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Interversity Quotes"I think it's time to ask the Standardistos: Where's the test for compassion? For honesty? For curiosity? For moral commitment? Until they can answer, let's tell them to shut up." —Susan Ohanian (One Size Fits Few: The Folly of Educational Standards) Interversity ProjectsEchoes of Orwell:The purpose of this webforum is to promote a lively discussion among students and faculty alike about George Orwell's 1984 and the parallels or echoes found in today's society. |
[Author Prev][Author Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Author Index][Thread Index] Re: math equality in genders
Something tells me that, if you ever feel a pain in your chest, you are not going to spend time "encountering and co-constructing your own understanding," nor are you going to "reflect on the aesthetic" of thoughts about the pain in your chest, nor will you be looking for wonderful dialogue about it, -- you will be going straight to the best critical-thinking heart doctor you can find. Art -----Original Message----- From: gbracey1@verizon.net To: arn-l@interversity.org Sent: Fri, 25 Jul 2008 7:05 am Subject: Re: [arn-l] math equality in genders I think you're right. For most, it's just "something that goes beyond the rote recall of m-c questions. I have not heard anyone in the k-12 arena mention Richard Paul and his center or David Perkins and project Zero. I'm working on a new book and am incorporating some of the things you speak of, although I haven't yet given much attention to power. Jerry On Thu, Jul 24, 2008 at 9:27 PM, Tom Drummond wrote: JB I don't think many people at all have a clear concept of "critical thinking". I think it is one of the vague, "naturally accepted", constructs that lacks systematic deconstruction and available evidence. Rather than being a nitpicker, I suggest there are three other constructs that might be more interesting to at tend to than what is easily labeled as "critical thinking". One is power, whether those with less power have an opportunity to develop their own voice to encounter and co-construct their own understanding. Those with power can look at others "ways" and see a lacking. So? What is that all about? Two is the essential nature of dialogue, that we are not in this alone. In the encounters with the Other, we have to listen. To me, the inclusion of listening obviates the necessity for "critical thinking" as an obtainable or desirable entity. Three is the more natural recognition of an aesthetic of thinking. When we can encounter the ways others have worked through things in wonderful ways, we can see beauty of form and an elegance. Of course, this doesn't tell us much about our own confusion. Tom From: <gbracey1@verizon.net <mailto:gbracey1@verizon.net> Reply-To: <arn-l@interversity.org <mailto:arn-l@interversity.org> Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2008 19:57:53 -0500 (CDT) To: <arn-l@interversity.org <mailto:arn-l@interversity.org> Cc: <arn-l@interversity.org <mailto:arn-l@interversity.org> Subject: Re: [arn-l] math equality in genders Also, Idoubt seriously if any of the peoplemaking these comments any real idea of what "critical thinking" might be. JB On Thu, Jul 24, 2008 at 6:13 PM, MONICALUCIDO@comcast.net This appeared as an AP story on my web browser--and they just took it off! I can't find the URL. I'll look for it. Joe -------------- Original message ---------------------- From: gbracey1@verizon.net <mailto:gbracey1@verizon.net> Joe, where did this appear? This is a fascinating area and I wish I had more time to explore it. I can say without doubt, Janet Hyde's hypothesis about girls' SAT being lower because there are more girls in college is WRONG. When the College Board released "On Further Examination" in 1977, they found that women socred 55 points lower than men in 1960 and 52 points lower in 1977. The percentage of women taking the test was 42.7 in 1960, 47.5 in 1977. ed and more fascinating. InAfter that, it gets more complicat international comparisons, girls consistently outscore boys in reading and usually by sizeable amounts. In TIMSS 8th grad math, only in 14 of 45 countries do boys outscore girls. Most of the differences within countries are very, very, small. And the three largest are Tunisia, 24 points favoring boys, Jordan 27 points and Bahrain 33 points, both favoring girls. I can't help but think this has something to do with sampling, although none of the countries cited by TIMSS as not meeting samplying requirements or testing the appropriate population. In TIMSS 8th grade science, only 10 of 45 countries have scores favoring girls. Jerry On Thu, Jul 24, 2008 at 4:42 PM, monicalucido@comcast.net Ok, here's another one. I really like the line that states we need to have tests with "more critical thinking questions". These people just might have their heads too far up their rears. The real world requires REAL problem solving. Making a longer, harder test is not there may be (andgoing to solve whatever "competitive" issues that's already been debated hotly today and yesterday). Once again, any opinions on