Undoing Underachievement and Promoting Societal Advancement of Women and Girls

1998 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 159-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judy Lupart ◽  
Lorraine Wilgosh

Yewchuck and Chatterton (1990) found stereotypical attitudes of others the strongest deterrent to career success for women. Wilgosh (1993) also examined how societal expectations of girls influence their failure to realize their full potential, particularly in mathematics and sciences. This paper focuses on undoing underachievement of women and girls. It is about a unique program that brings together training in high school and college-level mathematics and sciences and better linkages between schools, post-secondary institutions and the business community. The program contributes significantly in the preparation of students for skilled, technological occupations in a knowledge-intensive economy. The Shad Valley Program is a co-educational, residential summer program offered to gifted high school students at eight Canadian universities, dedicated to building bridges between industry and education, especially in the areas of science, technology, and entrepreneurship. A fifteen year retrospective study of its applicants and participants will provide direction for schools and businesses in the identification of key personal and educational experiences that contribute to increased levels of science literacy for both male and female students.

1999 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert J. Sternberg ◽  
Elena L. Grigorenko ◽  
Michel Ferrari ◽  
Pamela Clinkenbeard

Summary: This article describes a triarchic analysis of an aptitude-treatment interaction in a college-level introductory-psychology course given to selected high-school students. Of the 326 total participants, 199 were selected to be high in analytical, creative, or practical abilities, or in all three abilities, or in none of the three abilities. The selected students were placed in a course that either well matched or did not match their pattern of analytical, creative, and practical abilities. All students were assessed for memory, analytical, creative, and practical achievement. The data showed an aptitude-treatment interaction between students' varied ability patterns and the match or mismatch of these abilities to the different instructional groups.


2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 33-49
Author(s):  
Natalie Spadafora ◽  
Emily L. Murphy ◽  
Danielle S. Molnar ◽  
Dawn Zinga

It is estimated that 15-22% of students have high levels of test anxiety (von der Embse, Jester, Roy, & Post, 2018), which can be associated with greater academic stress and poorer educational performance (e.g., Steinmayr, Crede, McElvany, & Withwein, 2016). First-generation students (where neither parent has completed post-secondary education) are a critical group to study given that they are at higher risk for poorer educational attainment and being unsuccessful at the post-secondary level. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the link between basic psychological needs and test anxiety in a sample of first-generation Ontario high school students across two points in time (N = 147;  Mage = 14.82, SD = 1.28). Self-report data was collected as a part of an on-going longitudinal study focusing on students attending a high school with specialized programming to enhance the transition to post-secondary institutions. Results from cross-lagged path analyses indicated that being older, female, and having higher levels of needs frustration significantly predicted higher levels of test anxiety over time within this sample. Our results highlight important educational implications, emphasizing the importance of fostering classroom environments where students perceive their psychological needs to be met, particularly within this unique population of students.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fanta Asefa Disasa ◽  
Yibeltal Siraneh Belete ◽  
Yesuf Ahmed Aragaw ◽  
Abraraw Tesfaye Wold ◽  
Abonesh Taye Kumsa

Abstract Experiencing violence in childhood impacts lifelong health and well-being. Yet being subject to violence at a young age causes enduring psychological, social and neurological vandalism which stops people reaching their full potential in life. Violence against children includes all forms of violence against people under 18 years old ; therefore the purpose of this study is to determine the magnitude of violence against children and associated factors among sampled high school students in Jimma town. Method: Institution based crossectional study was employed among sampled 423 private and public high school students of Jimma town from february15-30, 2018. Self-administered structured questionnaire was used to collect the data. A multi stage with proportional to sample size was employed. Result: A total of 419 respondents participated in the study, making the response rate 99%. A large proportion of the study subjects, 57.5 %, were females, and 56.3% were Oromo’s. The study indicates that the prevalence of violence among high school children’s’ in Jimma town is 62.5%. Children who had faced severe physical violence accounted for 14.1%. Pertaining to parental relationships and interactions, the majority of the school children (66.3%) did not have free discussion on reproductive health issues with their parents or guardians. Conclusion: The prevalence of any form of violence in life time (Physical, sexual and psychological) found to be high. Of all children who experienced violence near to half of them encountered mild physical violence. Less number of school children had experience of Kchat chewing and/or alcohol use.


