Off-campus UMass Amherst users: To download campus access dissertations, please use the following link to log into our proxy server with your UMass Amherst user name and password.

Non-UMass Amherst users: Please talk to your librarian about requesting this dissertation through interlibrary loan.

Dissertations that have an embargo placed on them will not be available to anyone until the embargo expires.

Author ORCID Identifier

N/A

AccessType

Open Access Dissertation

Document Type

dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Degree Program

Education

Year Degree Awarded

2018

Month Degree Awarded

September

First Advisor

Martina Nieswandt

Second Advisor

Elizabeth McEneaney

Third Advisor

Susannah Howe

Subject Categories

Curriculum and Instruction | Science and Mathematics Education | Secondary Education

Abstract

In the past 30 years, although much effort has been made to narrow the gender gap in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), females are still largely underrepresented in some important STEM fields, such as physics and engineering (NSF, 2007). To deal with this situation, people from different sectors have long reached a common understanding: Educators must improve school girls’ interest, participation and engagement in STEM subjects (e.g., Office of Science and Technology Policy, 2013). In the K-12 classroom, small group work has been shown to promote an equitable environment for girls’ learning in science and have a positive impact on their persistence in STEM disciplines (e.g., Davis & Rosser, 1996). Further research shows that same-gender grouping enhances girls’ engagement and achievement in STEM fields (e.g., Riordan, 1990). However, little research has been done in design-based science (DBS), a pedagogy that allows students to learn science through engineering design, which is considered as important as inquiry-based learning (NGSS, 2013). This study was an effort to make contributions in this aspect. In two DBS tasks in high school biology, this study arranged various small group gender compositions: from 33% to 100% female. In these contexts, this study explored (1) How gender composition influenced girls’ and boys’ engagement; (2) how student engagement influenced their achievement, and (3) how group gender composition influenced girls’ and boys’ achievement in engineering practices and biology content. Results show that higher group female percent led to higher engagement levels and engineering practice achievement of girls. However, group cohesion and positive group interaction were indispensable as they were needed for girls (and boys, in certain cases) to develop senses of relatedness and collective efficacy, which were necessary for their engagement and learning. Also, results show that group gender composition wasn’t only directly correlated with girls’ achievement, but also indirectly correlated with this variable through the mediation of the girls’ behavioral, emotional and cognitive engagement, respectively. Based on these findings, implications for classroom teaching and future research are provided.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.7275/12765143

Share

COinS