How increasing equity in the science classroom can drive social … · 2020. 1. 1. · −0.6 −0.4 −0.2 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 2 1 0 1 grade anomalies instem d p er f o r e f f e chem130

Howincreasingequityinthescienceclassroomcandrive

socialchange

CissyBallen,PhDDepartmentofBiologyTeachingandLearning

UniversityofMinnesota,TwinCities

WilleyHall,UniversityofMinnesota

●

●● ●

●

●

●●

●●

●●

1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

4.0

PHYSICS140(N=8,763 )UniversityofMichigan

●

●

●

●●

●●

●

●● ●●

●●

●●

●●

GPAinotherclassesatMichigan

WomenMen

Koesteretal.,arXiv(2016)

SignificantgenderedperformancedifferencesinlargeintroductorySTEMlecturecourses

N=627,998

GradeinSTEMclass

Ballen &Mason,Bioscience(2017)

N=3,159

Under-representedminority(URM)statuspredictsdifferencesinGPA

Womenparticipatelessthanexpectedbasedonenrollment.

*P

studentdeficitmodelfocusesoninadequaciesofindividuals• assumessome

studentsentercollegelacking theacademicresourcesnecessarytosucceedinanotherwisefairlearningenvironment.

Cotner &Ballen,PLoS ONE(2018)

studentdeficitmodelfocusesoninadequaciesofindividuals• assumessome

studentsentercollegelacking theacademicresourcesnecessarytosucceedinanotherwisefairlearningenvironment.

coursedeficitmodelconsidersthenegativeimpactofenvironmentalconditionsonstudentperformance• assumesclassroom

practices favor certaingroupsofstudentswhileincreasingperformancedisparities.


studentdeficitmodel coursedeficitmodel

changestudentbehaviors changeclassroommicroclimate

Tooptimizelearningwhilemaintainingrigor,we

employevidence-basedteaching

(orscientificteaching)…approachtheevaluatonofteachingwiththecriticalthinking,rigor,creativiy,andspiritofexperimentationthatdefinesresearch...

(Handelsmanetal.,2007)

Freemanetal.,PNAS(2014)

Why doesActiveLearningPedagogy(ALP)improvelearningand

performance?

CornellUniversityIthaca,NYIntroEvolutionaryBiology&Biodiversity

Question(s):1)DoesALPdecreasetheperformancegapbetweennon-URMandURMstudents?2)DoesALPincreaseself-efficacy,anddoesthisinfluenceperformanceoutcomes?

(N=421)

Active

Traditional

TraditionalActive

non-URM

URM

URM non-URMURM non-URM

Cour

se g

rade

s

KAI L

earn

ing

ass

essm

ent g

ains

2

3

4

5

6

7

76

78

84

80

82

86

88

90

A


B

*100

*

Ballen etal.,CBE-LSE(2017)

Activelearningclosestheachievementgap

Active

Traditional

TraditionalActive

non-URM

URM


Cour

se g

rade

s

KAI L

earn

ing

ass

essm

ent g

ains

2

3

4

5

6

7

76

78

84

80

82

86

88

90

A


B

*100

*

Activelearningclosestheachievementgapacrosstwometricsofperformance


Students’ science self-efficacy

URM STUDENTS

Xb sem

ester

= 0.

401*

b gend

er =

0.465

* b = 3.547*

b semes

ter =

0.347

***


Grades

NON-URM STUDENTS

Gender + Semester

GradesGender + Semester

Self-efficacydrivesperformancegainsforURMstudents


Example1:Evidence-basedteachingpractices


URM STUDENTS

Xb sem

ester

= 0.

401*

b gend

er =

0.465

* b = 3.547*

b semes

ter =

0.347

***


Grades

NON-URM STUDENTS

Gender + Semester

GradesGender + Semester

ForURMstudents,theincreaseinscienceself-efficacymediatedthepositiveeffectofactivelearningpedagogyontwometricsof

studentperformance

Whatelsemightexplainthebenefitsofactivelearningpedagogy?

Someideas…

•Multipleopportunitiestoengagewithatopicthroughsmallgroupwork(Springetal.1999)• Increasedclassroomstructure(Haak etal.2011)•Positiveimpactonaspectsofclassroomclimate(Ballen etal.2017;Eddy&Hogan2014)• ‘Hardertohide’(personalobs.)•Mixedteachingstrategies(Ruiz-Primoetal.2011)•Mixedmethodsofassessment

Exams:youdon’tliketaking‘em,wedon’tlikemaking‘em,

gradstudentsdon’tlikegrading‘em

Assessmentsinhighereducation

Moneta-Koehleretal.,PLoS ONE(2017)

