Teaching computing in single-sex versus coeducational classrooms
The purpose of this study was to identify whether there were differences in perception between boys and girls and the type of school they attended. An inventory was used to measure the computing learning environment of 265 Year 12 and Year 13 students from seven secondary schools in Wellington, New Zealand. The schools consisted of three state coeducational schools, two state single-sex schools and two integrated (private with some state funding) single-sex schools.
Evidence from past studies highlighted the disproportionately low number of females taking secondary and tertiary computing courses. One reason for the under-representation of female students in computer studies could be ‘a distinct learning environment which is endemic to the computing classroom and which does not appeal to girls’. Adolescent girls ‘prefer a more consensual approach to learning, yet the computer learning environment has a reputation for being highly competitive and unfriendly towards girls’. Often these computer classrooms are dominated by boys.
The results of this study showed that there were statistically significant differences in perception between sex, and between different types of schools. Girls at single-sex schools perceived their environment as being more cooperative than girls in coeducational schools. Students in single-sex schools also indicated that they were more satisfied with the actual variety of activities experienced in the classroom than students in coeducational schools.
It was concluded that ‘there is a case for providing single-sex computing classes in coeducational schools.’ ‘Providing single-sex computing classes would allow teachers to focus on the different needs and behaviour of both the boys and girls’.
Logan, K. (2007). Should computing be taught in single-sex environments? An analysis of the computer learning environment of upper secondary students. Educational Studies, 33(2), 233-248.
Declining participation in high school computing studies in Australia
This study explored why the number of students choosing computing subjects in secondary schools is declining, and why few girls choose to enter tertiary-level ICT courses. The study was carried out over three years (2005-2007) in three Australian states. Of particular interest to researchers was the phenomenon that so many students are using Web 2.0 technologies and can be classified as “tech savvy”, yet they are “turning their back on a possible career” in this area.
Two high schools were selected as case-study schools, one rural and one from a metropolitan area in NSW. In each school, four focus groups were held comprising boys and girls separately with high and low interest in ICT subjects.
It was found that highly gendered stereotypes prevail about male and female dispositions and interest in ICT. There was “general agreement around what constitutes the ‘right’ kind of disposition to enjoy working with computers”. High-interest girls also saw IT work as low paid and boring.
The researchers concluded that “knowledge of, access to, and experience with computers and Web 2.0 technologies means that young people are rejecting [IT subjects and careers subjects], not because they fear or do not understand technology but rather because their knowledge and use of technologies permits a clearer understanding of what they are rejecting – boredom, alienation and a dependence on tired old paradigms that would have them submit themselves to compromising their freedom to know, and the sustainability of their futures”.
Reid, C. (2009). Technology-loving Luddites? Declining participation in high school computing studies in Australia. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 30(30), 289-302.
Teenage girls and virtual worlds
This article summarises the work that is currently being undertaken by a Melbourne researcher into how adolescent girls are constructing online identities. Alexa Tsoulis-Reay is completing her thesis on this topic and argues that “anxiety tends to dominate popular imaginings of the online girl”, for example concerns about chat room pedophiles and cyberbullying.
Tsoulis-Reay conducted qualitative research with Australian teenage girls in 2007. She found that girls “embed” the internet “within the routines of their everyday lives”. Girls participate and engage with the internet; they are not simply passive consumers of media, rather their daily lives are “media rich”. Tsoulis-Reay found that the internet offered “an escape from the restrictive content of broadcast television, the ability to source content specific to one’s interests, and importantly, with the use of social networking platforms, to communicate with friends”.
The researchers also found that the construction of an online identity allowed girls to be in a space that was separate from both childhood and family. A negative aspect raised in the study, was the fact that many girls felt pressure associated with having an online identity. There was a level of exclusion that followed in the real-world if girls were not active participants in the online world. Tsoulis-Reay concluded that “the centrality of the internet in the public lives of teenage girls should be confronted”. She cautioned against adults taking an overtly protectionist stance.
Tsoulis-Reay, A. (2009). OMG. I’m online…again! MySpace, MSN and the Everyday Mediation of Girls. Screen Education, 53, 48-55.
