“The world cannot afford the loss of the talents of half
its people if we are to solve the many problems which beset us.”
Rosalyn Yaslow
Nobel Laureate 1977
Instructional Recommendations
Here is a summary of some gender equitable instructional
strategies from the
Woodrow
Wilson Leadership Program in Mathematics. These are good suggestions
for both girls and boys.
-
Call on girls as often as you do boys. (Don't assume
that you do. Check yourself by having someone record how many times
you call on girls and boys.)
-
Be sure to ask the girls their fair share of higher
level cognitive questions.
-
Don't overnurture girls.
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Give girls an equal amount of help and feedback.
-
Encourage girls to use manipulatives and to participate
in hands-on experiences.
-
Balance cooperative and competitive activities.
-
Encourage girls to participate in extra-curricular
math and science activities.
-
Introduce lessons with an overview.
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Provide girls opportunities to develop spatial visualization
skills.
-
Use writing to help students express and clarify their
feelings and thoughts.
-
Wait ~5 seconds after asking a question, then call
on a student to answer the question.
Interesting Information about Women in Science, Mathematics,
and Technology:
Women Nobel Prize Laureates
(short descriptions, many links)
Women of NASA
(presents modern women in science and math as real people, discusses
career preparation, has Spanish versions of information)
Past Notable
Women of Computing & Mathematics
Index of Women
Mathematicians (interesting stories)
Contributions of 20th
Century Women to Physics
Faces of
Science: African Americans in the Sciences
This site is indexed by people or profession with links to women scientists
and to firsts.
Inventors Museum:
Women Inventors
Young
Inventors
Activities for Teachers to promote awareness of gender discrimination
(created by Dr. Debra Mullinnix for the 1998 Equitable Classroom Practices
Institute at Rice University):
It Is Difficult Being a Member of My Gender Group
(use with small groups, followed by large group sharing)
Directions: Complete the phrases or questions in short, talk notes.
1. It is difficult being part of my gender group because...
2. It is nice being part of my gender group because...
3. What would you dislike about being a member of the opposite sex?
4. What would you like about being a member of the opposite sex?
5. How has gender influenced who you are and who you wanted to be?
6. Pretend you were a member of the opposite sex when you were in high
school. Pick one key way your life would have been different.
Socialization
1. Think about the different ways boys and girls are socialized from
birth through elementary school (pink/blue clothes, toys, etc.).
2. What did you play as a child from age 7-10 years?
Divide into ethnic groups as much as possible. (If you have parents
who are from different ethnic groups, choose the group that has the
least number of members.)
Write answers on post-it 's in note form. Stick to front board.
Prepare to present to whole class.
Magazine Analysis
1. Look at the cover of the magazine.
What age group and gender is the magazine targeting?
In general, what is the focus of the articles the magazine chose to
highlight?
What type of cover does the magazine have? If it has a model on the
cover, what is the age group? What does he/she look like?
2. Look at the Table of Contents.
In general, what are the articles about?
What is the focus of the "Departments"?
Is there a section for questions and answers about relationships?
3. Scan the magazine for the advertisements.
What messages are the advertisements sending the reader?
What types of products are they advertising, in general?
How are they persuading the reader to buy the products?
4. If the magazine has a question /answer section, read a couple of
the entries.
What is the general focus of the questions?
5. What is the overall message the magazine is sending to the reader?
What is important?
What should the reader be doing in his/her life?
