PERC 2011 Abstract Detail Page
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| Abstract Title: | Assessing Gender Differences in Students' Understanding of Magnetism |
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| Abstract: | We investigate gender differences in students' difficulties with concepts related to magnetism. Our research uses a multiple-choice test whose reliability and validity have been substantiated earlier. We also conduct individual interviews with a subset of students to get a better understanding of the rationale behind their responses. We find that females performed significantly worse than males when the test was given both as a pre-test and post-test in traditionally taught calculus-based introductory physics courses. In the algebra-based courses, the performance of females was significantly worse in the pre-test but there was no statistical difference in the post-test performance of males and females. We discuss possible reasons for these differences. Supported by NSF. |
| Abstract Type: | Gallery Session Poster |
| Poster Gallery Session: | Multiple Assessments of Multiple-choice Assessments |
Contributed Poster | |
| Contributed Poster: | Download the Contributed Poster |
Author/Organizer Information | |
| Primary Contact: |
Jing Li Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pittsburgh |
| Co-Author(s) and Co-Presenter(s) |
Chandralekha Singh, University of Pittsburgh |
