Effects of the 2003 Quality Reform on Gender Gaps in Student Learning Outcomes in Norwegian Higher Education

In 2003, the Norwegian higher educational system was reformed. The reform, known as the 2003 Quality Reform, introduced changes in the teaching model and student assessment. The authors wished to study how these changes affected male and female students. Therefore, they addressed student learning outcomes, measured through examination results, with respect to gender. Analysis of 5,772,811 examinations from 1990 to 2009 revealed a switch in average performance, from men performing equally well or better than women to women performing better than men. However, greater male than female variability in performance did not change. The effect of gender persisted when controlling for age, subject, home municipality, and type of institution. Overall, women and older students seem to benefit from the changes introduced by the reform more than men and younger students.     

元认知策略培训与英语课外自主学习性别差异的关系

以元认知理论为依据,通过问卷调查、实验班男女生的元认知策略培训,探讨元认知策略培训与英语课外自主学习性别差异的关系。结果表明,培训后,女生课外自主学习各项目的均值都高于男生,也就是说,女生的学习积极性、主动性比男生高。     

Gender differences in attitudes towards learning oral skills using technology

This paper reports a quantitative study on gender differences in attitudes when learning oral skills via technology. The study was conducted at Tafila Technical University, Jordan, with 70 female and 30 male students, to find out if female students are better and faster in learning a language than male. Specifically, it seeks to investigate differences in attitudes between females and males in terms of practicality, confidence and anxiety. The results of the study show that there were no significant differences between female and male students when comparing the pre- and post-test mean scores. Both genders establish the same levels of attitudes before and after undergoing this course, which suggests that the exposure to language learning using technology did not contribute to any significant gender inequality. The paired sample t-test results showed improved attitudes toward learning oral skills in both females and males. The study also indicates female and male improvement in the anxiety dimension showing that their initial strong apprehension toward this course was greatly reduced at the end of the course. In terms of confidence, female showed better enhanced confidence level than male at the end of the course.     

Biased grades? Changes in grading after a blinding of examinations reform

Abstract

Group differences in average grades prior to and after a step-wise introduction of blinded examinations at Stockholm University are examined. Relative to students with ‘native’ names, students with ‘foreign’ names appear to experience weak positive bias in the grading of their examinations, but the estimated effect is sensitive to model specification. No substantial effects of blinding examinations with respect to male-female gaps are found. The results suggest that examiners – when the names of students are disclosed to them – if anything have a weak tendency to positively discriminate for students perceived to have an immigrant background, but they do not appear to discriminate on the basis of gender.     

德国的博洛尼亚改革与高等教育学制与学位结构变迁

经过十年来的博洛尼亚改革,德国在2009/2010冬季学期已有79.2%的专业采用了颁发学士/硕士学位的新学制。也就是说,颁发新型学位的专业已经在很大程度上取代了颁发传统学位的专业。不过,在新型学士/硕士专业注册的学生人数目前仅占全部学生人数的42.9%。这表明,博洛尼亚进程虽然改变了德国传统的学制与学位结构,但在德国尚未实现其预定的目标。传统与新型学制和学位的并存是当前德国高等教育体制的一个突出特点。此外,当前改革中出现的一些问题也令德国对博洛尼亚改革的改革变得必要。     

Gender,race, ethnicity,and science education in the middle grades

This article examines gender differences in science achievements and attitudes during the middle grade, when our nation's scientific pipeline begins to emerge. It uses data from a large, nationally representative sample of eighth-grade students (NELS-88). The findings show that in these grades female students do not lag behind their male classmates in science achievements tests, grades, and course enrollments. Actually, some female students have higher probabilities of enrolling in high-ability classes than males. However, female students have less positive attitudes toward science, participate in fewer relevant extracurricular activities, and aspire less often to science careers than males. Students' science attitudes and career interests vary according to students' gender as well as their racial or ethnic background. These findings emphasize the need to further examine the interrelationships between gender and race or ethnicity in our efforts to understand the processes leading to women's limited participation in science-related careers.     

Under pressure: How faculty gender and contract uncertainty impact students’ grades

Although rising average grades appear to be common at post-secondary institutions in the U.S., there is still little work examining mechanisms driving this increase in grades. This paper uses data from a public research university to examine one mechanism in particular: instructor level incentives that are linked to gender and contract status. We hypothesize that instructors with more job uncertainty due to their rank will be most incentivized to award higher grades, as this may lead to better evaluations of teaching and an increase in retention probability. Our results indicate that students receive higher grades when their class is taught by a female instructor with more job uncertainty than if the class were taught by a tenured female faculty member. These higher grades appear to reflect more lenient grading rather than better preparation for follow-on courses. However, for students taking classes with male instructors, there is no significant difference across instructor rank in grades received. Our results have important implications for thinking about the role faculty contracts may play in affecting grading distributions.     

