Trends in computer applications in science assessment

Seven computer applications to science assessment are reviewed. Conventional test administration includes record keeping, grading, and managing test banks. Multiple-choice testing involves forced selection of an answer from a menu, whereas constructed-response testing involves options for students to present their answers within a set standard deviation. Adaptive testing attempts to individualize the test to minimize the number of items and time needed to assess a student's knowledge. Figurai response testing assesses science proficiency in pictorial or graphic mode and requires the student to construct a mental image rather than selecting a response from a multiple choice menu. Simulations have been found useful for performance assessment on a large-scale basis in part because they make it possible to independently specify different aspects of a real experiment. An emerging approach to performance assessment is solution pathway analysis, which permits the analysis of the steps a student takes in solving a problem. Virtually all computer-based testing systems improve the quality and efficiency of record keeping and data analysis.     

Gender, equity and the discourse of the independent learner in higher education

The ‘independent learner’ is a key construct within discourses of educational policy and practice in the UK. Government policy statements stress the importance of developing learner independence, and higher education pedagogical practices tend to rest on the assumption that students are independent learners. This paper draws on research with undergraduate students in a post-1992 university to offer a critical appraisal of the discourse of the independent learner. The paper examines students’ perceptions of independence in both their first year of undergraduate study, and in the later years of their degree courses. Support for learning and issues related to asking for help are discussed. Whilst students tend to both expect and want to be independent, it is suggested that dominant constructions of the independent learner are gendered and culturally specific, and as such are inappropriate for the majority of students in a mass higher education system.     

Reducing the distance: equity issues in distance learning in public education

Distance learning and educational equity both began with an emphasis on access, on providing underserved students with an increased access to education. Today definitions of equity have gone beyond simple access to include equal or equivalent treatment and outcomes while definitions of underserved students have expanded to include girls, children of color, children with limited English proficiency and children with disabilities. At the same time the definition of distance learning has expanded to include new technologies, new audiences and new roles. Based on these new definitions and roles, the article raises a number of equity challenges for distance learning educators centering around who is taught, what is taught and how the teaching is done. To answer these challenges, a series of recommendations are suggested that educators can implement to make distance learning a leader in increasing educational equity for all students. The time to act is now.     

Gender equity in the academic labor market: an analysis of academic disciplines

This study uses hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) to analyze the effect of human capital, structural characteristics of the discipline, and disciplinary labor market conditions on faculty salaries. Faculty in disciplines characterized by relatively low demand, high teaching loads, and low amounts of research funding earn less than do faculty in other disciplines. Additionally, even after controlling for an array of individual and disciplinary characteristics, women faculty members earn less than their male peers.     

Gender ratios in high school science departments: The effect of percent female faculty on multiple dimensions of students' science identities

To examine how school characteristics are tied to science and engineering views and aspirations of students who are underrepresented in science and engineering fields, this mixed‐methods study explores relationships between aspects of students' science identities, and the representation of women among high school science teachers. Quantitative analyses tested the hypothesis that percent female faculty would have a positive effect on girls' science interests, and perceptions in particular, given the potentially greater availability of women role models. Findings indicate that percent female science faculty does not have an effect on a range of science measures for both male and female students, including the ways in which they understand scientific practice, their science self‐concept, and their interest in science‐related college majors. As qualitative data demonstrate, this could reflect practical constraints at schools where female faculty are concentrated and narrow perceptions of science teachers and “real” science. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 44: 980–1009, 2007     

中国基础教育性别公平存在的问题和对策

性别公平是当今国际世界基础教育研究中的一项重要任务，本文首先介绍了20世纪90年代中国基础教育在实现性别公平方面取得的成就，然后指出了中国基础教育中仍然存在性别不公平的一些问题，最后探讨了21世纪前15年中国基础教育全面实现性别公平应该采取的政策措施。     

Sex equity in mathematics and science education: Research-policy links

Despite the accumulation of a large body of research concerning effective sex equity practices in math and science, the lack of change in educational procedures suggests the need to reexamine the role of research in policy and program planning. This paper reviews the current research on sex equity in mathematics and science education, focusing on research in the categories of educator-student interaction, instructional context, and macrolevel demographics. Existing applications of current research to mathematics and science education programs are examined at regional, state, district, and individual school levels. Recommendations for future directions in policy and research are made, emphasizing the gaps in knowledge on each side. The paper ends with specific suggestions for strengthening the links between research and policy in the area of sex equity.     

