Challenging accepted wisdom: Looking at the gender and science education question through a different lens

This article reports on a research project designed to explore a group of women scientists' understandings of themselves and science. The project uses an unconventional methodology: - a mixture of conventional qualitative research methods and techniques developed for use in psychotherapy. Its preliminary results appear to contradict some of the assumptions on which much of past work on girls and science education is based. For example, we found that, for the women involved in this project, factors such as the presence in their lives of strong female role models and/or the use of 'girl-friendly' curriculum materials were not important in their decision to continue the study of science to university level. Other factors - some of which were quite unexpected - had a much greater effect. The article outlines the methodology of this project and some of its findings, and explores the implications of these findings for future work on the gender and science education question.     

Re‐presenting women and leadership: a methodological journey

Research on women's leadership has tended to focus upon detailed micro studies of individual women's identity formation or, alternatively, to conduct macro studies of its broader discursive constructions within society. Both approaches, although providing helpful understandings of the issues surrounding constructions of women's leadership, are inadequate. They fail to deal with the ongoing dilemma raised in both Cultural Studies and studies of discourse and identity, in relation to the negotiation of subjectivity and representation, that is, how broader societal discourses and media representations of women's leadership both inform, and are informed by, the lived experiences of individual women. In this article, a range of methodological approaches are outlined that were drawn upon in a study of a small group of senior women academics from ethnically and socioeconomically diverse origins. The authors examine how the women negotiated the frequent mismatch that arose between, on the one hand, societal discourses and media representations which often reproduced narrow and highly stereotypical accounts of women's leadership, and on the other hand, the individual women's subjective experiences of leadership which challenged such representations. It is contended that it is necessary to draw on a number of methodological perspectives in ways which trouble and unsettle homogenized versions of women's leadership in order to fully explicate more nuanced and complex ways of understanding how women's leadership identity is formed.     

The unreliable narrator,or the difference between writing prose in literature and in social science: A commentary on Tierney's article

Qualitative research methodologies comprise distinct traditions, each of which is based on its own assumptions and discrete methods for collecting, analyzing and reporting data. This paper examines a distinctive approach to qualitative research that was employed in a recent study to open a gateway to understanding the impact of the shootings at Columbine High School. Using the Columbine study as a model, it analyzes and delineates a process for collecting data through modified oral history practices, displaying data through stories using a specialized form of poetic representation, and disclosing results through strategies adapted from educational criticism and connoisseurship.     

Mapping Children’s Discussions of Evidence in Science to Assess Collaboration and Argumentation

The research reported in this paper concerns the development of children’s skills of interpreting and evaluating evidence in science. Previous studies have shown that school teaching often places limited emphasis on the development of these skills, which are necessary for children to engage in scientific debate and decision‐making. The research, undertaken in the United Kingdom, involved four collaborative decision‐making activities to stimulate group discussion, each carried out with five groups of four children (10–11 years old). The research shows how the children evaluated evidence for possible choices and judged whether their evidence was sufficient to support a particular conclusion or the rejection of alternative conclusions. A mapping technique was developed to analyse the discussions and identify different “levels” of argumentation. The authors conclude that suitable collaborative activities that focus on the discussion of evidence can be developed to exercise children’s ability to argue effectively in making decisions.     

An Investigation of the New York State Regents Examinations in Science

This study examined the effects of realism on subjects’ recognition memory for computergraphics. Children and adults in six age groups (N = 189) were presented with pictorial computergraphic materials at three levels of realism: low (abstract or schematic—images reduced to simple flat shapes), medium (linear—simple line drawings), and high (realistic—photographic images and detailed drawings). Pictorial content was sampled widely from existing computer materials with each image containing only one pictorial element: person, animal, or object. Recognition memory was tested at immediate and a week’s delay. Recognition of the three kinds of image showed an unusual pattern of decline over time with the initial advantage for realistic and abstract computergraphics disappearing at a week’s delay, while recognition for linear images was superior to that of realistic and abstract. Although recognition memory increased with age, no interaction between age and realism was found. That is, all age groups, 6 years through middle age, retained the linear computergraphics best. Discussion includes interpretations of these findings and their instructional implications.     

How young children view mathematical representations: a study using eye-tracking technology

This paper reports on a study which investigated the support needs of pupils in mainstream school with a chronic illness or physical disability. The research was carried out in three local education authorities covering both rural and urban areas. In-depth, qualitative data were collected from 33 pupils in secondary school; 58 parents of primary and secondary school pupils; and 34 primary and secondary school teachers. Overall, the data from young people suggest variability in the support offered to pupils by teachers, even by teachers within the same school, and highlights the importance of teachers' awareness and understanding of special health needs. A number of areas where young people need support from teachers were identified, including: dealing with school absence; taking part in school activities; peer relationships; explaining the condition to other pupils; and having someone to talk to about health-related worries. Data from teachers and parents indicate that school staff need assistance with obtaining health-related information; ensuring health-related information is passed between and within schools; providing emotional support; the provision of medical care; and coordinating support for this group of pupils. The implications of the findings for teachers, schools and educational policy are discussed.     

Whose Knowledge?* 1 Gender,Education, Science and History

What forms of knowledge are deemed worth possessing in any period and who is allowed access to them are crucial questions for the historian of education. Science, now a core subject of study, has long been seen as ‘masculine’, especially at its highest levels, although the historical reasons for this have been somewhat neglected in education. This paper compares and analyses the interrelationships of education, gender and science at both the end of the long eighteenth century and in the early twentieth century in order to explore issues of knowledge and gender and demonstrate the use of a historical perspective