Encouraging Girls into Physics
Terry Marsh, Ruth Merrett, UK
Intel Educator Academy, Los Angeles
11th May 2011
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Why does it matter?
New research into the learning process
Support for trainee teachers
Call to action
Overview
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The future increasingly depends on emerging technologies
So each country needs the best scientists and engineers
possible
A large proportion of hard-to fill vacancies are Physics-based
Many of the most talented girls are turning their backs on
Physics-based study and careers
The loss to the UK economy of under-used female talent has
been estimated to be more than £2 billion
Why does it matter?
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The future increasingly depends on emerging technologies
So each country needs the best scientists and engineers
possible
A large proportion of hard-to fill vacancies are Physics-
based
Many of the most talented girls are turning their backs on
Physics-based study and careers
The loss to the UK economy of under-used female talent has
been estimated to be more than £2 billion
Why does it matter?
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Statistics:16-year-olds
The has been a large increase in the number of girls studying Physics
as part of a government drive to ‘triple science’
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Statistics:18-year-olds
No equivalent increase in the number of girls continuing with Physics
93% of girls qualified to study Physics at advanced
level walk away from it
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Increase emphasis on variety of careers in
science/engineering
Set up after school club
Instigate competitions and awards
‘Girlify’ the curriculum
Send out more literature
Standard ways to tackle this issue
This is only ‘shouting louder’ – more of the same is making no difference
Focus on the girls
themselves
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Find it boring, too much teacher talk Find the concepts hard to understand Find the language hard to understand
Can’t see the purpose of it Think nobody listens to girls’ perspectives
In the WISE research no Physics lesson was remembered as ‘my best science lesson ever’
Why do many girls dislike Physics?
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Think of a school subject you did not like
Take a couple of minutes to talk with your neighbour how you felt about that subject
Include how you felt doing the homework
Find some words you have in common
Try this activity
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Feel ill, sick when thinking of the lesson
Stressed when trying but not understanding
‘I’ve always hated it, always will’
Increased levels of anxiety
Lacking confidence about my ability to pursue the subject further
Common themes
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The neuroscientific body of literature ... presents affect as having primacy over cognition, and having the capability of influencing, attenuating, and even subjugating cognition. Affect is revealed as paramount in significance to human mental processes such as learning, and crucial to survival, social functioning, and human wellbeing. Neuroscientific evidence of brain/body interaction, the primacy of emotion in human functioning, and neuropsychological data of behavioural influence elicited by affect requires the attention of educational researchers, especially educational neuroscientists, and is quite likely to eventuate in some profound changes and shifts in educational theory and practice.
The Somatic Appraisal Model of Affect:
Paradigm for educational neuroscience and neuropedagogy_712 87..97
Kathryn E. Patten
Educational Neuroscience Laboratory, Simon Fraser University
What this session is about
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Learning is not just a rational thing
Even ‘background’ emotions can impede learning
This can be observed by watching the internal functioning of the
brain with MRI scans
It is important that researchers work to understand these
processes better
Their results are likely to bring about a change in the very way
we teach and learn
To get the gist of it
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The neuroscientific body of literature ...
presents affect as having primacy over cognition,
and having the capability of influencing,
attenuating, and even subjugating cognition.
Affect is revealed as paramount in significance to
human mental processes such as learning,
and crucial to survival, social functioning, and
human wellbeing.
Learning and neuroscience
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Neuroscientific evidence of brain/body interaction,the primacy of emotion in human functioning, and neuropsychological data of behavioural influence
elicited by affect
requires the attention of educational researchers, especially educational neuroscientists,
and is quite likely to eventuate in some profound changes and shifts in educational theory
and practice.
Learning and neuroscience
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Affective neuroscience is the study of the neural mechanisms
of emotion - what goes on in the brain when we feel
Cross disciplinary - working with
Neuroscience
Psychology
Behavioural sciences
Sports science
Proteomics
Philosophy
It is a relatively new science focussing on
the brain’s Limbic system
Affective neuroscience
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Two almond shape bodies deep in the brain Key to the formation and storage of memories associated with
emotional events
They drive ‘instantaneous’ responses to ‘threat’ physical or psychological The ‘amygdala hijack’
They participate in ‘emotional memory’ Unconscious memory
Involved in the regulation of cognitive functions E.g. attention, perception, and explicit memory
They contribute to longer term anxiety
The Amygdala
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Teacher joked about my efforts
The Limbic system and learning
after Philippe Goldin, Stanford University
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Many people view particular school subjects with an immediate and negative response This is a learned response working through the amygdala
Girls in particular are influenced by teaching which does not take the affective domain into account
Repeated unpleasant emotions associated with the subject have built this response
It could be hard to change this reaction to a particular subject by mere cognitive methods i.e. telling students that Physics will lead to a good job
Change can only be brought about through attention to the emotional experience
How does this relate to girls and Physics?