Digital Divas: a single-sex program designed to change girls’ perceptions about ICT courses and careers
Digital Divas is a single-sex program offered to girls in Year 8 at Brentwood Secondary College in Melbourne, which is a coeducational school. The program is in its second year and runs as an elective, involving four periods each week in one semester.
The Digital Divas curriculum is specifically designed to engage adolescent girls. There is also informal classroom mentoring by female university students who are studying ICT degrees. These university students act as ongoing role models to the Year 8 students by mentoring the students online as ‘blog buddies’.
Another aspect of the program is presentations from women working in a variety of ICT fields. This is designed to demonstrate the diverse career opportunities available to women in ICT. These presentations are recorded on digital cameras by the Year 8 students and added to the Digital Divas portal.
Researchers will conduct a longitudinal evaluation of the program’s effects on the Year 8 students. At this stage, two-thirds of the girls have indicated that they would consider studying ICT in the future. An Australian Research Grant will allow the program to be expanded into other schools.
Fisher, J., Lang, C., Forgasz, H., & Craig, A. (2009). Digital Divas: working to change students’ perceptions about ICT courses and careers. Curriculum Leadership Journal, 7(31). Retrieved October 3, 2009, from http://cmslive.curriculum.edu.au/leader/digital_divas_wor king_to_change_students_percept,28984.html?issueID=11922
Girls’ interactive, online learning about femininities
This study explored girls’ knowledge about issues of femininity that took place in the presence of others online. The online environments studied included chat rooms, instant messaging forums and role-playing games. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 16 girls in Vancouver, Canada.
The researchers found that girls enjoyed playing with gender and being gender rebellious online. Girls reported that online activities allowed them to rehearse different ways of representing themselves before trying them out in offline, social situations. Some girls battled back in cyberspace against sexual harassment from men and boys.
It was concluded that there is a role for teachers to structure learning opportunities to ‘spotlight directly gender and power issues’. Although, the researchers warned that they ‘recognised the pleasure girls experience in engaging in interactive, online activities outside of extensive adult monitoring…and urge educators with some caution when attempting to turn something fun to explicitly pedagogical purposes’.
Kelly, D., Pomerantz, S., & Currie, D. (2006) “No boundaries”? Girls’ Interactive, Online Learning About Femininities. Youth & Society, 38(1), 3-28.
Gender inequality in the primary classroom
This observational study explored gender differences in primary classrooms, and whether or not the use of interactive whiteboards affected gender inequality. Background research in the study explained that boys have been found to dominate in the classroom, which clearly disadvantages girls.
Interactive Whiteboards (IWB) were installed in Year 5 and 6 classes in 12 to 15 schools, in six locations in England. The researchers were contracted to determine the impact of the introduction of the new technology on students and teachers. Observations and interviews were used to gather the data.
When lessons were observed where IWBs were not in use, “the frequency data showed that boys received significantly more closed questions, direction, evaluation and refocuses; boys also answered significantly more than girls. Boys’ answers were praised and accepted [by the teacher] significantly more than girls”. Boys’ answers also took up more time in class than girls’ answers.
In interviews with the primary school girls about IWB lessons, the girls said that boys received more teacher attention, and that they had to listen to more directive teaching, which was aimed at boys.
The study also found that as the percentage of boys in class increased, the level of teacher-student interaction with boys steadily rose, while the level of teacher-student interaction with girls “showed a steep decline”. There was a 52% drop in the total number of teacher interaction with girls as the percentage of boys in class moved from under 40% to over 60%. However, there was only an 11% drop in the total number of teacher interactions with boys, as the percentage of girls in class moved from under 40% to over 60%. The researchers concluded that “girls are more inhibited than boys when they are outnumbered [by the boys] in class”.
It was demonstrated that more directive teaching was aimed at boys than girls, and that interactive whiteboards increased the level of directive teaching to boys. “Overall the findings show that, at least in Year 5, there is a significant gender imbalance in classroom interaction, and that interactive whiteboards seem to exacerbate this imbalance”.
Smith, F., Hardman, F., & Higgins, S. (2007). Gender inequality in the primary classroom: will interactive whiteboards help? Gender and Education, 19(4), 455-496.
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