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Reviewing the role of the physics curriculum and its assessment in post-16 gender disparities
International Journal of Science Education
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In recent decades, several countries have made efforts to close the historic gender gap in physics through curricular reforms. Research indicates that while the acute underrepresentation of females in physics courses and related careers is linked to a number of interlaced social, contextual and motivational factors, the personal relevance of physics curricula is important. Some researchers argue that physics has been historically perceived as a “masculine” domain which operates through contexts that are unfamiliar to females. Introduction of a “girl-friendly” physics curriculum is one of the prominent measures employed to mitigate this concern, with researchers arguing that a context-based/humanistic physics curriculum will improve gender inclusivity and thereby increase females’ motivation to learn physics. However, this approach has been criticised as a “feminisation” of the physics curriculum. This paper uses a mixed-methods approach underpinned by expectancy-value theory, to analyse 247 students’ perceptions of an Australian senior secondary physics curriculum and investigates the claim that including “female-friendly” topics will make physics more appealing to females. Findings suggest that while most students found their physics curriculum interesting and personally relevant, neither females nor males found the “feminine” topics particularly appealing. Both male and female students also found there was a lack of mathematical applications, and they identified descriptive topics, such as those addressing social and historical contexts, as uninteresting and irrelevant in a physics curriculum. This paper concludes that gender was non-significant in student perceptions of a senior secondary physics curriculum.
Over the past two decades, there has been increasing international concern over the prevalence of mental health difficulties amongst children and young people. In the English context, particular concerns have been raised about the “state” of girls’ and young women’s psychological health. Figuring highly in both academic and media debate is the impact of school pressures and the performance demands placed on girls in relation to academic achievement. In this systematic review, we map the reported achievement-related factors affecting girls’ mental health emerging from the peer-reviewed qualitative literature. Five databases were searched for literature published from 1990–2021. Additional search strategies included forwards and backwards citation chasing and hand searching. Eleven texts met our inclusion criteria. The themes of fears for the future, parent/family-related pressures, competitive school cultures, and gendered expectations of girls’ academic achievement emerged from the located texts. It was when pressures were “imbalanced” and felt in the extreme that mental ill-health/anxiety was more likely to be experienced. We go on to introduce the theoretical model of the “mental health/achievement see-saw” and argue for its use as a conceptual tool to engage with deep-rooted complexities around the relationship between gender, mental health and academic achievement. We contend that the “see-saw” model has potential utility to academics, educational practitioners, and policy-makers, and might be usefully translated into practice in the form of biopsychosocial interpositions in schools that move beyond more surface-level attempts at mental health promotion and that seek to empower, de-pathologise and challenge entrenched structural inequalities.
Women continue to be underrepresented in physics in the United States. This is while many Muslim majority (MM) countries have a high representation of women in undergraduate and graduate physics programs. While there is a growing awareness of this trend, little is being done to understand why and how this trend has manifested and how it can be used to inform broadening the participation of women in physics in the U.S. To better understand how cultural experiences can influence the pursuit of physics, this study examines the lived experiences of female physics faculty members in the U.S. who came from MM countries. The study draws on seven phenomenological interviews focusing on how cultural experiences shaped participants’ gender and physics identities. The results reveal several possible hypotheses on differences and similarities in how physics and gender identities intersect in MM countries as opposed to what has been found in the West. In particular, expressions of femininity in MM countries can have a more constructive intersection with expressions of physics identity in ways that promote participation and persistence.
This article responds to two key concerns in science education: firstly, that policies designed to assess practical work have distorted its use as an effective pedagogical tool. Secondly, it addresses concerns about the lack of research on the assessment of practical work. The article analyses the policy trajectory for the assessment of science practical work, through the GCSE, in the English National Curriculum from 1988 to the present day. Drawing on published research and policy documents, using Bowe, Ball and Gould's policy cycle approach to policy analysis, we first identify three distinct eras which represent different ways of assessing practical work from 1988 to the present day. Second, we demonstrate that the interaction between high‐stakes assessment narrows the ways practical work is conducted in schools. The interaction between curriculum policy and assessment policy and its influences on pedagogy for practical work has been influenced by the high‐stakes nature of the tests. This is not a unique case to England nor to science education. Finally, we question whether we can design assessments, ‘tests worth teaching to’, that can withstand the implications of high‐stakes testing.
