NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION

NEW FORMULAS FOR AMERICA’S WORKFORCE

GIRLS IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
NEW FORMULAS FOR AMERICA’S WORKFORCE

GIRLS IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
INTRODUCTION • WHY THIS BOOK?

CHAPTER 1 • TEACHING WITH A DIFFERENCE

Project Parity 

Family Tools and Technology

SMART: Learning by Doing

Teaching SMART

Making Connections

Interconnections

After-School Science Plus

Scouts Bridge the Gap With Nosebag Science

Science-Based Service Learning

Science Horizons for Girl Scouts

Traveling Science Programs, Service Learning Teams

Tech Trek and TV Production

Mountaineering After-School and Summer Camps

Sisters and Sports Science

Shampoos, Etc.! Science for Middle School Girls

FEMME Continuum

Science Connections

Girls First

Techbridge

Girls and Science

Women and Astronomy

Girls for Planet Earth

Girls and Technology

SummerScape: Teaching and Learning Camp

Science Is for Us

Calculate the Possibilities

The Douglass Project’s Pre-College Program

Project EFFECT

Southern Illinois Support Network

CHAPTER 2 • A WELCOMING NEW ENVIRONMENT

On the Air With Gender Equity

TechGirl: A Website for Middle School Girls

The Adventures of Josie True

Profiles of Women in Science and Engineering

Putting a Human Face on Science

Women for Women: A Mentoring Network

Project EDGE: Mentoring and Teacher Awareness

How to be a Mentor (or Mentee)

Eyes to the Future: Telementoring

Telementoring Teens

MentorNet: E-Mail and Mentoring Unite

OPTIONS

Community-Based Mentoring

Mentoring Through Cross-Age Research Teams

RISE: Research Internship in Science and Engineering

Building Bridges for Community College Students

WISER Lab Research for First-Year Undergraduates

Supporting Women in Geoscience

Undergraduate Research Fellowships

Training Graduate Students to Develop Undergraduate Research Projects

AWSEM: Networking Girls and Women in Oregon

WISE Beginnings

WISP: Dartmouth’s Support Program

CHAPTER 3 • COURSES THAT FEED—NOT WEED

Early Influences on Gender Differences in Math Achievement

Math Mega Camp

Single-Gender Math Clubs

Weaving Gender Equity Into Math Reform

Genderwise: Exporting SummerMath

Computer Games for Mathematical Empowerment

AnimalWatch: Computer-Based Tutor

Animal World

Girls on Track: Applying Math to Community Problems

GEMS: Exploring Math Through Social Sciences

Womenwin: Learning Math Through Transactional Writing

Calculus Research: Animation and Research Portfolios

Pathways Through Calculus

E–WOMS: Womens Ways of Learning Calculus

Recruiting Women in the Quantitative Sciences

Imagination Place

Exploring Engineering

Developing Hands-On Museum Exhibits

Camp REACH: Engineering for Middle School Girls

Engineering GOES to Middle Schools

Hands-On Engineering Projects for Middle School Girls

Partners in Engineering

Girls RISE

Engineering Lessons in Animated Cartoons

Pre-College Engineering Workshops

WISE Investments

Recruiting Engineers in Kentucky, K–12

Realistic Modeling Activities in Small Technical Teams

Assessing Women-in-Engineering Programs

Teaching Inclusive Science and Engineering

Gender and Team Decision-Making

Developing Visualization Skills

Sissies, Tomboys, and Gender Identity

WISE Scholars Do Engineering Research

Bring Your Mother to (Engineering) School

Experiment-Based Physics for Girls

Selling Girls on Physical Sciences

TNT Girls Go to Physics Camp

Changing How Introductory Physics Is Taught

Teaching Internships in Physics for Undergraduates

Girls Online: GO Team!

Designing With Virtual Reality Technology

Why Girls Go to Whyville.net

Research and Computer Science

Ole Miss Computer Camp

Making Computer Science “Cool” for Girls

Computer Camp for Teachers

Retooling High School Teachers of Computer Science

Plugged In: An Interactive Science Website

What’s in the Box? Diagnosing and Repairing Computer Hardware

Summer Research Projects in Computer Science

Recruiting Women Into Computer Science

Improving Diversity in the Software Development Community

PipeLINK: Young Women in Computer Science

Agents for Change: Robotics for Girls

Self-Authorship and Pivitol Transitions Towards IT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

02

03

03–05

05–06

07–08

09

10

11

12

13

14

14

15

15–16

16–17

17–18

19

20

21–23

23–25

26

26–27

27

28–29

30–32

32

33

34–35

36

37

38

39

39

40

41

41–42

43

44

44–45

45–46

47

48

48–49

49–50

50

51

51–52

52–53

53

54

54–55

55–56

57–58

58–59

60

61

61

62

63

64

64–65

65–66

67

68–69

69

70–71

71–72

73

73–75

75–76

77

78

79

79–80

80

81

82

83–84

85

85–86

86

87

88

89

89–90

90

91

91–92

92–93

93–94

95

96–97

98

99

100

101

101–1

102–1

103

104

104–1

105

106

106–1

107

108–1

109

110

110–1

111–1

113
Oceanography Camp for Girls

Jump Start

Marine and Aquatic Mini-Camp

REALM: Really Exploring and Learning Meteorology

Girls Dig It Online

Earth Systems: Integrating Women’s Studies

Women Who Walk Through Time

ACES: Adventures in Computers, Engineering, and Space

Careers in Wildlife Science

Bioinformatics for High School

Life Science Biographies

Apprenticeships in Science Policy

Splash: The Math and Physics of Water

Engage Learning: Investigating Water Quality

Women’s Images of Science and Engineering

CHAPTER 4 • NEW DIMENSIONS IN DIVERSITY

Latinas en Ciencia

MAXIMA: Changing the Way Childen Learn Science

Role Models Change Hispanic Girls’ Job Aspirations

Biographical Storytelling Empowers Latinas in Math

Integrating Math and Science With Lego Logo

Una Mano al Futuro: Making Science Acceptable for Girls

Hispanic Girls Learn Computer-Assisted Design and English

Student–Peer Teaching in Birmingham, Alabama

Improving Science in a Dayton Magnet School

TURNAGE Scholars Program

Project PRISM

Feed the Mind, Nourish the Spirit

Math Enrichment for Native American Girls

Sisters in Science

Minority Girls in the System

Enhancing Expanding Your Horizons

Saturday Workshops for Middle School Girls

The After-School ASSETS Project

Sweetwater Girl Power

The GREEN project

A Training Model for Extracurricular Science

Bringing Minority High School Girls to Science

GEMS: High School Girls Learn Cosmetics Science

Futurebound: Minority Women in Community College

Learning Communities

Science in the City

TARGETS: Counseling Talented At-Risk Girls

GEOS: Encouraging Talented At-Risk College Women

Radio Series on Alaskan Women in Science

Out of the Lab: An Alaskan Camp for Girls

Appalachian Girls Voices

Action-WISE in Zanesville, Ohio

Hands-On Science in Rural Virginia Middle Schools

Science Connections

Master It: A Program for Rural Middle School Girls

Training Trainers in Rural Youth Groups

Opening the Horizon: Science Education in Rural Ozarks Middle Schools

The Science of Living Spaces

Laboratories Science Camp for Dissimination Traning

Science for All: Opening the Door for Rural Women

Internet Explorers

Jump for the Sun

Summer Camp for Rural High School Girls

College Studies for Women on Public Assistance

Re-entering the Workforce

Project GOLD: Girls With Disablilities Online

Math Camp for Deaf High School Girls

FORWARD (and Deaf Access)

CHAPTER 5 • CHANGING THE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

What Works in Programs for Girls

Connections: Curriculum, Career, and Personal Development

The Athena Project

What Works in After-School Science

BUGS: Outdoor Learning Labs

Gender Equity Training in Teacher Education

Washington State Gender Equity Project

Equity Initiatives in Houston

WISE Women at Stony Brook

Get Set, Go!

Triad Alliance Science Clubs

An Education Coalition in Connecticut

InGEAR: Blending Gender Equity and Institutional Reform

GEMS: Learning Gender Equity Online

Counseling for Gender Equity

Training Trainers to Encourage Nontraditional Jobs

WomenTech at Community Colleges

Mentoring Teams of Teacher Trainers

Coding Student Teachers’ Classroom Interactions

New Courses to Draw Women Into Science and Engineering

Women’s Studies and Science: Can We Talk?

Changing Faculty Through Learning Communities

Making Engineering More Attractive as a Career

Improving the Climate in Physics Departments

Why do Some Physics Departments Have More Women Majors?

Gender and Persistence

Tutorials for Change

Preparing At-Risk Undergraduates for Graduate School

Testing Campus-Based Models of GRE Prep Courses

Retaining Graduate Students and Junior Faculty

Breaking the Silences

Creeping Toward Inclusivity

Equity, Science Careers, and the Changing Economy

Balancing the Equation

A Guide for Recruiting and Advancing Women in Academia

Achieving Success in Academia

Collaborating Across Campuses

The Team Approach to Mentoring Junior Economists

APPENDIX

INDEX

114–115

115–116

116

117

117–118

118–119

119

120

121

122

122–123

123

124

124–125

125

126

127–128

128–130

130–131

131–132

133

133

134–135

136

137

138

138–139

139

140

141–142

142–143

144

145

145

146–147

147–148

149

149–150

151–152

152–153

153–154

155

155–156

157

158

158–159

159–160

160–161

161

162

163

163

164–165

166

167–168

168–169

170

170–171

172

173

173–174

174–175

175

176–177

178

179

179–180

180–181

181

182

183

183–184

184–185

186–187

188–189

189–190

191

191–192

192–193

193–194

194–195

195–196

197

198–199

200

200–201

202

202–203

203–204

204–205

205

206

206–207

207

207–208

208–209

210–211

211

211–212

212

213

214

215
Single-gender math clubs

003

Sg

Calculus research:

animation and

research portfolios

003

Calc

uiting women 

e quantitative

sciences

003

Qs

ngineering 

essons in

ated cartoons

003

El

Pre-college

engineering workshops

003

Pre

ting engineers 

entucky, K-12

003

-12

Sissies, tomboys, and gender identity

003

tom

ing internships 

physics for 

ergraduates

003

TIP

GO team!

003

GO!

Designing with virtual reality technology

003

Virt

Recruiting women

into computer

science

003

wcs

Improving diversity in the software

development

community

003

div

Careers in 

dlife science

003

wild

oinformatics

high school

003

info

Apprenticeships in science policy

003

pol

Student-peer teach- ing in Birmingham, Alabama

004

peer

Improving science in a Dayton magnet school

004

Day

Turnage scholars

program

004

Turn

Project PRISM

004

PrSm

Feed the mind,

nourish the spirit

004

Feed

Math enrichment

for native american

girls

004

N’rich

Sisters in science

004

Sis

Minority girls in the system

004

Mgrl

Enchancing expanding your horizons

004

Eyh

Saturday workshops for middle school girls

004

SAT

The after-school

ASSETS project

004

AsA

Sweetwater

girl power

004

swt

The GREEN

project

004

Grpr

A training model for extracurricular

science

004

Xsci

Bringing minority high school girls

to science

004

HSg

GEMS: high school girls team

cosmetic science

004

Cos

Futurebound:

minority women in community colleges

004

Fut

Learning communities

004

Leco

Science in the city

004

Scit

TARGETS:

counseling talented at-risk girls

004

TarG

spanic girls 

n computer- 

ted design – 

nd english

004

Cad

Radio series on

Alaskan women

in science

004

Raw

ction-WISE

nesville, Ohio

004

AW

Hands-on science

in rural Virginia middle schools

004

Hos

Science connections

004

Sc’s

Master It:

a program for rural middle-school girls

004

Mit

Training trainers in rural youth groups

004

Tt

Opening the horizon: science

education in 

rural Ozarks 

middle schools

004

Oh

Laboratory science camp for dissemination 

training

004

Lab

Science for all:

opening the door for rural women

004

rurW

Internet explorers

004

IE

Jump for the sun

004

Jsun

Summer camp for rural high school girls

004

Sum

College studies for women on

public assistance

004

Pass

Re-entering the workforce

004

RE-e

Project GOLD: girls with disabilities online

004

gold

Math camp for deaf high school girls

004

Mc

FORWARD

(and deaf access)

004

FOR

Latinas en 

ciencia

004

Lat

Equity initiatives in Houston

005

Hou

WISE women at

Stony Brook

005

Sb

Get set, go!

005

Get!

Triad Alliance

science clubs

005

tri

An education

coalition in 

Connecticut

005

Ct

InGEAR: blending gender equity and institutional reform

005

in-gr

GEMS: learning gender equity online

005

gms

Counseling for gender equity

005

cou

Training trainers

to encourage nontraditional jobs

005

ntrd

WomenTech at

community colleges

005

wtcc

Mentoring teams of teacher trainers

005

mnt

Coding student teachers’ class-room

interactons

005

cde

New courses

to draw women

into science and 

engineering

005

new

Women’s studies

and science: Can

we talk?

005

talk

Changing faculty through learning

communities

005

cng

Making engineering

more attractive

as a career

005

eng

Improving the climate in physics departments

005

impr Why do some physics departments have more 

women majors

005

phy

Gender and 

persistence

005

pers

Tutorials for change

005

tutor

Preparing at-risk undergraduates for graduate school

005

@risk

Testing campus- based models of 

GRE prep courses

005

GRE

Retaining graduate students and junior faculty

005

Jr.

Breaking the silences

005

shh!

Creeping towards inclusivity

005

crep

Equity, science careers and the

changing economy

005

=

Balancing the

equation

005

bal

A guide for recruiting and advancing women in academia

005

guid

Achieving success in academia

005

ach

Collaborating

across campuses

005

coll

The team approach

to mentoring junior

economists

005

ecn

What works in 

programs for girls

005

wrks

Connections: 

curriculum, career,

and personal development

005

c+c

The Athena project

005

A

What works in after

school science

005

after

BUGS: outdoor

learning labs

005

Bug

Gender equity training in teacher education

005

eq

Washington State gender equity

project

005

WS

ntents

er 4: New dimensions in diversity Chapter 5: Changing the learning environment
ORIGINS

INVESTING IN PEOPLE, TOOLS, AND IDEAS

One of the National Science Foundation’s (NSF’s) key strategic goals is to invest in people: to develop a diverse, internationally competitive, and globally

engaged workforce of scientists, engineers, and well-prepared citizens.

In 1981, the Equal Opportunities for Women and Minorities in Science and Technology Act acknowledged that it was U.S. policy and in the national interest to encourage all groups to participate in science and engineering. The act mandated that NSF report statistics on underrepresented groups and initiate

programs fostering more proportionate representation. Among the suite of programs that followed was the Program for Women and Girls, created in fiscal

year 1993, housed in the NSF’s Division of Human Resource Development, Directorate for Education and Human Resources.

The initial budget (FY 1993) of about $7 million was used to fund about a dozen projects over the program’s first three years. With over $90 million in

awards since inception, the NSF program is the largest public or private funding source for efforts expressly addressing the need to broaden girls’ and

women’s participation in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). More than 250 grants to date have populated the national STEM education

enterprise with new ideas, proven good practices, innovative products, research publications, and a leadership of savvy, experienced educators and education researchers. The grants are relatively small and reach nearly every state in the U.S. A study of the program’s impact from 1993 to 1996 showed that

the NSF program has been very successful. 

The program supports research, student and educator programs, and information dissemination projects that will lead to change in education policy and

practice. Program findings and outcomes will lead to understanding, for example, how to maintain girls’ interest in science past middle school, how to bring

more girls into elective high school math and advanced placement science courses, and how to increase enrollments in undergraduate studies, particularly in engineering, physical sciences, and computer sciences.

Although the program has accomplished much in its short existence, national statistics reveal that much more remains to be done. And, since 1993, the

national need for a larger, more science- and computer-literate and skilled, and diverse workforce is ever greater, as we progress toward an increasingly

technological job market and a scientifically complex society.
WHY THIS BOOK?

Every NSF grantee shares findings and results with appropriate national communities. Publications, conference papers, newsletters, radio and TV

shows, and educational products (guides for educators, curricula, online courses, and so on) are the media of scholarly communication and 

education improvement. As much as possible, Principal Investigators develop information products. Some of the projects in this volume are

nationally known. 

Every NSF grant is represented by a project summary, or abstract, on the NSF website <www.nsf.gov>. NSF publications and publicity make known

our investments and impacts in all areas of science and engineering. Press releases often highlight individual grants. Despite such regular 

dissemination of project results, it is still hard to cull a “body of research.” This book collects descriptions of nearly 10 years’ investment in one

place, written for general audiences. The collection shows how even in a relatively short span of time the way issues are described and the focus

of new work have changed, due to increasing knowledge and due to the changing social context of the work.

The investments of the Gender Diversity in STEM Education program offer valuable information to a wide spectrum of groups:

• Teachers of science and math education K–12

• Faculty in STEM disciplines

• Counselors

• School administrators working to meet community needs

• Informal education providers (museums, summer camps, after-school clubs, media organizations)

• Teachers specializing in certain subjects (especially physics, mathematics, computer science, and geo-science)

• Faculty in disciplines where diversity is still an issue (engineering, computer science)

• Deans who are planning on improvements to adopt

• Colleges of education seeking continual improvement

• Organizations in the business of continual professional development of teachers

• Organizations that support professionals (women engineers, chemists, computer scientists)

• Foundations seeking to concentrate funding in areas of high need

• Industry promoting image and workforce development through educational outreach programs

• Public media looking at issues of community and national interest 

• Education and workforce policymakers

• Parents who want the best for their own children

All of the groups above have a common interest: improved quality of education, improved access to education, and better student achievement,

so that our educational systems deliver more science- and computer-literate citizens to society and deliver better-prepared, more diverse workers

to the science and engineering enterprise.

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT NSF: www.nsf.gov ABOUT THE PROGRAM: www.ehr.nsf.gov/ehr/hrd

ORIGINAL PROJECT SUMMARIES IN THE “AWARDS DATABASE“ AT NSF: https://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/a6/A6AwardSearch.htm

1. ENTER A NAME, STATE ABBREVIATION, NUMBER —ANYTHING 

2. ENTER “1544“ TO RETRIEVE ONLY GRANTS MADE BY THIS PROGRAM

3. ENTER THE GRANT NUMBER, E.G., “0210794,” TO FIND A SPECIFIC GRANT

ABOUT GENDER AND SCIENCE ISSUES, LINKS ARE AVAILABLE FROM THE PROGRAM’S WEBSITE, ALSO, ANY SEARCH ENGINE CAN FIND NAMES OF

PEOPLE AND PROJECTS ETC. ESPECIALLY A DIGITAL LIBRARY DEVOTED TO THE TOPIC AT http://www.edc.org/GDI/GSDL/ WHICH IS BEING DEVELOPED AS A SIGNIFICANT PORTAL WITH FUNDING FROM NSF’S NATIONAL DIGITAL STEM LIBRARY PROGRAM.

ANY NSF PUBLICATION MAY BE RETRIEVED AT http://www.nsf.gov/pubsys/ods/

TYPE IN THE PUBLICATION NUMBER, E.G., NSF 00-327
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS—THE PROJECT TEAM

At the National Science Foundation

Donald E. Thompson, Division Director, Human Resources Development

Norman Fortenberry, Acting Division Director, Human Resources Development

Ruta Sevo, Senior Program Director

Anh-Chi Le, AAAS Fellow

At Low + Associates

Michael Cosgrove, Executive Vice President

Holly Pollinger, former Director, Science and Technology Communications

Pat McNees, Writer

Sandy Coleman and Ross Bankson, Editors

Andrew Watkins, Assistant Account Executive

Jennifer Krako, Art Director

Brenda Spuij

At large

More than 200 Principal Investigators and their teams who carried out these projects and 

who responded with additional information, review, and graphics

SOME REFERENCES

Balancing the Equation: Where Are Women and Girls in Science, Engineering and Technology? The National Council for Research on Women, 2001.

Land of Plenty: Diversity as America’s Competitive Edge in Science, Engineering and Technology. Congressional Commission on the

Advancement of Women and Minorities in Science, Engineering and Technology Development, 2000.

National Science Foundation. NSF’s Program for Gender Equity in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics: a Brief Retrospective, 1993-

2001. NSF 02-107

National Science Foundation. Gender Diversity in Science, Mathematics, Engineering and Technology Education (GDSE). 

Program announcement. http://www.ehr.nsf.gov/ehr/hrd/pge.asp

National Science Foundation. Women, Minorities, and Persons With Disabilities in Science and Engineering: 2000. Arlington, VA: 2000. NSF 00-327

Summary Report on the Impact Study of the National Science Foundation’s Program for Women and Girls. The Urban Institute, Education Policy

Center for NSF, 2000. NSF 01-27

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Trends in the Educational Equity of Girls and Women. NCES 2000-030
CHAPTER ONE . TEACHING WITH A DIFFERENCE

AMONG MANY TRENDS IN IMPROVED SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS EDUCATION ARE BETTER TECHNIQUES FOR ENGAGING 

LEARNERS. NEW PHILOSOPHIES OF LEARNING, SUCH AS CONSTRUCTIVISM,1 UNDERLIE MANY OF THESE TECHNIQUES. THESE NEW APPROACHES MAY BE

ADOPTED IN THE CLASSROOM OR IN INFORMAL EDUCATION SETTINGS, SUCH AS AFTER-SCHOOL CLUBS, SATURDAY ACADEMIES, SUMMER CAMPS, AND

MUSEUM PROGRAMS. 

THE PROJECTS DESCRIBED IN THIS CHAPTER EXPLORE SEVERAL NEW WAYS OF TEACHING THAT HAVE INDEED PROVEN TO ENGAGE ALL STUDENTS MORE,

INCLUDING GIRLS AND OTHER GROUPS WHO PREVIOUSLY TENDED NOT TO BE DRAWN TO THE SUBJECTS: 

• HANDS-ON ACTIVITY, USING TOUCH, SMELL, AND MOTION TO EXPERIENCE AND STUDY THE PHYSICAL WORLD

• WORKING IN COOPERATIVE TEAMS, WITH STUDENTS HELPING AND SHOWING EACH OTHER

• LOOKING AT REAL-WORLD CONTEXTS WITH A SCIENTIFIC EYE—CHEMISTRY IN THE HOME, ECOLOGY IN THE COMMUNITY PARK, THE PHYSICS OF 

SPORTS

• AN EMPHASIS ON PERSONAL MASTERY AND CONFIDENCE THROUGH PROBLEM-SOLVING

• EXPOSURE TO A DIVERSE ARRAY OF WORKING SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS, TO CAPTURE STUDENTS’ INTEREST AND TO OPEN THEIR MINDS TO 

MANY ATTRACTIVE CAREERS 

WHY ARE SO MANY PROJECTS EXPERIMENTING WITH NEW WAYS OF TEACHING? BECAUSE OUR EDUCATION STATISTICS SHOW THAT, IN TRADITIONAL SETTINGS, AT ABOUT MIDDLE-SCHOOL AGE, GIRLS TEND TO LOSE INTEREST AND CONFIDENCE IN MATH AND SCIENCE AND, UNTIL RECENTLY, HAVE PERFORMED CONSISTENTLY LOWER THAN BOYS ON MOST STANDARD SCIENCE AND MATH TESTS (THE ”GENDER GAP”). ONCE SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS

COURSES BECOME ELECTIVE, GIRLS TEND TO ELECT TO TAKE FEWER MATH AND COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY COURSES, FOR EXAMPLE, WHICH LEAVES THEM

BEHIND IN SKILLS AND CONFIDENCE. CHILDREN’S VIEWS OF SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING ARE NOT SOPHISTICATED, AND THEIR VIEW OF THEIR ROLE IS

COLORED BY GENDER STEREOTYPES (”GIRLS ARE NOT GOOD AT MATH”). WE NEED AND WANT A COMPUTER- AND SCIENCE-LITERATE CITIZENRY AND A

WORKFORCE EQUIPPED WITH HIGH-DEMAND SKILLS. NEW WAYS OF TEACHING ARE A RESPONSE TO THE DEMANDS OF OUR MODERN SOCIETY.

TRENDS IN THE LAST 10 YEARS ARE ILLUSTRATED IN MANY OF THE STORIES:

• INFORMAL EDUCATION’S INCREASING ROLE IN EXPOSING CHILDREN TO SCIENCE

• COLLABORATIONS BETWEEN SCHOOLS AND INFORMAL EDUCATION PROVIDERS (SUCH AS MUSEUMS AND GIRLS’ PROGRAMS)

• SOPHISTICATION IN INFORMAL EDUCATION, INCLUDING AWARENESS AND REINFORCEMENT OF SCIENCE AND MATH EDUCATION STANDARDS

• RECOGNITION OF AND RESPONSIVENESS TO STUDENTS’ CULTURAL DIVERSITY 

• A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF GENDER-RELATED EDUCATION ISSUES, ESPECIALLY AFTER TITLE IX

• TEACHERS’ CROSSING OF TRADITIONAL BOUNDARIES BETWEEN INFORMAL AND FORMAL EDUCATION

• TECHNOLOGY’S INTEGRATION INTO EDUCATION.

Teaching With

a Difference

001

Ch

SOME REFERENCES

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Trends in Educational Equity of Girls and Women. NCES 2000-030

Clewell, Beatriz Chu, Bernice Taylor Anderson, Margaret E. Thorpe. Breaking the Barriers: Helping Female and Minority Students Succeed in

Mathematics and Science. Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1992.

American Association for University Women, Educational Foundation. Tech-Savvy: Educating Girls in the New Computer Age. 2000

1

The belief that we construct our own understanding of the world and use our own mental models to make sense of it and give it meaning. Curricula aim to match and challenge children’s understanding of the world in order to develop their minds.
0

National Science Foundation Chapter One . Teaching With a Difference

Building a simple circuit with batteries and bulbs, creating a multimedia

presentation, and engaging in robotic engineering were some of the

activities that built the girls’ self-confidence and taught them how to use

science equipment. After such single-sex activities, the girls who had

worked in cooperative groups with other girls were observed by

evaluators in mixed-gender groups during hands-on science activities.

