Gender Equity for Mathematics and Science

Notes on Invited Faculty presentations

Judith Jacobs

MATH

• AAUW study shows the longer we teach students, the less they like math
• Feminist pedagogy is not anti-male; being feminist is not being anti-male
• Need to stop viewing teacher as the fount of all wisdom
• Math perceived as male domain
  • AAUW study examined this topic
  • from elementary school to high school, large drop in number of the number of girls who perceive themselves as good in math
• Possible causes for girls' lack of interest and/or poor performance in math
  • biology
  • math anxiety
  • perceived usefulness of math
  • math as a male domain
  • teachers' differential treatment
  • autonomous learning behavior of males and females
  • perception of self as learner

    confidence

    causal attribution

References

Suzanne K. Damarin, "Teaching Mathematics from a Feminist Point of View"

Carol Gilligan, In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Women's Development

Belenky et al., Women's Ways of Knowing.

Women's Ways Of Knowing

* Procedural knowing

How do mathematicians teach math? Separate

What do mathematicians really do? Connected!

Aspects of Feminist Pedagogy for Mathematics Instruction

1. Content mathematics
   1. The language of the mathematics rather than mastering material and tackling problems, create elegant proofs and integrate problems
   2. The nature of proof

      how do you know something in mathematics?

      multiple models of proof (e.g., examples, algebraic, generalizable model)

   3. What do mathematicians do
2. The pedagogy of the math classroom
   1. The relationship among teachers and students

      community of learners

      teacher as a facilitator/support person

      teacher as a mid-wife trusting and willing to take risks

      start out slowly, build up trust, and can speed up later

      teacher is NOT fount of all knowledge

   2. Using students' experiences to enhance their learning

      need to know what is going with students' lives/cultures

      extracurricular, MTV, games from other cultures all come with their own "baggage"

      career options (e.g., engineering) should include considering positive applications (artificial limbs, better baby car seat as well as a better bomb)

   3. Cooperative vs. competitive experience

      Do both?

      In 1960's, math was learned in isolation-cooperative learning would have been viewed as cheating

      Lots of competition exists outside of the classroom

      Math competitions should include team problems as well as individual

      Teachers must monitor male-female interactions in cooperative learning groups to make sure that males don't dominate and that females don't end up being secretaries.

   4. Writing as a means of learning

      Women are more willing to write; they like to use writing as a way of thinking

      Comparison/analysis of trig functions

SCIENCE

Most work has been done in England. Reference: Sue Rosser, Female-Friendly Science.

Girls use computers to do things; boys master the computer.

A survey of 11-year-olds in England showed the following interests:

Feminist science is particularly humanistic and does not stereotype persons in science

• open regarding what is objectivity in investigations
• incorporates rather than rejects subjectivity
• more open in evaluating data and evidence and nature of collection
• status of scientific knowledge is not paramount
• sees science as enriching the quality of human life
• looks for evidence beyond what we can see

Girl-friendly science curriculum

• sets experiments in context
• links physical science principles to the human body
• stresses safety precautions rather than dangers
• aims for a balanced view of benefit and disadvantages of scientific development
• makes aesthetically pleasing exhibits
• employs imaginative writing

J. Goldblum from Jurassic Park..."Just because you can do it doesn't mean you should."

Feminist pedagogy-Gender does not determine what one can and cannot do.

"My job is to ASK the questions, not ANSWER them!"

How does your subject promote separate knowing, connected knowing, and what can you do to promote more connected knowing?

Reference: Teri Perl, Women and Numbers.

Assessment

Estimation: Give range and explain why you selected that range.

Open-ended question: The formula V= Bh works for some but not others. Explain the situations in which it works and in which it doesn't.

Woodrow Wilson Leadership Program in Mathematics lpt@www.woodrow.org
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