We investigated the intersectional nature of race/racism and gender/sexism in broad scale inequities in physics student learning using a critical quantitative intersectionality. To provide transparency and create a nuanced picture of learning, we problematized the measurement of equity by using two competing operationalizations of equity: Equity of Individuality and Equality of Learning. These two models led to conflicting conclusions. The analyses used hierarchical linear models to examine student's conceptual learning as measured by gains in scores on research‐based assessments administered as pretests and posttests. The data came from the Learning About STEM Student Outcomes' (LASSO) national database and included data from 13,857 students in 187 first‐semester college physics courses. Findings showed differences in student gains across gender and race. Large gender differences existed for White and Hispanic students but not for Asian, Black, and Pacific Islander students. The models predicted larger gains for students in collaborative learning than in lecture‐based courses. The Equity of Individuality operationalization indicated that collaborative instruction improved equity because all groups learned more with collaborative learning. The Equality of Learning operationalization indicated that collaborative instruction did not improve equity because differences between groups were unaffected. We discuss the implications of these mixed findings and identify areas for future research using critical quantitative perspectives in education research.
Gender role beliefs (i.e., beliefs about gender-specific responsibilities) predict one’s educational and occupational aspirations and choices (Eccles et al., 1983; Schoon and Parsons, 2002). Focusing on STEM careers, we aim to examine the extent to which traditional work/family related gender role beliefs (TGRB) in adolescence predict within and across gender differences in subsequent educational and STEM occupational attainment in adulthood. Using longitudinal data from the Michigan Study of Adolescent and Adult Life Transitions (N = 744; 58% female), participants’ educational attainment and their occupations were assessed at age 42. Their occupations were then categorized into three categories: traditional STEM-related careers in the physical sciences, mathematics, engineering, and technology (PMET); life sciences (e.g., health sciences, LS); and non-STEM. For females, TGRB at age 16/18 significantly predicted lower educational attainment as well as a lower likelihood to be in PMET-related occupations in comparison to non-STEM occupations – controlling for their own educational attainment. TGRB also predicted a higher likelihood to be in LS-related in comparison to PMET-related occupations. No significant associations were found for males. However, patterns of findings for males were similar to those of females. TGRB also mediated across gender differences in educational and PMET-related occupational attainment. Findings reveal TGRB to be one underlying psychological factor influencing gender disparity in educational and STEM occupational attainment.
The year 10 students who took part in the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE2) in 2014 have been growing up in a rapidly changing environment. The previous cohort of year 10 students, who were interviewed in 2005, lived in a world in which the UK economy had seen 13 years of uninterrupted growth in GDP, and social media and the fast and constantly connected mobile devices that many now take for granted had not yet been fully integrated into young people’s lives. As such, it is perhaps unsurprising that the attitudes and behaviours of year 10 students in 2014 were markedly different to those in 2005.
The findings from LSYPE2 are complex and would merit further investigation. However, two fundamental themes emerged from our analyses:
• Year 10 students in 2014 were markedly more ‘work focused’ than their counterparts in 2005
• There were signs that the mental wellbeing of year 10 students – particularly that of girls – had worsened and that young people felt less control over their own destinies
Bildung is a complex educational concept that emerged in Germany in the mid eighteenth century. Especially in Germany and Scandinavia conceptions of Bildung became the general philosophical framework to guide both formal and informal education. Bildung concerns the whole range of education from setting educational objectives in general towards its particular operation in different school subjects, among them science education. In more recent years, the concept of Bildung has slowly begun to be used in the international science and environmental education literature. This paper presents a systematic analysis of the international literature concerning the use of the concept of Bildung, with a view on its meaning in and for science education. At least five versions based on or closely connected to the tradition of Bildung can be identified: (a) Von Humboldt’s classical Bildung, (b) Anglo-American liberal education, (c) Scandinavian folk-Bildung, (d) democratic education, and (e) critical-hermeneutic Bildung. These different understandings of Bildung are discussed in relation to their historical roots, educational theory, critique, and their relation to philosophies of science education, such as different visions of scientific literacy. Based on critical-hermeneutic Bildung, the paper theoretically develops views of critical-reflexive Bildung as an educational metatheory. It is connected to ideas of transformative learning, sustainability education and a Vision III of scientific literacy. Finally, some implications of critical-reflexive Bildung for teaching and learning are discussed.
Schools have a particular responsibility to introduce young people to the range of possible options for them after they leave education as few families can provide this. However, in the United Kingdom, careers education is currently not strong in most schools for a number of reasons but principally due to its low status and shifts in government policy and funding. As a result, too many young people make subject choices for post-16 study that they subsequently regret. In particular, fewer young people in the United Kingdom choose post-16 STEM subjects than might do. Yet, STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) graduates are especially valued by employers. We draw on the findings of two research projects, ASPIRES and UPMAP, and argue that one way forward may be to embed careers education in STEM lessons. This can be done in ways that are respectful of and helpful to students. We recommend that an England- or UK-based project to investigate the consequences of embedding careers education in STEM lessons be undertaken.