Girls in the ”treatment group” were far more active participants in the

mixed-gender groups than were those in the control group. Girls in the 

treatment group were more likely to come forward and share in group

leadership rather than remain passive group members.

Given training in attitudes and parenting strategies, parents learned to

encourage their girls to be more confident and self-reliant. They were

invited to participate in some activities with the girls and were

encouraged to work with them on science activities at home. Workshops

helped make teachers and parents aware of social bias toward women in

science and aware that experiencing the joy of discovery helps girls

become interested in science. 

Project parity

001

Pp Family tools

and technology

001

Ft2

FAMILY TOOLS AND TECHNOLOGY

MANY OUT-OF-CLASS GENDER EQUITY PROGRAMS HAVE BEEN SINGLE-SEX

PROGRAMS, WHICH SERVE A USEFUL FUNCTION, BUT GIRLS AND BOYS

ALSO NEED TO LEARN HOW TO WORK TOGETHER. GIRLS NEED A BROADER

BASE OF EXPERIENCES, BOYS NEED TO LEARN TO RESPECT AND WORK WITH

GIRLS AS EQUAL PARTNERS, AND TEACHERS, PARENTS, AND OTHER

ADULTS NEED TO LEARN HOW TO CREATE AN ENVIRONMENT THAT WILL

MAKE THESE THINGS HAPPEN. 

This belief is at the heart of Family Tools and Technology (FT2), an 

after-school intervention program that trained 40 middle-school teachers

to lead after-school programs for sixth grade students and their parents.

The program targets girls in pre-adolescence, before sex role stereotypes

about technology have solidified.

The teacher training emphasizes gender-equity awareness, information

on workplace readiness skills, hands-on technology activities, and

providing a forum in which girls’ natural preferences for collaborative and

inquiry-based learning can flourish

In the after-school program, girls, boys, and their parents problem-solve

collaboratively, using tools and building models that illustrate STEM’s

everyday importance. The program focuses on technological challenges in 

pre-engineering, architecture, and physical science that are not usually

found in the traditional elementary curriculum. 

Family Science and Family Math engage parents and children in hands-on

activities that lead to the discovery of basic math and science

concepts—for example, discovering density by determining whether a

variety of materials will float or sink in water. FT2 seeks both to discover

the concept and extend it—for example, by having participants design

and construct a rubber-band-powered barge to transport a given mass.

Children and their parents jointly engage in such activities as using

meters, working with electromagnets, fixing electrical appliances and

toys, and programming a VCR—a true problem-solving activity! This is

important for girls, who are less apt than boys to have fun doing the 

out-of-school science-related activities that can lead to an interest in—

even a passion for—science. 

PROJECT PARITY

PROJECT PARITY ENGAGED FOURTH AND FIFTH GRADE GIRLS IN HANDSON SCIENCE ACTIVITIES AND EXPOSED THEM TO POSITIVE ROLE MODELS,

TO COUNTER THE TENDENCY FOR BOYS TO DOMINATE CLASSROOM SCIENCE

ACTIVITIES, ESPECIALLY THOSE INVOLVING SPECIALIZED EQUIPMENT.

WORKING WITH THREE URBAN AND SUBURBAN CONNECTICUT SCHOOL

DISTRICTS, THE TALCOTT MOUNTAIN SCIENCE CENTER STAFF ENGAGED

GIRLS IN ACTIVITIES THAT COMBINED HIGH TECHNOLOGY WITH THE

”HIGH TOUCH” OF HANDS-ON SCIENCE. 

CODES: E1 TALCOTT MOUNTAIN SCIENCE CENTER

LYDIA H. GIBB (LGIBB@TMSC.ORG), DONNA RAND

HRD 94-53719 (ONE-YEAR GRANT)

PRODUCTS: A PARITY HANDBOOK FOR DEVELOPING A MODEL PROGRAM AND A TRAINING

VIDEOTAPE

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, TEACHER TRAINING, PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT, GENDER

EQUITY AWARENESS, COOPERATIVE LEARNING, HANDS-ON, ROLE MODELS, MUSEUM, ENGAGEMENT, SELF-CONFIDENCE, MIXED-GENDER
National Science Foundation

04

Chapter One . Teaching With a Difference

The first phase of this project (1995–96) focused on a yearlong

assessment of the effectiveness of the 14 FT2 activities, materials, and

strategies in 12 elementary schools with about 240 families (70 percent

being girls and their families). Teachers got 11 days of training in FT2

techniques, warm-ups, and challenges, so they could present and

facilitate the warm-ups and challenges in the after-school sessions. 

This model was ultimately quite effective at reducing gender stereotypes,

increasing student use of tools and tool-related activities, and improving

attitudes toward tools. But although both boys and girls found the 

challenges in the first six sessions to be ”original, fun, and interesting,”

midway through field testing and data collection evaluator Patricia

Campbell reported that gender stereotyping was actually increasing rather

than decreasing in some students. Responses to the open-ended

statement ”Girls who use tools to problem solve and build models are

___” included ”ugly” and ”not nice” (from boys) and ”don’t use tools as

well as boys” (from a girl). Several children thought girls shouldn’t use

tools because they might break a nail, or said girls need help using tools

so they won’t hurt themselves. 

To provide immediate intervention, the second training sequence 

included specific gender-equity strategies, activities, role playing, and 

discussions of how best to address obvious gender stereotyping. When

the gender stereotyping was addressed rationally, explicitly, and

repeatedly, both girls and boys become less stereotyped in their

responses to the open-ended questions, and the boys decreased their

stereotypes even more than the girls did. 

Streamlining the program

Because FT2 was expensive to implement, NSF funded a one-year followup project (1996–98) to determine if a model of FT2 that reduced the

number of sessions from 12 to seven and the amount of teacher training

from 11 days to five would have similar positive effects on students. Two

cycles of teacher teams (14 teams) were trained and, after a five-day

teacher training institute, conducted seven FT2 session programs—with

a one-day follow-up training session and one onsite training session with

a mentor present. (A 15th team conducted a six-session program.) The

idea was to refine and streamline the program into a cost-effective,

pedagogically sound five-day training session that could be easily

disseminated and replicated, together with a leadership component that

could prepare experienced FT2 teachers to train others to conduct 

the program. 

Disappointingly, the FT2 learning activities in both phases of the project

appeared not to affect children’s interest in careers in science, technology,

engineering, and math (STEM). Simply listing the titles of STEM-related careers

or even bringing in one or two role models to talk to parents and children was

not enough to effect change or stimulate their interest. Girls’ and boys’ career

In FT2 activities, learning proceeds through stages: questioning,

investigating, evaluating, implementing, revising, and re-evaluating.

When children and their parents build and test a rubber-band-powered

boat, for example, they select the needed materials (including waterproof

adhesives, fasteners, and rubber bands), take measurements, and test

their craft, steps that require prediction, experimentation, and revision.

In working together, sharing ideas, comparing results, and talking about

them, families gain an intuitive grasp of science concepts (buoyancy,

energy, motion, friction), apply mathematical principles (pattern

development, weight versus volume), and discover engineering principles

(strength, properties of materials).

In a typical session, toolboxes sit unopened on tables as participants get

ready for the evening’s challenge—in one session, assembling a

hydroponic greenhouse. First they test the water to be used in the

greenhouse with litmus paper, pick a plant, remove the soil from its roots,

then guess the name and variety of ”mystery tools” laid out on a table. At

session’s end, the family has a plant and a handmade greenhouse to take

home—and some new skills. The third-grade teacher who facilitates the

activities says, ”I don’t have all the answers. I’m just a problem-solver.”

At other sessions, families have built cars, boats, and catapults out of

Lego sets and have made kaleidoscopes out of toilet paper tubes (putting

colors and beads inside mirrors). Each activity is based on a problemsolving model: accepting a challenge, reviewing criteria, gathering

information and materials, brainstorming, planning, making, testing, and

revising. The parents find the learning partnership a good way to spend

time with their children. ”It’s a social kind of learning,” said one mother,

”and it gets my daughter to think,” plus ”my husband and I get the

chance to be a kid again.” Fathers hear ”math and science” and their

participation shoots up. Meanwhile, the challenges are tough enough for

all age groups to learn. And by changing the dynamic between parents

and teachers, FT2 builds parental support for education.

Children are naturally curious. This kind of hands-on learning turns them

into active (rather than passive) learners—learning to ask questions and

find their own answers. Instead of looking for ”right” answers, they are

encouraged to see problem-solving as a process and to feel free to make

mistakes because they can learn just as much from their mistakes as they

would by getting the answer right the first time. They also learn that if

something doesn’t work, they can do it again.

Parents appreciate the chance to spend enjoyable learning time with

their children and to see how they learn, how they problem-solve, and

how they work in a team. They often realize that they should give their

children more of a chance to solve problems and work with tools rather

than do so for them. Teachers learn to facilitate more than teach: to

guide with questions rather than statements and to realize that it is not

important that they have all the answers—in fact, that it is better to

guide students in their discovery and to learn along with them. 

FAMILIES CONQUER TECHNOLOGY TOGETHER
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National Science Foundation Chapter One . Teaching With a Difference

SMART: learning 

by doing

001

SMART: LEARNING BY DOING

SCHOOL-BASED SMART (SCIENCE, MATH, AND RELEVANT TECHNOLOGY) IS AN EXEMPLARY,

WELL-TESTED MODEL PROGRAM OF HANDS-ON SCIENCE ACTIVITIES TO MAKE MATH AND

SCIENCE ACCESSIBLE TO GIRLS. DEVELOPED BY GIRLS INC., SMART IS BOTH A CONCEPT—

DEMYSTIFYING THE NOTION OF SCIENCE AND WHO CAN DO IT—AND A CURRICULUM.

COMBINING A CONCERN FOR EQUITY WITH AN EMPHASIS ON EXPLORATION, SMART

ENCOURAGES GIRLS TO BE SKEPTICS, TO CHALLENGE PAT EXPLANATIONS, AND NOT TO TAKE

ANYTHING FOR GRANTED. PARTICIPANTS BECOME ”MATH DETECTIVES.” THIS SAN LEANDRO,

CAL., PROJECT SERVED 300 FOURTH AND FIFTH GRADE GIRLS.

Doing hands-on activities in small groups makes it possible for girls to experience activities teachers might shy away from delivering in classes of 30 to 35

students. In a unit on energy and patterns of change, for example, girls explore everything from heat energy (generated by composting organic materials) and

solar power to electrical energy (circuits using batteries, wires, bulbs, and switches). To integrate these concepts and confront open-ended experiments, they

might be asked to insulate a structure they have designed and built so that it will retain maximum heat energy. 

Encouraging girls to learn and experiment—to take risks and learn by doing—in a single-sex environment, for even one hour a week, helps the girls feel

empowered and self-confident enough to try things they otherwise would not try. The interest and enthusiasm shown by participating girls convinces many

teachers that the hands-on approach really works—that everyone has a right to scientific understanding and the power that comes with knowledge.

A project manual offers guidance on implementing school-based SMART programs, detailing how they turned SMART from an after-school program into an 

in-school program. Many affiliates had not considered applying SMART in school because of the difficulty of working with school districts and principals. The

manual spells out how to develop an age-appropriate, gender-equitable curriculum responsive to state and local district frameworks for science and math

education. It emphasizes the importance of a strong working knowledge of local school politics and should be helpful for affiliates just beginning to establish

relationships with local schools.

Smrt

interests remained limited and unchanged and still reflected gender

stereotyping. Middle-school girls, often discouraged by the complex names of

many scientific career titles, lost interest in them; career titles presented with 

one-line descriptions were often intimidating or at best confusing. Developing

an effective career component will need more work—including finding a way

to convey the ”how” and ”why” of professionals’ career choices and somehow

to convey their passion for what they do. But this program was a start. 

The follow-up project produced Making a Splash: A Guide for Getting

Your Programs, Products, and Ideas Out. This user-friendly guide

helps individuals and organizations identify their goals and focus on

their primary audience(s) as they undertake gender equity efforts in

math, science, and technology. It offers ideas, information, and free

or low-cost strategies to get the word out; provides sources of

research on gender, math, and science; and suggests how program

and project developers can evaluate the impact of their efforts.

CODES: E1, PD RUTGERS UNIVERSITY

ARLENE S. CHASEK (www.rci.rutgers.edu/~cfis )

HRD 94-53482 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) AND HRD 96-32274 (THREE-YEAR GRANT)

PARTNERS: CENTER FOR FAMILY INVOLVEMENT IN SCHOOLS, CONSORTIUM FOR

EDUCATIONAL EQUITY

PUBLICATION: MAKING A SPLASH: A GUIDE FOR GETTING YOUR PROGRAMS, PRODUCTS, AND IDEAS OUT

USEFUL WEBSITE: www.campbell-kibler.com

KEYWORDS: EDUCATION PROGRAM, AFTER-SCHOOL, PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS, TEACHER TRAINING, PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT, INTERVENTION, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS, HANDS-ON, COLLABORATIVE LEARNING, INQUIRY-BASED, REAL-LIFE APPLICATIONS
National Science Foundation

06

Chapter One . Teaching With a Difference

OPERATION SMART IS GIRLS INC.’S MOST POPULAR PROGRAM, CLAIMING TENS OF THOUSANDS OF PARTICIPANTS ACROSS THE NATION. BECAUSE OF IT, GIRLS

ALL OVER THE NATION GET MESSY, EXPLORE, ANALYZE, DISSECT, HYPOTHESIZE, AND MAKE BIG, INTERESTING MISTAKES. FOR MORE THAN A DECADE, MOST

PARTICIPANTS IN SMART WERE GIRLS AND YOUNG WOMEN OF COLOR. GIRLS INC. IS DEVELOPING A PLAN (MARTINEZ, HRD 01-14680) TO MAKE ITS

PROGRAM MORE RELEVANT, ACCESSIBLE, AND EXCITING TO A NEW GENERATION OF GIRLS—INCLUDING THOSE WHO ARE DISABLED OR SPEAK ENGLISH AS

A SECOND LANGUAGE—WHILE RETAINING WHAT STILL WORKS IN THE PROGRAM. HERE’S WHAT THE ORGANIZATION’S EXPERIENCED INFORMAL EDUCATORS

KNOW ABOUT WHAT WORKS: 

• Girls (especially in elementary school) like their science messy.

• Middle school girls like the aesthetics of math, science, and 

technology projects—the symmetry and decoration of their Lego® 

creations, for example, or the beauty of stars (as motivation for 

studying astronomy). 

• Girls of all ages like their math and science to be useful and relevant 

to their everyday lives.

• Girls want clubs, communities, and face-to-face interactions. 

Internet connections may not be intrinsic motivators for girls the 

way they are for boys.

• A great way to squelch girls’ interest in science is to ”demonstrate” 

it while they watch. Another is to play ”guess the right answer,” as 

if all girls can do is master a completed body of knowledge.

• Not all girls are alike. Some already know they like math and science 

and just need connections made and barriers reduced. Some have yet 

to discover that math, science, and technology are for girls. Still 

others resist and have feelings and experiences we should listen to 

and learn from.

• Blanket invitations to participate do not work on any level. Each girl 

needs to know that she is special and that her discoveries are 

amazing, each adult needs to experience the wonder and remember 

the old days, each parent needs an individual welcome in his or her 

language and a thank-you for rearing an already curious child, and 

each tribal elder needs a personal visit and time to get to know that 

the people in the program are trustworthy and respectful.

Several factors affect success in raising girls’ levels of interest,

motivation, and achievement:

• Program inclusiveness. Every fourth and fifth grade girl is involved in 

the program, eliminating the self-selection factor in other models.

• Teacher involvement in planning. Strong support from principals is 

essential, but the program needs to be a cooperative effort between 

teachers and the principal, not a top-down effort in which the 

principal dictates that teachers must participate. It is important to 

communicate with the teaching staff and gain its commitment before 

seeking support from the school’s administration. In this project, 

teacher training in gender equity also got a significant turnout, 

involving all teachers in the building, not just those involved in the 

program.

• Built-in teacher feedback. Such a project takes more than a year, 

because teachers need training to become comfortable with hands-on 

activities as well as with back-up resources and personnel. It is helpful 

if the hands-on activities complement teachers’ mandatory science 

programs. In-service training allows teachers to experience active 

learning first-hand, so they know what their students will be using and 

can confront their own feelings and attitudes toward science and math 

education.

• Parental involvement. Family-oriented activities were important in the 

original project because of their cultural impact on the substantial 

Hispanic population. Parental influence in discouraging the pursuit of 

math and science careers is well documented, but in this project 

parental involvement was fairly high. A newsletter to parents helped 

them understand many stereotypical issues that create barriers for 

young girls. At SMART Family Night, parents and guardians could 

experience SMART firsthand through participatory hands-on 

activities. 

The SMART model and curriculum give girls the confidence to return to

their coeducational classes and become leaders. Schools have reason to

embrace the model, because boys also benefit from hands-on activities

in smaller learning groups. 

WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT WHAT WORKS

CODES: E1, PD GIRLS INC. OF SAN LEANDRO

BESS BENDET (BESS@3GF.ORG)

HRD 94-53748 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

PUBLICATION: SCHOOL-BASED SMART: OPPORTUNITIES FOR GIRLS AND GIRLS

INCORPORATED AFFILIATES (A WORKING GUIDE)

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, TEACHER TRAINING, PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT, GENDER

EQUITY AWARENESS, EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING, HANDS-ON, CURRICULUM, EXPLORATION-BASED, SELF-CONFIDENCE, MANUAL; GIRLS, INC., HISPANIC
0

National Science Foundation Chapter One . Teaching With a Difference

Teaching SMART

001

Smrt2

TEACHING SMART

GIRLS INC. (THEN GIRLS CLUBS OF AMERICA) DEVELOPED OPERATION

SMART IN THE MID-1980S TO ENCOURAGE GIRLS’ INTEREST IN

SCIENCE, MATH, AND RELEVANT TECHNOLOGY. SINCE THEN, OPERATION

SMART HAS EVOLVED INTO TEACHING SMART, A COMPREHENSIVE,

EQUITY-BASED, THREE-YEAR TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

PROGRAM DESIGNED TO PRODUCE SYSTEMIC CHANGE IN THE FORMAL

CLASSROOM—TO CHANGE THE WAY ALL ELEMENTARY SCHOOLCHILDREN,

BUT ESPECIALLY GIRLS AND MINORITY YOUTH, EXPERIENCE SCIENCE

EDUCATION. TEACHING SMART TEACHERS HAVE ADOPTED THE KEY

TEACHING STRATEGIES PROMOTED BY THE NATIONAL SCIENCE

EDUCATION STANDARDS: A HANDS-ON OR INQUIRY-BASED APPROACH

TO SCIENCE ACTIVITIES THAT PROMOTE STUDENT DEVELOPMENT OF

SCIENCE PROCESSING SKILLS.

Teaching SMART provides instruction and hands-on training for teachers in grades 3 through 5, to increase their awareness of (and comfort level

using) equitable, hands-on, inquiry- and exploration-based approaches to teaching science. The program was first tested in elementary schools in

western South Dakota, a largely rural population previously unserved by such a program. In 1996 the program was expanded to 13 sites around the

country. 

Grade 3 activities deal with simple machines, food groups, and fossils; grade 4 on catapults and fulcrums, senses, and rocks and minerals; and grade

5 on air pressure/movement of molecules, animal adaptations, and food chains and webs. Classroom kits include balloons, flour, cups, and batteries.

Equipment kits contain such items as microscopes, beakers, funnels, dissecting kits, magnets, wires, hand tools, Ping-Pong balls, and light bulbs. 

The program has had a consistent positive influence on teachers’ attitudes and levels of confidence and comfort with hands-on science activities. By

using more than a hundred lesson plans designed by Teaching SMART, the teachers significantly cut their use of the didactic, teacher-centered activities—

such as lectures, teacher demonstrations, and whole-class discussions—they were often trained to do. They increasingly used student-centered, hands-on

lab activities, cooperative group work, and authentic assessments. ”My goal was to have 60 minutes or more of actual hands-on SMART activities,” says

one teacher, ”and I did, because the kids wouldn’t let me forget ever!” 

CODES: PD, E, I YOUTH & FAMILY SERVICES, RAPID CITY, S.D.

MELANIE FLATT (MELANIEF@RAPIDNET.COM)

HRD 95-53484 (ONE-YEAR GRANT), HRD 99-06176 (THREE-YEAR GRANT)

PARTNERS: XAVIER UNIVERSITY, (LOUISIANA); GIRLS INCORPORATED OF GREATER ATLANTA; BAY CITY (MICHIGAN) PUBLIC SCHOOL; CONTINENTAL ELEMENTARY DISTRICT (ARIZONA);

MARION COUNTY (WEST VIRGINIA) PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT; SOUTH BAY UNION (CALIFORNIA) SCHOOL DISTRICT; THE BUSH FOUNDATION (ST.PAUL, MINN.); CENTRAL MICHIGAN

UNIVERSITY (MOUNT PLEASANT, MICH.)

PUBLICATIONS: ARTICLES BY CLAUDIA DOUGLAS, MARSHA LAKES MATYAS, AND MELANIE FLATT: MOVING TOWARD STUDENT-CENTERED ACTIVITIES: PROVEN METHODS FOR CHANGE

AND TEACHING SMART: EVIDENCE OF EFFECTIVENESS.

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, TEACHER TRAINING, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS, HANDS-ON, AFTER-SCHOOL, INQUIRY-BASED, PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, SELF-CONFIDENCE, ACHIEVEMENT, COOPERATIVE LEARNING, CAREER AWARENESS; GIRLS, INC.
National Science Foundation

08

Chapter One . Teaching With a Difference

In Teaching SMART, teachers are asked to practice Three E’s and an F—Empowerment, Equity, Enrichment, and Fun—and students respond. More than

90 percent of the students involved give a thumbs-up to the Teaching SMART activities. They not only enjoy active exploration and discovery but also

become more confident about their science processing abilities and more likely to believe that both men and women can do science. On tests, their

knowledge of science content and their problem-solving skills improve. They show more facility with open-ended, higher-order questions.

Research shows that without continual coaching and follow-up support, teacher training is unlikely to produce long-lasting improvements in teacher

competence or student outcomes. Site specialists are trained to mirror-coach, a form of peer coaching. Peer coaching is an effective way to help educators

transfer learned skills—because an extra set of eyes and ears records what is going on in the classroom. 

Mirror-coaching in Teaching SMART stresses

• Cooperative grouping (site specialists check to see if students know what role they were assigned—reporter, recorder, engineer—and if they 

understand their responsibilities, and get feedback on how well they were working together)

• Group interactions (recording the number of teacher interactions with the group, who initiated them, and how much time was spent with each 

group)

• Language used (for example, ”guys,” ”the doctor, he”) and questioning techniques (open-ended, as preferred, or closed)

• Individual attention (which students were questioned and got follow-up questions, and who initiated the interaction)

Teachers’ growing awareness of the damaging effects of gender bias has been reflected in greater efforts to call equally on boys and girls (not ”guys”

and ”gals”) and to be more sensitive about seating, questioning, grouping, and task assignments. Student awareness has also grown. Boys demand

their turn to stir cornbread batter, and girls ask to run the video equipment or help carry materials for guest speakers. Teaching SMART also encourages

students to investigate careers that have been traditionally divided between the genders. In ”Career Charades,” for example, they draw the names of

careers that they must then act out in pantomime. If a boy protests having to act out the role of nurse, as a ”girly” job, the teacher might respond

by describing a male nurse anesthetist, a former nurse in Vietnam, now making a handsome salary. 

Assume girls are interested in math, science, and technology. Too many girls—and

children of color—still get the message that math and science aren’t for them. In SMART

classes, girls jump at the chance to dismantle machines, care for and study insects and small

animals, and solve logic puzzles. Instead of struggling to get the boys to share the tools,

in an all-girl environment girls can focus on and enjoy the task at hand.

Let girls make big, interesting mistakes. Girls who are overly protected in the lab or on

the playground have few chances to assess risks and solve problems on their own. In SMART

classes, once-dreaded mistakes become hypotheses. Girls are urged to go back to the

drawing board to figure out why their newly assembled electric door alarm doesn’t work or

why their water filter gets clogged. Supported by adults instead of rescued, girls learn to

embrace their curiosity, face their fear, and trust their own judgment.

Help them get past the ”yuk” factor. Girls who are afraid of getting dirty aren’t born that

way—they’re made. Help them resist pressure to behave in ”feminine” ways. Encourage

them, for example, to get good and grubby digging in a river bed or exploring a car engine.

Let them learn they have a right to be themselves.

Expect girls to succeed. In 1999, boys outnumbered girls 3 to 1 among students taking

advanced placement tests in computer science. This gap reflects the barrier of low

expectations girls face in male-dominated fields. Girls are capable of mastering math and

science. Expect them to do so throughout high school and college.

SECRETS TO TEACHING GIRLS SCIENCE
0

National Science Foundation Chapter One . Teaching With a Difference

Making 

connections

001

mcx MAKING CONNECTIONS

TO STOP PRE-TEEN GIRLS FROM AVOIDING MATH AND SCIENCE, THIS PROJECT TARGETED

THIRD TO FIFTH GRADERS IN THREE URBAN DENVER SCHOOL DISTRICTS WITH INTERVENTIONS

TO MODIFY THE CURRICULUM, DEVELOP TEACHERS’ PROFESSIONAL SKILLS, AND CHANGE THE

ATMOSPHERE IN WHICH GIRLS LEARN AND PERCEIVE STEM. THROUGH A GENDER-NEUTRAL

MULTICULTURAL CURRICULUM AND BILINGUAL INSTRUCTION, THE PROJECT USED HANDS-ON

MATH AND SCIENCE ACTIVITIES TO ENCOURAGE CRITICAL THINKING AND TO ”MAKE

CONNECTIONS” BETWEEN MATH, SCIENCE, READING, WRITING, AND HISTORY. 