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Social defeat – public humiliation
Negative self-belief
Specific painful social memory - I’m not good
enough
Self deprecation
Negative rumination – brooding
Negative emotions in the classroom
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Tonbridge School/Cambridge University mindfulness research
Max Plank Institute Coping with psycho-social stress
Stanford University Got an hour? Boost your grades
Three related research projects
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Ten week course with Tonbridge school
Addressing anxiety and worry inside and outside the classroom
Offering techniques to Explore how attention works Recognise how we ruminate and catastrophise Be Here Now
Half the students reported positive benefits Only 7% wanted to stop the work
Cambridge – being aware
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Trier Social Stress Test Mock job interview Public mental arithmetic Errors pointed out
Participants needed positive coping strategies to avoid increased stress in subsequent testing
Largest stress responses and the longest recovery times Feeling out of control, not knowing what will happen Being judged as wanting – ‘social-evaluative threat’
Max Plank - coping with public stress
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“Having a teacher say something negative to you could seem like proof that you don’t belong, and maybe evidence that your group doesn’t belong either. That feeling could lead you to work less hard and ultimately do less well.“
One hour session to explore and understand that everyone feels like that at first
By writing about older students’ experiences of overcoming these feelings, students internalise and personalise
22% of those who participated were in the top quartile on graduation, as opposed to only 5% of those who did not
Stanford - ‘people like me’
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WISE created a self-reflection game
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Anxiety can interfere with the task in hand
The task of teaching and learning is seen as more important than the process
So, results orientation can ironically sabotage the achieving of good results
Common themes link to classrooms
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Pupil perception of Physics teaching Research project funded by the UKRC
Questionnaires and focus groups for pupils Common themes
Focus group for student teachers Gender had not been highlighted in training The danger for them as ‘technical specialists’ to be too
task oriented Some misconceptions re encouraging girls
Output was a student teacher website addressing issues and tools
WISE research into girls and Physics
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Find it boring, too much teacher talk Find the concepts hard to understand Find the language hard to understand
Can’t see the purpose of it Think nobody listens to girls’ perspectives
Remember why girls dislike Physics?
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Helping trainee teachers understand the
causes of unhappiness in the physics
classroom
Listing specific issues that research has
shown to be important for girls
Offering tools to overcome these issues
Giving examples of approaches that have
worked with other teachers
Intel website for new teachers
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www.girlfriendlyphysics.co.uk
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Keep it interactive and practical Use analogies and metaphors Use everyday language to ‘get the gist’
Relate it to everyday life (not merely ‘careers’)
Keep checking to understand the emotional
experience
Message for new physics teachers
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Experienced and committed Heads of Science
and Careers – open to new ideas
Whole school approach
Family involvement
Cross-subject collaboration
Older students sharing experiences with
younger ones
Case study Rosebery school
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Robot designers for homes, offices and production plants
Space tour guides Virgin Galactic are building a spaceport in New Mexico
Fuel cell technologists car exhaust is water
Personal genome advisors check out people's risk to health
Ubicomp technologists embedding everyday objects with intelligence
Airship pilot use dirigibles and get the lorries off the roads
Nanotechnologists build miniature machines to work in the body
Jobs of the future...
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www.postcardsfromthefuture.me
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To feel relaxed and confident in class
To participate rather than just listen and write
To be able to ‘visualise their way through’ the challenges
To experience success on a pretty regular basis
So, what do girls want?
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Others suffering from “stereotype threat”
Afro Caribbean boys
Working class boys
Pupils who disrupt classes
And it’s not only girls...
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1. Sign up to a School–wide approach to addressing any inequity
2. Analyse the Statistics for your school
3. Ensure ongoing Training and Development of staff
4. Acknowledge the Emotional side to learning - ask for feedback on your teaching style and effectiveness
5. Try some action research on IoP Model
Call to action - SSTEM
You need to change what you do to change what is happening
Are girls opting out as they get older?
Are the girls performing as well as
the boys?
Visit the Intel website
Anonymous questionnaires
Focus groups led by outsider
Encouraging Girls into Physics
Terry Marsh [email protected]
Ruth Merrett [email protected]
Intel Educator Academy, Los Angeles11th May 2011