This paper explores how students' aspirations to study mathematics or physics in post-16 education are associated with their perceptions of their education, their motivations and the support they feel they received. The analysis is based on the responses of around 10,000 students in England in year 8 (age 12–13) and then in year 10 (age 14–15). The students were first surveyed during 2008–09 and then followed up in 2010–11. T-tests revealed a decline in their perceptions of their mathematics and physics education. Factor analyses indicated subject-specific constructs that were associated with gender-aspiration groups (i.e., high aspiring girls, high aspiring boys, low aspiring girls, low aspiring boys). High aspiring girls were more likely than low aspiring boys to be positive about mathematics/physics education, motivation in these subjects and support received. However, high aspiring girls were less likely than high aspiring boys to be encouraged by their teachers and families to continue with these subjects post-16 and had lower self-concepts, intrinsic valuations and perceptions of lessons. Low aspiring girls reported the least favourable views of their mathematics/physics education of all four gender-aspiration groups. Findings were generally similar for mathematics and physics although students overall responded more favourably to mathematics than to physics. The quantitative findings are illustrated with extracts from longitudinal interviews (ages 15, 16 and 17) of two high-aspiring girls.
There are widespread policy concerns to improve (widen and increase) science, technology, engineering, and mathematics participation, which remains stratified by ethnicity, gender, and social class. Despite being interested in and highly valuing science, Black students tend to express limited aspirations to careers in science and remain underrepresented in post-16 science courses and careers, a pattern which is not solely explained by attainment. This paper draws on survey data from nationally representative student cohorts and longitudinal interview data collected over 4 years from 10 Black African/Caribbean students and their parents, who were tracked from age 10–14 (Y6–Y9), as part of a larger study on children's science and career aspirations. The paper uses an intersectional analysis of the qualitative data to examine why science careers are less “thinkable” for Black students. A case study is also presented of two young Black women who “bucked the trend” and aspired to science careers. The paper concludes with implications for science education policy and practice.
Post-compulsory participation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education is an ongoing international concern and forms a key motivation underpinning the Interests and Recruitment in Science (IRIS) research project. In this chapter, we draw upon the extensive research base connected to this issue in order to draw out and reflect upon some of the factors influencing STEM enrolment behaviour, paying particular attention to issues of gender imbalance in STEM study. In the first half of the chapter, we focus on theoretic models of choice, calling attention to research on attitudes to science, which is considered closely related to post-compulsory subject choice. We also acknowledge work that draws upon psychological constructs related to identity and interest, which also may inform understanding of STEM participation. In addition, the complexity of the issues surrounding and underpinning STEM enrolment is, we believe, highlighted by the relatively limited number of models of enrolment behaviour that integrate results from a range of research. Following this reflection, the remainder of the chapter is devoted to outlining a number of factors which have been identified by multiple research studies as influencing STEM choice, namely: age, attainment, teaching and learning, school type, influential individuals (parents and teachers), and images of science and scientists. We finish by reflecting on the influence of gender on subject choice, given the IRIS study’s particular concern with this issue.
This paper investigates the characteristics of 15-year-old girls who express an intention to study physics post-16. This paper unpacks issues around within-girl group differences and similarities between boys and girls in survey responses about physics. The analysis is based on the year 10 (age 15 years) responses of 5,034 students from 137 UK schools as learners of physics during the academic year 2008–2009. A comparison between boys and girls indicates the pervasiveness of gender issues, with boys more likely to respond positively towards physics-specific constructs than girls. The analysis also indicates that girls and boys who expressed intentions to participate in physics post-16 gave similar responses towards their physics teachers and physics lessons and had comparable physics extrinsic motivation. Girls (regardless of their intention to participate in physics) were less likely than boys to be encouraged to study physics post-16 by teachers, family and friends. Despite this, there were a subset of girls still intending to study physics post-16. The crucial differences between the girls who intended to study physics post-16 and those who did not is that girls who intend to study physics post-16 had higher physics extrinsic motivation, more positive perceptions of physics teachers and lessons, greater competitiveness and a tendency to be less extrovert. This strongly suggests that higher extrinsic motivation in physics could be the crucial underlying key that encourages a subset of girls (as well as boys) in wanting to pursue physics post-16.
This paper investigates the factors that influence 15-year-old students’ intentions to study physics post-16, when it is no longer compulsory. The analysis is based on the year 10 (age, 15 years) responses of 5,034 students from 137 England schools as learners of physics during the academic year 2008–2009. Factor analyses uncovered a range of physics-specific constructs, 7 of which were statistically significantly associated with intention to study physics post-16 in our final multi-level model; in descending order of effect size, these are extrinsic material gain motivation, intrinsic value of physics, home support for achievement in physics, emotional response to physics lessons, perceptions of physics lessons, physics self-concept and advice-pressure to study physics. A further analysis using individual items from the survey rather than constructs (aggregates of items) supported the finding that extrinsic motivation in physics was the most important factor associated with intended participation. In addition, this item-level analysis indicated that, within the advice-pressure to study physics construct, the encouragement individual students receive from their teachers is the key factor that encourages them to intend to continue with physics post-16.
