Research On Gender Differences In Middle School Science Classrooms

Although women’s right to education has improved in recent years,gender inequality still exists in education.Promoting gender equality in basic education is of great significance for realizing educational equity.Starting from the micro level of education,this paper takes a science classroom in grade seven of a junior high school as the case study object,and takes interaction in science classroom,which can concretely reflect the current situation of education,as the core of the study.At the same time,with the help of teachers’ expectations,the present situation of gender differences in science classroom education process and education results is discussed.At the level of education process,this study selects classroom interaction as a measurement index,and uses "Gender equality table in classroom interaction" as a research tool to study the interaction in science classroom through observation method.At the level of educational results,this study selected students’ final score in science and their scientific identity as the measurement indexes,and collected relevant data through school performance archives and scientific identity questionnaire.At the same time,key interviews were conducted with the teaching teachers of the tested classes,supplemented by interviews with other science teachers as references,in order to understand the differences in teachers’ expectations for students of different genders and the resulting differences in teachers’ choice of classroom interaction,so as to explain the current situation of gender differences in science classes to a certain extent.Based on the analysis of 355 minutes of classroom observation,138 questionnaires of students’ scientific identity and 399 minutes of teacher interview,this study found that: Firstly,there are gender differences in science classroom interaction,and boys are more active and positive in the interaction with teachers.Secondly,there is no difference between male and female students in science academic performance,but male students score significantly higher in the perception of science achievement and scientific identity than female students,indicating that male students are more willing to participate in science career than female students,and they are more confident and positive in science learning.Thirdly,the differences in teachers’ expectations of male and female students will influence the choice of classroom interaction objects to a certain extent.Fourthly,teachers believe that both male and female students can learn science well,and there is no gender expectation difference in science academic performance.But teachers thought boys had more scientist-like qualities and tended to think they had more potential to become scientists.Based on the above research results,this study puts forward the following four suggestions: Firstly,integrate gender education into teacher training;Secondly,we should pay attention to the research of scientific identity in the field of science education;Thirdly,teachers should pay more attention to the differences between male and female students in teaching,and improve girls’ confidence in science learning by increasing the number of classroom questions and encouraging them;Fourthly,science teachers need to define higher education and teaching objectives,and adopt multiple evaluation methods for male and female students’ science learning.