Science in the Mind’s Eye of Girls – The Bearing of Motivational

Context Conditions on Self-concept and Interest

Graduate Research Program: “Successful matching of school learning determinants: understanding and optimization”

Department of Psychology

Waldweg 26

37603 Goettingen (Germany)

Phone: 001149- 551-399264, Fax: 001149- 551-399322

swinhel@uni-goettingen.de

The potential to learn science content is known to be complicated by a number of factors, among them gender, identity, and interest. The present study focuses on gender differences and sex-specific development in self-concept and interest of students who take introductory chemistry classes in grade 7. The study utilizes data from the "Chemistry Project" which is part of the research initiative "Educational Quality of Schools" (BIQUA) sponsored by the German Science Foundation (DFG). Questionnaires and videotape data of approximately 109 students (51.2% girls, median age of 13 years) from two German High Schools who participated in a quasi-experimental intervention study (2 x 2 design) were analyzed. Central variables for the analysis included: a) the degree of student orientation (here: academic self-concept, self-efficacy and interest) and b) the support of autonomy and competence by the teacher as motivational context conditions.

The relation among gender, identity, and interest will be addressed on the basis of findings from study of grade 7 students in a beginning chemistry class. Prior research has repeatedly demonstrated that girls’ lack of interest in science is a significant predictor of their under-representation in technical/scientific occupations later in life. Based on the assumption that science instruction in high school is not geared towards the specific interests of girls, and the findings from first-year chemistry classes indicating that gender differences in self-concept and interest are established early on. The purpose of the present study was an examination of motivational context conditions, focusing the role of teacher-student interactions as impacting the self-concept and interest of female students in comparison to male students.

Central variables for the analysis included: a) the degree of student orientation (here: academic self-concept, self-efficacy and interest) and b) the support of autonomy and competence by the teacher as motivational context conditions. The study utilizes data from the "Chemistry Project"[1] which is part of the research initiative "Educational Quality of Schools" (BIQUA) sponsored by the German Science Foundation (DFG). At the longitudinal study 109 students (51.2% girls, median age 13 years) of two German high schools (North Rhine-Westphalia) participated.

A quasi-experimental 2 x 2 design was employed. At two measurement points, participants completed two questionnaires. The first included scales measuring personal interests and self-concept relevant aspects, the second asked for students’ perception of teaching style focused on supporting their competence and autonomy in class. To avoid primacy effects of the questionnaires on students’ orientation and teachers’ behaviour, the lesson unit was taught four weeks later. The six periods of the lesson unit were videotaped. Students were taught according to constructivist principles (student-needs paradigm, emphasis on students' input, integration of everyday-life experiences) in the experimental condition. After the last lesson of the teaching unit, the post-test was given.

As expected, analyses of variance revealed ­significant gender differences in self-concept and interest. These results confirm findings from prior research that demonstrated disadvantages in science for girls. Contrary to the predictions, however, girls also showed positive developments in theirs self-concept and in theirs interest in Chemistry than boys over time. Students’ perceptions of teaching style also revealed gender differences in the dimension of educational support. Boys were more likely than girls to perceive themselves as receiving high levels of educational support and promotion over time. These findings complement those suggesting that boys are more likely than girls to be provided with a realistic picture of their abilities. Correlations of perceived teaching style with students’ interest and self-concept, furthermore, suggest a difference of teacher treatment based on gender; boys and girls experience support of autonomy and competence differently and not in the same way as would have been predicted by the Self Determination Theory. Descriptive analysis of the videotaped interactions between teachers and students indicated that for boys, teachers provided more assistance, showed disappointment with performance, gave negative feedback and honoured competence. Whereas for girls, the teachers gave less assistance, showed satisfaction with performance, and questioned competence.

The study provides insights into the links between gender, interest, and identity in the development of motivation to learn science. It revise (and complicate) prior understanding and promise to make useful contributions to both theory and practice. In addition to its focus on chemistry, an under-investigated domain of science, its quasi-experimental longitudinal design and the application of questionnaires and videotaped data, allows multivariate data analysis of gender-specific development in self-concept and interest over time. Moreover the results of correlations between self-concept and interest are conforming to the theoretical expectations, but partial found correlation patterns indicate that the aspect of gender has to take into account of the Self Determination Theory. Furthermore descriptive findings indicating that girls are not experiencing the same conditions for learning that boys are suggests the need to further examine classroom practice. The findings suggest that teachers’ feedback to girls and boys differ, and suggests that acknowledgement of competence and expectations for performance may be critical to enabling changed performance for girls. Beside that the results recommit to the importance of attributions and might explain why gender stereotypes are established.