A number of countries are currently tackling the issue of curriculum reform in school science. In England and Wales, a 5-year moratorium on curriculum reform across the 5-16 age range will end in the year 2000. This article reviews the conclusions of a 2-year project, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, which explored ways in which a new science curriculum might be constructed and what it might look like. Particular attention is paid to the aims of science education, to the relationship between the content of a syllabus and its assessment, and to the suggestion that the science curriculum would be better presented as a relatively small number of explanatory stories rather than as a mass of detail. The proposals outlined here would allow for small but significant changes in the year 2000, and for more substantive changes thereafter, to be introduced only after adequate trialling. Our hope is that school science education in England and Wales can build on some of its current strengths and address certain weaknesses, leading to a more relevant and fulfilling education for future generations.
This article offers a review of the major literature about attitudes to science and its implications over the past 20 years. It argues that the continuing decline in numbers choosing to study science at the point of choice requires a research focus on students' attitudes to science if the nature of the problem is to be understood and remediated. Starting from a consideration of what is meant by attitudes to science, it considers the problems inherent to their measurement, what is known about students' attitudes towards science and the many factors of influence such as gender, teachers, curricula, cultural and other variables. The literature itself points to the crucial importance of gender and the quality of teaching. Given the importance of the latter we argue that there is a greater need for research to identify those aspects of science teaching that make school science engaging for pupils. In particular, a growing body of research on motivation offers important pointers to the kind of classroom environment and activities that might raise pupils' interest in studying school science and a focus for future research.
The research reported in this study focuses on an investigation into the teaching of argumentation in secondary science classrooms. Over a 1-year period, a group of 12 teachers from schools in the greater London area attended a series of workshops to develop materials and strategies to support the teaching of argumentation in scientific contexts. Data were collected at the beginning and end of the year by audio-recording and video-recording lessons where the teachers attempted to implement argumentation. To assess the quality of argumentation, analytical tools derived from Toulmin's argument pattern were developed and applied to classroom transcripts. Teachers' use of argumentation developed across the year, the pattern of use was teacher-specific, as was the nature of change. To inform future professional development programmes, transcripts of five teachers, three showing a significant change and two showing no change, were analysed in more detail to identify features of teachers' oral contributions that facilitated and supported argumentation. All teachers attempted to encourage a variety of processes involved in argumentation; teachers whose lessons included the highest quality of argumentation (Toulmin's argument pattern analysis) also encouraged higher-order processes in their teaching. The analysis of teachers' facilitation of argumentation has helped to guide the development of in-service materials and to identify the barriers to learning in the professional development of less experienced teachers.
Many efforts have been made to determine and explain differential gender performance on large-scale mathematics assessments. A well-agreed-on conclusion is that gender differences are contextualized and vary across math domains. This study investigated the pattern of gender differences by item domain (e.g., Space and Shape, Quantity) and item type (e.g., multiple-choice items, open constructed-response items). The U.S. portion of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2000 and 2003 mathematics assessment was analyzed. A multidimensional Rasch model was used to provide student ability estimates for each comparison. Results revealed a slight but consistent male advantage. Students showed the largest gender difference (d = 0.19) in favor of males on complex multiple-choice items, an unconventional item type. Males and females also showed sizable differences on Space and Shape items, a domain well documented for showing robust male superiority. Contrary to many previous findings reporting male superiority on multiple-choice items, no measurable difference has been identified on multiple-choice items for both the PISA 2000 and the 2003 math assessments. Reasons for the differential gender performance across math domains and item types were speculated, and directions of future research were discussed. In this paper, two kinds of multiple-choice items are discussed: traditional multiple-choice items and complex multiple-choice items. A sample complex multiple choice item is shown in Table 6. The terms “multiple-choice” and “traditional multiple-choice” are used interchangeably to refer to the traditional multiple choice items throughout the paper, while the term “complex multiple-choice” is used to refer to the complex multiple-choice items.
The focus of this report is on participation in the final year of school. At present a little less than three-quarters of young Australians remain at school to Year 12. This report documents the differences in Year 12 participation rates between males and females, socioeconomic background, cultural background, and earlier school achievement. There are also differences associated with school sector and location. [Executive summary, ed]
In this paper, we describe the work of a teacher (Sarah) as she attempted to use culturally relevant pedagogy in her physics classroom. Culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) is an approach to teaching developed by Gloria Ladson-Billings, with the goal of encouraging learning through drawing on students’ cultural capital as a centerpiece of their instruction. CRP meets the academic and cultural needs of diverse students through recognizing and building upon their cultural backgrounds, experiences, and interests in instruction. We describe how our experience working with Sarah broadened and honed our original understanding of CRP as we documented Sarah’s instructional successes, as well as the challenges, she encountered in her physics teaching. Based on our work with Sarah, we provide recommendations to inform other physics teachers as they attempt to employ CRP.