信息呈现方式与大学生词汇记忆效果的相关研究

通过对80名武汉理工大学大四学生分别进行文本、音频和图片三种词汇呈现方式下的词汇记忆效果实验研究,结果发现:大多数大学生对词汇以视频方式呈现比以音频方式呈现具有更好的记忆效果,而且在视频呈现方式下,图片比文本具有更好的记忆效果;在词汇记忆的最佳和最差呈现方式上并无性别差异,但是在较抽象的文本呈现方式下,男生比女生具有更好的记忆效果,而在图片呈现方式下女生反应更快,男生则具有更高的准确率。     

Gender Differences in the Use and Effectiveness of Personal Response Devices

The use of personal response devices (or “clickers”) in the classroom has increased in recent years. While few quantitative studies on the effectiveness of clickers have been published, it is generally reported that clickers have been well-received by the students who use them. Two separate populations (Winter 2006 and Spring 2006) of engineering students were given clickers to use during a general chemistry class. Clicker use was compared to student grades for each course. During both terms, a higher percentage of female students than male students “actively participated” in the lectures, where active participation was defined as answering more than 75% of the clicker questions over the course of the term. Active male students earned final grades about 10 points higher than non-active male students. Active female students, however, scored only about 5 points higher than non-active female students. Student learning was assessed by comparing performance on exam questions and clicker questions with similar content. Students who answered clicker questions correctly were 11–13% more likely to answer the corresponding exam questions correctly than were students who did not answer the clicker question. In this paper, we demonstrate the effectiveness of clicker use in the classroom and examine gender differences associated with this use.     

四川灾区青少年心理康复特质的差异性研究

本文在回顾心理康复特质文献的基础上,根据自编的青少年心理康复特质问卷,选取四川省彭州市等各受灾程度不等的中学的650名学生进行施测,以探讨四川灾区中学生心理康复特质的差异。本研究采用SPSS16.0进行数据的分析和处理,并运用相关分析、双因子变异数分析统计方法进行统计,所得结果如下：从不同年级的中学生的平均数来看,初一和初二、高一和高二年级的中学生在乐观与希望、问题求助方式、不安全感、安全感维度以及总问卷上的平均分具有不同程度的差异：（1）初中二年级学生具有的乐观与希望、安全感特质好于其他年级的学生;（2）初中二年级学生整体心理康复状况好于其他年级的学生;（3）高中二年级学生比其他年级学生更善于运用问题求助来帮助自己康复。从不同性别的中学生的平均数来看：（1）男女中学生具有的整体心理康复特质没有显著的差异;（2）在遇到突发事件时,女生比男生表现出更高程度的不安全感;（3）女生比男生更多地用问题求助的方式来帮助自己康复,且女中学生比男中学生更能找到问题解决和求助的途径。     

Gender differences in an introductory programming course: New teaching approach,students’ learning outcomes,and perceptions

This study reports on gender differences in an introductory programming (IP) course that uses a new teaching and learning approach based on the ADRI (Approach, Deployment, Result, Improvement) model. The teaching materials of the IP course were redesigned based on the new approach. The grades of the final exam were compared to determine the impact of the new teaching and learning approach on genders. A survey was conducted to collect students’ feedback. The responses of the survey were compared for each question among genders and T-test and Mann-Whitney U test were used to analyse the data. The results show that female students performed better in the high achiever category and male students performed better in the medium and low achiever categories in the final exam. The survey responses indicated that male students were more satisfied than female students with the new teaching and learning approach. The four stages of the ADRI approach support students’ cognitive gains and engagement. The students’ retention was higher which supports students’ affective engagement in the IP course. Overall, both the female and male students appreciate the ADRI approach in the IP course.     

成就、挑战与展望-欧洲高等教育区质量保证十年发展回顾

从1999年29国欧洲教育部长共同签署《博洛尼亚宣言》到2 010年《布迭佩斯—维也纳宣言》的发表,在博洛尼亚进程强大的影响和推动下,欧洲高等教育质量保证在欧洲层面及博洛尼亚进程成员国中都取得了积极的成就。质量保证是建设欧洲高等教育区的重要基石,为了实现建立一个统一的欧洲高等教育区的战略目标,欧洲高等教育质量保证仍然任重而道远,面临着新的挑战。     

高职院校大学生职业成熟度与职业决策自我效能的关系研究

以某职业技术学院650名学生为研究对象,采用问卷调查法,选择职业成熟度问卷和职业决策自我效能问卷研究了高职院校大学生职业成熟度与职业决策自我效能之间的关系。结果表明：不同生源地的高职生职业成熟度和自我决策效能总分不存在显著性差异;但城市学生的职业认知水平较高,而农村学生更善于解决具体问题,城市学生职业成熟度较高;不同性别的高职生职业决策自我效能存在非常显著的差异,男生的职业决策自我效能大于女生;不同年级的学生职业成熟度和自我决策不存在显著性差异,但在成熟度的职业目标和职业自主维度上存在显著的差异。职业成熟度与职业决策自我效能之间存在显著性正相关。     

