Unfair Physics by Boys Peeing Puts Girls at a Learning Disadvantage

a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

Here's some interesting study results:

Unfortunately, stereotypes about gender permeate our society. But as parents, we can change this misconception by believing in our girls and encouraging them to keep practicing. Even if one starts with a lower score in spatial reasoning, they, too, can improve substantially if they keep practicing. For low-ability students, they need to do more work to get over an initial hump. The initial improvement may be slow, but if they persevere, faster improvement will come. So even if your child does not show big improvement right away. Keep practicing! Researchers also find that the more a group of men and women practices spatial thinking, the smaller the gender gap is in spatial skills. There is also a study that shows the gender gap could be the result of nurture rather than nature. In a remote community in India where women have equal or more rights than men, such gender gap in spatial reasoning skills does not exist.

www.parentingforbrain.com...

originally posted by: InTheLight
a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

Here's some interesting study results:

Unfortunately, stereotypes about gender permeate our society. But as parents, we can change this misconception by believing in our girls and encouraging them to keep practicing. Even if one starts with a lower score in spatial reasoning, they, too, can improve substantially if they keep practicing. For low-ability students, they need to do more work to get over an initial hump. The initial improvement may be slow, but if they persevere, faster improvement will come. So even if your child does not show big improvement right away. Keep practicing! Researchers also find that the more a group of men and women practices spatial thinking, the smaller the gender gap is in spatial skills. There is also a study that shows the gender gap could be the result of nurture rather than nature. In a remote community in India where women have equal or more rights than men, such gender gap in spatial reasoning skills does not exist.

www.parentingforbrain.com...

Of course practice will drive improvement. No doubt.

But then you turn fun into work. Is that what we are going to do....turn the fun activities our kids do into work just so we can shore up things they lack aptitude in? And what about the things they were already very adept at? The focus on other areas through work will decrease the amount of time to spend on other areas, such as the fun activities where aptitudes are practiced. So the person who may have been terrible at throwing a ball, but became the worlds greatest figure skater, would instead be mediocre at both.

Im not seeing the benefit there. In fact, i don't see the benefit in much of the parenting advice that tries to improve self esteem through activity. Self esteem should derive from within, and should include a healthy understanding of self (including knowing what you are and are not good at).

To me, it seems more reasonable that people with aptitudes should have them nurtured, and we should celebrate the strengths and weakensses that define us. The alternative is more and more bad performances on American Idol. LOL

originally posted by: bigfatfurrytexan

originally posted by: InTheLight
a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

Here's some interesting study results:

Unfortunately, stereotypes about gender permeate our society. But as parents, we can change this misconception by believing in our girls and encouraging them to keep practicing. Even if one starts with a lower score in spatial reasoning, they, too, can improve substantially if they keep practicing. For low-ability students, they need to do more work to get over an initial hump. The initial improvement may be slow, but if they persevere, faster improvement will come. So even if your child does not show big improvement right away. Keep practicing! Researchers also find that the more a group of men and women practices spatial thinking, the smaller the gender gap is in spatial skills. There is also a study that shows the gender gap could be the result of nurture rather than nature. In a remote community in India where women have equal or more rights than men, such gender gap in spatial reasoning skills does not exist.

www.parentingforbrain.com...

Of course practice will drive improvement. No doubt.

But then you turn fun into work. Is that what we are going to do....turn the fun activities our kids do into work just so we can shore up things they lack aptitude in? And what about the things they were already very adept at? The focus on other areas through work will decrease the amount of time to spend on other areas, such as the fun activities where aptitudes are practiced. So the person who may have been terrible at throwing a ball, but became the worlds greatest figure skater, would instead be mediocre at both.

Im not seeing the benefit there. In fact, i don't see the benefit in much of the parenting advice that tries to improve self esteem through activity. Self esteem should derive from within, and should include a healthy understanding of self (including knowing what you are and are not good at).

To me, it seems more reasonable that people with aptitudes should have them nurtured, and we should celebrate the strengths and weakensses that define us. The alternative is more and more bad performances on American Idol. LOL

Why not turn work into fun with regards to nurturing aptitudes in math and science. I must ask myself - is it an aptitude or lack of finding the successful mix of curriculum, teaching styles and corresponding tests?

Indeed, traditional math curriculum is to teach discrete algorithms, a set of rules that elicit a correct answer, like how to do long division, say, or how to use the Pythagorean theorem. Then students “learn” the material by doing a large quantity of similar problems. The result, says Rusczyk, is that students are rarely asked to solve a problem they are not thoroughly familiar with. Instead, they come to think of math as a series of rules to be memorized. The trouble is kids don’t necessarily learn how to attack a new or different kind of equation.

www.greatschools.org...

But Andrew Campbell, a Grade 5 teacher in Brantford, Ont., said the curriculum is not the issue. There is a "mismatch," he said, between the test and how children are learning in the classroom. The curriculum emphasizes group problem solving and expressing ideas in a variety of ways. "To me, the test needs to change. It needs to be open and more reflective of the kinds of ways students are learning and getting to express their understanding," he said.

beta.theglobeandmail.com...://www.theglobean dmail.com&

a reply to: InTheLight

That is a great post.

Personal story: in school i considered myself to be terrible at math. My grades supported that. I was still pushed into advanced math classes because it was believed I could grasp the larger concepts. Finally, my senior year, the camels back broke.

3 weeks into Calculus and my teacher is discussion formulas. I ask "what is a radien?" as it was used in a formula. She wasn't erally able to answer, summing it up as "a radian is a radian, of course" or something like that. I dropped the class the next day.

Today, i make a living doing math. Its not calculus, granted....but i've taught myself 90% of it (with mentors teaching me bits along the way). A mix of accounting and statistics that you typically find in business (im considering enrolling in classes to get a CMA certification, kinda like a CPA, but for business management).

It turns out I have a great level of aptitude for numbers. Had I only known earlier, i could have nurtured that aptitude. I think your first link nails the reason for this.

originally posted by: bigfatfurrytexan
a reply to: InTheLight

That is a great post.

Personal story: in school i considered myself to be terrible at math. My grades supported that. I was still pushed into advanced math classes because it was believed I could grasp the larger concepts. Finally, my senior year, the camels back broke.

3 weeks into Calculus and my teacher is discussion formulas. I ask "what is a radien?" as it was used in a formula. She wasn't erally able to answer, summing it up as "a radian is a radian, of course" or something like that. I dropped the class the next day.

Today, i make a living doing math. Its not calculus, granted....but i've taught myself 90% of it (with mentors teaching me bits along the way). A mix of accounting and statistics that you typically find in business (im considering enrolling in classes to get a CMA certification, kinda like a CPA, but for business management).

It turns out I have a great level of aptitude for numbers. Had I only known earlier, i could have nurtured that aptitude. I think your first link nails the reason for this.

Personal story: In grade 2. I was so bored (I was always bored in school) that I completed the whole term math book homework in one night, but in the back of the math book was the teacher's notes in how to teach the lesson, which I read, and which actually taught me how to do it, not my teacher.

Long story, short they accelerated me one grade.

Long story, short in the accelerated grade in the first class the teacher asked all of us if anyone knows what gravity is. I was the only one that put up my hand.

So, how did I learn that? Osmosis?