Tenure troubles and equity matters in Canadian academe

The focus of this article is the tenure review process in Canadian universities, a rigorous and high-stakes evaluation of junior academics that serves as a prime exemplar of ‘disciplining academics', our project's title. In-depth interviews in seven Ontario universities with 30 knowledgeable informants such as senior managers and faculty association personnel provide the data. Literature on tenure and the persistence of equity issues suggests that we might expect some concern on those grounds to be raised by participants, especially as the faculty complement slowly grows more ethnically diverse and more gender balanced. Although not usually raised without direct questions, some discourses around equity did appear in the interviews. We argue that apparently equal outcomes in the tenure review process may be obscuring differential experiences of evaluation that need further examination.     

Nitpicking: An Exploration of the Marginalization of Gender Equity in Urban School Research and Reform

The Urban Review - Why has gender been marginalized as a consideration in decisions about how conditions in urban schools should be improved? To answer this question I examine research about home...     

The Influence of Children's Literature on Gender Role Perceptions: A Reexamination

This project reexamined young children's gender attitudes regarding occupational roles. The results of this study suggested that young children's atitudes, while still generally stereotypic, were more flexible regarding occupational roles. The reading of carefully selected books and book related activities positively influenced gender attitudes.     

Legal issues and statistical approaches to reverse pay discrimination in higher education

There have been numerous lawsuits within higher education brought by females over pay inequity and many articles have been written on the topic. Although not as prevalent, there have been some recent instances where male faculty have claimed—with some degree of success—that the process used by their institutions to make salary adjustments for females was unfair and led to reverse pay discrimination. In this paper, we examine some of the legal issues and statistical approaches surrounding claims of reverse sex discrimination in pay in the field of higher education. We begin by reviewing the way in which legal cases examine sex discrimination in pay in academe and the different approaches that institutions can take to remove pay disparities for women. We show that across-the-board salary adjustments for women are less likely than individualized salary adjustments to raise concerns about the salary determination process and possibly reverse discrimination, and lead to lower costs to the institution. These differences arise regardless of the salary model specification used by an institution when making salary adjustments. Finally, we use a model developed by the plaintiffs in a salary equity study at one institution to demonstrate the effects of using different adjustment methods on the total cost to the institution when making salary equity adjustments for both genders.An earlier version of this paper was presented at the seminar series for the Institute of Higher Education, University of Georgia. We would like to thank participants at this seminar and Andrew Luna for comments on previous drafts of this paper.     

Gender issues in the university research environment

Recruiting and retaining females within science, engineering and technology continues to challenge many European higher education institutions. This study looks at female self-perceptions relating to effective research work and career progression. Focus groups are used to examine the attitudes and experiences of females and a questionnaire is used to explore perceptions in four main skills areas: group work; communication; personal awareness; project planning and management. The study indicates consistent female concerns on issues pertaining to effective female role models, negative work-role stereotypes and the work–life balance of an academic career. For all four skills areas, the average confidence scores of the female participants fell below those of males, but these differences were only statistically significant for perceptions on group work and communication skills and prior to an intense skills development course. Based on these findings, a student workshop on gender issues has been developed, an outline of which is presented.     

Gender and Education for All: Progress and problems in achieving gender equity

The paper explores the effects of rapid increases in gender parity in primary schooling in Bangladesh and Malawi on gender inequities in schools and communities. Based on an analysis of comparative case studies of marginalized communities, we argue that educational initiatives focused on achieving gender parity provide limited evidence that girls’ educational experiences modeled significantly different gender norms than in communities, or that by being educated, girls experienced a transformation of the inequitable gender relations they faced in society. The data illustrate persistent gender discrimination related to educational attainment and learning, and gender-based violence in schools. These patterns of gendered discrimination and violence largely mirrored those that girls and boys experienced in their homes and communities, raising important questions about the transformational capacity of current gender parity and schooling models.     

Faculty peer networks: role and relevance in advancing agency and gender equity

Organisational efforts to alter gender asymmetries are relatively rare, yet they are taking place in a number of universities. In the USA, sponsored by the National Science Foundation, ADVANCE programmes implement a number of interventions to improve the recruitment, retention, and advancement of women faculty. This study focused on one common intervention, faculty peer networks, and the role they play in gender equity reform. Longitudinal and cross-sectional qualitative data indicate that such peer networks function as catalysts for women's career agency, and challenge gendered organisational practices. Two key features of the peer networks, their structure and internal dynamics, facilitate these outcomes. At the same time, peer networks are limited by design in promoting structural change and must be implemented in concert with other forms of policy and structural change to be effective mechanisms for gender equity reform.     

