written by
Adrienne L. Traxler, Rachel Henderson, John Stewart, Gay Stewart, Alexis Papak, and Rebecca S. Lindell
Research on the test structure of the Force Concept Inventory (FCI) has largely ignored gender, and research on FCI gender effects (often reported as "gender gaps") has seldom interrogated the structure of the test. These rarely crossed streams of research leave open the possibility that the FCI may not be structurally valid across genders, particularly since many reported results come from calculus-based courses where 75% or more of the students are men. We examine the FCI considering both psychometrics and gender disaggregation (while acknowledging this as a binary simplification), and find several problematic questions whose removal decreases the apparent gender gap. We analyze three samples (total Npre = 5391, Npost = 5769) looking for gender asymmetries using classical test theory, item response theory, and differential item functioning. The combination of these methods highlights six items that appear substantially unfair to women and two items biased in favor of women. No single physical concept or prior experience unifies these questions, but they are broadly consistent with problematic items identified in previous research. Removing all significantly gender-unfair items halves the gender gap in the main sample in this study. We recommend that instructors using the FCI report the reduced-instrument score as well as the 30-item score, and that credit or other benefits to students not be assigned using the biased items.
Physical Review Physics Education Research: Volume 14, Issue 1, Pages 010103
ComPADRE is beta testing Citation Styles!
Record Link
<a href="https://www.compadre.org/portal/items/detail.cfm?ID=14952">Traxler, A, R. Henderson, J. Stewart, G. Stewart, A. Papak, and R. Lindell. "Gender fairness within the Force Concept Inventory." Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. 14, no. 1, (January 18, 2018): 010103.</a>
AIP Format
A. Traxler, R. Henderson, J. Stewart, G. Stewart, A. Papak, and R. Lindell, , Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. 14 (1), 010103 (2018), WWW Document, (https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.14.010103).
AJP/PRST-PER
A. Traxler, R. Henderson, J. Stewart, G. Stewart, A. Papak, and R. Lindell, Gender fairness within the Force Concept Inventory, Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. 14 (1), 010103 (2018), <https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.14.010103>.
APA Format
Traxler, A., Henderson, R., Stewart, J., Stewart, G., Papak, A., & Lindell, R. (2018, January 18). Gender fairness within the Force Concept Inventory. Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res., 14(1), 010103. Retrieved December 5, 2024, from https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.14.010103
Chicago Format
Traxler, A, R. Henderson, J. Stewart, G. Stewart, A. Papak, and R. Lindell. "Gender fairness within the Force Concept Inventory." Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. 14, no. 1, (January 18, 2018): 010103, https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.14.010103 (accessed 5 December 2024).
MLA Format
Traxler, Adrienne, Rachel Henderson, John Stewart, Gay Stewart, Alexis Papak, and Rebecca Lindell. "Gender fairness within the Force Concept Inventory." Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. 14.1 (2018): 010103. 5 Dec. 2024 <https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.14.010103>.
BibTeX Export Format
@article{
Author = "Adrienne Traxler and Rachel Henderson and John Stewart and Gay Stewart and Alexis Papak and Rebecca Lindell",
Title = {Gender fairness within the Force Concept Inventory},
Journal = {Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res.},
Volume = {14},
Number = {1},
Pages = {010103},
Month = {January},
Year = {2018}
}
Refer Export Format
%A Adrienne Traxler %A Rachel Henderson %A John Stewart %A Gay Stewart %A Alexis Papak %A Rebecca Lindell %T Gender fairness within the Force Concept Inventory %J Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. %V 14 %N 1 %D January 18, 2018 %P 010103 %U https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.14.010103 %O application/pdf
EndNote Export Format
%0 Journal Article %A Traxler, Adrienne %A Henderson, Rachel %A Stewart, John %A Stewart, Gay %A Papak, Alexis %A Lindell, Rebecca %D January 18, 2018 %T Gender fairness within the Force Concept Inventory %J Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. %V 14 %N 1 %P 010103 %8 January 18, 2018 %U https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.14.010103 Disclaimer: ComPADRE offers citation styles as a guide only. We cannot offer interpretations about citations as this is an automated procedure. Please refer to the style manuals in the Citation Source Information area for clarifications.
Citation Source Information
The AIP Style presented is based on information from the AIP Style Manual. The APA Style presented is based on information from APA Style.org: Electronic References. The Chicago Style presented is based on information from Examples of Chicago-Style Documentation. The MLA Style presented is based on information from the MLA FAQ. |