The book Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt, for example—about a

fictional slave girl’s patchwork quilt that cleverly directed runaway slaves

to the Underground Railroad—linked history to math and became a base

for engaging students in discussions of gender stereotyping. Asked if

their great-grandparents were likely to have quilted or to have done a lot

of math, few students could imagine their great-grandfathers as quilters

or their great-grandmothers using much math. They read that in Cairo

tentmakers were men only, and by fitting shapes together to make their

own quilt/tiling/tessellation patterns they learned that an everyday

activity like quilt-making involves a lot of math, including geometric

shapes. The unit was also a good opportunity for parental involvement.

Training sessions helped 17 new and experienced teachers develop a

deeper knowledge of math and science content, learn hands-on instructional techniques, and ask questions in a nonthreatening environment.

In six workshops held after school and a summer week of all-day training,

teachers learned how to use active learning kits and how a good teacher

can unknowingly ignore girls. They planned to use what they learned and

wanted to know more. 

In the year-round component, classroom activities were implemented in a

mixed-gender classroom setting, complementing the single-sex afterschool enrichment activities. Staff modeling of the ”Making Connections”

curriculum was successful, but teachers who took the training weren’t yet

comfortable implementing it in their classroom and wanted more

suggestions about how to integrate it into the curriculum as a whole. 

Family Math and Science Nights were a good way to disseminate

information about the program. Students who talked excitedly about the

program awakened their parents’ interest, often to the point of parents

taking part in classroom activities.

The Summer Explorers program—three one-week math, science, and

engineering camps for girls—ran four hours a day. Veteran teacherparticipants facilitated the camps, with new participants assisting.

Most of the teachers who took part in the summer camp had weak math

backgrounds, and the camp helped them learn math concepts well

enough to present them correctly. 

They also learned about teaching. Some used disciplinary methods the

girls considered ”mean,” and some came to realize that worksheets (or

”table work”) didn’t hold girls’ interest as much as more active work did.

Some teachers who thought the work was too difficult for the girls

learned that the girls could do the work more easily if it was taught in

smaller increments or in smaller groups. 

The materials lent themselves to use by girls with disabilities. So many

activities involved touching, feeling, and building large objects that

one girl with limited vision was fully able to participate. The girls,

encouraged to write in their journals, provided useful feedback on the

experience, but wanted more hands-on experiments and less writing.

CODES: PD, EI METROPOLITAN STATE COLLEGE OF DENVER

BARBARA C. DWIGHT (DWIGHT@MSCD.EDU), SARA COHEN, JAMES T. LOATS, PAMELA FISHER, CHARLOTTE MURPHY, KRISTINA M. JOHNSON

http://math.mscd.edu/gogirls HRD 97-14751 (THREE-YEAR GRANT) 

http://insidedenver.com/news/0301firl2.shtml

PUBLICATIONS: MAKING CONNECTIONS SUMMER EXPLORER’S HANDBOOK; YEAR 1 

TESSELLATIONS TEACHER’S GUIDE

KEYWORDS: EDUCATION PROGRAM, TEACHER TRAINING, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS, PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT, URBAN, INTERVENTION, BILINGUAL, EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING, HANDS-ON, MIXED-GENDER, DISABLED, MINORITIES
National Science Foundation

10

Chapter One . Teaching With a Difference

This effort grew out of Mitzi Vernon’s market research in the 1990s into

why girls aren’t interested in computer games. She found that girls’

interests are consistently socially oriented; that girls tend to want things to

be tangible, collectible, and communal and are inclined to create character

and storyline as they play. There is an apparent correlation between their

lack of interest in computer games and their general feelings about

technology. 

A project called the Peninsula study (at Peninsula School in Menlo Park,

Cal.) sought a new way to introduce abstract phenomena to young girls.

Originally it did so through ”character construction exercises”: giving the

girls a collection of geometrical shapes with plastic connectors and

asking them to create something, so the researchers could investigate

how girls would approach and interpret geometry. In this and subsequent

exercises, the girls almost invariably returned to images of faces or bodies,

focusing on themselves: what they looked like and how they related to each

other. They also had an almost insatiable appetite for variety 

and embellishment, always asking for more pieces, more colors, more 

intricate shapes. 

This investigation led to creation of The Universe Is in My Face, a

mechanically interactive explanation of molecules and atoms that moves

from large to small images: face to eye to iris (molecule to atom to

electron). This was not a traditional book but a kit of interlocking

panels—a puzzle for children to put together, to help demystify concepts.

With The Universe, a series of boards in geometrical face shapes comes

with magnets of various shapes and colors, which the reader manipulates.

The mechanical format encourages the concrete, mechanical activity

important to learning in young children. Key phrases in story development are located on the backs of various boards. The MagneWidget,TM a

magnetic disc, illustrates the concept of magnetism, gives girls a

concrete connection to new technology, and serves a practical purpose:

Girls use it to play with the magnetic particles (which come in a pouch

in a specially designed book bag). The storyline and hands-on

engagement keep girls interested and rereading.

The project team decided that field theory should precede atoms as a

subject and might be a better place to introduce the narrator, so the first

book in the series is Phoebe’s Field, which introduces Phoebe and the

concept of fields (such as cornfields, magnetic and electric fields, and

gravitational fields) and the quarks that make a field. Phoebe, invisible

to the reader, is a navigational character who asks questions; the visuals

in the story are everything she sees and the way she sees it. A second

and smarter character, ”Phleck,” answers questions. 

Book 2, My Horizon, discusses the field as a plane and geometry as a

natural phenomenon as seen through the eyes of Pythagoras. Book 3, The

Universe Is in My Face, takes the reader on a journey inside the iris of an

eye to discover molecules, atoms, and electrons and the reason we see

different colors in eyes. Books 4 through 7 will present the science of

color (Color Me Red), the concept of light waves and waves of water and

sound (Wiggles in Space), sound waves and music (Wiggles in Time), and

Phythagoras’ harmony in numbers (Fields of Harmony). 

Interconnections

001

Icn

CODES: E, M, I VIRGINIA POLYTECHNICAL INSTITUTE AND STATE UNIVERSITY (VIRGINIA TECH)

MITZI R.VERNON (VERNON@VT.EDU) www.off-the-pageworks.com/ HRD 99-79287 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNERS: OFF THE PAGE WORKS, INC.; BARBARA CILETTI (ODDYSEY BOOKS); LORD CORPORATION (ENGINEERS DAVID CARLSON AND LYNN YANYO); KATHY ANDERSON

(JOURNEY DESIGNS); DESIGN RESEARCH ASSOCIATES, INC.; GIRLS MIDDLE SCHOOL (MOUNTAIN VIEW, CAL.); GILBERT LINKOUS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL AND BLACKSBURG MIDDLE

SCHOOL (BLACKSBURG, VA.).

PRODUCTS: PROTOTYPES FOR PHOEBE’S FIELD, THE UNIVERSE IS MY FACE, AND MY HORIZON

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, BOOK SERIES, HANDS-ON, INTERACTIVE, MATH, PHYSICS, CONNECTIONS

INTERCONNECTIONS

THIS GRANT SUPPORTED DEVELOPMENT OF INTERCONNECTIONS,TM A

SERIES OF MECHANICAL-INTERACTIVE BOOKS THAT EXPLAIN ABSTRACT

IDEAS THROUGH UNCONVENTIONAL FORMAT AND ANALOGY. DESIGNED

FOR GIRLS 10 TO 12 (GRADES 5–7), THE SERIES EXPLAINS CONCEPTS SUCH

AS MAGNETIC FIELD, ATOMIC STRUCTURE, AND PYTHAGOREAN THEOREM

THROUGH METAPHOR AND IMAGERY AND SHOWS HOW THE CONCEPTS ARE

CONNECTED. THE PREMISE IS THAT EDUCATION SHOULD BE A ”NON-FLAT

THINKING ADVENTURE”—THAT INTERCONNECTIONS WILL HELP GIRLS

FIND THE ESSENCE OF CHALLENGING CONCEPTS INSIDE FAMILIAR THINGS.

THREE PROTOTYPES HAVE BEEN TESTED WITH CHILDREN OF DIFFERENT

AGES.
1

National Science Foundation Chapter One . Teaching With a Difference

After-school 

science PLUS

001

As+ AFTER-SCHOOL SCIENCE PLUS

AFTER-SCHOOL SCIENCE PLUS (AS+) GREW OUT OF ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL 

NSF-FUNDED SCIENCE ACTIVITY PROGRAM: PLAYTIME IS SCIENCE. BOTH WERE

DEVELOPED BY EDUCATIONAL EQUITY CONCEPTS (EEC), A NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION

THAT DEVELOPS EQUITY-BASED MATERIALS FOR CHILDREN AND CLASSROOMS AND

OFFERS TRAINING FOR TEACHERS, ADMINISTRATORS, AND PARENTS.

Playtime Is Science (PS) is an early-childhood parental-involvement project that uses developmentally appropriate hands-on science activities for

children, parents, and the classroom to bring science to a broader range of students and parents—to level the playing field for all students. It increases

young girls’ participation in science when science abilities and attitudes are first being formed—and when physical science activities barely exist in

most classrooms. Playtime Is Science employs science activities that are fun and use inexpensive, recyclable items such as cooking oil, plastic bottles,

empty boxes, and old socks. It has been successfully implemented in schools, community centers, and Head Start centers.

With After-School Science PLUS, EEC applied the concepts and activities of PS to after-school centers, designing 11 inquiry-based science activities

for school-age students—activities that emphasized equity, career/role models, and literacy. AS+ was pilot-tested and field-tested in 1997 and 1998

in three New York City settlement houses. The AS+ activities include, among others, Oobleck: Solid or Liquid?, Sink and Float, Bubble Science, Building

with Wonderful Junk, and Who Does Science?

The program gave students positive information about who does science, dispelled stereotypes about girls and women in science, and created

opportunities for students to see science as part of their everyday experience. The students kept journals about science role models diverse in terms

of race, ethnicity, gender, and disability. Parents were involved so they could become science enthusiasts and role models for their children.

AS+ provided staff development institutes, opportunities for parent involvement, and ongoing professional program support, coordination, and

technical assistance. It developed and field-tested a model for staff development suited to the needs of group leaders/counselors. Group leaders

typically are young people, part-time college students, or youth workers who lack the experience and education of classroom teachers. They enjoyed

the hands-on activities as much as their students. ”The most helpful part of the training,” says one group leader, ”was how to make science fun and

understandable for kids.” Without the training, group leaders were not always able to draw links between PS+ and gender equity or science careers

in ways that students followed or understood. 

The evaluator found that doing AS+ in an after-school center increased the amount of equity-based science done in that center. With training, staff

encouraged all students to participate in the activities. There was a perceptible improvement in student attitudes about girls who do science and both

girls and boys became more aware of science careers (although ”doctor” remained the most frequently mentioned job, followed by ”scientist” and

”nurse”). The project also learned that it takes time and training for centers to take ownership of the program and to develop administrative support

for it, and for staff to understand how to make the connections between science activities, equity, careers, and literacy. 

All these issues and concerns were incorporated into the AS+ training model and guides. After-School Science PLUS: Hands-on Activities for Every Student

provides tools for implementing inquiry-based science that meet the

National Science Standards in after-school settings. The Planning

Guide (for administrators) has sections on staff development,

resources, and family outreach materials in English and Spanish. The

Activity Guide (for group leaders) provides hands-on activities,

career and role model materials, print and website resources, family

letters in English and Spanish, and more. Each activity includes

reproducible biographies of women and men of science from diverse

backgrounds.

CODES: E, I, PD EDUCATIONAL EQUITY CONCEPTS

BARBRARA SPRUNG (BARBARA@EDEQUITY.ORG) AND MERLE FROSCHL www.edequity.org

HRD 96-32241 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNERS: UNITED NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE OF NEW YORK; PARTNERSHIP FOR AFTER SCHOOL

EDUCATION; THE STANLEY ISAACS NEIGHBORHOOD CENTER, THE GROSVENOR NEIGHBORHOOD

HOUSE (SINGLE-SEX GROUPINGS), AND THE HUDSON GUILD NEIGHBORHOOD CENTER.

PRODUCTS: AFTER SCHOOL SCIENCE PLUS: HANDS ON ACTIVITIES FOR EVERY STUDENT; AFTER SCHOOL SCIENCE PLUS: A PLANNING GUIDE; ACTIVITY GUIDE.

KEYWORDS: EDUCATION PROGRAM, AFTER-SCHOOL, COMMUNITY-BASED SITE, STAFF TRAINING, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS, PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT, HANDS-ON, INQUIRY-BASED, ROLE

MODELS, BIOGRAPHIES, RESOURCE GUIDE, BILINGUAL, REAL-LIFE APPLICATIONS
National Science Foundation

12

Chapter One . Teaching With a Difference

Nosebag science

001

Nbs NOSEBAG SCIENCE

IN HELPING TO BRING GIRL-FRIENDLY SCIENCE ACTIVITIES TO GIRL SCOUTS IN THE

HORNETS’ NEST COUNCIL, DISCOVERY PLACE, INC., IN NORTH CAROLINA, DEVELOPED

A ”NOSEBAG SCIENCE” PROGRAM—SCIENCE ACTIVITIES THAT MAKE USE OF COMMON

OBJECTS, PROVIDED IN A BAGGIE. ADDED AFTER THE ORIGINAL BRIDGING THE GAP

GRANT PROPOSAL, NOSEBAG SCIENCE WAS DEVELOPED AS A CONCRETE WAY TO

PROVIDE EASY, FUN, ACCESSIBLE HANDS-ON SCIENCE ACTIVITIES AND TO HELP SCOUTS

EARN THEIR ”WORLD OF TODAY AND TOMORROW” CONTEMPORARY ISSUES PATCH. 

Girls can do Nosebag Science activities at troop meetings, day camp programs, and large events such as overnights and camporees. Scout leaders say

that the girls decide which activities to select, but it was clear to interviewers that the girls are heavily influenced in that decision by what the Scout

leaders feel comfortable with (an influence many leaders are reluctant to acknowledge).

It is important to make science fun for the girls, to convince leaders that science is important for their girls, and to make it easy for the leaders to do

science activities. Among obstacles to success with science activities, mechanical issues (such as the cost and location of materials) and lack of training

in science were easiest to address. Discovery Place could train troop leaders, give them materials (or make it easy to get them), develop 

step-by-step instruction cards, and so on. 

Dealing with negative attitudes toward science was harder. Many leaders were not as comfortable with science-related activities as others; it interested

but scared them and they wanted to be sure activities were safe. Troop leaders often saw science as a foreign language or culture. They feared being

unable to predict or answer girls’ questions or even to know where to look for answers. Girls and leaders must be shown how fun, meaningful, and relevant

to everyday life hands-on science activities can be.

Troop leaders said they needed activities that work, are fun, are age-appropriate and badge-related, can be done in a single session, and require only

readily available low-cost materials, especially materials that can be requested by e-mail and sent to the leaders. They wanted activities immediately relevant to the girls (they can ”eat it, wear it, or use it”) in the medium term (related to earning a badge or patch) or in the long term (related

to their life or career). They wanted activities that sound interesting, meaningful, and challenging (not babyish) but not academic or bookish. They

wanted simple, clear, complete instructions, letting them know step by step what to do, what would happen, what to do after that, what might go

wrong, and what to do about it. They wanted a volunteer science consultant accessible at all times and were frustrated when one wasn’t. 

The project staff adopted a fun, collaborative approach to training—with leaders training other leaders, who in turn trained the girls—which gave

those who felt ”afraid” of science new satisfactions and self-confidence. Those who felt science didn’t apply to them discovered how important it is

in their lives. 

This project was designed to empower local Girl Scout facilitators and leaders to plan, organize, and direct grassroots activities to encourage an

interest in STEM. A Science Resource Center (or ”Science Pod”) was up and running the second year. The first program developed was ”Critters,

Creatures, and Other Things” for Brownies. 

It takes an academic year (August–May) to implement Bridging the Gap locally: to introduce activities, empower leaders, and engage the girls.

Exposing the girls to high-interest activities at council events helps start word-of-mouth. As of December 1996, 7,361 girls and 900 adults had been

exposed to Bridging the Gap activities, and the Hornets’ Nest Council was planning dissemination to councils around the country.

CODES: E, M, H, I, PD DISCOVERY PLACE, INC. (CHARLOTTE, N.C.); HORNETS NEST GIRL SCOUT COUNCIL

MARILYNN SIKES (MARILYNNS@DISCOVERYPLACE.ORG), PATRICIA K. BLAKE, JERALD H. REYNOLDS, BEVERLY SANFORD, AND PATRICIA BALDWIN HRD 94-50006 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNER: HORNETS NEST GIRL SCOUT COUNCIL

MATERIALS AVAILABLE: BROWNIE LEADER GUIDES AND NOSEBAG KITS FOR MY BODY, NUMBERS AND SHAPES, SCIENCE IN ACTION, SCIENCE WONDERS, SENSES AND OUTDOOR

HAPPENINGS. JUNIOR LEVEL GUIDES ARE AVAILABLE FOR WORLD OF TODAY AND TOMORROW DABLLER, AEROSPACE, WEATHER WATCH, GEOLOGY, SCIENCE IN ACTION, AND

DISCOVERING TECHNOLOGY.

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, STAFF TRAINING, SUPPORT SYSTEM, RESOURCE CENTER, GIRL SCOUTS, ACTIVITY-BASED, HANDS-ON, SELF-CONFIDENCE, COLLABORATIVE LEARNING, ENGAGEMENT
1

National Science Foundation Chapter One . Teaching With a Difference

Science-based 

service learning

001

Ssl

Congress created the Corporation for National and Community Service in

September 1993 to support, among other activities, service-learning

initiatives in higher education (called Learn and Serve America). The idea

was to make service an integral part of the education and life experiences

of the nation’s students—to produce educated citizens, not just educated

people. UW started its science service learning project at a time when

service learning in colleges mostly involved tutoring high school

students. Wiegand saw intergenerational community service learning with

measurable academic outcomes as a vehicle to engage undergraduates

actively in science and to expand their vision to include issues of scientific

literacy, ethics, and objectivity as well as social and political influences on

community scientific decisions. The Association of American Colleges and

Universities declared her approach a national model.

With service learning, students contribute positively to the community while

learning. They also experience the value and necessity of service to others

and the importance of bringing science back into the community. This

course’s nontraditional format dispels an ”ivory tower” attitude by forcing students to do science off campus.

The three service learning courses UW’s chemistry department offers are

progressively more challenging. The first tightly structures how students

take part in community service. In the second, which can be taken as

many as six times, students are expected to take on independent projects

relating to their service sites. For the third, they assume leadership roles

in the work being done at their sites. Students who stay for two or three

quarters get more from the experience than those who stay for one. The

students enjoy general acceptance, whether working with teenagers in a

high school classroom (where they serve as informal ambassadors,

answering questions about university life) or with patrons of a senior

citizens center. 

In providing a community service, students in all three courses must 

apply principles and methods learned in the classroom, so that they

understand the value of what they are learning and how to apply it in

everyday life. They can work directly with a community group or nonprofit

organization on science-based projects to benefit the community, help

teachers and students implement ongoing community service projects

(such as growing food for community food banks), or, working with local

teachers, help generate hands-on activities to draw K–12 students into

scientific inquiry related to community needs and concerns. They can be

especially helpful on science-based activities involving measurable

change—for example, water monitoring, stream revegetation, and

salmon habitat efforts. 

The course encourages the students to take more responsibility for the

outcome of their learning experience. They reflect on their service

experience in two essays and a final paper. Wrote one student, ”Coming

up with simple, but still accurate, explanations for complex situations

was one of the greatest challenges of the course. . . . It forced me to

reexamine my understanding of chemical principles and interpret them

for a group of ninth graders.”

CODES: U UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON, SEATTLE

DEBORAH H. WIEGAND (WEIGAND@CHEM.WASHINGTON.EDU), NAN LITTLE

HRD 95-53448 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNER: FUND FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION (FIPSE) (DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION)

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, SERVICE LEARNING, HANDS-ON, MENTORING, REAL-LIFE

APPLICATIONS

SCIENCE-BASED SERVICE LEARNING

PROJECTS THAT HELP PRESERVE A COMMUNITY STREAM OR GET HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS EXCITED

ABOUT HIGHER LEARNING HELP CEMENT TIES BETWEEN SCIENTISTS AND THE COMMUNITY, SAYS

DEBORAH WIEGAND, WHO IN 1994 PIONEERED SCIENCE SERVICE LEARNING IN THE UNIVERSITY OF

WASHINGTON CHEMISTRY DEPARTMENT. MORE THAN A THOUSAND COLLEGE STUDENTS HAVE

PARTICIPATED—LEADING HANDS-ON SCIENCE PROJECTS IN AREA ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS, MENTORING

AT-RISK KIDS IN SCIENCE ACTIVITIES, MONITORING WATER QUALITY IN AREA STREAMS, AND

HELPING HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS ON DNA SEQUENCING PROJECTS. THE CITY OF BELLEVUE ”STREAM

TEAM,” FOR EXAMPLE, WORKS WITH LANDOWNERS ON WAYS TO CONTROL RUNOFF AND PROTECT THE

CITY’S WATERWAYS. A STUDENT MIGHT SPEND WEEKS EXAMINING THE ECOLOGY OF A PARTICULAR

SITE AND THEN RECOMMEND PLANTING NATIVE SPECIES THAT WOULD DO WELL LOCALLY.
National Science Foundation

14

Chapter One . Teaching With a Difference

TRAVELING SCIENCE PROGRAM

THIS SERVICE LEARNING PROJECT CHALLENGED ELEMENTARY SCHOOL GIRLS

(AND BOYS) WITH HANDS-ON SCIENCE ACTIVITIES UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF

UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE STUDENTS, WHO SERVED AS ROLE MODELS

FOR THE YOUNGER CHILDREN AND HELPED DESIGN THE SCIENCE

CURRICULUM—A WORTHWHILE OUTLET FOR THEIR TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE. 

The project provided science activities in extracurricular settings (in

elementary science clubs, before- and after-school programs, and

community-based science programs, including some in neighborhood

centers serving low-income and minority children). Older children served

as peer leaders (”scientist assistants”) in these activities. Parents were

invited to evening activities.

Three curriculum design teams developed curriculum packets—on edible

chemistry (grades K–1), brain power (grades 2–3), and genetics (grades

4–6). Each curriculum packet contained some exploratory activities that

could be completed within 15 minutes or less, some that took 30 to 60

minutes, and some that could be completed at home, with or without

parental involvement.

Under ”brain power,” for example, one class activity might be to design

helmets (made of packing materials) for raw eggs, which the students

would ”crash test” by rolling the helmeted eggs off a cardboard ramp.

(The most obvious application of this exercise is to stress the importance

of wearing a helmet during sports activities.) At home, the students

might train a goldfish to swim to the surface for food.

Each design team consisted of one female scientist or engineer (faculty,

staff, or postdoctoral), one woman from the Iowa science center’s staff,

and four to six female undergraduate and graduate students. Because of

the emphasis on gender-equitable science, team members attended 

90-minute training workshops on gender-equitable teaching, cooperative

teaching and learning, and inquiry-based learning. Under the team model

of service learning, the undergraduate and graduate students benefited

from goal-oriented mentoring and developed teaching skills in a supportive

environment.

Traveling

science programs

001

Tsp

Science horizons

for Girl Scouts

001

SCIENCE HORIZONS FOR GIRL SCOUTS Sgs THE MONTSHIRE MUSEUM OF SCIENCE, IN COLLABORATION WITH THE SWIFT WATER COUNCIL

OF THE GIRL SCOUTS AND THE WOMEN IN SCIENCE PROJECT OF DARTMOUTH COLLEGE,

DEVELOPED A PILOT PROGRAM TO ENCOURAGE GIRLS IN GRADES 7–9 TO KEEP STUDYING MATH

AND SCIENCE BY BOOSTING THEIR CONFIDENCE AND INTEREST IN THE SUBJECTS. ROUGHLY 80

CADETTE SCOUTS FROM NEW HAMPSHIRE AND VERMONT PARTICIPATED IN THE PILOT PROGRAM.

The project provided for hands-on science education at the Montshire Museum of Science; visits to science labs at Dartmouth College, organized by

”Women in Science” undergraduates conducting research projects there; and community-based science activities (developed by the Scouts, with help

from the university students and museum staff). The project also conducted a workshop on gender equity issues for the Scout leaders and for teachers

from the girls’ home schools.

CODES: U, E, I, PD UNIVERSITY OF IOWA

BEVERLY MARSHALL-GOODELL (BEV-MGOODELL@UIOWA.EDU), 

ANDREA M. ZARDETTO SMITH

HRD 96-31243 (ONE-YEAR GRANT)

PARTNERS: WISE, AWS, IOWA CITY COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT, IOWA CITY AREA

SCIENCE CENTER, INC., CREIGHTON UNIVERSITY

KEYWORDS: EDUCATION PROGRAM, HANDS-ON ROLE MODELS, SCIENCE CLUBS, AFTER-SCHOOL, COMMUNITY-BASED, SERVICE LEARNING, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS, COOPERATIVE LEARNING, INQUIRY-BASED

CODES: M, I, PD MONTSHIRE MUSEUM OF SCIENCE

GREGORY F. DEFRANCIS (GREG.DEFRANCIS@MONTSHIRE.ORG), JOY M. WALLACE, SALLY P. CRATEAU, ELIZABETH CLAUD

HRD 94-50593 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) www.vtc.vsc.edu/wit/links.htm#girls

PARTNERS: SWIFT WATER COUNCIL OF THE GIRL SCOUTS; WOMEN IN SCIENCE PROJECT, DARTMOUTH COLLEGE

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, HANDS-ON, SELF-CONFIDENCE, MUSEUM, GIRL SCOUTS, INFORMAL EDUCATION, ROLE MODELS, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS
1

National Science Foundation Chapter One . Teaching With a Difference

In June, campers, their parents and/or siblings, and the staff boarded

buses for the Center for Science and Industry (COSI), learning about Tech

Trek by video on the way. After icebreakers and a scavenger hunt of

exhibits about communications, the girls built their own crystal radio.

