Collaborative Research : Improving the teaching of genetics in high school to avoid instilling misconceptions about gender differences

合作研究：改善高中遗传学教学，避免灌输关于性别差异的误解

• 批准号: 1956119
• 负责人: Catherine Riegle-Crumb
• 金额: $ 36.67万
• 依托单位: University of Texas at Austin
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-07-01 至 2025-06-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1956119&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Improving; teaching; genetics

Recent research suggests that learning about genetics during high school biology can lead to a belief that inherent differences in the genes and brains of men and women are the main causes of gender differences in behavior and intellectual abilities (a belief known as neurogenetic essentialism). This belief is implicated in lowering girls’ sense of their own STEM abilities, their feelings of belonging in STEM classes, and their interest in pursuing further education in STEM fields. The goal of this project, led by a team of researchers at Biological Sciences Curriculum Study, the University of Texas, Austin, and New York University is to answer important questions about how to teach genetics at the high school level in a manner that is scientifically accurate, but does not have these detrimental side effects. Specifically, this new line of experimental research will identify—and revise—the content in common genetics instruction that promotes the belief in neurogenetic essentialism. The proposed experiments will also explore how the beliefs of peers and teachers contribute to changes in such beliefs in students. This work has further implications for how the topic of differences between men and women is addressed during high school biology education. Furthermore, the research findings will advance theory on factors that contribute to gender disparities in STEM attitudes and aspirations. The project is funded by the EHR Core Research (ECR) program, which supports work that advances the fundamental research literature on STEM learning, with co-funding by the Discovery Research PreK-12 (DRK12) program. Building on preliminary evidence, this project aims to accomplish four key goals. First, the project will study which specific aspects of genetics instruction affect students’ beliefs in neurogenetic essentialism. Second, the project will identify the cognitive mechanisms through which these effects occur. Third, the project will uncover the downstream effects of revised genetics instructional materials on a broad range of motivational variables relevant to STEM pursuit, such as implicit person theories, sense of belonging in STEM, and interest in this domain. Fourth, the project will explore the contextual factors (e.g., teacher and peer beliefs) that may moderate or mediate how students respond to the instructional materials. The research team will develop and iteratively refine genetics educational materialsthat teach about genetic, neurological, and behavioral variation within and between sexes, as well as the social causes of such differences. The research team will then test the effectiveness of these revised materials through two large-scale randomized control trials, one targeting students directly and one targeting students’ learning via their teachers. The results of this project will produce generalizable knowledge regarding the cognitive, sociological, and educational factors that contribute to STEM gender disparities.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

最近的研究表明，在高中生物学期间学习遗传学可以导致一种信念，即继承男女基因和大脑的差异是行为和智力能力上性别差异的主要原因（一种被认为称为神经遗传本质主义）。这种信念在降低女孩的茎能力，属于STEM阶层的感觉以及他们对在STEM领域的进一步教育的兴趣中暗示了这种信念。该项目的目标是由生物科学课程研究，德克萨斯大学，奥斯汀大学和纽约大学的研究人员团队领导的是，要回答有关如何以科学准确的方式在高中层面教遗传学的重要问题，但没有这些有害的副作用。具体而言，这项新的实验研究系列将确定并修改常见遗传学教学中的内容，从而促进了对神经遗传本质主义的信念。拟议的实验还将探讨同龄人和教师的信念如何促进学生对这些信念的变化。这项工作对高中生物学教育期间男女之间的差异主题有进一步的影响。此外，研究结果将推进有关导致STEM与会者和愿望性别差异的因素的理论。该项目由EHR Core Research（ECR）计划资助，该计划支持有关STEM学习的基本研究文献的工作，并获得了Discovery Research Prek-12（DRK12）计划的共同资助。在初步证据的基础上，该项目旨在实现四个关键目标。首先，该项目将研究遗传学教学的哪些具体方面会影响学生对神经遗传本质主义的信念。其次，该项目将确定这些影响的认知机制。第三，该项目将揭示经修订的遗传学教学材料对与STEM追求相关的广泛动机变量的下游影响，例如隐性人理论，STEM中的归属感以及对该领域的兴趣。第四，该项目将探讨可能适度或调解学生对教学材料的反应方式的上下文因素（例如，教师和同伴相信）。研究团队将发展并迭代地完善遗传学教育材料，这些材料教授了性别内部和性别之间的遗传，神经和行为变化，以及这种差异的社会原因。然后，研究团队将通过两个大规模的随机对照试验测试这些修订的材料的有效性，一个直接针对学生，另一个针对学生的教师学习。该项目的结果将产生有关有助于STEM性别分布的认知，社会学和教育因素的可普遍知识。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并通过使用基金会的知识分子和更广泛的影响来评估标准。