GREdoesnotpredictmostmeasuresofsuccessinbiomedicalgraduateschool

YRSTO

DEFEN

SE

GRESCORE

#FIRSTAU

THORPU

BS

#PR

ESEN

TATIONS

N=683

−0.6 −0.4 −0.2 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6

−0.2

−0.1

0.0

0.1

Grade Anomalies in STEM

Gen

dere

dPe

rform

ance

Diff

eren

ce

CHEM 130

C HEMMA2T1H0115

MATH 116

CHEM 215

MATH 216

ENGR 101

ENGR 100

BIOLOGY 17 2 PHYSICS 140

STATS 250EECS 183

BIOLOGY 305 EECS 203

CHEM 230BBIOIOLOLOGGYY172125

MATH 105

PHYSICS 135

BIOLCHEM 415

EECS 281PHYSICS 240

EECMSAT3H70425

MECHENG 211

PHYSICS 235EECS 280

EARTH 108

MCDB 310 MATH215

TCHNCLCM 300

BIOLOGY 118

ENGR 110

EA RTHEA1R0T3H 114

BIOLCHEM 212

ME CHMEANTGSC2I4E0220

CHEM 125

BIOLOGY 173

PHASYTSRICOS110461

CHEM 216

PHYSICS 241

CHEM 211BIOLOGY 226

PHPYHSYISCISCS231636EARTH 100

LECLABREQ−LEC

Average Grade Anomaly

Grading Trends in Introductory STEM courses. Color differentiates lectures and labs; stars represent core required STEM lecture courses.

Gradesawardedtostudentsinclass,comparedtothosetheyreceiveinalltheirotherclasses

N=627,998

-Malebias-Negativeanomaly

-Malebias-Positiveanomaly

-Femalebias-Positiveanomaly

-Femalebias-Negativeanomaly

Koesteretal.,arXiv (2016)

−0.6 −0.4 −0.2 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6

−0.2

−0.1

0.0

0.1

Grade Anomalies in STEM

Gen

dere

dPe

rform

ance

Diff

eren

ce

CHEM 130

C HEMMA2T1H0115

MATH 116

CHEM 215

MATH 216

ENGR 101

ENGR 100

BIOLOGY 17 2 PHYSICS 140

STATS 250EECS 183

BIOLOGY 305 EECS 203

CHEM 230BBIOIOLOLOGGYY172125

MATH 105

PHYSICS 135

BIOLCHEM 415

EECS 281PHYSICS 240

EECMSAT3H70425

MECHENG 211

PHYSICS 235EECS 280

EARTH 108

MCDB 310 MATH215

TCHNCLCM 300

BIOLOGY 118

ENGR 110

EA RTHEA1R0T3H 114

BIOLCHEM 212

ME CHMEANTGSC2I4E0220

CHEM 125

BIOLOGY 173

PHASYTSRICOS110461

CHEM 216

PHYSICS 241

CHEM 211BIOLOGY 226

PHPYHSYISCISCS231636EARTH 100

LECLABREQ−LEC

Average Grade Anomaly

Grading Trends in Introductory STEM courses. Color differentiates lectures and labs; stars represent core required STEM lecture courses.

Noneusedtimedexaminationsasimportantevaluativeelements.

Possibleselectiongoingoninthesesecondyearcourses

Koesteretal.,arXiv (2016)

Theanxiety-performancelink

Individual

Environmental (Social/Contextual)

ecnamrofreP htaMyteixnA htaM

• Cognitive: Working memory, strategy use, attention

• Students’ perceived classroom environment

• Affective /physiological: Physiological responses associated with negative emotional processing• Motivational: Approach or avoidance style

• Teachers’ math anxiety and classroom activities• Parental math anxiety, support and expectations

Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences

Multiple individual and environmental factors account for the reciprocal relation between math anxiety and math performance.

INDIVIDUAL

ENVIRONMENTALSocial/contextual

ANXIETYPERFORMANCE

ChangandBeilock,Curr Opin Behav Sci (2016)

Settingthescene…

CollegeBiologicalSciences

Dept.ofBiology

Teaching&Learning

ACT Exams

Whatfactors,otherthanincomingacademicpreparation,influencestudentperformanceonexams?

Full Mediation Model

Partial Mediation Model

Performance

Test Anxiety

Interest

ACT

Inoursampleofwomen,incomingpreparation(ACT)didnotpredictinterestoranxiety,butbothimpactedexamperformance

Test Anxiety

Interest

ACTExam

Performance

e

e

e

Total effect = Direct Effect : b = 0.551***

A. Female students

b = 0.159*(0.068)

B. Male students e

e

(0.064)

Total effect = Direct Effect : b = 0.414***(0.104)

e

Test Anxiety

Interest

ACTExam

Performance

b = -0.042(0.078)

b = -0.218**(0.068)

b = -0.113(0.079)

b = 0.175(0.110)

b = 0.022(0.096)

b = -0.297*(0.116)

b = 0.059(0.101)

Test Anxiety

Interest

ACTNon-exam

Performance

e

e

e


b = -0.029(0.056)

e

e

(0.056)

Total effect = Direct Effect : b = 0.312**(0.112)

e

Test Anxiety

Interest

ACTNon-exam

Performance

b = -0.042(0.078)

b = -0.127*(0.059)

b = -0.113(0.079)

b = 0.175(0.110)

b = 0.005(0.104)

b = -0.297*(0.116)

b = 0.087(0.109)