The trip to COSI also launched the Tech Trek camps held in July at WGTE’s

studios. 

Each girl served as a member of a news team that was assigned a topic

for a video report. They toured WGTE’s TV and FM studios, learning about

master control, production control, and so on, and interviewed their

mentors. Monday they learned how to produce for television, experimented with the cameras, and wrote scripts and storyboards for their

video reports. Tuesday they videotaped at the Toledo Zoo, with mentors

there to review tapes and offer suggestions for second takes. Wednesday

and Thursday they edited their reports and produced promotional

materials for their programs (a print ad, a radio promo, and a video 

tune-in spot). At-home activities guided the girls through a critical look

at TV programming and advertising. Along the way they kept track of

expenses based on a WGTE rate card.

Thursday afternoon they explored the science behind broadcast

technologies, moving through a series of hands-on activities that

demonstrated persistence of vision, the principles of electricity, how

sound and light travel, how TV screens show color, and how electromagnetic waves play a role in communications. Friday they worked with

the studio cameras and production switcher to put the video reports

together into a news program, complete with studio hosts. 

There was a statistically significant improvement in the participating Girl

Scouts’ attitudes toward science; many of them reported changing their

goals to careers in science and technology. They also became more skilled

at using electronic equipment. WGTE offered grants of $250 to

organizations interested in replicating some aspect of Tech Trek in their

community. By July 1997, it had formed 45 partnerships with 116

organizations.

Tech trek

001

Ttr

Mountaineering 

after-school and 

summer camps

001

Mas MOUNTAINEERING AFTER-SCHOOL AND SUMMER CAMPS

IMPORTANT ACADEMIC DECISIONS ARE MADE DURING THE MIDDLE

SCHOOL YEARS, WHEN GIRLS ARE MOST VULNERABLE TO LARGE DROPS IN

SELF-ESTEEM, FEEL LESS CONFIDENT ABOUT THEIR ABILITY TO DO SCIENCE

AND TECHNOLOGY, FACE MORE INTENSE PRESSURES NOT TO COMPETE WITH

THE BOYS, AND BEGIN TO AVOID COURSES IN COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY.

To learn what type and degree of contact is most effective in increasing middle school girls’ understanding of, and interest in, STEM, Washington

State University will offer three types of informal science activities, each providing 30 hours of instruction:

• After-school camps that meet at a middle school two days a week for eight weeks

• Weeklong nonresidential summer camps that meet six hours a day on an urban university campus

• A week-long residential summer camp held at WSU’s Camp Roger Larson, a residential research and teaching facility located on Lake Coeur 

d’Alene, Idaho

CODES: M, I, WGTE TV-FM

MARY RICHTER (MARY_RICHTER@WGTE.PBS.ORG)

HRD 94-53076 (THREE-YEAR GRANT) www.wgte.org

PARTNERS: MAUMEE VALLEY GIRL SCOUT COUNCIL (CADETTE GIRL SCOUTS), SCIMATEC (UNIVERSITY OF TOLEDO), AND COSI

PRODUCTS: TECH TREK HOW TO HANDBOOK, CURRICULUM GUIDE, AND A

VIDEOCONFERENCE VIDEOCASSETTE

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, TELEVISION, GIRL SCOUTS, SUMMER CAMP, HANDS-ON, MENTORING, BROADCASTING, VIDEOS, CAREER AWARENESS

TECH TREK

TECH TREK USED THE TECHNICAL AND COMMUNICATIONS EXPERTISE OF PUBLIC TELEVISION

TO DESIGN, DEVELOP, TEST, AND EVALUATE A MODEL PROGRAM TO ENCOURAGE MIDDLE

SCHOOL GIRLS TO PURSUE CAREERS IN STEM. IN WEEKLONG SUMMER CAMPS FOR GIRL

SCOUTS, WGTE’S RADIO AND TELEVISION STATIONS PROVIDED ENGAGING, COLLABORATIVE,

HANDS-ON LEARNING ACTIVITIES THAT INCREASED THE GIRLS SCIENTIFIC LITERACY AS THEY

EXPLORED SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY OPPORTUNITIES IN BROADCAST COMMUNICATIONS. A

TOTAL OF 50 SCOUTS AND 10 SCOUT LEADERS ATTENDED TWO ONE-WEEK SESSIONS. 
National Science Foundation

16

Chapter One . Teaching With a Difference

Sisters in

sport science

001

Sis

The project’s mountaineering theme is appropriate in the Pacific

Northwest, where outdoor activities are highly visible and strongly

encouraged. Moreover, mountaineering integrates math, physics,

physiology, communications, materials science, geology, environmental

science, and computer technology.

Students will learn about the types of materials used for ropes, tents,

packs, and other equipment; about why outdoor equipment is designed

the way it is and what it took to develop those designs; about the use of

computers in engineering design, GIS applications, and so on; about the

formation and erosion of Mt. Rainier and its context within the Pacific

Rim of Fire; about dehydration techniques and foods appropriate for

outdoor activities; about physiological responses before and after a rock

climb (with and without full backpacks); about basic first-aid skills and

water safety; and so on. They will take a field trip to Wild Walls, a

certified indoor climbing gym, for a climbing experience.

Experiential learning supports the learning styles of young women.

Expeditions are highly interdependent, requiring teamwork and group

problem solving—from route choice, selection of equipment, physical

conditioning, food selection, and first aid preparation to actual route

finding. Camps will be taught by a certified teacher, helped by local

outdoors experts, with support from women science professionals—who

will provide six months of electronic mentoring support after the camp

experience. 

Evaluators will try to learn whether or not the mode of delivering content

material, combined with a strong mentoring program, affects the girls’

disposition toward STEM courses and careers. 

SISTERS IN SPORT SCIENCE

EVERY DAY, GIRLS LEARN HOW TO RIDE A BIKE, THROW A BALL, OR JUMP ROPE IN AN UNTHREATENING, UNCOMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENT, UNAWARE OF THE MATHEMATICAL AND SCIENTIFIC

PRINCIPLES EMBEDDED IN THESE ACTIVITIES. IN THE CLASSROOM, THEY LEARN PRINCIPLES

UNRELATED TO THEIR EVERYDAY EXPERIENCES—OR THEY MAY LEARN ABOUT THE TRAJECTORY

OF A GOLF BALL WITHOUT CONNECTING THAT PRINCIPLE TO THE PRACTICE OF HITTING A GOLF

BALL. USING SPORTS AS AN ENTRÉE TO SCIENCE, THIS THREE-YEAR INTERVENTION AIMS TO HELP

SIXTH, SEVENTH, AND EIGHTH GRADE GIRLS EMBRACE MATH AND SCIENCE PRINCIPLES THROUGH

A CONNECTION WITH SPORTS. SPORTS ALSO TEACH HOW TO COMPETE, HOW TO PERFECT

STRATEGIES FOR OVERCOMING OBSTACLES, AND HOW TO DEVELOP TRUST, RAPPORT, TOLERANCE,

PATIENCE, AND PERSISTENCE.

The project expects to involve 540 girls from six Philadelphia middle schools (as well as teachers, college students, minority athletes, and mentors)

in after-school programs, Saturday academies, special sport day events, academic and summer internships, and career connections. The first year, 126

girls participated regularly, but some weeks 300 come. 

Forty curriculum activities driven by science and math standards are presented after school through five team sports (volleyball, basketball, soccer,

hockey, and softball) and five individual sports (fencing, golf, tennis, and track—running and throwing), in five-week rotations. (The girls love fencing,

because smaller girls can beat larger ones; they want the science and math behind it, to get better. The project quickly realized it should also have

included jump rope, an important activity in the inner city.) Roughly an hour is spent on sport mechanics and an hour on the science and math behind

them. After spending time on how to hit a tennis ball, the girls might spend the rest of the time on where the ball travels (trajectory, motion, and

force). In basketball, they might study the math and science of the rebound effect. 

After-school activities take place one afternoon a week, in 10-week sessions. A teacher from each school and two graduate students co-facilitate,

supported by undergraduate education students and minority athletes. At the end of a sport’s rotation, families join the girls in a special sport day

event, where the girls explain the principles involved.

CODES: M, I, U WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY, PULLMAN

SYLVIA A. OLIVER (OLIVERS@WSU.EDU), MICHAEL S. TREVISIAN

HRD 00-86440 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNER: WSU SPOKANE’S CITY LAB

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, SELF-CONFIDENCE, AFTER-SCHOOL, SUMMER CAMP, INFORMAL EDUCATION, MOUNTAINEERING, FIELD TRIPS, EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING, TEAMWORK APPROACH, MENTORING
1

National Science Foundation Chapter One . Teaching With a Difference

At the Saturday academies, a graduate student and a teacher from each school co-facilitate (supported by undergraduate education students and

minority athletes) four-hour sessions: an hour on sport mechanics and three hours on the principles involved. The second year, the girls spend more

time on the science and math—including time doing computer simulations. Parent volunteers help at after-school and Saturday activities.

The girls also work on a research project that interests them, seeing their mentor once a week and keeping in touch with them online. Mentors are paid

to participate, to help cover the cost of public transportation, meals, and so on. (It’s important to select mentors with access to public transportation.) 

On a competitive basis, 20 percent of the girls (45 to 50) are awarded summer internships to participate in the sport science career camp. There they

revisit sport science and math, explore career connections, and conduct

research on a sport (exploring, for example, how the speed of runners has

increased greatly over time—although one girl might explore the

biochemistry of it and another the technology that led to the increase in

speed). The girls are partnered electronically with a scientist in the field of

their choice and conduct an experiment to test their hypothesis. They get

service credit at their school for participating in the camp.

Shampoos etc!

001

Sh!

Soon 24 girls from sixth to eighth grade arrive, fill out questionnaires,

and examine the equipment with curious skepticism. Half an hour later

the room is buzzing with energy as the girls, four to a table, discuss how

to measure various ingredients, who gets to use the cool pumps, pipettes,

and cylinders to do the measuring (they quickly work out taking turns),

what the various ingredients are (they read the explanations on the

ingredients list), and why they have to take safety precautions, such as

wearing gloves and goggles. 

Two hours later, the groups come together and discuss their results. The

groups have used the same ingredients but in varying amounts, testing

their products to find out which shampoo cleans better, is more viscous,

has a better pH balance. From this discussion, they hypothesize about

what combination makes the best product. 

Then they’re pouncing on “Jeopardy!”-like buzzers, vying with one

another to answer questions such as ”What chemical is used to thicken

shampoo?” and ”What do you use to measure small volumes?” Finally, the

room fills with laughter and chatter as each girl chooses and mixes in

scent and color, then designs a label to personalize her product. These

girls have spent all of Saturday morning doing science and loving every

minute of it.

Shampoos Etc! is a project designed to spark middle-school girls’ interest

in science through the formulation of personal care products. In an area

where few girls take chemistry and even fewer take physics, biochemist

Anna Tan-Wilson wanted to provide performance-based science lessons that

teach concepts in the physical sciences so interesting to girls that they will

be compelled to explore all the sciences, not just the biological sciences

they seem to prefer. The project approaches science teaching from

applications students are familiar with but probably never associate with

the sciences learned in school.

First, Tan-Wilson wanted to isolate girls from boys because when boys and

girls perform science experiments together, boys measure and girls write.

She figured middle school girls would be attracted to a program in which

CODES: M, U, I TEMPLE UNIVERSITY

PENNY L. HAMMRICH (PHAMMRICH@TEMPLE.EDU), TINA S. GREEN, GREER M. RICHARDSON

HRD 00-02073 (THREE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNERS: PHILADELPHIA SCHOOL SYSTEM, TEMPLE COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY AND

ENGINEERING, LASALLE UNIVERSITY, AND BLACK WOMEN IN SPORTS FOUNDATION

KEYWORDS: EDUCATION PROGRAM, SPORTS-BASED, AFTER-SCHOOL, INTERNSHIPS, CAREER AWARENESS, MENTORING, URBAN, INTERVENTION, PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT, RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

SHAMPOOS ETC!

AROUND THE ROOM’S PERIMETER, NUMBERED TABLES HOLD INFORMATION

PACKETS, SCIENTIFIC EQUIPMENT, AND CONTAINERS LABELED ”CITRIC

ACID,” ”COCAMIDE DEA,” ”KATHON,” ”SODIUM CHLORIDE,” AND

”DETERGENT.” AT TABLES FORMING A “U” IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROOM, A

TEACHER WITH A FRIENDLY SMILE WELCOMES STUDENTS TO ”SHAMPOOS

ETC!,” AN INQUIRY-BASED SCIENCE WORKSHOP FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRLS.
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Chapter One . Teaching With a Difference

they could make their own creams, shower gels, shampoos, and hair conditioners. And the possibility of varying the formulas for the products lent itself

naturally to teaching measurement, good lab processes, the process of inquiry, and the testing of hypotheses—which in turn could lead to the study of

concepts in the physical sciences. By becoming familiar with chemical terms and scientific equipment now, the girls would not be put off or intimidated

when they came across them later. After gaining confidence in their lab work, when confronted with a similar project in future they would be able

to plunge right in.

Before each workshop, the girls tour the Lander Company’s personal care products manufacturing facility, which also provides ingredients for the

experiments. Asked to check off properties they might consider when purchasing shampoo, students ticked off far fewer before the activities than

after—when they checked fragrance, their own skin type, brand

name, antibacterial agents, color, detergent action, foaming, and

viscosity.

The project developed a workshop for middle-school teachers on how

to incorporate Shampoos Etc! into classroom science. It emphasized

the formulation of shower gels, renamed “liquid soap” to be more

acceptable to boys. After suggestions from teachers at the workshop

were incorporated, an outreach education specialist went to these

teachers’ classrooms, brought materials and equipment, and stayed to

co-teach. This unit reached more than 500 students.

CODES: M, U, I STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK, BINGHAMPTON

ANNA TAN-WILSON (ANNATAN@BINGHAMPTON.EDU), DALE KETCHAM, CHRISTEEN GNAD, CYNTHIA SCHLAGTER, SUSAN GRANAT, AND ELIZABETH BUTTON

HRD 99-08729 (ONE-YEAR GRANT)

Http://bingweb.binghamton.edu/~annatan/shampoo/

PARTNERS: ROBERTSON MUSEUM AND SCIENCE CENTER, THE LANDER CO.; UNION-ENDICOTT SCHOOL DISTRICT.

ADAPTED WITH PERMISSSION FROM AN ARTICLE BY JANICE ENDRESEN IN THE BINGHAMPTON

ALUMNI JOURNAL.

KEYWORDS: EDUCATION PROGRAM, MUSEUM, INQUIRY-BASED, PERSONAL CARE PRODUCTS, INDUSTRY PARTNERS, INFORMAL EDUCATION, FIELD TRIPS, TEACHER TRAINING, SELF-CONFIDENCE
1

National Science Foundation Chapter One . Teaching With a Difference

FEMME 

continuum

001

FEMME CONTINUUM

CONFIDENCE IS THE VARIABLE THAT CORRELATES MOST STRONGLY WITH ACHIEVEMENT IN

MATH AND SCIENCE, ESPECIALLY FOR GIRLS. TO COUNTERACT WOMEN’S NEGATIVE

fem

FEELINGS ABOUT SCIENCE AND THEIR ROLE IN SCIENCE, HOWARD KIMMEL, HAROLD

DEUTSCHMAN, AND DANA LEVINE (OF THE NEW JERSEY INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY’S

CENTER FOR PRE-COLLEGE PROGRAMS) DESIGNED AND IMPLEMENTED FEMME (FEMALES

IN ENGINEERING, METHODS, MOTIVATION, AND EXPERIENCE). THIS RIGOROUS, INTENSIVE FOUR-WEEK PROGRAM OFFERED POST–NINTH GRADE GIRLS ACTIVITIES IN SCIENCE,

ENGINEERING, MATH, ARCHITECTURE, COMPUTER SCIENCE, AND THE ENVIRONMENT. 

Many intervention programs designed to encourage young women to

enter STEM fields are discontinued after the trial period because they are

no longer innovative or because they have ”done the job.” But NJIT,

building on its success with FEMME, sponsored an Introduction to FEMME

program for high-achieving or high-potential fourth and fifth grade girls

from the greater Newark area. Then, in 1994, it launched the FEMME

Continuum, to give post–fifth and sixth graders (Intro to Femme

alumnae) otherwise unavailable opportunities to sustain their math and

science achievement, self-esteem, self-confidence, and feelings of

competence.

The nonresidential program included five spring workshops, four weeks of

daily summer activities, and a follow-up session in September, with

content developed to encourage inquisitive minds and introduce

contemporary ideas. The summer program provided 60 hours of hands-on

science and math and lab experiences; daily athletic experiences

(including volleyball, swimming, water polo, and tae kwon do) that

encouraged team building and cooperative achievement and challenged

fear of failure; math and science study groups and cooperative learning;

and field trips to places like the Newark Museum, the New Jersey Marine

Science Consortium, the Franklin Institute for Science (in Philadelphia),

the Beuhler Space Center, and Liberty Science Center. 

Whether building rockets and Popsicle-stick houses (problem solving

through teamwork), doing chemistry experiments, or being introduced to

marine life, the students learned about scientific methods and improved

in skills, persistence, and self-sufficiency. After classes in Word and Excel,

the girls prepared a newsletter. They and their parents learned about

college prep courses. 

Of the original 41 participants, 38 completed the project and wanted to

keep participating in NJIT’s Women in Engineering and Technology

initiative—a series of pre-college experiences designed to advance their

academic preparation in STEM. Surveys showed they were more willing to

make the effort to do well in science and math, and their percentage of

correct responses increased on process skills tests.

The program’s most effective component was the holistic, nontraditional

approach to teaching. The most effective tools in motivating girls 10 to 12

were hands-on instructional techniques, a thematic approach to teaching

and learning, and exposure to women who were practicing scientists. But

the girls were also exposed to a college atmosphere and to other students

of diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds and became more

willing to experiment with active learning that involved taking risks. 

In cooperative learning, success does not depend on quick response

time or the loudest voice, but the project team learned an unexpected

lesson—that cooperative learning must be carefully monitored, because

the most outgoing personality in the group tends always to be 

the leader.

CODES: E, M, H, I, U NEW JERSEY INSTITUTE FOR TECHNOLOGY

HOWARD KIMMEL (KIMMEL@ADMIN.NJIT.EDU) HRD 94-50592 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, WORKSHOPS, FIELD TRIPS, COOPERATIVE LEARNING, CAREER AWARENESS, ATHLETICS, MUSEUM, SELF-CONFIDENCE, ACHIEVEMENT, INTERVENTION, HANDS-ON, SUMMER PROGRAM
National Science Foundation

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Chapter One . Teaching With a Difference

Science 

connections

001

Scx SCIENCE CONNECTIONS

THE PLUS CENTER (PROMOTING LEARNING AMONG THE UNDERREPRESENTED IN SCIENCE) AT THE

COLLEGE OF ST. SCHOLASTICA OFFERS WEEKLONG AND MONTHLONG SUMMER SCIENCE PROGRAMS

FOR GIRLS THAT EMPHASIZE GENDER EQUITY AND REGULAR INTERACTION WITH FEMALE ROLE

MODELS IN SCIENCE. BUT THE ENTHUSIASM GIRLS DEVELOP DURING SHORT-TERM ENRICHMENT

PROGRAMS IS RARELY SUSTAINED IN THEIR HOME AND SCHOOL ENVIRONMENTS. THIS IS ESPECIALLY

TRUE IN RURAL COMMUNITIES, WHERE GIRLS HAVE LITTLE EXPOSURE TO FEMALE ROLE MODELS AND

ARE UNLIKELY TO RECEIVE STRONG PARENTAL SUPPORT FOR SCIENTIFIC PURSUITS—AND WHERE

TEACHERS ARE RARELY FAMILIAR WITH COOPERATIVE ACTIVITY-BASED LEARNING AND LACK EVEN

THE RUDIMENTARY SUPPLIES AND EQUIPMENT NEEDED FOR HANDS-ON ACTIVITIES. ONE PURPOSE

OF THE PLUS PROGRAMS IS TO OVERCOME TWO STEREOTYPES: THAT WOMEN CAN’T DO SCIENCE OR, IF

THEY DO, THEY MUST BE NERDS.

Students and parents had rated FAST Camp (a weeklong summer

enrichment camp for sixth and seventh grade girls) highly, and the girls

appeared to be highly motivated to continue math and science studies

after camp. But despite strong encouragement, only eight of 122 FAST

camp graduates actually participated in a follow-up summer enrichment

experience when they reached eighth, ninth, or tenth grade. The single

follow-up session the PLUS Center provided was not enough to counter

the peer pressure and lack of support these students experienced after

their initial summer experience was over. 

To prevent these ”leaks” from the science and math pipeline, 

St. Scholastica involved teachers, families, and scientists in Science

Connections, a model program designed to give girls enrichment

opportunities that would sustain their interest in science during the

impressionable middle-school years. The two-year program let sixth

graders from the summer camp continue to be involved with a peer group

and with role model scientists and activities until they entered the eighth

grade (when the PLUS Center has programs that focus on eighth grade

students). Each year, 25 participants—sixth and seventh grade girls

(from predominantly low- and middle-income rural or minority families)

who had already participated in the weeklong science enrichment

program—participated in a monthly series of Saturday Science workshops

during the school year and a Summer Science weekend.

The PLUS Center has developed a consortium of local educational

institutions and community partners to expand and maintain a pipeline

of youth and family programming for grades 4 through 12 (while

improving teacher training) and to produce systemic reform in STEM

education. Many PLUS programs serve primarily students of color and 

low-income youth, many from rural communities. Survey results indicate

that 76 percent of Plus Center alums have graduated from high school,

63 percent of those graduates have gone on to postsecondary education,

and of those who have declared a major, 68 percent have selected majors

in math and science-related fields. 

CODES: M, U, I THE COLLEGE OF ST. SCHOLASTICA

ANN SIGFORD (IASTAFF@STF0.CSS.EDU) www.css.edu/PLUS

HRD 95-54497 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

PRODUCTS: THE LAKE SUPERIOR GAME, AVAILABLE FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF

MINNESOTA SEA GRANT EXTENSION PROGRAM, COULD PROBABLY BE ADAPTED TO

OTHER BODIES OF WATER.

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, SUPPORT SYSTEM, WORKSHOP, SUMMER CAMP, HANDS-ON, PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT, ROLE MODELS, RURAL, ACTIVITY-BASED, COOPERATIVE LEARNING, TEACHER TRAINING, UNDERPRIVILEGED
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National Science Foundation Chapter One . Teaching With a Difference

Activities at the Saturday Science workshops featured, in turn,

“MacGyver” problem-solving, a FAST Camp reunion, careers,

kitchen science, computers, snow science, chemistry, and

ecology. In the ”kitchen science” workshop, students and

parents made ice cream in ziplock bags, using milk, which

launched a discussion of what the salt does and how recipes

might freeze differently, depending on the ingredients

(variables). In a milk chemistry experiment, they added food

coloring and dish detergent to whole milk at room temperature,

creating a reaction that surprised and baffled both students

and parents. In the ensuing discussion of variables, they

discussed what might happen if the experiment were repeated

with skim milk or buttermilk—and were sent home with an

assignment to repeat the experiment comparing different kinds

of milk products at different temperatures. 

At the end of each workshop, the girls received a science or

math puzzle (from Marilyn Burns’s books and the EQUALS book

Math for Girls) to work on over the month; there was a drawing

for a small prize from among those with correct responses.

Families received two AAAS publications suggesting home

activities, Science Books and Films and Sharing Science With

Children. Teacher and parental involvement were emphasized as

a vital link in the support network for each girl. 

The Summer Science Weekend began with a chemistry magic

show that included experiments with dry ice, helium, indicator

solutions, and so on. Saturday morning problem-solving

activities were followed by ”What’s My Line?” featuring eight

female scientists who brought along one piece of equipment

they use regularly. Saturday afternoon water activities included

the ”Lake Superior Game,” in which a bucket of water that

represents Lake Superior gradually becomes polluted and

depleted as the game progresses, with game cues such as this:

I am a sixth grader. I go fishing with my friend. When we clean

our fish we dump the guts in the lake instead of wrapping them

up and throwing them away. We think this is okay because they

are biodegradable. 

TYPICAL ACTIVITIES

Girls first

001

Grl1

GIRLS FIRST

”WHEN YOU THINK OF SCIENCE YOU THINK OF BORING, BUT IT’S NOT LIKE

THAT,” SAYS A GIRL WHO ONCE DISLIKED SCIENCE. HER ATTITUDE

CHANGED WHEN HER MOTHER TALKED HER INTO JOINING FIRST (FEMALE

INVOLVEMENT IN REAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY). UNDER A THREE-YEAR

GRANT, THE CHABOT SPACE & SCIENCE CENTER SUPPORTED ALL-GIRLS

AFTER-SCHOOL SCIENCE CLUBS IN SEVEN ELEMENTARY AND MIDDLE

SCHOOLS IN THE OAKLAND UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT, LATER ADDING THE

CALIFORNIA SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND. SEVERAL SCHOOLS CONTINUED

HOSTING FIRST CLUBS AFTER GRANT FUNDING ENDED. WHEN GIRLS GET TO

MEET OTHER GIRLS WHO LIKE SCIENCE, THEY SEE THAT IT’S OKAY TO BE

GOOD AT SCIENCE. IN THE COMPANY OF GIRLS WHO SHARE THEIR

INTERESTS, THEY CHALLENGE STEREOTYPES AND HELP MAKE SCIENCE THE

”IN” THING TO DO IN SCHOOL.

