Marcia C. Linn

Emergence and characterization of sex differences in spatial ability: A meta-analysis.

Sex differences in spatial ability are widely acknowledged, yet considerable dispute surrounds the magnitude, nature, and age of first occurrence of these differences. This article focuses on 3 questions about sex differences in spatial ability: What is the magnitude of sex differences in spatial ability? On which aspects of spatial ability are sex differences found? and When, in the life span, are sex differences in spatial ability first detected? Implications for clarifying the linkage between sex differences in spatial ability and other differences between males and females are discussed. We use meta-analysis, a method for synthesizing empirical studies, to investigate these questions. Results of the meta-analysis suggest that sex differences arise on some types of spatial ability but not others, that large sex differences are found only on measures of mental rotation, that smaller sex differences are found on measures of spatial perception, and that, when sex differences are found, they can be detected across the life span.

Gender Similarities Characterize Math Performance

Gender differences in mathematics performance and ability remain a concern as scientists seek to address the underrepresentation of women at the highest levels of mathematics, the physical sciences, and engineering. Stereotypes that girls and women lack mathematical ability persist and are widely held by parents and teachers. Meta-analytic findings from 1990 (6) indicated that gender differences in mathematics performance in the general population were trivial, d = -.05. d = Mmales – Mfemales sw

Gender, Mathematics, and Science

Males have greater access to science and technical fields and greater earning power than females. Many argue that cognitive and psychosocial gender differences explain these career differences. In contrast, evidence from meta-analysis and process analysis indicate that (a) gender differences on cognitive and psychosocial tasks are small and declining, (b) gender differences are not general but specific to cultural and situational contexts, (c) gender differences in cognitive processes often reflect gender differences in course enrollment and training, and (d) gender differences in height, physical strength, career access, and earning power are much larger and more stable than gender differences on cognitive and psychosocial tasks. These trends imply that small gender differences in cognitive and psychosocial domains be deemphasized and instead that learning and earning environments be redesigned to promote gender equity.

Learning and Instruction: An Examination of Four Research Perspectives in Science Education

Recent research in science education examines learning from four perspectives which we characterize as a concept-learning focus, a developmental focus, a differential focus, and a focus on problem solving. This paper illustrates how these perspectives, considered together offer new insights into the knowledge and reasoning processes of science students and provide a framework for identifying mechanisms governing how individuals change their knowledge and thinking processes. An integrated examination of the four research perspectives strongly suggests that in-depth coverage of several science topics will benefit students far more than fleeting coverage of numerous science topics.

New trends in gender and mathematics performance: A meta-analysis.

In this article, we use meta-analysis to analyze gender differences in recent studies of mathematics performance. First, we meta-analyzed data from 242 studies published between 1990 and 2007, representing the testing of 1,286,350 people. Overall, d = 0.05, indicating no gender difference, and variance ratio = 1.08, indicating nearly equal male and female variances. Second, we analyzed data from large data sets based on probability sampling of U.S. adolescents over the past 20 years: the National Longitudinal Surveys of Youth, the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988, the Longitudinal Study of American Youth, and the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Effect sizes for the gender difference ranged between -0.15 and +0.22. Variance ratios ranged from 0.88 to 1.34. Taken together, these findings support the view that males and females perform similarly in mathematics.

Beyond Fourth-Grade Science: Why Do U.S. and Japanese Students Diverge?

Between 4th and 8th grade, American students fall behind on international norms, whereas Japanese students continue to perform well. This paper brings diverse perspectives to bear on japanese late-elementary science education, in order to elucidate its instructional features and the broader educational system features that enable deep, coherent instruction.

Physical and Virtual Laboratories in Science and Engineering Education

The world needs young people who are skillful in and enthusiastic about science and who view science as their future career field. Ensuring that we will have such young people requires initiatives that engage students in interesting and motivating science experiences. Today, students can investigate scientific phenomena using the tools, data collection techniques, models, and theories of science in physical laboratories that support interactions with the material world or in virtual laboratories that take advantage of simulations. Here, we review a selection of the literature to contrast the value of physical and virtual investigations and to offer recommendations for combining the two to strengthen science learning.

Designing Computer Learning Environments for Engineering and Computer Science: The Scaffolded Knowledge Integration Framework.

Designing effective curricula for complex topics and incorporating technological tools is an evolving process. One important way to foster effective design is to synthesize successful practices. This paper describes a framework called scaffolded knowledge integration and illustrates how it guided the design of two successful course enhancements in the field of computer science and engineering. One course enhancement, the LISP Knowledge Integration Environment, improved learning and resulted in more gender-equitable outcomes. The second course enhancement, the spatial reasoning environment, addressed spatial reasoning in an introductory engineering course. This enhancement minimized the importance of prior knowledge of spatial reasoning and helped students develop a more comprehensive repertoire of spatial reasoning strategies. Taken together, the instructional research programs reinforce the value of the scaffolded knowledge integration framework and suggest directions for future curriculum reformers.

Technology and science education: Starting points, research programs, and trends

Over the past 25 years, information and communication technologies have had a convoluted but ultimately advantageous impact on science teaching and learning. To highlight the past, present, and future of technology in science education, this paper explores the trajectories in five areas: science texts and lectures; science discussions and collaboration; data collection and representation; science visualization; and science simulation and modeling. These trajectories reflect two overall trends in technological advance. First, designers have tailored general tools to specific disciplines, offering users features specific to the topic or task. For example, developers target visualization tools to molecules, crystals, earth structures, or chemical reactions. Second, new technologies generally support user customization, enabling individuals to personalize their modeling tool, Internet portal, or discussion board. In science education, designers have tailored instructional resources based on advances in understanding of the learner. More recently, designers have created ways for teachers and students to customize learning tools to specific courses, geological formations, interests, or learning preferences.

Science education and philosophy of science: Congruence or contradiction?

In this paper, we examine the goals and methods of science education from the standpoint of recent trends in the philosophy of science. Specifically, we consider the implications for science curricula and instruction of new perspectives on scientific knowledge, on the nature of evidence, and on how knowledge changes. We argue that much of science education remains mired in outmoded positivist assumptions, and suggest specific ways in which science instruction can promote a more appropriate epistemological attitude and provide a more accurate sense of the scientific enterprise.