初中生自主性结构及其发展特点研究

本研究采用自编的《初中生自主性发展自陈问卷》,对257名初中生的自主性从三个维度进行研究,结果表明:(1)初中生自主性发展具有独特的年级特点。在自主性发展水平上,初一与初二、初三学生之间存在显著的年级差异,并且初一水平好于初二、初三;初二与初三学生之间不存在显著的年级差异。初二是自主性发展水平下降最为明显的阶段。到了初三,除自我控制维度继续呈下降趋势外,其余维度及总体发展水平不再下降。(2)初中生在自主性的总体发展水平及自我依靠和自我主张两个维度上均不存在显著的性别差异,但在自我控制维度上存在显著的性别差异,并且女生水平好于男生。初一学生在自我控制维度上、初二学生在总体发展水平上存在显著性别差异,而且均表现为女生水平好于男生。初三学生中不存在显著的性别差异。     

An empirical study into gender differences in the relationships among academic,social and psychological adjustments of university support

There are three dimensions through which to measure university support for students’ transition to university life: academic adjustment, social adjustment and psychological adjustment. Previous research studies show that there are relationships among those adjustments. However, less is known about gender differences in these relationships. The purpose of this study is to examine the perceived gender differences in perception of the relationships among these adjustments during the first year undergraduate transition period. The study is based on a survey of 114 first year undergraduate students from a Hong Kong local university. The findings show that (1) female students perceive social adjustment to have more influence on academic adjustment than male students, (2) female students perceive psychological adjustment to have more influence on academic adjustment than male students, and (3) there is no significant difference in the relationship between social and academic adjustments for female and male students.     

Gender Differences in Introductory Atmospheric and Oceanic Science Exams: Multiple Choice Versus Constructed Response Questions

An analysis of 295 male and 194 female examinations from introductory atmospheric and oceanic science courses is conducted to determine whether or not there exists gender differences in the performance on multiple choice versus constructed response sections of the exams. The difference in the mean performance of males and females on constructed response relative to multiple choice sections of final exams, even in years where the females performed better than or worse than the males on both sections, is on average 5% that is significant at the 0.1% level. Gender differences on time-limited midterm exams are not significant. It is further shown that final exam performance is not significantly related to whether or not the exam starts with a multiple choice versus constructed response set of questions. While our analysis is unable to differentiate between the possibilities that multiple choice questions favor male students and the competing hypothesis that constructed response questions favor female students, existing literature is reviewed to suggest that a combination of both is possible. Nevertheless, from the analysis of our examination results, we can conclude that an exam of introductory atmospheric or oceanic science curricula, which is made up of 60% multiple choice questions and 40% constructed response questions, would not be skewed to favor any particular gender.     

Gender differences in academic and social behavior of elementary school transfer students

This study describes a tutoring program designed to help children in grades 3 through 5 who underwent an unscheduled school transfer. We examined gender differences in self-concepts, academic performance, teacher evaluations, and peer ratings. Gender differences were found in several measures, although gender did not substantially interact with the intervention. As expected, female transfer students reported lower self-concepts than males; teachers reported that boys were more popular; peers also rated boys as more aggressive and girls as more likable. Findings suggest that preventive interventions for transfer students need to account for effects of gender.     

高职院校学生自我接纳状况的调查与分析

采用自我接纳问卷（SAQ）对四川省三所高职院校的320名学生从性别、独生与否、专业、来源地、年级等方面进行了自我接纳状况调查。结果表明：高职院校学生总体自我接纳情况处于中等偏上水平,且能够恰当地进行自我接纳;男学生和独生子女学生自我接纳水平均高于女学生与非独生子女学生;学生自我接纳水平是随着年级而依次升高;农村学生自我接纳水平高于城市学生。了解当前高职院校学生的自我接纳状况,可以为学生健康教育提供依据。     

工科专业本科生学习性投入的性别差异分析

本研究使用华中地区一所理工科院校的调查数据,分析工科专业本科生在学习性投入和学业收获中存在的性别差异,检验工科专业本科生学习性投入对其学业收获的影响是否因性别而存在不同。研究发现：工科专业女生在学习努力程度、课外拓展学习、学习意义感、学习动力及感知到的学术环境和人际关系等因素上均显著高于男生,但在生师交流互动、专业兴趣上显著低于男生;工科专业女生在校期间学习性投入程度更高,学习成绩更好,但对自我学习收获的评价相对较低;学习性投入各因素对工科专业男女生学业收获的正向促进作用也有所不同。对此,本文提出工程教育改革应重视工科专业女生的专业自信心和归属感的建立,以消除单一的男性主导的工科学习环境对女生学习及发展的潜在影响。     

Gender and higher education experience: a case study

This research seeks to contribute to current discussion of gender differences in experience of higher education. Its specific focus is to compare the assessment of various university services by male and female students. The research sample consisted of 9793 students who participated in three University of Western Sydney surveys in 2004 and 2005. The results suggest that, first, female students place higher importance on the majority of the university’s services than do male students; second, as female students advance through their studies, they appear more demanding about the quality of services, while male students remain comparatively tolerant; and third, while all students consider that some areas warrant improvement, this is significantly more so for female than for male students. Specifically, the key areas for improvement from female students’ perspective are the relevance and instructional clarity of the course and efficiency of administration. It is recommended that, considering the current trends in higher education across gender, a sharper focus on these areas for improvement action could help the university ensure equity and better manage competition.