FIRST offered girls a safe environment in which to develop the kinds of

spatial and problem-solving skills boys learn by playing with building

blocks or tool sets. It gave them a chance to engage in informal

experiments and to ”get messy like boys do.” And it avoided the deadly

didacticism of traditional science classes. ”We don’t just sit around, take

notes, and memorize,” said a seventh grader. ”We learn things in a fun

way, so we won’t forget.”

Clubs ranging in size from 10 to 35 girls met weekly or biweekly. Within

the group setting, girls in one school played with building blocks,

tinkered with tools, made solar ovens, and observed crayfish under

microscopes. Girls in another school crafted their own airplanes and

learned about variables and velocity. ”If I make a mistake, I don’t feel as

embarrassed,” said a fifth grader. ”I don’t know why.”
National Science Foundation

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Chapter One . Teaching With a Difference

During the transition from elementary to middle school, the opinions of

peers can make it difficult for a girl to take the lead in a science experiment

or to assume her fair share of computer time. The girls-only setting helps

students expand their interests and try new activities without feeling

pressure to conform to stereotypes. ”You can be more yourself because

there’s no one to say, ‘Ha-ha, you did that.’ Girls understand.” 

Such clubs provide a supportive environment in which girls can try out

new roles. Girls who are typically reserved in classrooms flourish in 

science clubs, speaking up and asking questions. And the skills and

confidence developed in clubs often transfer to coed classrooms. After a

session designing and building, third-grade girls at one school returned

to their classroom and began playing in the block corner previously

occupied by boys. Moreover, boys were more likely to seek FIRST girls out

as partners in cooperative activities, valuing the knowledge they brought

to the situation. Field trips—to such places as Slide Ranch, the Berkeley

Botanical Gardens, and the emergency room of a local hospital (to

observe various diagnostic procedures)—helped round out the students’

understanding of science. Although gender equity was important to

FIRST, not all schools pushed the all-girls aspect of it, and boys often

benefited indirectly.

With high expectations and hands-on experience, girls become leaders.

FIRST girls played key roles, planning projects that addressed real local

needs. Students at one elementary school alerted their neighbors to the

dangers of dumping chemicals in storm drains. Students at a middle

school created survival kits for natural disasters. In some schools, the

girls in middle school taught what they learned to girls in elementary

school. Survey results confirm that FIRST increased girls’ confidence. Girls

How many of us have seen these hissing cockroaches and

scorpions, let alone held them? Imagine the challenge visually

impaired students face in trying to observe an insect directly.

Through FIRST, girls at the California School for the Blind got

a chance to touch and learn about certain insects’ skeletal

structures and characteristics. The giant African millipede felt

like ”a walking toothbrush, only better” and the walking stick

from Thailand felt ”kind of like rubber.” This club designed and

planted an organic garden for its adopted animals, including

a desert tortoise, millipede, and dwarf rabbit.

Unable to look through the lens of a microscope or view the

patterns on delicate seashells, students who are visually

impaired have found themselves on the sidelines in science

classes more because of people’s attitudes than because of

their visual impairment. With the right combination of

opportunities and expectations, students who are blind or

visually impaired can participate in hands-on science if their

teachers are resourceful. Under Marcia Vickroy’s leadership, the

science club members did hands-on projects—such as making

body glitter, lip balm, and scented soaps—that introduced

them to chemistry and to valuable lessons about following

directions, measuring, using scientific equipment, and making

careful observations. 

HELPING THE VISUALLY IMPAIRED
2

National Science Foundation Chapter One . Teaching With a Difference

in FIRST were more likely than other girls, and boys, to agree with the

statement ”I am good at science.”

Visiting scientists, who also served as role models, also helped girls and

their families make informed choices about school and career options.

Ask one of the girls in FIRST what she’d like to be when she grows up and

you are likely to hear about a career in science. 

Benefits extended beyond the science clubs. FIRST teachers received

books and science equipment that enriched classroom libraries and

science and technology lessons—making it possible for some students

to use a microscope for the first time. A summer institute for teachers

conducted by the Community for Resources in Science provided training

in gender equity and science inquiry, helping FIRST teachers engage

every student in class activities and discussions. Teachers met regularly

throughout the project to exchange ideas and resources. ”This is where we

review, reflect, and plan,” said one teacher. ”We learn about gender

equity issues and gender neutral strategies, try out new science activities,

and network with our colleagues. If there is one thing I would keep going

even when this project is no longer funded, it would be these meetings.”

Before- and after-school programs for middle and high school girls lie

at the heart of Techbridge. A self-selected team of 17 teachers hosts

Techhbridge programs serving about 170 students (and their families)

at five Oakland middle schools and four high schools, with a project

under way for the Fremont School for the Blind. Teachers welcome

applications from girls who like math and science, are curious by

nature, or see themselves as leaders. 

Teachers can see the impact such clubs have on young girls’ lives,

especially in middle school, where it’s not cool to be smart. The club

sponsors create a comfortable space where girls can talk about report

cards and academic achievement, with no fear of being teased, and can

encourage each other to succeed. 

Techbridge classes were expected to meet once every week or two, but

several schools met more regularly or added lunchtime sessions to

accommodate students who took school buses home. One school

added a class that meets an hour before school and is fully enrolled,

with two dozen girls who have had more than 150 lessons. At one

school, half the girls enrolled show up even for a Friday afternoon

session, hardly the most popular time to be at school. One reason

some girls attend is that there is no alternative after-school activity

that is both physically and socially safe. After-school programs like

Techbridge also give girls a chance to connect with caring teachers,

which is difficult in classrooms where teachers have 150+ students 

a day.

Techbridge

001

Tkb

CODES: M, E, I CHABOT SPACE AND SCIENCE CENTER

ETTA HEBER (EHEBER@CHABOTSPACE.ORG), DORIS ASH, JANE BOWYER, MARGARET

HAUBAN, DALE E. KOISTENEN, JANE NICHOLSON, AND LINDA KEKELIS

HRD 95-55807 (THREE-YEAR GRANT) 

www.chabotspace.org/visit/programs/first.asp

PARTNERS: FRUITVALE, SEQUOIA, JOHN SWETT, THORNHILL ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS AND

CLAREMONT, BRET HARTE, AND MONTERA MIDDLE SCHOOLS IN OAKLAND UNIFIED

SCHOOL DISTRICT; CALIFORNIA SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND (IN FREMONT) AWIS (EAST

BAY CHAPTER).

PRODUCTS: GIRLS FIRST: A GUIDE TO STARTING SCIENCE CLUBS FOR GIRLS BY LINDA

KEKELIS AND ETTA HEBER.

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, HANDS-ON, FIELD TRIPS, ROLE MODELS, AFTER-SCHOOL, SCIENCE CLUBS, SPATIAL SKILLS, PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS SELF-CONFIDENCE, CAREER

AWARENESS, PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT, GENDER QUITY AWARENESS

TECHBRIDGE

WITH TOOLS OR TECHNOLOGY, MANY WOMEN EXPERIENCE APPREHENSION INSTEAD OF

JUST JUMPING IN AND GIVING THEM A TRY, AND IT DOESN’T HELP THAT MOST COMPUTER

GAMES AND COURSE OFFERINGS ARE DESIGNED FOR BOYS. BUT TECHBRIDGE, A 

THREE-YEAR PROJECT TARGETED AT JUNIOR AND SENIOR HIGH GIRLS, IS DEMONSTRATING

THAT GIRLS CAN BE INTERESTED IN TECHNOLOGY WHEN A PROGRAM INCLUDES

• ACTIVITIES THAT DEMYSTIFY TECHNOLOGY

• ACTIVITIES THAT BUILD BOTH SKILLS AND CONFIDENCE IN HANDLING TECHNOLOGY

• A SAFE PLACE TO LEARN AND WORK WITH COMPUTERS

• PROJECTS THAT ADDRESS GIRLS’ REAL NEEDS AND INTERESTS

• TASKS THAT ARE CHALLENGING—BUT NOT TOO CHALLENGING. 
National Science Foundation

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Chapter One . Teaching With a Difference

Learning is project-based. Lessons on hardware helped demystify technology for the girls, who are given a chance to take

computers apart and learn the names and functions of hardware components. This is the first time many girls have ever had a

chance to tinker and use tools. In some classes, as a follow-up lesson girls are asked to reassemble components and to install

additional memory in their computers. Girls arrived in one class to find that the computers, hard drives, and mouses had been

disconnected, and that it was up to them to figure out how to get their computers working.

Girls in urban settings where access to technology is limited, especially in middle schools, greatly benefit from access to

computers. Some girls don’t have computers in their homes or have inadequate equipment and software. An enrichment program

like Techbridge gives them time to learn and explore computers and the various applications available. Multimedia projects

often capture the interest of girls not already interested in computers. 

Many program activities are based on ideas the girls proposed, such as designing school yearbooks or creating a girls’

magazine—activities that sustain students’ interest for months, allowing girls with varying skills and interests to work together

and bridging cultural divisions. Girls were free to select the content, themes for which ranged from Asian Pride to Barbie and

Ken to Techbridge. 

A special-education student who struggled with academic subjects in the regular classroom successfully worked her way through

a tutorial for creating a website, with the teacher referring other students to her as ”the expert.” Without Techbridge, such a

success would have been impossible, because academic skills are gatekeepers to computer course electives at her middle school.

Such successes can turn around girls’ behavior and attitudes. That Techbridge is for girls only is critical for the ease with which

girls try new activities. 

Field trips and summer programs are social learning experiences. Girls participating in the summer Media Academy come to

the Chabot Science Center for a week, working six hours a day to learn the ins and outs of digital video production. Many of

them say that making the videos doesn’t feel like work at all. That’s exactly the message Techbridge tries to get across: that

being involved in technology doesn’t mean sitting in front of the computer without friends—that you can have a good time with

it. A summer program will introduce girls to geographic information systems (GIS) and to art and technology projects through

which they learn programming skills. Field trips to museums like the Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose offer hands-on

learning but are very hard to schedule during the regular school day in middle school and high school. Often scheduled on the

weekend, they require that teachers give their personal time. 

Technology is more than computers. Girls learned to use power tools in the school’s woodshop, built phones and called home

on them, and made electronic products from kits. On starting to assemble AM–FM robots, the girls in one group looked first at

the kit instructions and then at the teacher, expecting her to tell them what to do—they had little patience for reading or

following directions. But the following week they came in with all the radios playing and were astounded that they had done

it. And then it got easier. By the spring, they were turning to each other for help putting together other kits, proud to be

figuring things out for themselves. 

Teachers learned the importance of selecting the right level of challenge. With radio kits that required considerable soldering, not

a single kit worked at one school, while girls at another school proudly played music on their simpler, solderless 

radio kits.

How do the girls fare back in a coed classroom? With the skills and confidence gained in the after-school program, where they

feel safe and proficient, the girls are often leaders back in the classroom, and the boys sometimes ask them how to do something.

Some girls even become advocates, challenging teachers and asking them, for example, why they call more on boys than on

girls. Meanwhile, boys, seeing what is going on, often wish for such a Techbridge of their own. 

Role models are important. Girls who can identify with someone in a technical field find it easier to picture themselves doing

similar work one day. Women working in STEM fields come to the clubs to work on projects with the girls and to discuss the

paths they took that led to their current positions. Finding role models was easy, but considerable planning, support, and 
2

National Science Foundation Chapter One . Teaching With a Difference

follow-up are required to make their involvement smooth and successful. The

Oakland-based Community Resources for Science helps train the role

models, giving them ideas for hands-on activities and tips for speaking to

students in a way that doesn’t come across as lecturing. Techbridge is

developing guidelines to make the process more meaningful for everyone.

Teachers need support. Some benefits extend to students (including

boys) not participating in the programs, Teachers learned, for example the

importance of supporting problem-solving and encouraging girls to

persevere instead of rescuing them. Teachers involved in Techbridge attend

monthly meetings at the Chabot Center to share resources, swap ideas,

and hear speakers. Teachers find the meetings useful for networking

across groups and learning what worked and what didn’t. Many of them

need technological training and support and want more hands-on lessons

that demonstrate real projects and activities. Several teachers reported

that their involvement in Techbridge provided much-needed resources

and role models, a group of motivated students, freedom to try new

projects, respite from stress, and the infrequent opportunity to get

feedback about their teaching (from Techbridge staff).

Techbridge researchers will interview 30 girls and their parents to find

out what role gender and culture play in technology and to learn how

they might improve the Techbridge program. The program will know it

has succeeded if the programs last beyond the three years of NSF 

support, if the host schools take over support for the prorgram (as

happened in six of the seven schools that hosted the FIRST program),

or if the business community provides support at specific sites.

Progress is being made, but much work must be done at the family level,

because so many things about gender roles are unconscious. Parents want

to do the right thing, and if given information and resources make the right

choices. But many parents are unaware of the reasons girls are underrepresented in science and technology.

CODES: M, H, I, PD CHABOT SPACE AND SCIENCE CENTER

ETTA HEBER (EHEBER@CHABOTSPACE.ORG), ELLEN SPERTUS, YOLANDA PEEKS, JOANN HATCHMAN, LINDA KEKELIS

HRD 99-06215 (PLANNING GRANT) AND 00-80386 (THREE-YEAR GRANT)

www.chabotspace.org/visit/programs/techbridge.asp

PARTNERS: OAKLAND UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT, CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY

(HAYWARD), MILLS COLLEGE, LAWRENCE LIVERMORE NATIONAL LABORATORY, AND

COMMUNITY RESOURCES FOR SCIENCE.

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, TECHNOLOGY, SELF-CONFIDENCE, PROJECT-BASED, COMPUTER SKILLS, COMPUTER PROGRAMMING, FIELD TRIPS, SUMMER PROGRAM, HANDS-ON, TEACHER TRAINING, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS, ROLE MODELS
National Science Foundation

26

Chapter One . Teaching With a Difference

The idea was to get adolescent girls interested in science through

astronomy-related activities, including their own research for, and

production of, a new planetarium show and video about women’s contributions to the field. Involving adolescent girls in this creative project

would teach them basic concepts of astronomy, the skills needed to

contribute to science, and how to use computers for research and

WOMEN IN ASTRONOMY

SCIENCE TEACHERS KNOWLEDGEABLE ABOUT ASTRONOMY DEVELOPED THE

IDEA FOR THIS PILOT AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAM FOR MIDDLE AND HIGH

SCHOOL GIRLS. THEY SAW A CHANCE TO COMBINE A MODEST, EXISTING

VOLUNTEER PROGRAM WITH A MORE FULL-FLEDGED PROGRAM SERVING

THE BROADER COMMUNITY. 

Women 

in astronomy

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wia

Girls in science

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Gsi GIRLS IN SCIENCE

THIS CRANBROOK INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE PROJECT GIVES MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRLS AN

OPPORTUNITY TO BUILD THEIR SCIENCE SKILLS AND ENCOURAGES FUTURE TEACHERS TO

LEARN GENDER-FAIR TEACHING PRACTICES. THE PROJECT STARTED WITH INFORMAL

SCIENCE ACTIVITIES AS VEHICLES FOR CHANGING CLASSROOM CLIMATES: WEEKLY AFTERSCHOOL GIRLS-IN-SCIENCE CLUBS (ATTENDED BY 25 TO 30 GIRLS) AND AN ANNUAL

EXPLORATHON—A ONE-DAY EVENT FEATURING HANDS-ON SCIENCE WORKSHOPS LED BY

FEMALE SCIENTISTS. THE PROGRAM THEN TRAINED MORE THAN 60 OAKLAND UNIVERSITY

STUDENT TEACHERS IN GENDER-FAIR BEHAVIORS AND TEACHING STRATEGIES. 

Field supervisors and teaching peers wrote evaluations and videomonitored the student teachers in real classroom environments. The

videotapes allowed the student teachers to see for themselves what

aspects of their classroom demeanor were satisfactory or needed

improving. A coding system helped evaluators track how well teachers

maintained gender and ethnic equity in their own classrooms and the

videotapes were all coded.

To disseminate knowledge about gender-equity issues, the project

created a community-based Girls in Science resource room at the

institute. This room—available to regular and student teachers,

parents, youth leaders, and students—is stocked with books,

papers, training manuals, and information about summer camps,

workshops, science scholarships, and classroom activities that focus

on girls and women.

CODES: PD, M CRANBOOK INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE

JANET JOHNSON, DAWN M. PICKARD, DYANNE M. TRACY

HRD 94-53112 (THREE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNER: OAKLAND UNIVERSITY PRODUCT: A HANDBOOK FOR STUDENT TEACHERS

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, TEACHER TRAINING, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS, RESOURCE CENTER, SCIENCE CLUBS, MUSEUM, INFORMAL EDUCATION, AFTER-SCHOOL, HANDS-ON, WORKSHOPS, VIDEOS
2

National Science Foundation Chapter One . Teaching With a Difference

multimedia production. After eight months, the two teachers and 40 girls

directly trained would provide a model for others who wanted to use

active learning to tell their own stories of scientific achievement.

Project design was influenced by the work of researchers Elizabeth

Cohen and Ann Brown, using especially their strategies for

developing multiple abilities and distributed expertise to improve

intergroup relations, to promote teamwork, and to create an end

product—in this case, the planetarium show and video. (For

example, Cohen’s study of groupwork strongly suggests eliminating

low-status designations for students.) It also built on Brown’s work

on involving students in their own research to improve their

performance and capabilities.

Girls for 

planet earth

GIRLS FOR PLANET EARTH gpe BUILDING ON THE HUGELY SUCCESSFUL WILDLIFE SCIENCE CAREERS PROGRAM, THIS THREEYEAR PROGRAM FROM THE WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY/BRONX ZOO WILL CAPITALIZE ON

YOUNG WOMEN’S ENTHUSIASM FOR ANIMALS, NATURE, AND INFORMAL SCIENCE CENTERS TO

GET THEM INVOLVED IN SCIENCE. IN A WORLD INCREASINGLY ALTERED BY HUMAN ACTIVITY,

WHAT HAPPENS TO THE ENVIRONMENT IS TREMENDOUSLY IMPORTANT TO YOUNG PEOPLE. BY

TACKLING SUCH RELEVANT REAL-WORLD SUBJECTS AS ECOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL

SCIENCE, GIRLS FOR PLANET EARTH HOPES TO INCREASE GIRLS’ PARTICIPATION IN SCIENCE. 

Many women professionals on the WCS and zoo staff are national and

international leaders in their fields, so WCS is in a unique position to

provide

• An annual Earth Summit, introducing 80 girls (aged 14 to 17, in teams 

of two and three) to environmental science, to regional environmental 

issues, and to careers and female role models in environmental science

• A series of service-learning projects through which Earth Summit 

participants will be encouraged to apply what they have learned in 

community-based projects that combine knowledge, service, and 

reflection

• A program of technical assistance to help girls with these projects

• A ”virtual” clubhouse through which girls can communicate with one 

other about the program and environmental issues—and through 

which to showcase (and learn from) model community outreach and 

research projects

The program is expected to reach thousands of girls across the United

States, with the help of its important partner organizations. 

CODES: M, H, I CHABOT SPACE AND SCIENCE CENTER

ETTA HEBER (EHEBER@CHABOTSPACE.ORG), MARAGARET HAUBAN, DALE E. KOISTENEN, JANE NICHOLSON, AND DORIS ASH

HRD 95-53488 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

www.chabotspace.org

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, ASTRONOMY, AFTER-SCHOOL, RESEARCH EXPERIENCE, ROLE MODELS, VIDEO, TEAMWORK APPROACH

CODES: R, H, I WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY

ANNETTE BERKOVITS (ABERKOVITS@WCS.ORG) www.wcs.org

HRD 01-14649 (ONE-YEAR GRANT)

PARTNERS: GIRL SCOUTS OF THE USA, THE NATIONAL 4-H COUNCIL, THE BOYS AND

GIRLS CLUBS OF AMERICA, GIRLS INC., AND THE CHILDREN’S AID SOCIETY

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, FIELD TRIPS, SUPPORT SYSTEM, CONFERENCE, CAREER

AWARENESS, ROLE MODELS, SERVICE-LEARNING, INFORMAL EDUCATION, ECOLOGY, ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE, GIRL SCOUTS, 4-H; GIRLS, INC., PEER GROUPS, REAL-LIFE

APPLICATIONS

001
National Science Foundation

28

Chapter One . Teaching With a Difference

Paula Rayman (of the Radcliffe Public Policy Institute) identified four 

factors that influence whether girls and women are attracted to science:

• Interactivity. The opportunity to play around with science is 

unquestionably important.

• Social relevance. Science needs to be presented in useful, meaningful 

ways, in a social context. Why, for example, is physics important in 

everyday life?

• Software not based on violence or conflict. There is not yet enough 

gender-neutral, life-affirming software.

• Evidence that science is relevant to women’s lives. Parental 

involvement and support is crucial in confirming science’s importance 

to girls’ lives.

Three products useful to educators and parents emerged from the

conference: a video, a resource guide, and an Idea Book, containing

guidance and awareness-raising exercises for educators, guidelines for

evaluating science books for stereotyping and bias, guides to online

resources and software for girls, and hands-on activities for students in

grades 1–8 and grades 9–12. 

GIRLS AND TECHNOLOGY

IN 1995 THE NATIONAL COALITION OF GIRLS’ SCHOOLS SPONSORED A

THREE-DAY CONFERENCE FOR TEACHERS AT WELLESLEY COLLEGE.

TEACHERS ENJOYED WORKSHOPS ON EVERYTHING FROM UNDERSTANDING

SIMPLE MACHINES, TO ROBOTICS, TO BUILDING SOLAR-POWERED MODEL

CARS, TO USING COMPUTERS FOR DATA COLLECTION, SIMULATION, AND

COMMUNICATION. THEY HEARD FROM PRESENTERS KNOWLEDGEABLE

ABOUT CURRENT USES OF TECHNOLOGY IN SCHOOLS, WHY GIRLS STILL

LAG BEHIND IN STEM, AND WHAT EDUCATORS AND PARENTS CAN DO TO

ENCOURAGE GIRLS’ CURIOSITY, CONFIDENCE, AND INVOLVEMENT IN

TECHNOLOGY.

Girls and 

technology

001

gtek

Cultivate your daughter’s interest in how

things work by having her tinker, take things

apart, and put things together. Keep

expectations high. Children are natural scientists

because they are inquisitive. Encourage her to

learn how to repair the loose chain on her

bicycle, program the VCR, take apart a broken

appliance, change a tire. Work with her as she

does these things. 

Engage her in projects that develop spatial

reasoning and analytical skills. Older girls may

enjoy tinkering with a chemistry set or building

a robot from a kit. For younger ones, try some 

at-home science experiments—many books at

your local library include fun activities with 

step-by-step instructions. Better yet, have her

do these things with her girlfriends. 

Create a computer area within your home that

is as accessible to your daughter as it is to

your son. 

TIPS FOR PARENTS AT HOME

CODES: M, H, I THE NATIONAL COALITION OF GIRLS SCHOOLS

MEG M. MOULTON (NCGS@NCGS.ORG), ELIZABETH W. RANSOME, ANN POLLINA, PAULA RAYMAN

HRD 95-52986 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) www.wcs.org

AVAILABLE FROM NCGS’S USEFUL WEBSITE: VIDEO, RESOURCE BOOK, AND GIRLS &

TECHNOLOGY: AN IDEA BOOK FOR PARENTS AND EDUCATORS

KEYWORDS: DISSEMINATION, BEST PRACTICES, ENGAGEMENT, TECHNOLOGY, HANDS-ON, REAL-LIFE APPLICATIONS, PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT, VIDEO, RESOURCE GUIDE, CAREER

AWARENESS, COLLABORATIVE LEARNING, SELF-CONFIDENCE
2

National Science Foundation Chapter One . Teaching With a Difference

Connect math, science, and technology to the real world and real people in their historical, philosophical, and functional contexts. Show

them contributing to the good of the world. 

Choose metaphors that reflect both girls’ and boys’ experiences. Balance the use of words like “master,” ”command,” or “tackle” with words like

”connect,” “choose,” or “embrace.”

Monitor which students are at the computer most often, have their hands on the equipment, and are leading the experiments. Be sure the

girls are as active as the boys. Require equal time on the computer as part of your assignments. Don’t let only the boys act as experts in the 

computer class. 

Brainstorm with students about all the careers that use technology. Help them develop a more inclusive definition of who will need to be

computer literate. Develop a list of people in various occupational niches who use technology, such as architects, fashion designers, teachers, artists,

musicians, choreographers, home design consultants, athletes, business people, and librarians. 

Foster an atmosphere of true collaboration. Many teachers insist that a true group project is one in which no single group member could complete

the project without the group’s help. 

Encourage girls to act as experts. When the teacher has all the answers, students rarely exhibit self-confidence. As students critique their own work

and that of their peers, they begin to see themselves as scientists. The technique of the teacher refusing to act as an expert is a powerful learning

prompt for students. 

Experiment with alternatives to note taking. Girls often get so absorbed in taking down every bit of information that they miss out on discussions.

Set aside some classes where no note taking is allowed, hand out lecture notes ahead of time, or rotate the note-taking responsibility, with notes

shared afterward. 

TIPS FOR TEACHERS

TIPS FOR PARENTS AT SCHOOL

Ask your daughter’s teachers about specific hands-on lessons in math, science, and technology.

Find out what computer programs, materials, and equipment are available for her use and how often

she uses them. If the teacher replies ”not often,” find out why not. 

Talk with your daughter as she plans her class schedule each year.

Monitor her math, science, and computer course choices. Urge her to take more than the minimum

requirements as these fields are often gateway subjects for future career choices. Encourage her to

pursue physical as well as biological sciences. Talk to her teachers about which math and science

courses will help prepare her for the widest variety of career choices. 