Research has shown that achieving gender equality in science goes beyond equal gender ratios in the classroom. Female students in science disciplines with relatively higher female participation rates (e.g. biology and chemistry) still experience similar gender issues as students in male-dominated science disciplines (e.g. physics and mathematics). Yet, when studying gender inequality in science, these so-called ‘gender-balanced’ disciplines are frequently ignored. This study aimed to investigate gender issues for students in biology and chemistry and explore how these experiences were impacting their persistence in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) educational and career pipeline. Findings showed that both male and female students commonly believed that issues of gender were restricted to the male-dominated science disciplines. However, female students still reported experiences of gender bias, commonly through the form of implicit discrimination. The importance of the affective domains was also highlighted, with science identity and belonging impacting the female student experience and their intentions to persist in the sciences. Results from this study suggest further work is needed in ‘gender-balanced’ science disciplines, specifically in the emotional domains of science identity and belonging. This research may help educators develop more effective intervention programmes for increasing women’s persistence in the STEM pipeline.
Adding to concerns about falling participation rates in science education, the profile of certain student groups who go on to study decreases, particularly as the year level increases. The aim of this paper is to examine if, and in what ways, demographic factors predict students’ post-16 participation in biology, physics, chemistry and earth/space sciences. The study was conducted in Australia, drawing on data from over 4,300 students. Characteristics of focus include students from low socio-economic status (SES) backgrounds, indigeneity and gender. Outcomes of this study indicate that SES predicts participation in post-16 science subjects in each science domain. Indigenous status was a negative predictor of student participation in biology, physics and chemistry, but not earth/space sciences, where there were no significant differences in participation. Gender is a significant predictor in biology and physics participation, but not chemistry or earth/space sciences. Drawing on Bourdieusian perspectives, the authors discuss associations between participation and access to cultural, social and science capitals. Implications for the ways in which students’ capital may impact their subject choices and how capital may be enhanced, are explored.
The Science Capital Teaching Approach is designed to support teachers in helping students find more meaning and relevance in science and, as a result, engage more with the subject. The ideas for the approach were co-developed and trialled over four years between Enterprising Science researchers and 43 secondary science teachers in England.
Science is a much-revised and contested area of the curriculum. A new curriculum has recently been introduced in England which includes far more mathematical aspects of science than previous versions. This study asks what the influences, ideologies and values are which led to this change. A two-phase qualitative approach was followed comprising semi-structured interviews with key contributors to the science and mathematics education discourse together with an analysis of government and other influential documentation. This study is unusual both in its focus on those who were responsible for making science education policy and its focus on the policy development of the mathematical aspects of the science curriculum. The findings suggest that drivers for increasing the amount of mathematics in science include concerns about standards, the difficulties students have transitioning to higher stages of science education and the desire to improve students’ broader mathematical competence. Aiming to improve students’ mathematical competence is an aim for all students. In contrast, helping students transition to further scientific study is for a minority. I argue that ideologies and values which underpin the curriculum need to be interrogated more closely and should remain a focus of research.
This paper explores the perceived effectiveness of teacher training covering inquirybased science learning for primary school children in England. Teachers who initially took part in teacher training between 2011 and 2013 as part of the FP7 project PriSciNet were interviewed during spring and summer term 2014; teachers were asked to reflect on their students’ reactions and engagement. Teachers’ responses were thematically analysed, and the implications are discussed within the context of longerterm implications of primary science education on girls’ attitudes and aspirations in science across their subsequent education
Female underrepresentation in postcompulsory physics is an ongoing issue for science education research, policy, and practice. In this article, we apply Bourdieusian and Butlerian conceptual lenses to qualitative and quantitative data collected as part of a wider longitudinal study of students’ science and career aspirations age 10–16. Drawing on survey data from more than 13,000 year 11 (age 15/16) students and interviews with 70 students (who had been tracked from age 10 to 16), we focus in particular on seven girls who aspired to continue with physics post-16, discussing how the cultural arbitrary of physics requires these girls to be highly “exceptional,” undertaking considerable identity work and deployment of capital in order to “possibilize” a physics identity—an endeavor in which some girls are better positioned to be successful than others.
