Technology’s Effect on Gender Equity in Science Education Deborah A. Kashy, Gerd Kortemeyer, & David Harris Michigan State University Analyses of Gender differences in Classes using the LON-CAPA technology Two sets of analyses have been conducted thus far to examine how the technology impacts men and women’s performance. In the first, there was a unique situation in which the first semester of a year-long Physics course was taught in the traditional way and the second semester was taught using technology. As can be seen below, the final grade distributions indicate that women’s grades made more dramatic improvements than did men’s with technology. What is LON-CAPA? The LearningOnline Network with a Computer Assisted Personalized Approach The LearningOnline Network with a Computer Assisted Personalized Approach LON-CAPA is an integrated system for online learning and assessment. It consists of a learning content authoring and management system allowing new and existing content to be used flexiblya learning content authoring and management system allowing new and existing content to be used flexibly a course management systema course management system an individualized homework and automatic grading systeman individualized homework and automatic grading system data collection and data mining systemdata collection and data mining system a content delivery system that will provide gateways to and from NSF's National STEM Digital Librarya content delivery system that will provide gateways to and from NSF's National STEM Digital Library The LON-CAPA software provides instructors with a common, scalable platform to assist in all aspects of teaching a course, from lecture preparation to administration of homework assignments and exams. It allows instructors to create educational materials and to share such learning resources with colleagues across institutions in a simple and efficient manner. It provides a sophisticated assignment engine that can create unique homework assignments and examinations for each student in a class. Its formative and summative assessment tools grade a broad variety of objective problems and assist in evaluation of essays. It provides prompt feedback for students and instructors, as well as statistical information on performance and on effectiveness of materials. Discussion pages attached to every homework assignment encourage communication among students and faculty. The LON-CAPA software is freely available and free (GNU General Public License), and may be modified and adapted. Introduction Promoting the interest and retention of women in the sciences is a challenging goal for educators. Recent research conducted at Michigan State University (MSU) suggests that modern network technology, by enhancing women’s success rate in science courses, may be useful in working towards that goal. In the present research, which is the basis of an NSF funded planning grant, the differential success of men and women in STEM courses is examined when the courses used the LON-CAPA system. In the second set of analyses, exam grades from many courses in a range of disciplines were examined over the course of the semester to see if differences between men and women’s exam performance diminished. Initial analyses of two physics courses seemed to indicate that although women began the course less prepared than men, by the end of the course, their performance equaled that of the men. The graphs below indicate some support for such a pattern, however, it does vary dramatically by discipline, and this variation raises numerous questions to be addressed in our primary proposal. In each graph below, the percent mean for women is subtracted from the percent mean for men – the Pink line indicates where men and women score equally on average. Conclusions and Future Directions There is evidence that women’s performance improves relative to men’s over time in courses using technology. BUT: The effect varies substantially across courses and across disciplines Equalization of performance over time is strongest in the Physics and Biology classes examined. Notably, these are the courses that make most intensive use of the technology in their courses (i.e., they use the technology to present educational materials, homework, quizzes, exams, and so on) – so that may be a critical variable to consider. Is this really an effect of the technology? In addition to examining naturalistic data, controlled experimental research will be conducted to address this question. If this is an effect of technology, what aspects of the technology are responsible for the effect? Possibilities include: Feedback on homework, in combination with multiple tries allows women to persevere and solve problems to completion. They may begin science courses less well prepared than men, but with adequate feedback, they can catch up. Feedback via computer rather than required face-to-face interactions with (primarily) male teaching faculty may make it easier for women to get assistance. Increased levels of communication among students has been observed with this technology, and because each student gets a unique assignment, copying isn’t possible. Instead students share their knowledge on how to solve problems. This type of information may be particularly useful for women. LON-CAPA is being developed and implemented by an enthusiastic group of faculty and professionals who recognize that Information Technology can play an important role in improving students' learning and understanding. Current members of the project include faculty from universities, colleges, and K-12 schools in the US, Canada, Asia, Africa, and Europe. The core development group is located at Michigan State University. Today LON-CAPA is serving over 13,000 course enrollments per semester at MSU alone, and well over 23,000 course enrollments system-wide, ranging from middle school to graduate level courses. Disciplines include astronomy, biology, business, chemistry, civil engineering, computer science, family and child ecology, geology, human food and nutrition, human medicine, mathematics, medical technology, physics, and psychology. Final Grades For Men Final Grades For Women Biological Sciences: Cells & Molecules BS 111 Chemistry: General Chemistry CEM 141 Chemistry: General and Inorganic Chemistry CEM 142 Physics: Physics for Scientists and Engineers I Phy 183 Physics: Physics for Scientists and Engineers II Phy 184 Physics: Introductory Physics II PHY 232 Visions of the Universe ISP 205 These analyses include Course# Students#Women#Men PHY PHY PHY BS CEM CEM ISP Total