Urge your daughter’s school to plan special events with an emphasis on technology and women.

Offer suggestions of local resources and other parents who might have experience in related fields. 

Consult with your daughter’s teachers. Make sure they are aware of the subtle messages that can

steer girls away from computers. 

Suggest that your daughter’s teachers set aside time in the computer room just for girls. Or be

sure that teachers make computer use a mandatory activity for all students.
National Science Foundation

30

Chapter One . Teaching With a Difference

SUMMERSCAPE

SUMMERSCAPE WAS A TWO-WEEK ”TEACHING AND LEARNING” SUMMER CAMP THAT

HELPED AN ETHNICALLY AND SOCIOECONOMICALLY DIVERSE GROUP OF MIDDLE

SCHOOL BOYS AND GIRLS WHO HAD EXPRESSED AN INTEREST IN STEM EXPERIENCE

SUCCESS IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING. GEORGIA TECH'S CENTER FOR EDUCATION

INTEGRATING SCIENCE, MATHEMATICS, AND COMPUTING DESIGNED SUMMERSCAPE.

Summerscape

001

Sum

The camp was also an effective model for professional development in gender equity. Over two years, 32 teachers recruited from Metro Atlanta school

systems learned about SummerScape, the National Science Education standards, inquiry-based science, collaborative learning, and gender equity. They

also administered an attitudinal survey and a ”draw a scientist” activity to their students and observed their SummerScape teammates in class using

a simple coding instrument. The second year, they participated in four days of professional development, covering science content, with an emphasis

on inquiry-based science. Curriculum units were designed to reflect real-world science and engineering problems and to give students hands-on

technological experiences girls rarely encounter (e.g., wiring circuit boards and using soldering irons and electric drills).

Immediately after teacher training, the teachers were able to practice new teaching strategies in the low-risk environment of a two-week summer

science camp. There they team-taught one curriculum unit to two 90-minute classes of about 20 students a day. In daily workshops, they learned

more about gender equity, basic classroom equity issues, learning styles, multiple intelligences, alternative assessment, visual organizers, instructional

models for organizing lessons, and action research.

During Year 1 the curriculum covered Electricity and Circuits (which involved building and racing a solar-powered car), Bottle Biology (activities using

recycled plastic bottles and emphasizing creation-of-life science experiments), and Learning By Design (a design-based engineering curriculum).

During Year 2 the curriculum was Civil Engineering and Earthquakes (rated the most significant and worthwhile by participants, this unit culminated

in students creating balsawood towers and testing their strength with an earthquake simulation machine), Thinking Like Leonardo (designing,

constructing, and testing a large chair of heavy cardboard), and Learning By Design.

To aid in judging teachers’ progress, the project developed a scale of teacher awareness and concern about gender equity, as shown in the following table:

SCALE OF TEACHER AWARENESS AND CONCERN

0 UNAWARE negligible awareness

1 ATTENDER aware of literature, national statistics, what experts say

2 REFLECTOR applies awareness to self, reflects own behavior

3 MODIFIER actively monitors own behavior, changes own classroom practice

4 DIRECTOR actively acts as agent of change in school or district
3

National Science Foundation Chapter One . Teaching With a Difference

At level-1 awareness, teachers were learning about subtle, unconscious

teacher bias based on student gender and were becoming aware of

girl–boy interactions in the classroom. They were learning how

important ”wait time” and alternative assessment are and that genderequitable cooperative groups benefit both girls and boys. They were

also learning new content (basic electrical engineering and how to

solder, for example). At level 2, they were thinking about their own

practices. At level 3, they were making plans to change their classroom

behavior. 

During the school year, teacher participants were asked to conduct a

gender equity workshop for staff at their school, to identify a related

problem or question and investigate it using action research, to return to

Georgia Tech for periodic SummerScape meetings (attended better if the

project provided dinner and a room for teachers’ children), and to submit

a report and modified lesson plans. They were compensated in full if they

completed the school-year component. 

Action research projects—using observation sheets to code faculty–student

interactions—tended to make true believers out of teacher participants.

After even a short period of observation, it was clear that boys typically

benefited more from teacher–student interactions than girls did. These

SummerScape teachers presented their coded results to the teachers

observed, and the total consolidated results at their gender-equity staff

meetings, thereby deflecting criticism from their peers that the national

data don’t apply in their schools. 

It’s worth mentioning that one of these teams consisted of two African

American men from a primarily African American school, who initially

signed up for SummerScape because they weren’t placed in another

program. They came with open minds but were ignorant of the issue. They

went back to school preaching about equity (by gender, race, and

socioeconomic level). Using release days to do their research convinced

them of the issues. Generally, however, faculty in primarily minority schools

resisted gender-equitable approaches because in their schools the highachieving students tended to be African American girls. They believed it was

African American boys who needed best practices, and it was difficult to

convince them that gender-equitable practices benefit all students, not 

just girls.

Strong teachers who teach in lower-risk school settings (schools with

good leadership and supportive parents, where teachers feel valued as

professionals and are not overwhelmed with job responsibilities) were

able to implement the school-year component with little help from the

project staff. Some teachers could have successfully implemented it if the

project had built more hands-on assistance and emotional support into

the program. A certain number of able, concerned teacher participants

paid only lip service to the school-year component or disappeared from

the program altogether. Time was a problem, compounded by the low

priority some schools gave to gender issues. For effective school-year

implementation, it is crucial to have support from the school principal and

not to have the school system ”impose” participation. 

CODES: M, I, PD GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (GEORGIA TECH) RESEARCH CORP.

MARION USSELMAN (MARION.USSELMAN@CEISMC.GATECH.EDU), DONNA WHITING, CAROLYN C. THORSEN

HRD 97-11046 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) www.ceismc.gatech.edu/ceismc/programs/tlcamps/summer.htm

PARTNERS: BOARD OF REGENTS, UNIVERSITY SYSTEM OF GEORGIA; FULTON COUNTY, DEKALB COUNTY, HENRY COUNTY, AND CLAYTON COUNTY SCHOOL SYSTEMS; ATLANTA

PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 

MANY PROJECT ACTIVITIES AND RESOURCES ARE REPRODUCED IN INGEAR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT MANUAL FOR GENDER EQUITY IN COLLEGIATE SCIENCE, ENGINEERING, MATHEMATICS, AND EDUCATION, AVAILABLE ONLINE AT (www.ceismc.gatech.edu/ceismc/programs/ingear/homepg.htm) VIDEOS USED: FAILING AT FAIRNESS (TWO VIDEOS

FROM THE DATELINE TV SHOW), GIRLS CAN! (AAUW), GIRLS IN THE MIDDLE: WORKING TO SUCCEED IN SCHOOL (AAUW), AND GENDER EQUITY IN THE CLASSROOM (SADKER).

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, SUMMER CAMP, TEACHER TRAINING, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS, SELF-CONFIDENCE, ACHIEVEMENT, PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, INQUIRY-BASED, COLLABORATIVE LEARNING, HANDS-ON, ENGINEERING, REAL-LIFE APPLICATIONS, WORKSHOP, GENDER DIFFERENCES, RESEARCH FINDINGS
National Science Foundation

32

Chapter One . Teaching With a Difference

Year 1, the SummerScape classes were either all girls or a mix of boys

and girls, to permit analysis of the differences between class

dynamics and interactions in all-girl and coed classes. More girls than

boys enrolled in the camp but many of the coed classes were

disproportionately boys. Year 2, the project decided it was important

to analyze the dynamics of both all-boy and all-girl groups. During

Year 2, all teachers taught both a single-sex class and a coed class

and were asked to compare the classroom environments in single sex

and coed classes and groupings.

To make notes about interactions in a group setting, teachers coded

behavior using a student–student interaction observation sheet,

recording (for each student) the frequency of social interactions and

of academic interactions and whether they listened to others, waited

until a speaker was finished before speaking, used an appropriate

tone of voice, asked for help from peers, asked for help from the

teacher, shared materials, made suggestions, or initiated solutions.

Coding data (for a ”snapshot” in time) were also collected for on-task

and off-task behavior.

Classroom coding data suggest that both girls and boys feel freer to

interact and ask questions in single-gender groups. Boys especially

interact more in all-boy groups than in coed groups, tending to be more

asocial and off-task in coed than in same-sex groups. (Girls appear to

be a stabilizing influence on classroom behavior.) All-boy groups

tend to be louder and rowdier than coed groups, whether 

on- or off-task, and off-task boys feel freer to be disruptive in all-boy

groups than in coed groups.

Boys are less inclined than girls to ask for help from the teacher while

working on a project, and are more likely to progress or experiment

without consulting the written instructions. These characteristics were

accentuated in the single-sex classrooms to the point that teachers

in the all-girl robot-building class sometimes felt overwhelmed by the

number of girls approaching them for assurance about each step in

the sequence. This slow and deliberate construction style led some

girls to not complete their robots by the end of camp. By contrast,

many of the boys ”completed” the robots without much concern for

the written instructions, ending up with robots that didn’t necessarily

work properly.

In general, teachers loved the all-girl classes, thought the coed ones

were generally fine, and disliked the all-boy classes. Virtually all

students stated that they would prefer a coed class to a singlesex one. 

Girls working in same-sex groups or classes tended to do quiet, calm,

focused work according to written instructions, punctuated by

specific, content-related questions to the teacher. Such behaviors

produce the calm environment some girls prefer and lead to traditionally

”satisfactory” results, which classroom teachers tend to value. But little

high-risk experimentation takes place under these conditions, and in

SummerScape a number of girls became bogged down in the

instructions and in ensuring that each step was done properly.

When boys experiment without consulting the teacher, teachers get less

immediate feedback about student progress during the project and

more boys than girls do not complete the task ”correctly,” leading to

the view that the groups of boys are ”off task.” But this type of 

free-form, independent behavior is central to scientific inquiry and

should have ample sanctioned outlets within the educational system.

Clearly, both single-sex and coed groupings and classes present benefits

and drawbacks. Middle school students report preferring coed groups,

but within coed groups they tend to work primarily with members of

their own sex. Even at that age they recognize that there are benefits

to getting ideas from people who think differently than they do but

also that diversity presents its own challenges.

After observing girls and boys tackle science and engineering

projects, the SummerScape staff had a dual wish: that the boys would

read the instructions a little more often and perhaps show more

concern for the final product, and that the girls would exhibit a bit

more risk-taking behavior by not being so tied to the written

instructions. Single-sex groups accentuated these tendencies and

allowed students to stay within their behavioral comfort zone, leading

to all-girl groups that were highly manageable and well behaved and

to all-boy groups that tried the patience of the teachers.

The project’s conclusion about classroom grouping, based on the

SummerScape experience: Middle school students should be given the

opportunity to work in both balanced coed and single-sex groups.

Single-sex groups allow students to concentrate on content, to be freer

in their interactions with their groupmates, and to work in a more

focused way. The balanced coed group allows them to interact with the

opposite sex (which as adolescents they like to do) and forces them to

deal with a more diverse way of thinking and problem solving. It also

gives students a chance to learn to appreciate what students of the

opposite sex bring to the table (and lets boys learn that girls can

excel in math and science).

The worst grouping tactic is to have unbalanced coed groups with only

one child of a particular sex. A child alone in a class of the opposite

sex is likely to be ignored, interrupted, and generally disregarded by the

other members of the group, gaining none of the advantages of either

of the other types of grouping.

WHICH WORKS BEST: SINGLE-SEX OR COED CLASSES?
3

National Science Foundation Chapter One . Teaching With a Difference

Science is for us

001

Sius

Calculate the 

possibilities

001

Poss

In after-school science clubs meeting once a week for two hours, 60 girls

will engage in scientific inquiry on topics that require them to connect

science to their lives. They will visit two female scientists in their labs

once a month to learn about the women’s research programs and discuss

the girls’ science club projects. As they move through the science club

experience, the girls will map their personal career goals. 

At the same time, teachers, parents, and school counselors will learn

about female-friendly ways of teaching and fostering girls’ interest in

science. The teachers’ component will show teachers how to create a

gender-equitable science classroom and how to compensate for subtle

gender bias in textbooks. Parents and school counselors will be taught to

nurture the interest in science that the science clubs should generate. 

SCIENCE IS FOR US

THIS PROJECT AIMS TO IMPROVE GIRLS’ ATTITUDES TOWARD SCIENCE,

KNOWLEDGE OF SCIENCE CONTENT, AND AWARENESS OF CAREERS IN

SCIENCE. PARTICIPANTS WILL BE SEVENTH, EIGHTH, AND NINTH GRADE

GIRLS FROM TWO OHIO AND GEORGIA SCHOOLS THAT SERVE MANY 

LOW-INCOME FAMILIES. 

The girls were each given a T1-92 graphing calculator and learned how

to use it to solve algebra, geometry, and statistics problems; they learned

to use Lotus software to solve math problems and were introduced to 

e-mail and the Internet. They spent time in a university laboratory and

afterward independently solved a related research problem at their home

school, using the Internet and supported by an onsite resource teacher

and their university mentor.

Through career training and seminars, visits to industrial sites, and panel

discussions, the girls learned about their own values, preferences, and

attitudes toward various STEM careers and opportunities. Through visits

to Eli Lilly and other industrial sites, they learned firsthand what each

STEM career and job opportunity requires and how to meet those

requirements. All of the girls produced reports on careers for their school

peers. 

Participants valued meeting role models and learning what various

careers required. They completed the ”My Vocational Situation” inventory

(Consulting Psychologists Press, Inc.) at the beginning and end of the

project. Possible scores range from 0 to 18; a score above 13 indicates

that the student is fairly clear about her career path. Average scores on

the test rose from 9.47 to 12.09, indicating increasing clarity about what

they might become. 

Although none of the 12 participants who attended a reunion in 2000

had decided on a career in math, several had decided on careers in

science and technology and all were grateful to have participated. 

CALCULATE THE POSSIBILITIES

THIS BALL STATE UNIVERSITY PROJECT FOR INDIANA GIRLS IN GRADES 11

AND 12 EMPHASIZED CAREER AWARENESS AND SKILL DEVELOPMENT IN

STEM. THE FOUR-WEEK RESIDENTIAL PROGRAM ON THE BSU CAMPUS

ENGAGED 24 GIRLS IN CAREER-RELATED ACTIVITIES, TECHNOLOGY

TRAINING, AND COLLABORATIVE WORK WITH A BSU MENTOR IN BIOLOGY,

CHEMISTRY, NUTRITION, PHYSICS, OR PSYCHOLOGY. JAZZERCISE, BOWLING,

SOFTBALL, SWIMMING, AND HIKING ROUNDED OUT THE PROGRAM.

CODES: H, U BALL STATE UNIVERSITY

REBECCA PIERCE (01RLPIERCE@BSUVC.BSU.EDU), AND THE LATE BERNADETTE H. PERHAM

HRD 95-53486 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNER: AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR UNIVERSITY WOMEN

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, CAREER AWARENESS, ROLE MODELS, MENTORING, FIELD

TRIPS, HANDS-ON, GRAPHING CALCULATOR, ATHLETICS, SUMMER PROGRAM, MATH, COMPUTER SKILLS

CODES: M, I OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY RESEARCH FOUNDATION

ANITA ROYCHOUDHURY (ROYCHOA@MUOHIO.EDU), GERRI SUSAN MOSELY-HOWARD

HRD 99-08776 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) AND HRD 01-96449 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, AFTER-SCHOOL, SCIENCE CLUBS, CAREER AWARENESS., UNDERPRIVILEGED, FIELD TRIPS, REAL-LIFE APPLICATIONS, ROLE MODELS, PARENTAL

INVOLVEMENT, TEACHER TRAINING, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS
National Science Foundation

34

Chapter One . Teaching With a Difference

Douglass 

project’s precollege program

Dug DOUGLASS PROJECTS PRE-COLLEGE PROGRAM

TO SUPPORT WOMEN IN SCIENCE, MATH, AND ENGINEERING, THE UNDERGRADUATE WOMEN’S

UNIT OF RUTGERS UNIVERSITY ESTABLISHED THE DOUGLASS PROJECT IN 1986. TWO YEARS

LATER, IT LAUNCHED THE DOUGLASS SCIENCE INSTITUTE FOR HIGH SCHOOL WOMEN, BRINGING 46 ”RISING” ELEVENTH GRADE WOMEN FROM NEW JERSEY HIGH SCHOOLS TO DOUGLASS

COLLEGE FOR A SINGLE-SEX RESIDENTIAL EXPERIENCE, HANDS-ON MATH AND SCIENCE LABS,

FIELD TRIPS, AND WORKSHOPS IN MATH AND COMPUTERS. THE PROJECT GAINED RECOGNITION AS A STRATEGY FOR SERVING A DIVERSE GROUP OF WOMEN—HALF THE PARTICIPANTS

WERE WOMEN OF COLOR—WITH A SINGLE INTERVENTION FEATURING STUDENT-CENTERED

ACTIVITIES IN A SINGLE-SEX ENVIRONMENT. IN 1995 DOUGLASS EXPANDED THE PROGRAM TO

A FOUR-YEAR SUMMER RESIDENTIAL PROGRAM STARTING WITH GIRLS ENTERING NINTH

GRADE. 

This NSF grant helped Douglass evaluate and modify the tenth grade

program and develop the first year of the eleventh grade program. The

program for ninth, tenth, and eleventh graders serves roughly 126

students (46 in ninth grade, and 40 each in tenth and eleventh).

Students reside at Douglass College for one week, with seniors 

spending an extra week exploring careers and planning for college and

choice of a major. 

In labs, workshops, and field trips, students explore new horizons in

math, physics, biology, chemistry, computers, engineering, and

environmental and marine sciences. The institute helps them establish

strong peer networks, and the supportive environment nurtures students

intellectually, creatively, and socially. Participants learn about career

options by talking with undergraduates, university faculty, and women

working in the corporate world.

By recruiting average and above-average students from eighth grade

who demonstrate curiosity and an enthusiasm for math and science—

whether or not they have reached their potential—the project hopes to

counteract the practice of reaching only the straight-A students. It aims

to spark potential and nurture young women unsure of their 

capabilities and put them together with other young women with 

similar interests.

Activities provided for parents help them understand why such

intervention programs exist and help them explore ways they can help

their daughters make informed decisions about their education 

and careers. 

CODES: H RUTGERS UNIVERSITY (DOUGLASS COLLEGE), NEW BRUNSWICK

ELLEN F. MAPPEN (EMAPPEN@RCLRUTGERS.EDU), MICHELLE O. ROSYNSKY

HRD 94-50588 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

www.rci.rutgers.edu/~dougproj/dp_precollege_programs.html 

PARTNERS: AT&T FOUNDATION, BELL ATLANTIC-NEW JERSEY, BRISTOL-MYERS SQUIBB, COLGATE-PALMOLIVE COMPANY, E. J.GRASSMAN TRUST, WILLIAM RANDOLPH HEARST

FOUNDATION, HEWLETT-PACKARD CORPORATION, JOHNSON & JOHNSON, JOHNSON &

JOHNSON PHARMACEUTICAL RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT, L.L.C., MERCK INSTITUTE FOR

SCIENCE EDUCATION, PSE&G, THE TURRELL FUND, THE VERIZON FOUNDATION, AND

WYETH. 

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, HANDS-ON, FIELD TRIPS, CAREER AWARENESS, PEER

GROUPS, PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT, INTERVENTION, SUMMER CAMP, ROLE MODELS

001
3

National Science Foundation Chapter One . Teaching With a Difference

The high school years are important because by the end of that time more young women than men have opted out of math and science

studies. From ninth grade on, boys express more positive attitudes toward math and science and more interest in science courses and

careers, while girls take fewer advanced courses. Tenth grade is especially crucial for girls because they have completed their minimum

math and science requirements for high school graduation and are beginning to choose what they will pursue in more depth.

Preliminary results of a longitudinal study begun in 1994 suggest that participants in the multiyear program continue to enroll and

actively participate in their high school math and science courses, have raised their levels of educational expectation and continue to

show high levels of perceived academic ability, maintain their interest in math- and science-related careers, and express more confidence

in their ability to succeed in those careers. A three-year evaluation of the multiyear institute reports that it helped women ”move away

from an interest to a commitment to math and science.” It moved them ”away from the ‘nerd’ image of mathematics and science and

help[ed] them see that they are neither alone nor weird because they are good in math and science.” 

THE CRITICAL HIGH SCHOOL YEARS
National Science Foundation

36

Chapter One . Teaching With a Difference

The Bridge Program. This fast-start program helped empower and teach

survival skills to all women and ethnic minority men interested in math,

engineering, architecture, physics, chemistry, or other science majors in

which women and minorities are underrepresented. For five days,

participants were welcomed, toured campus facilities (including STEM

halls), talked with role models, were given a basic orientation to

computers on campus, and attended study skills workshops in chemistry,

math, and general studies. The Bridge students could go to the director

of the Women in Engineering and Science Program and to older STEM

students for advice. Many minority students were first-generation college

students, so this network of advisers was invaluable as they came to

understand the new environment of science and engineering courses.

Scholarships and financial support were also available.

Tech Star seminars. Seven two-hour computer-training seminars (on the

computer, Word, the Internet, Mathematica, Excel, PowerPoint, and Web

pages) were offered to improve students’ computer skills and confidence.

Students participated in three or four group projects and got detailed

references on each topic. The project also prepared information on how

to train personnel to facilitate Tech Star seminars. 

During the Bridge program, participation and enthusiasm were high. Once

the semester began and time was short, participation in the freestanding Tech Star seminars dropped dramatically, but four of the 

seminars were used as labs for the Women, Science, and Culture course,

where enthusiasm for the seminars again ran high. 

Innovation workshops. These workshops for STEM faculty and teaching

assistants were designed to encourage more equitable and inclusive

teaching, curricula, and departmental climates. Having learned the

reasons for academic attrition of women and ethnic minorities, the

faculty learned about strategies to reduce attrition, including collaborative

learning groups, describing the work of female and ethnic scientists,

relating class work to real-world problems, and recognizing and improving

patterns of classroom interaction. Half-day workshops were offered on

creating a more inclusive STEM climate, on teaching strategies to reach

all learners, and on issues of gender, race, and science. 

Participants stated on pre-workshop survey questionnaires that their

number one priority was to teach students higher order thinking skills,

and that didn’t change. Even before the workshops they were interested

in changing their teaching practices, and they became more receptive to

innovative teaching techniques that they had not listed on their preworkshop survey, including hands-on exploratory projects, in-class writing,

bringing industry speakers into class, doing industry case studies, having

open-ended labs, doing interdisciplinary group projects, holding group

discussions, encouraging student presentations in large lecture classrooms,

using structured teams for projects, and expanding the use of Web

technologies. About 65 percent of the participants were determined to

change their teaching practices, voiced some reservations about being

able to do so, but believed that unbiased communications and role

models or mentoring were important for students.

Course on women, science, and culture. This 15-week course was

designed to lay a foundation of support for first-year female and minority

students’ success and persistence in STEM majors. Participants attended

two 50-minute discussion periods and one three-hour computer lab

weekly. They learned about role models throughout the world who had

been active in STEM and why their numbers were relatively few—how

culture shapes who does science, what types of science are done, and

what methods are used. Enrollment was low, but with enough demand the

course would become permanent. 

Through the pilot course, the university learned that assigning an average 75

pages of reading weekly was too much and that students found it helpful to

be told the relevance of a homework assignment beforehand. Students highly

rated in-class exercises and computer labs (except for students already skilled

in computer use). The course raised the confidence of students who

participated—during that critical first year in college, when self-confidence

in math and science typically declines. In the end, students also found the

workload manageable, mainly because the assignments were predictable. 

Before the pilot course, STEM faculty designing and leading the course’s

case study labs were given a workshop on selecting and developing a case

study of a role model and creating a hands-on lab where students would

be challenged to engage in the scientific process: using the knowledge

they already have, define a problem, gather information, create

hypotheses, design an experiment or generate solutions, predict results,

test, revise theories/predictions, manipulate variables and retest, draw

conclusions, handle lab equipment, and come to understand some of the

underlying concepts or processes. 

PROJECT EFFECT

MOST UNDERGRADUATE ATTRITION FROM STEM OCCURS AT THE END OF THE FIRST YEAR OF COLLEGE OR THE

BEGINNING OF THE SECOND. WITH THIS IN MIND, THE PROGRAM FOR WOMEN AND GIRLS AT WASHINGTON

STATE UNIVERSITY (WSU) DEVELOPED PROJECT EFFECT, WHICH USED SUPPORT, TECHNOLOGY TRAINING, AND

CURRICULUM TO RECRUIT AND RETAIN WOMEN (AND HELP THEM SUCCEED) IN COLLEGE STEM PROGRAMS.

Project EFFECT

001

Effct

CODE: U WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY

SANDRA C. COOPER (SCOOPER@MATH.WSU.EDU), JUDY L. MEUTH, MARSHA L. LOFARO

HRD 97-10713 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) www.sci.wsu.edu/wimse

PARTNER: WSU’S CENTER FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING, STUDENT COMPUTING SERVICES, WOMEN IN MATH, SCIENCE, AND ENGINEERING (WIMSE), AND HONORS PROGRAM. 

PRODUCT: TECH STAR SEMINARS: A SELF-GUIDED APPROACH TO COMPUTER

TECHNOLOGY, ED. CLAUDIA M. PACIONI, 1999

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, ACHIEVEMENT, SEMINARS, MENTORING, RECRUITMENT, RETENTION, COMPUTER SKILLS, SELF-CONFIDENCE, WORKSHOPS, ROLE MODELS, SCHOLAR- SHIPS, TEACHER TRAINING, COLLABORATIVE LEARNING, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS
3

National Science Foundation Chapter One . Teaching With a Difference

Southern Illinois

support network

001

Sisn

In grade school, the idea was to pique girls’ curiosity. In addition to hands-on activities, the NSF grant funded the first two fields trips for Girl Scouts

in grades 4–6. Underwriting the cost of a trip to the St. Louis Science Center, one of the largest science centers in the country, more than doubled

participation.