Currently, science in England is distinctive at General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) in comparison to most other subjects, in that there is a notable stratification of award routes. The most prestigious of these, ‘Triple Science’ (the route for entry for three separate science GCSEs), is championed by English government and industry, but has received scant critical academic attention to date. Drawing on data collected via a national survey of over 13,000 Year 11 students aged 15/16 years and in-depth longitudinal interviews conducted with 70 students from this cohort (from age 10 to 16), we discuss how most students have little if any choice over which science ‘option’ they take at GCSE. Drawing on Bourdieu’s concept of pedagogic action, we unpick how students are ‘channelled’ into making the ‘right’ choices and come to accept their allocation as legitimate. We explore how selective practices around Triple Science create and perpetuate social inequalities, producing different patterns of student identity, aspiration and attainment. In particular, we discuss the identification of Triple Science as ‘for the clever’ and problematise its relationship with the science ‘pipeline’. We conclude by suggesting potentially more equitable ways forward for science education, reflecting on implications for post-16 participation.
This book presents a new way for educators at all levels - from early years to university - to think about curriculum priorities. It focuses on the curriculum as a form of specialised knowledge, optimally designed to enable students to gain access to the best knowledge available in any field. Papers jointly written by the authors over the last eight years are revised for this volume. It draws on the sociology of knowledge and in particular the work of Emile Durkheim and Basil Bernstein, opening up the possibilities for collaborative inter-disciplinary enquiry with historians, philosophers and psychologists. Although primarily directed to researchers, university teachers and graduate students, its arguments about specialised knowledge have profound implications for policy makers.
This chapter introduces two theoretical perspectives of relevance to understanding educational choice related to scien c e, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). First, expectancy-value theory, as developed by Jacquelynne Eccles and colleagues during several decades, offers a comprehensive model of the different influence factors, considerations and values that are involved when individuals choose education and career. Second, sociological perspectives on the cultural traits and dominating values in late modern societies offer insight into the cultural context in which young people make their choices. The chapter discusses these two theoretical perspectives in relation to each other and to science education research literature concerning young people’s relationship to STEM subjects.
There is broad international agreement about the importance of increasing participation in science once it is no longer compulsory in school, particularly among groups who have been historically underrepresented in science. Previous research reflects that despite broadly positive attitudes to science in and outside of school, there is limited translation of these attitudes into later aspirations and participation in science. The ASPIRES project, a five-year longitudinal study, has sought to understand students’ science and career aspirations between the ages of 10 and 14 and to identify factors that contribute to, or hinder, the development of aspirations in science. Utilising data from two cross-sectional surveys conducted with students in their last year of primary school (9300 students) and in their third year of secondary school (4,600 students), we explore who is most likely to hold science aspirations and what factors seem to be connected to those aspirations at both time points. Descriptive, multivariate and multilevel modelling analyses of the data reflect consistency in who holds science aspirations, as well as highlighting that the factors connected to these aspirations—attitudes to school science and parental attitudes—are similar at both times. However, for many students, positive attitudes to school science and positive parental attitudes to science are not translating into children wanting a career in science. We suggest that differences in ‘science capital’ may help explain this persistent gap.
There is widespread international concern about post-16 participation rates in science, with women's under-representation constituting a particular issue. This paper contributes to these debates through a novel, critical examination of the role of masculinity within boys' negotiations of science aspirations. Drawing on a UK longitudinal study of children's science and career aspirations from age 10 to 14 (including a survey of over 9,000 (Year 6, age 10/11) and 5,600 (Year 8, age 12/13) pupils in England and repeat individual interviews with 92 children (at age 10/11) and 85 (age 12/13), the paper focuses in-depth on repeat interviews with 37 boys. We identify five discursive performances of masculinity, which are related to the boys' (science) aspirations: two are associated with science/related aspirations (termed “young professors” and “cool/footballer scientists”) and three characterize boys who aspire otherwise (“behaving/achieving” boys; “popular masculinity” boys and “laddish” boys). Classed patterns across these five discourses are then explored through two cross-cutting phenomena, (1) popular constructions of science as “brainy”/“smart” and (2) the uneven social distribution of “science capital,” explaining how each of these are implicated facilitating middle-class boys' identifications from/with science and dissuading working-class boys' aspirations. We argue that these analyses illuminate an orthodoxy of science careers which maps closely on to current patterns of participation in post-16 science and which impacts powerfully on who can/not conceive of a career in science as being “for me.” © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 51: 1–30, 2014
The United States has made a significant effort and investment in STEM education, yet the size and the composition of the STEM workforce continues to fail to meet demand. It is thus important to understand the barriers and factors that influence individual educational and career choices. In this article, we conduct a literature review of the current knowledge surrounding individual and gender differences in STEM educational and career choices, using expectancy-value theory as a guiding framework. The overarching goal of this paper is to provide both a well-defined theoretical framework and complementary empirical evidence for linking specific sociocultural, contextual, biological, and psychological factors to individual and gender differences in STEM interests and choices. Knowledge gained through this review will eventually guide future research and interventions designed to enhance individual motivation and capacity to pursue STEM careers, particularly for females who are interested in STEM but may be constrained by misinformation or stereotypes.
