The Problem/Question This question has emerged from an observation that males are not performing as highly in the classroom as females. Spring 2008

Methodologies & Types of Evidence of Student Learning Gathered I have put together the following survey which was approved by the IRB on campus. The survey is divided into groups of questions that are aimed to gather data about student study habits, time management, attitudes and population data. Study Habits 1. How many hours/week do you spend studying outside of the classroom during a week in which there is no test for this course? a. 1 hour or less b. 2-3 hours c. 3-4 hours d. 4-5 hours e. more than 5 hours 2. How many hours/week do you spend studying outside of the classroom during an exam week for this class? a. 1 hour or less b. 2-3 hours c. 3-4 hours d. 4-5 hours e. more than 5 hours 3. Have you attended the instructor's office hours for help this semester? a. no b. yes (not very often, once or twice) c. yes (weekly attendance) 4. How much did you study in highschool? a. I never studied outside of the classroom b. I studied 1-2 hours per week outside of the classroom in highschool c. I studied 2-3 hours per week outside of the classroom in highschool d. I studied 3-4 hours per week outside of the classroom in highschool Time Management 4. Do you have a job in addition to attending college? a. yes b. no 5. If you work, in addition to attending college, how many hours per week do you work? a. 1-4 hours/week b. 4-8 hours/week c. 8-12 hours/week d. 12-20 hours/week e. more than 20 hours/week 6. Are you allowed to study while working at this place of employment? a. never b. yes (sometimes) c. yes (much of the time can be spent studying) 7. If you work outside of the classroom, do you work during the weekdays? Weekends? Or both? a. do not work b. work during the week days only c. work during the week days and weekends d. work during the weekends only 8. How many hours/week do you engage in social activities? a. I don't socialize b. 1-3 hours per week c. 3-6 hours per week d. 6-10 hours per week e. 10 or more hours per week 9. Do you primarily engage in social activities on week nights or weekends? a. I don't socialize b. I socialize on the week days only c. I socialize only on weekends d. I socialize equally on the week days and nights Attitudes 10. I expect to earn the following grade in this course: a. A b. AB c. B d. BC e. C or less 11. Earning a B is a good enough grade in this class: a. agree b. somewhat agree c. neutral d. somewhat disagree e. disagree 12. My highschool GPA was a. there were no grades at the school I attended b. I have a GED c. 3.75-4.0 d. 3.0-3.74 e. 2.0-2.99 13. My current college GPA is: a. 4.0 b. 3.75-3.99 c. 3.25-3.74 d. 2.75-3.24 e. 2.74 or less 14. I consider myself a highly motivated student in college: a. agree b. somewhat agree c. neutral d. somewhat disagree e. disagree 15. Grades are not very important. a. agree b. somewhat agree c. neutral d. somewhat disagree e. disagree 16. I can get a better job in the future if my grades are high. a. agree b. somewhat agree c. neutral d. somewhat disagree e. disagree 17. When I graduate from this college, I expect to earn: a. $20-25,000 per year b. $26-35,000 per year c. $36-45,000 per year d. $46-55,000 per year e. more than $56,000 per year 18. I anticipate that I will attend graduate school some day (e.g. earn a Master's or higher degree): a. yes b. no c. not sure 19. Admission into graduate schools requires a GPA of? a. I have no idea b. C or 2.0 average c. less than a 3.0 d. 3.0 at minimum e. 3.5-4.0 History/Population Data 20. Do your parents hold college degrees? a. mother has a college degree b. father has a college degree c. both parents have college degrees d. neither parents have college degrees e. I don't know 21. I have at least one sibling that holds a college degree? a. yes b. no 22. I am the first child to go to college in my family: a. yes b. no 23. What is your gender? a. male b. female 24. How old are you? a. 17-19 years old b. 20-21 years old c. 22-23 years old d. 24-25 years old e. 26 years or older Spring 2008

