Women in Science

1) Why do you think girls tend to not consider science as a possible career option?

After reading abstracts from several articles related to the topic about why women are less likely to involve themselves in science-related careers, I learned that studies have shown that women engage further in content and learning when the learning connects to their personal lives and when women have ample opportunity to reflect and communicate with others.

As I reflect on a few personal experiences, I make connections to the ideas mentioned in the articles.  Just the other day I was studying for a math test—five women were sitting around a table studying and thinking aloud with one another.  The only male student in the class was by himself reading and reviewing the textbook and class notes.  The example does not prove anything, but I find the example an interesting reflection.

Additionally, I have spent some time working with many non-profit and social service organizations.  In my experiences working with the two aforementioned fields, I noticed a higher percentage of females working in the fields.  The two fields encourage and require much verbal communication as well as stories about personal lives.

Although I think the reasons addressed in the articles previously mentioned and cited above are justified, I additionally believe societal issues exist that discourage women from entering the field of science.  When research the topic a little further, I found a few places where sexism and the nature of science workplaces was addressed in engineering fields and other “science and technology careers.”  I do realize the ideas come from organizations made for women, but the ideas still need to be considered.

2) What can you do in your classroom to help girls make more informed choices about science careers? 

• Teach students in a way that represents how real science works.  For example, make sure students know: scientists work together; imagination and creativity are involved in asking questions, organizing data, analyzing data, making observations, communicating ideas; our past experiences and background knowledge influence observations and inferences. 
• Encourage students to learn about and research female scientists
• Provide opportunities for students to actually interact with female scientists.
• Provide opportunities for students to participate in science with female scientists in the field.

3) Some questions I’m pondering related to the topic/research. 

• Has the research that has been done classify data based on actual sex differences or on how people identify themselves (gender)? 
• Has much research been done with elementary-aged students related to the above topic?  Seems as though most of the studies have been done with adolescents and secondary-aged students.

Thinking outloud

I’ve had to engage in high-level thinking and been given a purpose for my learning—for this I’m greatly appreciative.

In my opinion, the goal of this class is to understand the nature of disciplines (in this case science) and the pedagogical skills of effective teaching.   I’m more likely be an effective teacher when I have been a participant in an effectively taught classroom.  This class has been a good model for effective learning because of the following:
•    We reflect on the process of each class period
•    We engage is discussion
•    We use concrete objects and abstract concepts to solidify concepts
•    We adjust our thinking
•    We ask how and why questions

After engaging in science activities, we’ve reflected on how the activity fits into “how science works.”  By doing the activity and then reflecting I’m able to make sense of the big ideas.  Learning is not memorization; learning is making sense of how ideas work together.

Coming into this class I felt very unconfident to teach science.  Although I still have much to learn and much to practice, I am a little more confident to teach science and I am excited to be a part of this class.

Something that worries me a bit (likely because I’m a planner) is that our projects at the end of the semester are going to take a lot of work.  I like to spread out my learning and feel that the two large projects at during the second half of the semester may seem daunting.  I’m keeping my mind open to how the semester is planned.

Why teach the nature of science?

Students experience the nature of science in the world around them.  Whether students know or not, science is a part of their daily lives.  The water they brush their teeth with is somewhere being studied for contaminants and minerals, the weather they wake up to is being studied by a meteorologist, the food they eat is being studied in Iowa farm fields, and the moon they fall asleep to is being studied.   Students can't escape science!  And why would they?

The students in my class may some day be the scientists I describe above.  If we fail to let students experience what Professor Kruse coins "the essence of science" and rather teach them the traditional "scientific method" we really haven't students much at all.  Science isn't linear: Science is messy, confusing, and thus more intriguing.  If students think the nature of science is the "scientific method," then what motivates them to be curious and how will they seek out answers?  No problem can be solved through three basic steps.  Problems are solved through discussion, observations, interpretations, past experiences, making comparisons, and asking questions--all in no particular order.

How does science work?

Science works when a person pursues their curiosities. For example, if there weren’t people who took interest in finding out why tornadoes spin a particular way, there wouldn’t be people studying why tornadoes spin a particular way.
Following this curiosity, scientists ask questions, formulate predictions, make observations, construct inferences, write, reflect, test—often in no particular order. (Although, making an inference does involve synthesizing an observation and past experiences.) Even though I grew up learning the scientific method as a way to “do” science, science is much more than the scientific method. Science is more than the scientific method because scientists are consistently maneuvering from asking questions, formulating predictions, making observations, constructing inferences, writing, reflecting, and testing. For example, if I wanted to know why my basil plant is slowly dying, I might first make a prediction as to why this is happening or I might reflect on how the basil plant has existed through the summer. The aforementioned example demonstrates that science works in a very messy model—linear by no means.
In all cognitive processes and actions that scientists make, scientists are influenced by past experiences and prior knowledge. Our questions, predictions, observations, inferences, reflections, and results are in some ways reflections of our own beliefs and experiences. As humans we cannot filter out every life experience—we’re humans.

After all of my above reflections, science is still ultra confusing.