1980 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 347-355
Author(s):  
Karen Mezynski ◽  
Julian C. Stanley

A supplementary calculus course was conducted to give highly able students the opportunity to learn the equivalent of two semesters of college calculus while still in high school. Two different student populations were sampled; the average age of the members of Class I was 14.9 years, whereas for members of Class II it was 16.7 years. Class I members had more previous exposure to fast-paced mathematics instruction than had members of Class II. Both classes took the College Board's AP Calculus Examination, Level BC, at the end of the course. The results of the AP examination indicated that most students learned college-level calculus well. Considerations for the establishment of similar programs are discussed.


2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 17-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Chin ◽  
Abe Zeid ◽  
Claire Duggan ◽  
Sagar Kamarthi

Innovators and abstract thinkers - students who question why are going to be the future of engineering, of science and cures for diseases. Rarely do students ask where and how innovation is created. Students, particularly post-secondary students have lost their curiosity and they have lost their ability to question. Why? Because the relationship between theory and application has been removed from our high schools. Although the term “STEM” is generally used, students do not appear to understand the importance of core STEM principles such as Newton’s 2nd law and therefore do not understand the influence these basic algorithms have in daily life. In recent decades, high school education has focused on quizzes and exams, state and national standardize testing and SATs. More emphasis is placed on performing well on these exams, focusing on memorization and test taking rather than on thorough comprehension. The question is, “how do you translate theory to application in the high school classroom?” Students’ knowledge and engagement are only as good as their teachers. Educators need to be given the proper tools, resources, and knowledge. CAPSULE, a capstone-based experience provides tools, resources, and knowledge to enhance the teaching and learning involvement. CAPSULE teaches and promotes inquiry, exploration and application rather than just theory. The methodology engages and educates hands-on learning, teamwork and multiple solutions through the engineering design process (EDP). The theory behind innovation is the motivation for CAPSULE – to teach and engage teachers using 3D modeling, EDP, and project-based learning to create a high school capstone experience. This paper presents a new approach of teaching STEM related courses to high school students. The methodology presented is on “training the trainer” to enable and empower teachers to master and utilize this new approach. 


Author(s):  
Jessica H. Burbach ◽  
Staci B. Martin ◽  
Javonta Arnold-Fowlkes ◽  
Johnathan Sakaith ◽  
Cheyenne Julius ◽  
...  

This chapter presents research on how Culturally Responsive Mathematics Teaching (CRMT) and a critical hope framework can be used as learning tools in the alternative high school classroom. Our study shows how 12 high school students and two teachers, one in high school and one in post-secondary, can work together to nurture students' personal and collective identity, agency, and hope. We use the concept of the “six words” from the Race Card Project (Norris, 2015) to co-create spaces that question the dominant narrative, which describes students as dropouts, and that offer spaces of hope and solidarity. As researchers, we believe without student collaboration in the research process itself, their voices will be muted in the academic language describing them and the dominant narrative that disempowers them. We believe that we have not achieved a true social justice curriculum until there is action where hope can surface (Freire, 1970).


Author(s):  
Abe Zeid ◽  
Sagar Kamarthi ◽  
Claire Duggan ◽  
Jessica Chin

School children in general and high school students, in particular more often than not lose interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education. Underrepresented and female students are even more discouraged by STEM courses. Our investigation and interviews with high school teachers cite that the main reason for such disinterest is the disconnect between school and reality. Students cannot relate the abstract concepts they learn in physics, biology, chemistry, or math to their surroundings. This paper discusses a new capstone project-based approach that closes this gap. This work is an outcome of an NSF funded project called CAPSULE (Capstone Unique Learning Experience). We use the top-down pedagogical approach instead of the traditional bottom-up approach. The top-down approach relates the abstract concepts to exciting open-ended capstone projects where students are engaged in designing solutions, like products to solve open-ended problems. This top-down approach is modeled after the college-level capstone design courses. The paper presents the model, its details, and implementation. It also presents the formative and summative evaluation of the model after deploying it in the Boston Public Schools, a system heavily populated by the targeted student groups.


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