Project Summary Survey Results: Overall: Selective Responses (No striking differences in answers related to gender differences.) BIO 309 Class Characteristics Fall 07 59.3% study < 1 hour/week if there is not an exam 92.6% have not attended an instructor's office hour for help 48.1% study 5 hours/exam week 88.9% have jobs 51.9% believe they are highly motivated to do well in the class 44.4% are first generation college students (neither parent has a college degree) 44.4% are the first in the family to go to college 70.4% do not have a sibling with a college degree 40.7% of the students are 20 or 21 years of age 70.4% female, 29.6male BIO 233 Class Characteristics Fall 07 50% study <1 hour/week if there is not an exam 97.9% have not attended an instructor's office hour for help 34% study 5 hours/exam week 78.5% have jobs 42.6% believe they are highly motivated to do well in class 50.0% are first generation college students (neither parent has a college degree) 55.3% are the first in the family to go to college 53.2% do not have a sibling with a college degree 49.5% are 20 or 21 years of age 11.7% are male, 88.3are female BIO 315 Class Characteristics Spring 08 47.3% study <1 hour/week if there is not an exam 73.7% have not attended an instructor's office hour for help 50% study 5 hours/exam week 81.5% have jobs 47.3% believe they are highly motivated to do well in class 47.4% are first generation college students (neither parent has a college degree) 39.4% are the first in the family to go to college 42.1% do not have a sibling with a college degree 39.4% are 20 or 21 years of age 31.5% are male, 68.5are female BIO 233 Class Characteristics Spring 08 48.9% study <1 hour/week if there is not an exam 96.8% have not attended an instructor's office hour for help 25.5% spend 3-4 hours/exam week 76.6% have jobs 42.5% believe they are highly motivated to do well in class 48.9% are first generation college students (neither parent has a college degree) 44.6% are the first in the family to go to college 43.6% do not have a sibling with a college degree 87.2% are 20 or 21 years of age 11.7% are male and 87.2are female

Literature Preliminary Findings, Results, Conclusions, & Implications Quick summary of literature, along with factoids: American women have received more college degrees than men every year since 1982. Among women between 25 and 34 years old, 33 have completed college, compared to 29 of men. Despite these successes, females score significantly lower on many (though not all) "high stakes" standardized tests used for admissions to college and graduate school, including the Verbal and Mathematics sections of the SAT and GRE. Females score lower than males, on average, in science and mathematics when the tests are not closely related to the material that has been taught in school. There is a grade-test disparity in successful achievement in mathematics and science for males and females, with females achieving better grades in school and males achieving higher scores on tests designed for admissions to colleges, universities, and graduate programs. Spring 2008

Annotated List of Helpful Resources & References Bae, Y. et al., 2000. "Trends in Educational Equity for Girls and Women (NCES 2000-030)." Washington D. C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. Hefford, N.A. and Keef, S. P. 2004. "Gender Differences in a Computer Science Course: A Spearmanian Perspective." J. Educational Computing Research 30:(1 & 2): 69-86. This study analyzes gender performance differences in a first-level New Zealand university course in computer science. Results of this study indiciated observed male superiority in performance. n=329 students (77 female, 252 males) Halpern, D. F., et al., 2007. "The Science of Sex Differences in Science and Mathematics." Psychological Science 8(1):1-51. This article discusses the sex differences in science and math achievement and ability. EXCELLENT REVIEW ARTICLE! Hyde, J.S. 2005. "The gender similarities hypothesis." 60:581-592. Kennedy, R. L, and Broadston, P. M., 2003. "Graduate Research Class Performance by Gender." Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Mid-South Educational Research Association (Biloxi, MS, November 5-7, 2003). This study indicates there was no performance difference between males and females at the graduate level. n=51 students (31 female, 20 male). Mogull, R. G. 1989. "Comparative Gender Performance in Business Statistics." Educational Research Quarterly 13(1)2-10. This is a comparative study of male and female students in introductory and intermediate statistics classes over a 16 year period at a state university (97 classes: 1,609 males and 1, 085 females) revealed females scored higher but this performance diminished over time. Webb, R. M., Lubinski, D., Benbow, C. P. 2002. "Mathematically Facile Adolescents with Math/Science Aspirations: New Perspectives on their Educational and Vocational Development. Journal of Educational Psychology, 94:785-794. This is a study that tracks 1,110 adolescents with aptitudes and plans for a math-science major in college. More women than men eventually completed undergraduate degrees outside math-science, but many individuals who completed nonmath-nonscience degrees ultimately chose math-science occupations. Willingham, W.W., and Cole, N.S. (1997). "Gender and Fair Assessment." Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. Spring 2008 The Science of Sex Differences in Science and Mathematics This article discusses the sex differences in science and math achievement and ability. UWS SoTL Leadership Site Gallery of other SotL Projects 2007-2008

Career Relevance & Impact This project introduces a potential issue regarding performance in the college biology classroom. There is still much data to be analyzed. Ongoing