Expanding Your Horizons (EYH) conferences, sponsored nationwide by the Math Science Network, provide girls in grades 7–9 with a full day of 

hands-on workshops led by women faculty, graduate students, and practicing scientists, including veterinarians, physical therapists, and crime lab

technicians. Participants can choose three workshops. Small-group activities are hands-on lab experiences, not lecture or observation, although at

the 1998 conference parents and educators were allowed to observe two of the regular workshops (but not those involving their own daughters). EYH

conferences, held annually, are highly successful activities that cost relatively little but require many volunteer woman-hours. A civil service worker

is employed halftime to manage the enormous amount of paperwork involved in this fully institutionalized activity.

In some ways, the Gateways workshops (1998 and 1999) for girls in high school are extensions of EYH and in some ways they are summer camps.

The workshops are longer and more complex than those in EYH, which means fewer (60 to 70) girls can participate but they work more intensively.

Workshops are led by male and female faculty from SIUC’s colleges of science and engineering and school of medicine. 

WISE summer camps (1991 and 1996) provided two or three dozen high school seniors with hands-on, small group activities. Girls enjoyed meeting new people, hearing about science careers, and learning about the Internet and other new subjects (especially biology and zoology). Girls for

whom the camp was residential were given room, board, and a stipend. This relatively expensive activity was not institutionalized. The advantage of

having mostly girls-only activities is that girls are assured of a hands-on experience they might not get in a mixed-gender classroom. The disadvantage is

that girls-only activities are necessarily limited to extracurricular activities in public schools—and hence by time and money. 

Participants were expected to give a helping hand to younger girls. Parents, teachers, school counselors, and SIUC undergraduate and graduate

assistants were also involved, learning how girls best learn science, what career opportunities are open to women, and what hands-on experiences

they could do with girls. A database of local STEM activities was available to the community through schools, libraries, and community organizations.

The common denominator of all project activities was hands-on experiences in small groups with role models. Project activities demonstrated that

students love to be paid to learn. (Being paid a stipend of $50 to $100 a day reduced the apprehension of students—or their parents—who might

otherwise lose a day of work at a part-time or summer job.) They also love to learn with their peers. Girls who normally sit quietly through classes with

outspoken males or inexperienced teachers—or who find themselves in a culture with few role models and discouraging comments like ”why would

you want to do that?”—find it enormously encouraging to attend workshops surrounded by peers as competent and excited as they are. 

SOUTHERN ILLINOIS SUPPORT NETWORK

SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY AT CARBONDALE (SIUC) LIES AT THE CENTER OF THE 

22-COUNTY REGION SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 64 KNOWN UNOFFICIALLY AS "SOUTHERN

ILLINOIS." SIXTEEN OF THESE COUNTIES ARE MISSISSIPPI DELTA COUNTIES. THE MAIN

INDUSTRIES IN THIS ECONOMICALLY DEPRESSED RURAL REGION ARE FARMING AND COAL

MINING. MANY RURAL SCHOOLS ARE NOT EQUIPPED TO PROVIDE GOOD SCIENCE 

EDUCATION, ESPECIALLY IN PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY. IT IS NOT UNUSUAL FOR 

TEACHERS ASSIGNED TO TEACH MATH, PHYSICS, AND CHEMISTRY TO BE UNTRAINED IN

THESE AREAS. WITH SUPPORT FROM MANY PARTNERS, THIS PROJECT PROVIDED A RANGE

OF EXPERIENCES FOR GIRLS IN THE AREA, FROM GRADE 4 ON, LEADING SUCCESSIVELY TO

MORE INTENSE EXPERIENCES AND MASTERY AS THE GIRLS MOVE TOWARD COLLEGE.

CODES: E, M, H, U, I SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY AT CARBONDALE

SANDRA L. SHEA (SSHEA@SIUMED.EDU), MARY H. WRIGHT, FRANCES J. HARACKIEWICZ

www.scu.edu/SCU/Projects/NSFWorkshop99/html/wright.html HRD 94-53099 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNERS: WISE; SOUTHERN ILLINOIS SCIENCE, ENGINEERING AND MATH (SISEM) WOMEN AND GIRLS SUPPORT NETWORK; SHAGBARK COUNCIL OF THE GIRL SCOUTS; ST. LOUIS

SCIENCE CENTER; CARBONDALE SCIENCE CENTER; SIUC’S UNIVERSITY WOMEN’S PROFESSIONAL ADVANCEMENT, SCHOOL OF MEDICINE, COLLEGE OF SCIENCE, AND COLLEGE OF

ENGINEERING; MATH SCIENCE NETWORK

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, RURAL, UNDERPRIVILEGED, HANDS-ON, ROLE MODELS, INTERNSHIPS, PEER GROUPS, WORKSHOPS, FIELD TRIPS, CONFERENCES, SUMMER CAMPS, CAREER

AWARENESS, PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT, TEACHER TRAINING
PROJECTS IN THIS CHAPTER ILLUSTRATE ANOTHER KIND OF “INTERVENTION” AND INNOVATION IN THE EDUCATIONAL SETTING; THEY

HIGHLIGHT HOW EDUCATORS CAN CREATE A SOCIAL SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR STUDENTS IN ORDER TO ENCOURAGE THEIR ENGAGEMENT OF

SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS. WE KNOW THAT EVEN NOW PARENTS, TEACHERS, COUNSELORS, AND OTHER ADULTS MAY THEMSELVES BE

UNCOMFORTABLE WITH SCIENCE AND PERSONALLY UNAWARE OF SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS AS PROFESSIONALS. THERE MAY BE NEGATIVE MESSAGES FROM FELLOW STUDENTS (“DON’T BE SO NERDY”), FROM PARENTS (“I WAS NEVER GOOD IN MATH”), FROM COUNSELORS

(“GIRLS DON’T NEED VERY MUCH MATH”), AND EVEN TEACHERS (“IT IS HARD”).

WE HAVE LEARNED THAT EXPOSURE TO ROLE MODELS—ESPECIALLY “PEOPLE LIKE YOU”—HELPS STUDENTS IDENTIFY WITH A PROFESSION. EVEN BETTER, A MENTOR CAN OFFER A VOICE THAT IS PERSONAL AND INVITING. A MENTOR OFFERS INFORMATION AND FACTS THAT

DISPEL STEREOTYPES AND NEGATIVE IMPRESSIONS AND PERSONALIZES THE ENCOUNTER WITH UNFAMILIAR TERRITORY. MENTORS CAN

BE “NEAR-PEERS”—OTHER STUDENTS WHO ARE AHEAD IN CONFIDENCE AND SKILLS, OR JUST IN AGE AND MATURITY, OR ADULTS (PARENTS, COUNSELORS, TEACHERS, VOLUNTEERS).

IN MANY, MANY CASES, PART OF THE PROJECT AIMED TO BUILD A COMMUNITY AROUND THE STUDENTS, TRAINING EVERYONE IN NEW

APPROACHES TO INCLUSIVE EDUCATION, IN AWARENESS OF TRADITIONAL BARRIERS, AND IN KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD PRACTICES. IN FACT,

IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO CHANGE THE WAY SCIENCE AND MATH ARE TAUGHT AND TO CHANGE THE SOCIAL NETWORKS WITHOUT CHANGING

THE PEOPLE WHO INTERACT WITH AND INFLUENCE CHILDREN. WORKSHOPS FOR TEACHERS, COUNSELORS, PARENTS, MENTORS, AND THE

WIDER STUDENT COMMUNITY ARE A MEANS TO THOSE ENDS. AN INFORMED AND COMMITTED COMMUNITY CAN DISPEL MISCONCEPTIONS

THAT DISCOURAGE OR DRIVE INTELLECTUAL AND SCIENTIFIC INTEREST UNDERGROUND. AMONG MISCONCEPTIONS THAT NEED DISPELLING: 

• GIRLS ARE NOT GOOD AT MATH

• GIRLS WHO ARE SMART WILL NOT BE POPULAR WITH BOYS

• SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS ARE NERDS

• THE WORK OF SCIENCE IS NOT FAMILY-FRIENDLY

• SCIENTISTS ARE OUT OF TOUCH WITH SOCIETY

• THE WORK OF SCIENCE IS TEDIOUS

• SCIENCE IS ONLY FOR THE TOUGH, EXTRAORDINARY STUDENT 

A Welcoming

Learning

Environment

002

Ch

CHAPTER TWO . A WELCOMING LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

SOME REFERENCES

Brainard, Suzanne G., Deborah A. Harkus, May R. St. George. A Curriculum for Training Mentors and Mentees. WEPAN and University of

Washington, 1998.

National Academy of Science. Adviser, Teacher, Role Model, Friend: On Being a Mentor to Students in Science and Engineering. 1992.

Association for Women in Science. A Hand Up: Women Mentoring Women in Science. 1993.

Ginoria, Angela. Warming the Climate for Women in Academic Science. American Association for Colleges and Universities, 1995.

Lazarus, Barbara B., Lisa M. Ritter, Susan A. Ambrose. The Woman’s Guide to Navigating the Ph.D. in Engineering and Science. IEEE

Press, 2001.
National Science Foundation Chapter Two . A Welcoming Learning Environment

3

WAMC will create, produce, air, and distribute the weekly segments and

call-in shows regionally through its 10-station network and nationally

and globally via Public Radio, ABC satellites, and Armed Forces Radio—

with compact disks available for stations not connected by satellite. The

programs can also be heard over the Internet at the WAMC website

<www.wamc.org> or at <www.ThePublicRadioStation.com>. This project

could reach more than 300,000 listeners a month in WAMC’s regional area

alone, plus which “51 Percent” is heard over 125 radio stations nationally.

WAMC is collaborating with an advisory board of professional women

nationally known for their involvement with gender equity and with the

Capital Area School Development Association, a study council affiliated

with the school of education at the State University of New York in Albany. 

• Biographical sketches of women in different science and engineering 

settings and at different stages (including high school and college and 

at the start and peak of their careers).

• Advice on developing their careers, from choosing courses and activities 

in high school to picking a college and major to choosing a career.

• Challenging games, puzzles, and brainteasers (developed by college 

undergraduates) that expose girls to different aspects of science and 

engineering—for example, estimating the number of electrical devices 

in a home that could be powered by solar cells on the roof, given some 

basic information (electrical engineering); estimating the number of 

people who could commute into San Francisco across the four-lane 

Golden Gate Bridge during rush hour, knowing that in the morning there 

are three lanes heading in and in the afternoon three lanes heading out 

(civil engineering); or estimating the number of pounds gained by 

drinking one soda a day for a year (biology).

• Engineering Encounters, a role-playing game (analogous to the popular 

Oregon Trails or to the board game Life) in which girls simulate how 

their life could develop through high school, college, and their career. 

Presented with a series of choices, they choose responses that result in 

their life taking different paths. Playable online or from a CD, the game 

allows girls to assign their own values (in points) to the goals of 

Happiness, Fame, or Wealth; at the end of the game they can find out 

if they met their goals based on their game decisions.

Many young women are turned off by technical fields as not supporting

goals they value, including ecology, family, and personal communications.

This website will underscore the positive aspects of technical careers.

Two major programs at Arizona State University—Women in Applied

Science and Engineering and the Minority Engineering Program—will

collaborate on the website, after extensive feedback from middle and high

school girls, their teachers and counselors, college girls in WISE,

engineers who mentor for WISE, and college students in the minority

engineering program. A Hispanic version will be provided. 

ON THE AIR WITH GENDER EQUITY

TO ENGAGE, INFORM, AND INSPIRE LISTENERS, RADIO WAMC (ALBANY, N.Y.) WILL DEVELOP A

WEEKLY SEGMENT AND FOUR REGIONAL CALL-IN SHOWS FOR NATIONAL DISTRIBUTION ON

ISSUES, POSSIBILITIES, AND ROLE MODELS FOR—AND BARRIERS TO—GENDER EQUITY IN THE

SCIENCES FOR GIRLS FROM KINDERGARTEN THROUGH EIGHTH GRADE. THE GENDER EQUITY

SEGMENTS WILL BE INCORPORATED INTO WAMC’S AWARD-WINNING RADIO PROGRAM “51

PERCENT” (A SHOW ABOUT WOMEN’S ISSUES) AND PLAYED ON THE CALL-IN PROGRAM “VOX POP.” 

On the air with 

gender equity

002

Ota

TechGirl:

a website for

middle school girls

T-grl

CODE: I, E, M WAMC NORTHEAST PUBLIC RADIO

MARY DARCY (MDARCY@WAMC.ORG) www.wamc.org

HRD 01-14472 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNERS: CAPITAL AREA SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION; STATE UNIVERSITY OF

NEW YORK, ALBANY.

KEYWORDS: DISSEMINATION, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS, BARRIERS, ROLE MODELS, RADIO, ENGAGEMENT

CODES: I, M, H, U ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY

MARY R. ANDERSON-ROWLAND (MARY.ANDERSON@ASU.EDU), JAMES B. ADAMS, MARIA REYES, MICHAEL G. WAGNER

HRD 00-86452 (ONE-YEAR GRANT)

PARTNERS: WISE; OFFICE OF MINORITY ENGINEERING PROGRAMS

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, CAREER AWARENESS, ROLE MODELS, WEBSITE, ENGINEERING, COMPUTER GAMES, HISPANIC, BILINGUAL

TECHGIRL: A WEBSITE FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRLS

SUPERVISED UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS WILL DEVELOP THIS DYNAMIC,

EVOLVING WEBSITE DEVOTED TO HELPING MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRLS LEARN HOW

SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING BENEFIT SOCIETY AND ENCOURAGING THEM TO

CONSIDER CAREERS IN THE FIELD. INCLUDED ON THE WEBSITE WILL BE

002
National Science Foundation Chapter Two . A Welcoming Learning Environment

40

THE ADVENTURES OF JOSIE TRUE

IN TESTING BETA VERSIONS OF COMPUTER SOFTWARE GAMES, MARY FLANAGAN NOTICED THAT

GIRLS WERE DRAWN TO NARRATIVE SECTIONS WHILE BOYS RACED TO COMPETE FOR THE

PRIZE, CLEARLY MORE CONTENT THAN MOST GIRLS WITH SOFTWARE THAT FEATURED VIOLENCE

AND COMPETITION. RESEARCH HAD SHOWN THAT THE WEB HAS BECOME A PLAYGROUND FOR

GIRLS BECAUSE IT EMPHASIZES CONTENT, WRITING, AND CORRESPONDENCE. BUT ON THE

SHELVES OF COMPUTER STORES, MARY FLANAGAN SOUGHT BUT NEVER FOUND GAMES

FEATURING “GIRLS WITHOUT BLONDE HAIR, BLUE EYES, AND ROSY CHEEKS.” MOST

EDUCATIONAL COMPUTER GAMES ARE DESIGNED FOR AND MARKETED TO WHITE KIDS,

ESPECIALLY BOYS. SOFTWARE FOR GIRLS ENTERTAINS RATHER THAN EDUCATES—AND OFTEN

FEATURES FASHIONS, MAKEUP, AND SHOPPING. “WHILE SOME MIGHT ARGUE THAT BARBIE

GAMES ARE GETTING GIRLS ONLINE, WE NEED TO ASK OURSELVES JUST WHAT IT IS THAT

BARBIE GAMES TEACH KIDS,” FLANAGAN TOLD ONE REPORTER. 

Flanagan moved from commercial software to academia so she could

take risks rather than crank out game after game for boys. She saw a

serious need for learning materials for nonwhite, nonmale audiences—

material that was fun, pertinent, interesting, and, if possible, free.

Research suggested that girls, unlike boys, do not like gadgets for

gadgets’ sake. In educational software, they are drawn to strong

content, a good story line, credible and inspiring “get to know”

characters, and hands-on activities in a context that makes sense to

them. They are fascinated with the idea of traveling around the world,

communicating with the people they meet, and meeting people who

are different linguistically and culturally (often wanting to know what

they eat). Girls want to use communications technology to have

conversations with others like themselves. They want a backstory:

information about characters and about what motivates them to do

what they do. “And that’s what Josie is about.”

In the Josie True project, Flanagan’s team is creating a user-friendly,

multicultural, Web-based adventure game for pre-adolescent girls, aged 9

to 11. To provide content with which minority girls can identify, The

Adventures of Josie True features a spunky 11-year-old Chinese American

girl, Josie True. In the first game, Josie’s science teacher (also an

inventor) disappears and Josie sets off to find her. 

Her search takes her across time and space: to Chicago and Paris in the

1920s. There she meets Bessie Coleman, the first African American

aviatrix. Originally from Texas, Coleman relocated to Chicago, where she

worked as a manicurist and as manager of a chili parlor while saving

money to get her pilot’s license. In the early ’20s Coleman went to Paris

to get her training and license because African American women were not

permitted in any U.S. flight schools, and she returned to France later for

training as a stunt pilot. These elements of her life story become factors

in the adventure game featuring Josie.

Josie’s adventures lead the user to various activities, such as correctly

identifying classified objects, expanding a chili recipe (containing

fractions) to serve more people, and translating U.S. dollars to French

francs.

Both technical and multicultural, the game provides true and fictional

ethnic heroes and role models while teaching about science and women’s

history. It is also designed to appeal to different learning styles. Girls who

want to start an activity right away can select from a menu of options.

Girls who want to follow the storyline can follow where the characters in

the story lead them. Learning is embedded in the narrative.

The adventures 

of Josie True

002

Jt

CODE: I, M UNIVERSITY OF OREGON

MARY D. FLANAGAN (MARY@MARYFLANAGAN.COM)

www.josietrue.com

HRD 99-79265 (ONE-YEAR GRANT)

PARTNER: STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK, BUFFALO

THE ADVENTURES OF JOSIE TRUE IS VIEWABLE FREE ONLINE AT www.josietrue.com

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, SOFTWARE, ROLE MODELS, MINORITIES, ADVENTURE GAME, HANDS-ON
National Science Foundation Chapter Two . A Welcoming Learning Environment

4

PUTTING A HUMAN FACE ON SCIENCE

WHETHER A WOMAN IS WILLING TO PURSUE A CAREER IN SCIENCE USUALLY DEPENDS ON

WHETHER SHE CAN PICTURE HERSELF AS A SCIENTIST WITHOUT UNACCEPTABLE CONFLICT AND

CAN INTEGRATE THE ROLE OF BEING A WOMAN WITH THAT OF BEING A SCIENTIST. THE COMMON

IMAGES OF SCIENTISTS DISPLAYED IN THE HALLS OF SCIENCE—“DEAD GREATS” IN CAPS AND

GOWNS—REINFORCE THE POPULAR PERCEPTION OF SCIENCE AS A DRY AND DUSTY OCCUPATION

DOMINATED BY ELDERLY WHITE MALES. MOST FEMALE STUDENTS HAVE FEW ROLE MODELS IN

THE FIELD AND FIND IT HARD TO IDENTIFY WITH CONVENTIONAL IMAGES OF SCIENTISTS. 

The PDK poster project is using visual media to challenge stereotypes. The project developed and printed 36 gallery-quality posters—co-designed by

Pamela Davis Kivelson (PDK) and Inga Dorosz—that put a far livelier and more heterogeneous face on science. Instead of formal portraits of Olympian

genius, the posters include images of people (especially women) involved in the joy and excitement of intellectual exploration. Thumbnail images of

the posters can be viewed at the project website.

In first-person narrative profiles, contemporary professional women speak

candidly about the different paths they took to various fields of science

or engineering, the discrimination they may have encountered, their work

environment, their strategies for balancing family and career, and their

own definitions of achievement and success.

These women—only some of whom are famous—come from many

different racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Marine science

educator Judith Vergun worked 15 years as a fashion model before

returning (divorced, with three children) to earn a Ph.D. in ecology, with

a special interest in Native American and Native Alaskan tribal lands and

areas. After graduating from the Bronx High School of Science,

mathematician Bonnie Shulman spent 12 years hitchhiking, studying

beat poetry, writing, and living on welfare as a single mom before

returning to college at the age of 30. 

Women with disabilities candidly assess the impact of these disabilities

on their personal, educational, and professional lives. Biologist Jane

Dillehay, deaf since birth, became dean of the College of Arts and

Sciences at Gallaudet University, a college for the hearing-impaired.

Psychiatric geneticist Judith Badner speaks about growing up with

achondroplastic dwarfism and the ways in which dwarfism shaped her

personal, educational, and professional choices. Temple Grandin, an

authority on the design of livestock handling equipment and systems, has

written extensively about how her autism—she thinks in pictures instead

of language—has helped her understand what makes cattle afraid. 

Some of the women have led lives of public service, including Rhea 

L. Graham (the first African American woman to serve as director of the

Bureau of Mines), former surgeon general Joycelyn Elders, and Air Force

Secretary Sheila Widnall. Some achieved relative celebrity, including

Nobel laureate and medical physicist Rosalyn Yalow, biologist and

university president Jewel Plummer Cobb, and Susan Love, surgeon,

oncologist, social activist, and author of the bestseller Dr. Susan Love’s

Breast Book. Also included are profiles of young scientists just starting

out in their careers, including academic scientists with eclectic interests. 

This book should help dispel the stereotype of the scientist as a nerdy

white male in a lab coat—as well as any notion that the path to a career

in science and engineering is the same for everyone. As the subtitle

suggests, there are “no universal constants.”

Profiles of women 

in science and 

engineering

002

Pro

CODES: I, M, H, U CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY

INDIRA NAIR (IN0A@ANDREW.CMU.EDU) HRD 95-55832 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNER: THE SLOAN FOUNDATION.

PRODUCTS: JOURNEYS OF WOMEN IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING: NO UNIVERSAL

CONSTANTS BY SUSAN A. AMBROSE, KRISTIN L. DUNKLE, BARBARA B. LAZARUS, INDIRA NAIR, AND DEBORAH A. HARKUS. TEMPLE UNIVERSITY PRESS, 1997.

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, BIOGRAPHIES, ROLE MODELS, PUBLICATION, CAREER

AWARENESS

Putting a human

face on science

002

Hu

PROFILES OF WOMEN IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

SEVERAL BOOKS HAVE DOCUMENTED THE LIVES OF WOMEN SUCCESSFUL IN SCIENCE BY TRADITIONAL

STANDARDS (E.G., NOBEL PRIZE WINNERS) AND WOMEN FOR WHOSE WORK MALE COLLEAGUES TOOK CREDIT

(E.G., ROSALIND FRANKLIN, CHIEN-SHIUNG WU, AND JULIA HALL). THIS GRANT SUPPORTED COMPLETION OF

JOURNEYS OF WOMEN IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING: NO UNIVERSAL CONSTANTS, A FIELD GUIDE TO 

88 WOMEN IN SCIENCE IN ENGINEERING, BASED ON PERSONAL INTERVIEWS—“VOICES FROM THE FIELD.” 
National Science Foundation Chapter Two . A Welcoming Learning Environment

42

One goal of the project is to encourage scientific literacy and to promote

the public’s awareness and appreciation of science and technology. By

humanizing the image of science and scientists, making that image less

threatening and intimidating, the project hopes to help everyone see

science and engineering as part of the human enterprise and its

practitioners as people like themselves. It also hopes to help girls and

young women see science and research as inviting, exciting, and

rewarding academic and career choices.

The Stony Brook math department has developed a website that teachers

can use as a study guide and that students can use to find hands-on

educational activities, biographical information about the women

portrayed in the posters, and other educational resources.

CODE: I, E, M, H, U UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES

PAMELA DAVIS (PDAVIS@PHYSICS.UCLA.EDU), DUSA MCDUFF, ROBERT C. DYNES, SUSAN N. COPPERSMITH, KATHLEEN BARTLE-SCHULWEIS

www.physics.ucla.edu/scienceandart HRD 96-22321 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

www.math.sunysb.edu/posterproject/www/biographies/index.html

PARTNERS: ALFRED P. SLOAN FOUNDATION, ALLIED SIGNAL, STATE UNIVERSITY OF

NEW YORK AT STONY BROOK

THE 18 X 24 POSTERS CAN BE VIEWED AND ORDERED AT (www.pdksciart.com) 

KEYWORDS: DISSEMINATION, ROLE MODELS, POSTERS, WEBSITE, HANDS-ON, BIOGRAPHIES
National Science Foundation Chapter Two . A Welcoming Learning Environment

4

Two or three mentors, working together, design each research project the middle school students later work on. Among the projects one

year were the following: 

Photos and fangs (dental anthropology). To learn about primates and dental and general anatomy, students section, polish, and

photograph a primate tooth to study the enamel—learning darkroom techniques along the way. Teeth grow incrementally, in a growth

pattern analogous to that of tree rings, and the short- and long-period lines may be imaged using several forms of microscopy.

Breeding bettas and bytes (biology, computer science). Students explore how breeding betta splendens (Siamese fighting fish, whose

genetics can be easily manipulated) relates to biology, botany, zoology, evolution, ecology, genetics, geology, chemistry, art, computer

science. 

Making a BMW (mechanical design). Using the computer software IDEAS, students design model cars and, using a technique called “rapid

prototyping,” build the model in a lab at SUNY Farmingdale.

The heart of the matter (biology). Using medical equipment and anatomical models, students dissect a frog or a fetal pig to learn about

the cardiovascular system and how different activities and stimuli affect the heart rate. 

An investigation on horseshoes (material, engineering). Students study the forces applied to a horseshoe throughout its life span, as

well as properties that affect how materials withstand environmental stress.

Lights, camera, action! (astronomy, physics). Students build a camera, take pictures, develop the film in a darkroom, and produce pictures.

Along the way, they learn about the principles of light and also (using telescopes, models, and discussion) of astronomy.

