Research-based assessment of students' beliefs about experimental physics: When is gender a factor?

Abstract

The existence of gender differences in student performance on conceptual assessments and their responses to attitudinal assessments has been repeatedly demonstrated. This difference is often present in students' preinstruction responses and persists in their postinstruction responses. However, one area in which the presence of gender differences has not been extensively explored is undergraduate laboratory courses. For example, one of the few laboratory focused research-based assessments, the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey for Experimental Physics (E-CLASS), has not been tested for the existence of gender differences in students' responses. Here, we utilize a national data set of responses to the E-CLASS to determine if they demonstrate significant gender differences. We also investigate how these differences vary along multiple student and course demographic slices, including course level (first-year vs.\ beyond-first-year) and major (physics vs.\ non-physics). We observe a gender gap in pre- and postinstruction E-CLASS scores in the aggregate data both for the overall score and for most items individually. However, for some subpopulations (e.g., beyond-first-year students) the size or even existence of the gender gap depends on another dimension (e.g., student major). We also find that for all groups the gap in postinstruction scores vanishes or is greatly reduced when controlling for preinstruction scores, course level, and student major.

11 pages, 3 figures, accepted to Phys. Rev. - PER

References in corpus (4)

• Enriching gender in PER: A binary past and a complex future
• The Process of Transforming an Advanced Lab Course: Goals, Curriculum, and Assessments
• Students' epistemologies about experimental physics: Validating the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey for Experimental Physics
• Alternative model for the administration and analysis of research-based assessments

Cited by in corpus (8)

• Developing skills vs reinforcing concepts in physics labs: Insight from E-CLASS
• Hermione and the Secretary: How gendered task division in introductory physics labs can disrupt equitable learning
• Open-ended versus guided laboratory activities: Impact on students' beliefs about experimental physics
• Students' views about the nature of experimental physics
• Improvement or selection? A longitudinal analysis of students' views about experimental physics in their lab courses
• Gender Equity in Physics Labs: A Review
• Applying Cognitive Diagnostic Models to Mechanics Concept Inventories
• Students' attitudes toward experimental physics in a conceptual inquiry-based introductory physics lab