the validity of this study? Math study finds girls are just as good as boys 2 hours ago 35 Recommendations WASHINGTON ��� Sixteen years after Barbie dolls declared, "Math is tough!" girls are proving that when it comes to math they are as tough as boys. In the largest study of its kind, girls measured to boys in every grade, from second through 11th. The research was released Thursday in the journal Science. Parents and teachers persist in thinking boys are simply better at math, said Janet Hyde, the University of Wisconsin-Madison who led the study. And girls who grow up believing it wind up avoiding harder math classes. "It keeps girls and women out of a lot of careers, particularly high-prestige, lucrative careers in science and technology," Hyde said. That's changing, though slowly. Women are now earning 48 percent of undergraduate college degrees in math; they still lag far behind in physics and engineering. But in primary and secondary school, girls have caught up, with researchers attributing that advance to increasing numbers of girls taking advanced math classes such as calculus. Hyde and her colleagues looked at annual math tests required by the No Child Left Behind education law in 2002. Ten states provided enough statistical information to review test scores by gender, allowing researchers to compare the performances of more than 7 million children. The researchers found no difference in the scores of boys versus girls ��� not even in high school. Studies 20 years ago showed girls and boys did equally well on math in elementary school, but girls fell behind in high school. "Girls have now achieved gender parity in performance on math tests," Hyde said. The stereotype that boys are better at math has been fueled, at in part, by suggestions of biological differences in the way little boys and little girls learn. This idea is hotly disputed; Lawrence Summers, then the president of Harvard, was castigated in 2005 when he questioned the "intrinsic aptitude" of women for top-level math 0Aand science. Joy Lee, a rising senior at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Va., says she always felt confident about math, but remembers how it felt to walk into a science class full of boys. "Maybe I was a little bit apprehensive about being the only girl, but that didn't last for very long," said Lee, president of a school club that tries to get young girls interested in science and technology, along with engineering and math. "I definitely do encourage other girls to pursue those interests and to not be scared to take those courses just because there are not very many girls or because they think they're not good enough to do it," Lee said. Still, while there are fewer women in science and technology, there are more women in college overall. To Hyde and her colleagues, that helps explain why girls consistently score lower on average on the SAT: More of them take the test, which is needed to get into The highest-performing students of both genders take the test, but more girls lower on the achievement scale take it, skewing the average. vailable, boys scored anFor the class of 2007, the latest figures a average of 533 on the math section of the SAT, compared with 499 for girls. On the ACT, another test on which girls lag slightly, the gender gap disappeared in Colorado and Illinois once state officials required all students to take the test. As Hyde and her colleagues looked across the data for states' testing, they found something they didn't expect: In most states reviewed, and at most grade levels, there weren't any questions that involved complex problem-solving, an ability needed to succeed in high levels of science and math. If tests don't assess these reasoning skills, they may not be taught, putting American students at a disadvantage to students in other countries with more challenging tests, the researchers said. That might be a glaring omission, said Stephen Camarata, a University professor who has researched the issue but was not involved in the study. "We need to know that, if our measures aren't capturing some aspect of math that's important," Camarata said. "Then we can decide there's an actual male or female advantage." nel of experts convened by the Education Department recommendedA pa that state tests be updated to emphasize critical thinking. While some states already have fairly rigorous tests, "we can do a better job," said Kerri Briggs, the department's assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education. "If we're going to be globally competitive, we need students who are able to do higher-level math skills," she said. Back in 1992, Barbie stopped saying math was hard after Mattel received complaints from, among others, the American Association of University Women. So far, while her current career choices include baby doctor and veterinarian ��� and Dallas Cowboys cheerleader, too ��� Barbie has not branched out into technology or engineering. ------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe ARN-L: http://interversity.org/lists/arn-l/subscribe.html
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