We examine teachers’ experiences of a major reform of the school science curriculum for 14–16-year olds in England. This statutory reform enhances the range of available science courses and emphasises the teaching of socio-scientific issues and the nature of science, alongside the teaching of canonical science knowledge. This paper examines teachers’ experiences of the reform and the factors that condition these experiences. A designed sample of 22 teachers discussed their experiences of the reform within a semi-structured interview. Our analysis considers how the external and internal structures within which teachers work interact with the personal characteristics of teachers to condition their experiences of the curriculum reform. In many cases, personal/internal/external contexts of teachers’ work align, resulting in an overall working context that is supportive of teacher change. However, in other cases, tensions within these contexts result in barriers to change. We also explore cases in which external curriculum reform has stimulated the development of new contexts for teachers’ work. We argue that curriculum reformers need to recognise the inevitability of multiple teaching goals within a highly differentiated department and school workplace. We also show how experiences of curriculum reform can extend beyond the learning of new knowledge and associated pedagogies to involve challenges to teachers’ professional identities. We argue for the extended use of teacher role models within local communities of practice to support such ‘identity work’.
This article outlines a study conducted in Finland and Portugal into the reasons why International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme (DP) students choose particular Experimental Science (Group 4) subjects. Its findings suggest that interest, enjoyment, university course and career requirements have most influence on students' choices. Significant differences in the stated influence of certain factors on subject choice were found between nationalities, host countries, and the sexes, and also in the choices of Chemistry, Design Technology and Physics.
This paper argues that examinations have a complex role in creating and defining gender differences in performance in public examinations. To illustrate this argument three aspects of examining are reviewed: styles of examinations and how they define achievement; coursework and the role it plays in contributing to gender differences in performance; and tiered entry systems in examinations and how they provide unequal opportunities for boys and girls to be successful. It presents the context in which research into gender, achievement and examining is now located by initially reviewing the recent media hype around gender and achievement. It then takes an historical look at gender and achievement and goes on to describe new gender stereotypes that influence current understandings of boys' and girls' achievement. There is much information that is ‘hidden’ behind examination results as they are commonly reported. This hidden information has more to do with how differences in performance are obtained, how subjects are assessed and how we choose to assess students. How all this interacts with students' perceptions and expectations alongside those of their teachers must impact on how boys and girls perform in examinations. This ‘hidden’ information has vital implications for whom we perceive to be under or overachieving.
It is argued that the study of Science, Technology and Society (STS) has emerged as a discipline with a discernible history and development. Although this has been slightly different in different countries it now seems to confer upon STS the elements of a structure in its own right, as well as a rationale.This article attempts to clarify those aspects of science, of technology, and of social decision‐making, which are necessary for this kind of study to be both coherent and to fulfill the aspirations of the curriculum developers. These aspects are delineated clearly enough to be used as tools to evaluate either a course in STS, or the relative success of the students engaged in its study.In the final part of the paper these evaluative tools are used to reflect on the results of some 16‐17 year old British students who have completed an STS course. It is shown that their skills of social understanding and empathy are far greater than their knowledge about scientific explanation or about the social nature of technology.
There is a wide field of literature on issues of gender and science, most of which has some relevance to the science education of girls. Statistics from a few large‐scale projects, which have confirmed or disconfirmed some well known hypotheses for the problems related to girls’ reluctance to study physics, are reviewed. The exercise of choice is then explored from several theoretical aspects as an identity confirming action which relates to national and home cultures, to adolescence, and to solidarity with gender groupings. Argument from theory and anecdote are used to suggest that different choice may be made by older females.
Curriculum changes are being urged on schools in order to meet the needs and expectations of girls in science. The move towards ‘science for all’ in British schools means that girls will be required to do science at least from 11‐16. The initial response has been to develop ‘girl‐friendly’ science in order to improve the image of a clearly masculine and male‐orientated domain of inquiry. We argue that this is essentially a cosmetic exercise that fails to come to terms with the essential masculinity of science. Even a re‐shaping of school science as ‘feminine science’ is not enough, and we speculate on what a feminist science might be as a possible curriculum goal. We develop this through a ‘particular humanist’ stance of science and then look to see what implications this might have for the practice of school science itself. We suggest it is school science that must change ‐‐ not girls ‐‐ and that the responsibility for change lies with curriculum developers both within and without of schools.
