesSchools invest substantial time and money in support of mental health and wellbeing education for their students. Approaches vary, with minimal guidance available regarding most efficacious ...methods to engage and support students. Understanding the experience and perspectives of students and educators in this area can assist to clarify mental health needs of secondary school students and guide future development of effective methods to target them.MethodsInterviews with 21 senior secondary school students from four Australian schools captured perspectives about the influences on their mental health and wellbeing over their secondary school journey. A further eight interviews with school staff with responsibility for wellbeing education were conducted to identify similarities and disparities between school aims and student experience.ResultsA reflexive thematic analysis of the data generated three main themes. Interviews conducted indicated consistency between staff and students’ perspectives that schools need to commit to staff training, cultivate interpersonal connections and make wellbeing education for adolescents more engaging.ConclusionsMental health and wellbeing approaches should be nuanced for the specific needs of each school’s context. Educating teachers to utilise a school-wide wellbeing framework to customise student learning can increase student engagement through personal reflection and small group discussion to reinforce key learnings.
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