Ballen etal.,PLoS ONE(2017)

Inoursampleofmen,incomingpreparation(ACT)predictedanxiety,butneitheranxietynorinterestimpactedexamperformance

Test Anxiety

Interest

ACTExam

Performance

e

e

e


A. Female students

b = 0.159*(0.068)

B. Male students e

e

(0.064)


e

Test Anxiety

Interest

ACTExam

Performance

b = -0.042(0.078)

b = -0.218**(0.068)

b = -0.113(0.079)

b = 0.175(0.110)

b = 0.022(0.096)

b = -0.297*(0.116)

b = 0.059(0.101)

Test Anxiety

Interest

ACTNon-exam

Performance

e

e

e


b = -0.029(0.056)

e

e

(0.056)


e

Test Anxiety

Interest

ACTNon-exam

Performance

b = -0.042(0.078)

b = -0.127*(0.059)

b = -0.113(0.079)

b = 0.175(0.110)

b = 0.005(0.104)

b = -0.297*(0.116)

b = 0.087(0.109)

Ballen etal.,PLoS ONE(2017)

Basedonthesedata,wemayexpectthefollowingtoreducegendergaps:

• Designcurriculatopromotestudents’

interests• Minimizerisk/threat

duringexams

Test Anxiety

Interest

ACTExam

Performance

e

e

e


A. Female students

b = 0.159*(0.068)

B. Male students e

e

(0.064)


e

Test Anxiety

Interest

ACTExam

Performance

b = -0.042(0.078)

b = -0.218**(0.068)

b = -0.113(0.079)

b = 0.175(0.110)

b = 0.022(0.096)

b = -0.297*(0.116)

b = 0.059(0.101)

Test Anxiety

Interest

ACTNon-exam

Performance

e

e

e


b = -0.029(0.056)

e

e

(0.056)


e

Test Anxiety

Interest

ACTNon-exam

Performance

b = -0.042(0.078)

b = -0.127*(0.059)

b = -0.113(0.079)

b = 0.175(0.110)

b = 0.005(0.104)

b = -0.297*(0.116)

b = 0.087(0.109)

Howcanyouminimizethesenseofriskinanexam

environment?

Someideas…• Alignexamquestionswithhomeworkquestions• Affirmationexercisesbeforeanexam(e.g.,Cohenetal.2006,2009;Martensetal.2006)• Distributemoreexams• Distributenoexams•Offerstudentstheabilitytodropanexam• Lowertheamountthatexamsaccountforintotalcoursegrade• Lowerthesenseofriskbyallowingre-takeexams

Dogradingschemescausegapsinperformance?

Course AcademiclevelMajorornonmajors

Instructoridentification

Studentcohorts

Semester1(%exam)

Semester2(%exam)

Directionofexam%overtime

BIOL1003 1st year Nonmajors Samebothsemesters Different Sp2016(28) Sp2017(44) Increase

BIOL2002/2003 2

nd year Majors Samebothsemesters Same Sp2016(22) Fa2016(42) Increase

BIOL3409 3rd year Majors Samebothsemesters Different Sp2016(50) Fa2016(30) Decrease

Summaryofthreecasestudies

0.5

-0.5

0.0

Low stakes High stakes Low stakes High stakes Low stakes High stakes

a. Biology 1003 b. Biology 3409 c. Biology 2002/2003

0.25

-0.25z-s

core

0.5

-0.5

0.0



0.25

-0.25z-s

core

0.5

-0.5

0.0



0.25

-0.25z-s

core Men

Women


HighstakesexamsresultinsignificantgendergapsLowstakesexamsdonot

studentdeficitmodelfocusesoninadequaciesofindividuals

coursedeficitmodelconsidersthenegativeimpactofenvironmentalconditionsonstudentperformance

Canloweringtheperceptionofriskreducegapsinperformance

withinonesemester?

Staytuned!

Increasingequityinthescienceclassroomcandrivesocialchangebecause:

Gradesguideself-assessmentsShapestudentsperceptionsofabilitySelectionofcoursework,major,career

Acknowledgements– thankyouforyourtime!

ActiveLearningKellyZamudioCarlWiemanShima SalehiPeterLepageJeremySearleBrianLazzaroAmyMcCuneBobReed

StatisticaladviceFrancoiseVermeylenTestanxietySehoya CotnerShima SalehiJonathanAndicoecheaEmmaGoldbergWillHarcombeMarkDecker

InstitutionalResearchandPlanningMarinClarkberg

UndergraduateResearchersStevenWallaceChristineLianOliviaTreudeuMaiVangMorganBurkhartDahsol Lee

Documents

How increasing equity in the science classroom can drive social … · 2020. 1. 1. · −0.6 −0.4 −0.2 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 2 1 0 1 grade anomalies instem d p er f o r e f f e chem130