Spaces for Change: Gender and Technology Access in Collaborative Software Design

Equitable computer collaborations in mixed-gender teams have been a pressing issue for many years. While some have argued for creating single-gender teams or girls-only computer activities, our approach was different. The current study examines a three-month software design activity in which mixed teams of girls and boys (10–12 year olds) designed and implemented multimedia astronomy resources for younger students. In this context we assessed gender differences in students' levels of access to technology and how these participation patterns changed throughout the project duration. We found through our qualitative analyses that the configuration of social, physical and cognitive spaces in the project environment contributed to a positive change in girls' levels of access. We discuss the implications of these results in regard to issues surrounding the development and maintenance of gender equity in computer use and further research.     

The SES equity gap and the reform from modular to linear GCSE mathematics

This article addresses whether the introduction of end-of-course, linear General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) examinations changed the socio-economic equity gap in England. The GCSE is a national examination offered in a wide range of subjects and taken by almost the entire 16-year-old age cohort. Between the years 2007 and 2014, it underwent a number of reforms to both the underlying curriculum and the examination structure. At the beginning of the period, examinations were primarily modular in structure where the course was decomposed into discrete units tested in a staged manner. By 2014, all GCSE examinations were linear and the whole course content was tested simultaneously when study was complete. These structural changes and the curriculum reforms mean that the impact of modular and linear testing on the performance of students has been the focus of recent interest. Some educational commentators suggested that modular examinations are more suitable for lower-performing students, including those with lower socio-economic status (SES). This research has been conducted to monitor the socio-economic equity gap in the light of the structural changes. It focuses on GCSE mathematics and concludes that, although there is still a clear gap in attainment between disadvantaged students and their peers, this gap does not seem to be exacerbated by the examination structure. In other words, the linearisation of GCSE mathematics is unlikely to have increased inequity between students of high and low SES.     

So-called giftedness and teacher education: issues of equity and inclusion

The education of students identified as ‘gifted’ has had a highly problematic history, having been judged as conceptually confused, socially and ethnically discriminatory, and educationally exclusive. Despite this, it is argued that contemporary research and scholarship critiquing the concepts of giftedness and gifted education programmes may provide a base for teacher education and development generally, rather than only for those interested in giftedness. It has particular potential for altering teachers’ thinking about students’ ability. Such research has emphasised the developmental nature of intelligence, its multidimensional character and the sociopolitical role of the concept of ability in school systems. It is argued that the appropriate use of this research could contribute to a more equitable and inclusive model for teachers’ thinking and for practice in schooling. Five implications for teacher development are discussed.     

A (TRANS)formative approach to gender-inclusive science education

The teaching of science in K-12 schools has long been criticized as a process that propagates oppression for students who do not conform to entrenched norms of gender, sex, and sexuality. Academic standards, curriculum, and textbooks are rife with rhetoric that reinforces any deviation from cisheterosexuality as aberrant, unusual, or abnormal. However, these often-over-simplified conceptions discount the historic social and scientific intricacies of gender and sexual diversity as well as students' own lived experiences. While there have been advancements in LGBTQ+ and gender-inclusive science education reform, these movements have been stymied by a lack of cohesive guidelines for pedagogy and practice, particularly for trans, nonbinary, and gender-creative youth. Situated within trans-created conceptual frameworks for critical education, this study explored the pedagogical practices of 10 transgender science teachers with the purpose of learning from their experiences creating gender inclusive curriculum. From the data (in-depth interviews, instructional materials samples, and reflective teaching statements) emerged the TRANS (Trans and Research-informed Approaches for Nonbinary and gender-inclusive Science education) Framework for gender inclusive science education pedagogy. This framework is anchored in three domains for teaching science through a trans-informed lens:interrogating and accessing power, resisting essentialism, and embracing experiential knowledge and personal epistemologies. The findings of this study contribute to our growing understanding of gender-inclusive science learning environments. Importantly, this study amplified the experiential knowledge of teachers whose voices are critically absent from research surrounding gender and LGBTQ+-inclusive science education practice. Moreover, the framework derived from teachers' experiences can be used to guide educators in making their science classrooms safer and more gender inclusive.