Many educators and researchers have questioned the relationship between science and technology and the appropriate place of each in the curriculum. What researchers have discovered is that many countries approach this issue in different ways. The emphasis in this document is placed on the interdependence of science and technology in a pluralistic society. Chapter 2, "What Is Science?", outlines the contemporary debate about the nature of science and begins to relate it to science teaching in school. Chapter 3, "Science Curricula for a Pluralist Society", criticizes the adoption of a Western, male view of science in school syllabuses and textbooks. Chapter 4, "A Science Department for All", draws together examples of good practice and tries to suggest what a school science department that was appropriate for all learners might be like in its staffing, organization, appearance and teaching methods. Chapter 5, "Teaching Controversial Issues in Science", looks at the strengths and weaknesses of the various approaches that are used for teaching controversial issues in school science. Chapters 6,7, and 8 contain a large number of examples intended to help the teacher who wishes to adopt the approach to science education advocated in this book. (ZWH)
With the growth of modular assessment at A-level and the proposed introduction of the Advanced Subsidiary level, students, teachers and those responsible for standards in examinations must assess the impact of a number of factors on performance. This study focuses on the effects of maturity and gender, and highlights their possible influence on performance at A-level. The study compares the performance of two groups of students, using data gathered from the examination scripts of lower-sixth and upper-sixth candidates in A-level physics. The candidates were assessed while at different stages in their course, using the same examination questions. Pupils completing the second year of the course had a higher level of attainment than those taking the examination during the first year of study. Similar differences between upper-sixth and lower-sixth pupils were observed in both boys and girls; however, there is some evidence which may suggest that boys are more likely than girls to take advantage of some of the features of modular examinations.
Summary Coursework is an integral part of the GCSE framework, valued for its motivational qualities and its curricular validity. It is a common perception, widely reported in the national press and educational media, that coursework can be held at least partly accountable for differential performances at GCSE; coursework, it is argued, advantages girls. This article reports on an analysis of data arising from a project which offered an opportunity to study current and post-GCSE students’ perceptions of coursework. The outcomes indicate that, when categorised by their relative levels of attainment, girls’ and boys’ perceptions show limited evidence of homogeneity. In other words, to suggest that girls’ and boys’ perceptions of coursework are a function of gender is a gross over-simplification. Other factors are at play and further, more specific and tailored research is essential if we are to understand how best to optimise the benefits that are claimed for coursework.
In the context of a major reform of the school science curriculum for 14–16‐year‐olds in England, we examine the aims ascribed to the reform, the stakeholders involved, and the roles of differing values and authority in its development. This reform includes an emphasis on socioscientific issues and the nature of science; curriculum trends of international relevance. Our analysis identifies largely ‘instrumental’ aims, with little emphasis on ‘intrinsic’ aims and associated values. We identify five broad categories of stakeholders focusing on different aims with, for example, a social, individual, political, or economic emphasis. We suggest that curriculum development projects reflecting largely social and individual aims were appropriated by other stakeholders to serve political and economic aims. We argue that a curriculum reform body representing all stakeholder interests is needed to ensure that multiple aims are considered throughout the curriculum reform process. Within such a body, the differentiated character of the science teaching community would need to be represented.
There has been much concern recently in the UK about the decline in the number of students studying physics beyond age 16. To investigate why this might be we used data from a national database of student qualifications and a multilevel modelling technique to investigate which factors had the greatest impact on the uptake of physics at Advanced Level (A-level) in a particular year. Each factor of interest was entered into a separate model, while accounting for prior attainment and gender (both well-known predictors of A-level uptake). We found that factors associated with greater probability of uptake included better attainment in physics (or combined science) and maths qualifications at age 16 in comparison to other subjects, and (for girls only) attending an independent or grammar school. While it is difficult to address these factors directly, the results imply that more needs to be done to improve relative performance at General Certificate of Secondary Education, perhaps by increasing the supply of specialist physics teachers at this level and to overcome the perception (especially among girls) that physics is a particularly difficult subject.
This paper is concerned with the recent history of science curriculum reform in England, though it traces these developments back to the mid‐nineteenth century. It first reviews approaches to science in the curriculum until the mid‐1960s, identifying the curricular settlement of the postwar years and the beginning of the so‐called ‘swing from science’. It then examines structural shifts which undermined this settlement, including the introduction of comprehensive schooling, and the declining relative recruitment to physical science in post‐compulsory education. It goes on to explore subsequent attempts at reform, setting them in the context of increasingly centralised control of the curriculum and changing patterns of professional representation. Three reform themes are identified: a reconstruction of the notion of discovery learning around student investigation; increasing attention to social and ethical issues; and a growing emphasis on vocationalism. It argues that these themes have been merged into a new flexible curricular settlement, which imitates important characteristics of the humanities.