Hi James M. Clark Professor of Psychology 204-786-9757 204-774-4134 Fax j.cl...@uwinnipeg.ca
>>> Allen Esterson <allenester...@compuserve.com> 31-Jan-10 1:30:53 AM >>> ?On 30 January, Jim Clark wrote: >It also matters how math is measured ... girls do better in school >generally than boys, perhaps because they are more motivated >and conscientious* In relation to which the following may be of relevance: "Boys overtake girls in maths GCSE as coursework dropped" http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/aug/27/maths-gcse-coursework-dropped JC: I was struck by the following comment on the results: Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said: "The problem has been that in the 1960s and 1970s boys were getting 12-13% more O-level passes than girls and no one really talked about it. When girls started to do better there were Panorama programmes and inquiries and a national debate. There's a national panic if girls and women start to be successful. Girls have been more successful at GCSE and A-levels but that hasn't closed the gender pay gap. Even if they do better they don't get paid as much." Things must have been remarkably different in UK than North America! Certainly there has been much effort over here into reducing male advantage. I find it difficult to believe there wasn't corresponding efforts in UK. More generally on the issue of gender differences in math and sci, I had forgotten earlier about the debate between Pinker and Spelke, which has much relevant material and is available on-line at: http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/debate05/debate05_index.html When teaching this and like topics, I tend to illustrate the research on the two sides of the debate and (if appropriate for the audience) discuss some of the politics of such controversial research (e.g., objections to Benbow being on a national panel to study the issue, assertions that we should not even be studying gender differences / comparisons). Take care Jim --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=133 or send a blank email to leave-133-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