Fractals (mathematics). (A fractal is an object inside of which are embedded infinitely many copies of itself.) Students learn the concepts

of fractals and fractal sets, create fractal objects and discover their properties, and learn to measure distances on earth using surveying

equipment and Lenart spheres. 

DNA detectives (genetics, biology). Students learn basic cellular DNA concepts through lab experiments, learn techniques of microscopy

and gel electrophoresis, and examine how ultraviolet radiation causes mutations in cells. 

WOMEN FOR WOMEN: A MENTORING NETWORK

THIS COMPONENT OF STONY BROOK’S WISE PROGRAM MATCHES 20

UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE STUDENTS WITH 55 MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRLS,

WHOM THEY MENTOR. DURING THE SPRING TERM, WISE OFFERS A SEMESTER

OF MENTOR TRAINING AND PREPARATION FOR VARIOUS RESEARCH PROJECTS

AS A THREE-CREDIT INDEPENDENT RESEARCH COURSE. IN THE FALL, IT

RECRUITS MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS TO PARTICIPATE IN A MENTOR-LED

CAMPUS-BASED RESEARCH EXPERIENCE DURING THE FALL AND SPRING. 

University student mentors bond with their middle school protégées during a two-week summer program. During the school year mentors work with

the middle school students on a science research project. Advisers at each middle school support the students and actively engage in the research.

A special event in May highlights the students’ research results.

Women for 

women: a 

mentoring network

002

W4

CODES: M, U STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK, STONY BROOK

EDITH STEINFELD (EDITH.STEINFELD@SUNYSB.EDU), LOIS ROMAN www.wise.sunysb.edu (CLICK ON WOMEN FOR WOMEN) HRD 99-08736 (ONE-YEAR GRANT)

PARTNERS: WISE, COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND APPLIED SCIENCES, DEPARTMENT OF TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY (SUNY); BRENTWOOD AND RIVERHEAD SCHOOL DISTRICTS; THE BOARD OF COOPERATIVE EDUCATIONAL SERVICES (BOCES); LONG ISLAND POWER AUTHORITY. 

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, MENTORING, RESEARCH EXPERIENCE, SUMMER PROGRAM, HANDS-ON

HANDS-ON RESEARCH
National Science Foundation Chapter Two . A Welcoming Learning Environment

44

PROJECT EDGE: MENTORING AND TEACHER AWARENESS

THIS THREE-YEAR PROJECT FROM THE ROCHESTER INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (RIT) EMPHASIZED

MAKING SYSTEMIC CHANGES IN TEACHERS’ INSTRUCTIONAL STYLES, CONNECTING YOUNG

WOMEN’S LEARNING IN STEM FIELDS WITH REAL-LIFE CAREER EXPERIENCES, AND SHARING

RESOURCES AND DATA WITH OTHERS. PLANS WERE TO RECRUIT 100 HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS, BUT

BY THE THIRD YEAR 167 HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS HAD ENROLLED (UP FROM 98 THE FIRST YEAR). 

Teacher bias was addressed in summer workshops for teachers and some

vice principals, following the model mentioned in Myra and David Sadker’s

1994 work, Failing at Fairness: How America’s Schools Cheat Girls. David

Sadker was an instructor. Recognizing that teachers tend to be isolated

from researchers (and vice versa), RIT made teachers the first line of

attack against classroom inequity. Teachers were trained to use 

non-gender-biased teaching strategies, and several classroom observers

were trained to be coders (coding teacher-initiated and student-initiated

questions and interactions and the type and level of response). Becoming

their own investigators—observing, videotaping, and coding teacher

behavior in the classroom—helped them become sensitive to bias in

their behavior with their own students.

This project gave seven local high schools an early opportunity to work

in interactive distance learning technologies. RIT gave the seven schools

computers and free links that allowed students to converse electronically

with project staff, mentors, and each other. Both girls and teachers

learned computer skills, interacting with each other and with mentors

through e-mail and chat rooms. Chat rooms were held on Fridays from 11

a.m. to 12:30 on interactive First Class conference software, which had

to be used in the schools. RIT’s technician had to provide more training

and interaction for five of the seven schools because the teachers had

only marginal computer skills.

The mentoring gave students a chance to realistically view their career

options. Computer interactions enabled girls to converse with RIT staff,

professionals, and mentors in ways that were uninhibited by age,

appearance, or subject discipline. But the project investigators also

learned that early and fairly frequent face-to-face interaction gave

participants more of a sense of the “real” people with whom they were

conversing.

Students also interacted with mentors and role models through live,

interactive teleconferencing, on a two-way audiovideo fiber-optic link

capable of simultaneously broadcasting to four sites. The system allowed

impressively frank student-to-student and student-to-mentor dialogues,

giving the girls insights into racial, cultural, gender-based, and

socioeconomic stereotyping. Because technical problems and the

necessity for fixed broadcast schedules hampered this activity, in the

third year the project switched to monthly face-to-face meetings at a

designated school.

Project EDGE:

mentoring and

teacher awareness

002

Edg

CODES: H, U, PD ROCHESTER INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

PATRICIA PITKIN (PAPWML@RIT.EDU ), LAURA E. TUBBS

HRD 94-53088 (THREE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNERS: SEVEN HIGH SCHOOLS

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, TEACHER TRAINING, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS, DISTANCE LEARNING, INTERACTIVE, MENTORING, CAREER AWARENESS, ROLE MODELS

The University of Washington’s Center for Women in Science and

Engineering (WISE—now the Center for Workforce Development),

developed and evaluated a curriculum for training mentors and mentees.

The goal was to improve mentoring practices by building on and

formalizing the university’s successful undergraduate mentoring program.

How to be a 

mentor (or mentee) 

How

The project developed the Curriculum for Training Mentors and Mentees

in Science & Engineering, which includes individual handbooks for

students (including graduate students), faculty, and professional

scientists and engineers. Graduate students helped write the curriculum,

video script, and bibliography. 

HOW TO BE A MENTOR (OR MENTEE)

MENTORING PROGRAMS HAVE BECOME POPULAR AS A WAY OF RECRUITING AND RETAINING WOMEN

AND MINORITIES IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING. MENTORS CAN BE POSITIVE ROLE MODELS FOR

STUDENTS AND YOUNG PROFESSIONALS, BROADENING THEIR HORIZONS AND PROVIDING PRACTICAL

GUIDANCE. THEY CAN ACQUAINT ASPIRING PROFESSIONALS WITH THE WORK ENVIRONMENT AND

HELP THEM WITH RÉSUMÉS, MOCK JOB INTERVIEWS, AND PROFESSIONAL CONTACTS. BUT

MENTORING SKILLS DO NOT ALWAYS COME NATURALLY, WHAT PASSES FOR MENTORING IS OFTEN NOT

TRUE MENTORING, AND MANY WOMEN AND MINORITY STUDENTS NEVER EXPERIENCE MENTORING.

002
National Science Foundation Chapter Two . A Welcoming Learning Environment

4

Four pilot sites were selected: the University of Washington, University of Michigan, Carnegie Mellon University, and Pacific Lutheran University. The

curriculum materials have been adopted by 300 academic institutions, corporations, and government agencies. The materials spell out and clarify

goals, objectives, and expectations for mentoring relationships; suggest topics for mentors/mentees to discuss and activities to engage in; and identify

what students need to learn (such as how to publish), how mentors can help mentees, what the mentor gets out of the relationship. They stress the

importance of explicitly relaying positive experiences back to the mentor, giving tips about verbal and nonverbal language. The materials are useful

for women in science and engineering, but not in the liberal arts. They have been customized for organizations such as the National Park Service and

have also been purchased by professional organizations and corporations.

A manual provides guidelines on what to cover in training. To provide successful training in mentoring, the trainer should have experience either in

training or in mentoring (and preferably both); the training should be kept short (one to two hours); and it should be required for mentors. Male

mentors may need to be made aware of gender, racial, and cross-cultural bias and ways they may be unintentionally discouraging their mentees; they

may also need help dealing with female issues of confidence and inexperience. The key to successfully implementing a mentoring program is probably

to build it into an existing program. For organizations with few resources, no mentoring program, and little time, portions of the training materials

can be used independently. 

WISE’s mentoring program received the 1998 Presidential Award in Science, Engineering, and Mathematics Mentoring and the 1998 National WEPAN

Women in Engineering and Science Program Award.

CODES: U, PD UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON, CENTER FOR WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

SUZANNE G. BRAINARD (BRAINARD@U.WASHINGTON.EDU)

www.engr.washington.edu/cwd HRD 95-53430 (ONE-YEAR GRANT)

PARTNER: FUND FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION (FIPSE); WOMEN IN ENGINEERING PROGRAM ADVOCATES NETWORK (WEPAN, INC.)

THE CURRICULUM FOR TRAINING MENTORS AND MENTEES IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING IS AVAILABLE FROM WEPAN (www.wepan.org) OR BY E-MAIL (wiep@ecn.purdue.edu)

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, MENTOR TRAINING, MENTORING, ROLE MODELS, CAREER AWARENESS, MANUAL, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS

Eyes to the future:

telementoring

002

Eye2

This multi-age mentoring program uses the Web to link middle school

girls with local high school girls who have stayed interested in

science and technology and with women who use STEM in their

careers. The project provides urban middle school girls with enriched

science experiences, a broader knowledge of possible options in high

school and their careers, and personal relationships with female role

models who can give them emotional and academic support.

Eyes to the Future began in 1997 as a pilot program in telementoring supported by the Arthur D. Little Foundation. Fifteen middle

school girls and five high school girls communicated electronically

with five adult women (a boat builder–engineer, an ecologist, a

veterinary technician, a pediatrician, and a geologist). In an

extended pilot project the next year in the Boston area, 15 middle

school girls met weekly in after-school clubs co-facilitated by a

teacher and adult mentors (an astronomer, engineer, biologist, and

women in medical fields). Girls in this phase of the pilot

communicated electronically but also spent about four weeks

engaging in science and technology investigations, communicating

about their projects with their high school and adult mentors.

Selections from discussions with their mentors were included in

their personal electronic scrapbooks, portions of which appeared in

a collaborative electronic book. 

EYES TO THE FUTURE: TELEMENTORING

THE GENDER GAP IN BOTH ATTITUDE AND ACHIEVEMENT IN SCIENCE PROGRESSIVELY WIDENS

FROM AGE 9 THROUGH THE SENIOR YEAR IN HIGH SCHOOL. MIDDLE SCHOOL IS A TRANSITIONAL

TIME FOR ALL STUDENTS, BUT GIRLS IN PARTICULAR HAVE DIFFICULTY ADJUSTING TO THE LOSS

OF PERSONAL TEACHER RELATIONSHIPS COMMON IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. EYES TO THE FUTURE

(BASED AT TERC INC.) INTERVENES WITH MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRLS OF ALL ABILITIES DURING THIS

TRANSITION, BEFORE THEY HAVE CHOSEN OR RULED OUT POSSIBLE FUTURES FOR THEMSELVES. 
National Science Foundation Chapter Two . A Welcoming Learning Environment

46

The pilot’s continued success led to the project’s full implementation as

a three-year NSF-funded program. The project expanded to reach middle

school girls from two Somerville schools and three Brookline schools. No

prior experience with technology was required. Adult mentors were from

earth, space, and sea sciences, such as astronomy, ecology, marine

biology, forestry, and archaeology. High school mentors were recruited

from among academically talented and motivated local eleventh and

twelfth grade girls. 

AFTER-SCHOOL ACTIVITIES

The middle school girls met weekly in an after-school club, where they

communicated electronically with their high school and adult mentors.

Each team of three middle school girls, one high school girl, and one

adult had its own private discussion area on the project website. Middle

school girls, high school mentors, adult mentors, and teachers had their

own separate discussion areas. The website also supported collaborative

writing and the sharing of information about science projects. The middle

school girls wrote articles about their mentors, about what science is like

in high school and in the workplace, about their experiences in the

program, and about what it’s like to be a girl in middle school today—

to post on their websites. They took on the role of investigative reporter,

producing an online magazine for other girls their age. 

They conducted enriched science activities and took the time to reflect

and communicate about them. At after-school clubs, they engaged in

earth, sea, and space sciences activities, both with and without their

mentors. The third year, they designed rockets powered by balloons,

explored local biodiversity, and tested various water samples to

determine their pH, salinity, and chlorine content. They also explored

local science institutions where their adult mentors work. 

MENTORING RELATIONSHIPS

High school girls can see middle school girls’ concerns from the viewpoint

of someone who has “been there” recently. Carefully selected junior- and

senior-year mentors can offer valuable advice about staying involved

with science and math, including tips on studying, the consequences of

course choices, coping with academic stress, and how to find math and

science clubs and supportive teachers. They also provide assurance that

they will be there to welcome the eighth graders when they arrive at the

high school.

Adult mentors provide a fresh perspective on the relevance and real-life

applications of school math and science. Many middle school girls know

little about STEM-related arts, trades, and professions and rarely see their

current classes in the context of possible careers. They often lack

confidence in their ability to succeed and know little about specific

specialties, such as biology or physics. In Eyes to the Future they benefit

from year-long relationships with adult mentors, learning how they chose

their careers, how they use science and math at work, what schooling is

needed for such a profession, and what it feels like to be a woman in

these fields. 

CODES: M, H, I TERC INC.

JONI FALK (JONI_FALK@TERC.EDU), RON KOEHLER, BRIAN DRAYTON, CHRIS WHITBECK

HRD 99-06153 (THREE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNER: ARTHUR D. LITTLE FOUNDATION

PRODUCTS: TWO BOOKLETS: EYES TO THE FUTURE: GUIDE FOR HIGH SCHOOL MENTORS

AND EYES TO THE FUTURE: GUIDE FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS

KEYWORDS: EDUCATION PROGRAM, AFTER-SCHOOL, TELEMENTORING, TEACHER TRAINING, CAREER AWARENESS; TERC, INC., MENTORING, URBAN, ROLE MODELS, CLUBS, SELF-CONFIDENCE, PUBLICATION, WEBSITE, REAL-LIFE APPLICATIONS
National Science Foundation Chapter Two . A Welcoming Learning Environment

4

TELEMENTORING TEENS

WHEN THE EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT CENTER’S CENTER FOR CHILDREN AND TECHNOLOGY

(CCT) RECEIVED FUNDING FOR THIS PROJECT IN 1994, THE NOTION OF USING THE

INTERNET FOR ONLINE MENTORING WAS NOVEL. BUT CCT SPECULATED THAT THE

INTERNET MIGHT BE AN APPROPRIATE MEDIUM FOR ADDRESSING ADOLESCENTS’ FEARS

AND OBSTACLES AND PROVIDING THEM WITH VALIDATION AND SOUND ACADEMIC AND

CAREER ADVICE. IN COLLABORATION WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY’S ADVENTURES

IN SUPERCOMPUTING PROGRAM, CCT PILOT-TESTED TELEMENTORING WITH GIRLS 14 TO

19 (GRADES 9–12) IN TEN SCHOOLS IN FIVE STATES (ALABAMA, COLORADO, IOWA, NEW

MEXICO, AND TENNESSEE). IT RECRUITED 216 STUDENTS (MANY OF THEM 16 AND 17),

PAIRING 153 OF THEM WITH 141 ADULT MENTORS—ALL WOMEN, MOSTLY IN TECHNICALLY ORIENTED CAREERS—WHO HAD COMPLETED ONLINE TRAINING IN MENTORING. 

The project intended to focus on career mentoring, but it quickly became clear that preoccupation with conflicts about their personal lives was integral

to any academic and career issues most girls had. They valued the opportunity to explore personal issues in a personal way. Mentors helped students

deal with the daunting transition from high school to college, discussing such issues as selecting college courses, balancing personal relationships

and academic interests, and overcoming personal or financial obstacles that got in the way of achieving specific goals. In the best cases, telementoring

allowed mentors to respond to students’ specific, immediate needs and concerns. The project found that career mentoring online requires addressing

girls’ immediate interests while simultaneously broadening their relatively narrow understanding of how their interests relate to the world of work.

More than three quarters of the students found their telementoring experiences rewarding and half felt their mentors had influenced their ideas about

science and technology. Mentors’ perceptions varied, but 91 percent were willing to mentor again. How satisfied the mentor and protégée felt

depended on how often they communicated. 

Students who started with negative perceptions of women in these fields were pleasantly surprised to find that their mentors were well rounded. Many

students were more inclined to pursue internships and other career-enhancing activities after telementoring, perhaps because their mentors suggested

taking a more proactive role in their own career development.

Students and mentors had different perceptions of worthwhile conversations about careers in science and technology. Mentors had high expectations for

such discussions, and often felt they hadn’t provided consistent enough guidance; students felt they had gained insight into the exciting possibilities

of lifestyles in these fields, especially when conversations about career options emerged organically from a discussion of students’ and mentors’

immediate interests and hobbies. A discussion of music, for example, might lead the student to recognize the importance to a music career of

understanding computers. 

E-mail appears to be a powerful medium for exploring the complex processes adolescents go through in defining their aspirations. What mentors regarded

as casual chat, students often viewed as meaningful exchanges. Mentors wanted to affect the students’ career aspirations, but they probably had 

more influence on their college course-taking 

behavior. 

For many young women in the project, especially in

Alabama and Tennessee, traditional values of marriage

and family loomed large in their immediate futures.

Mentors who could accept and work through these issues

with students often found themselves exploring broader

issues about life choices, which ultimately affected how

students approached their career aspirations. 

Telementoring 

teens

002

Tel

CODE: H EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT CENTER (CENTER FOR CHILDREN AND TECHNOLOGY)

MARGARET HONEY (MHONEY@EDC.ORG) AND DOROTHY T. BENNETT

www.edc.org/CCT/telementoring

HRD 94-50042 (THREE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNERS: DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY’S OFFICE OF SCIENTIFIC COMPUTING; NATIONAL TESTBED PROJECT

NATIONAL SCHOOL NETWORK TELEMENTORING RESOURCES AND LINKS: http://nsn.bbn.com/telementor_wrkshp/tmlink.html

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, EDC, CAREER AWARENESS, TELEMENTORING, WEBSITE, PEER GROUPS, SELF-CONFIDENCE, SUPPORT SYSTEM
National Science Foundation Chapter Two . A Welcoming Learning Environment

48

For four years, learning communities of students, teachers, and mentors

will engage in specific after-school, summer camp, and professional

development activities. The first year of the program, the girls spend two

days a month after school and one week during the summer completing

hands-on projects led by volunteers from the Memphis Zoo, Memphis Pink

Palace Museum, and FedEx. The second year, they are mentored by local

women. The third they are offered paid after-school internships at local

corporations and organizations. 

Professional development workshops will be designed to change teachers’

and counselors’ attitudes and skills—in particular to train high school

math and science teachers in gender-equitable teaching. The project’s

emphasis is to encourage girls to explore their options, but the objective

OPTIONS

002

OPT

MentorNet:

e-mail and 

mentoring unite

002

met

MENTORNET: EMAIL AND MENTORING UNITE

E-MAIL’S POPULARIZATION LED CAROL MULLER, CO-FOUNDER OF DARTMOUTH UNIVERSITY’S WOMEN IN

ENGINEERING AND SCIENCES PROGRAM, TO CREATE MENTORNET, A NATIONAL ELECTRONIC INDUSTRIAL

MENTORING NETWORK FOR WOMEN IN ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE. COMMUNICATING ELECTRONICALLY

REMOVES MOST OBVIOUS MARKERS OF STATUS DIFFERENCE, INCLUDING THOSE ROOTED IN GENDER AND

HIERARCHY. STUDENTS OFTEN FEEL LESS INTIMIDATED OR HESITANT ASKING QUESTIONS ON E-MAIL

THAN THEY MIGHT IN PERSON OR ON THE PHONE. EMAIL ALSO MAKES IT EASY TO COMMUNICATE

THOUGHTFULLY AND DELIBERATELY AND PROVIDES A RECORD OF COMMUNICATION. STUDENTS CAN REFER

TO THEIR MENTORS’ PAST ADVICE WHENEVER THEY NEED TO, AND MENTORS CAN EASILY KEEP TRACK OF

STUDENTS’ CONCERNS.

A marriage of e-mail and mentoring, MentorNet allows mentoring

relationships to flourish where geography, time, or financial constraints

might otherwise hamper or prevent them, and it can be especially

helpful for students at colleges physically distant from industries in

which they are interested. Previously, many people who were willing to

serve as mentors lacked the time or other resources to physically meet

with a student, and many students didn’t have the time to take advantage of mentoring if it required several hours out of a day. MentorNet

alleviates time and travel constraints and provides operational

economies of scale by offering its services to students at many universities. 

MentorNet draws from a pool of volunteer industry mentors to pair male

and female professionals in industry with undergraduate and graduate

women in STEM. The mentorship lasts one year but often continues

unofficially. Careful matches—usually based on educational background

and career interests—and training in mentorship are important. Poor

rapport between mentors and protégées is uncommon, but when it

happens it tends to sour protégées on further mentoring. 

A five-year evaluation provided strong evidence that MentorNet supports

and promotes the retention of women in STEM majors and careers.

MentorNet protégées felt MentorNet was a good use of their time,

promoted their ability to network and seek jobs, improved their career

awareness, and increased the probability of their seeking mentors in the

future. Many participants felt it encouraged them to complete their

academic degrees and boosted their confidence of success. Of women

who responded to the survey, 53 percent of the 1998–99 protégées either

continued with their 1998–99 mentor or applied for a new mentor. 

OPTIONS

THROUGH A COMBINATION OF CLASSROOM WORK, CAREER EXPLORATION, AND HANDS-ON

ACTIVITIES, THIS DEMONSTRATION PROJECT HOPES TO INTEREST 70 FRESHMAN HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS

A YEAR (TEN EACH FROM SEVEN SCHOOLS) IN CAREERS IN MATH AND SCIENCE. THE GIRLS ARE

EXPLORING THEIR OPTIONS IN SHELBY COUNTY, TENN., WHERE ONLY ABOUT 1 PERCENT OF THE

FEMALE GRADUATES SHOW AN INTEREST IN PURSUING COLLEGE DEGREES OR CAREERS IN STEM.

OPTIONS TARGETS GIRLS WITH AVERAGE TO ABOVE-AVERAGE ABILITY IN MATH AND SCIENCE.

CODES: U, PD SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION

CAROL B. MULLER (CBMULLER@EMAIL.SJSU.EDU), SUSAN S. METZ, BARBARA B. LAZARUS, AND CATHERINE J. DIDION

www.mentornet.net HRD 00-01388 (THREE-YEAR GRANT) 

MENTORNETS’ MANY PARTNERS (INCLUDING AWIS) ARE LISTED ON ITS WEBSITE

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, ELECTRONIC MENTORING, ENGINEERING, MENTOR TRAINING, RETENTION, CAREER AWARENESS, SELF-CONFIDENCE
National Science Foundation Chapter Two . A Welcoming Learning Environment

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of the learning communities and professional development is to increase

the number of all students who enroll in science and math classes, choose

math and science college majors, and pursue careers in STEM. 

Everyone should benefit from the program. For educators, OPTIONS will

identify factors that inhibit women’s academic and career choices in

science and math and will help them adopt better approaches. Girls will

learn about the vast opportunities available to them and will learn to

problem-solve in small groups. Corporations will be able to interact with

educators in the design and evaluation of industry-specific intern

programs to prepare the next generation of workers and to generate

enthusiasm for that work. And everyone will benefit from the increased

emphasis on science and math classes and career opportunities. 

Says one participant, who plans to become a pilot, “I don’t see a lot of

women in math and science careers, but I don’t think society’s stopping us.” 

CODES: H, PD SHELBY COUNTY SCHOOLS, MEMPHIS, TENN.

LORRAINE JONES (LJONES@MAIL.SCS.KL2.TN.US), SHERYL A. MAXWELL

HRD 01-20860 (THREE-YEAR GRANT)

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, PROJECT-BASED, TEACHER TRAINING, GENDER EQUITY

AWARENESS, MENTORING, INTERNSHIPS, CAREER AWARENESS, INDUSTRY PARTNERS, AFTER-SCHOOL, PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS, SELF-CONFIDENCE

Community-based

mentoring

002

com COMMUNITY-BASED MENTORING

IN 1990, THE ASSOCIATION FOR WOMEN IN SCIENCE (AWIS) ESTABLISHED A

FORMAL MENTORING PROJECT WITH FUNDING FROM THE ALFRED P. SLOAN

FOUNDATION. AN NSF GRANT HELPED AWIS EXPAND THAT PROGRAM BY

ESTABLISHING COMMUNITY-BASED MENTORING PROGRAMS FOR UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE WOMEN AT 12 SITES NATIONWIDE. LOCAL

CHAPTERS COLLABORATE WITH LOCAL CHAPTERS OF OTHER NATIONAL

SCIENTIFIC ORGANIZATIONS TO OFFER A SETTING WHERE PROFESSIONAL

MENTORS AND STUDENT PROTÉGÉES CAN EXCHANGE INFORMATION. 

One-on-one mentoring offers a unique personal experience, but matching professional mentors and student protégées takes considerable time and

effort. Small groups can offer the comfort of individual mentor–student interactions and facilitate peer interactions as well. Large-group activities

allow students and mentors to network effectively and sample a broad range of advice and backgrounds, among both peers and more experienced

scientists. 

The activities graduate students found most useful in a 1993 survey reflect their interest in career opportunities: professional conferences, lectures and

seminars, and luncheons with guest speakers give graduate students a chance to network with more established scientists and learn about their fields of

interest. Also useful were small discussion groups, which most graduate students preferred to one-on-one mentoring, because discussion groups give them

a chance to share problems and concerns with their peers and have their experiences validated. Graduate students’ preference for group events and group

mentoring reflect their interest in exchanging professional advice and concerns with other women scientists rather than in solidifying a tentative

commitment to a scientific career.

AWIS compiled resource packets on the six topics students said they considered most important in group programs: career opportunities and options,

selection of academic course work, research opportunities, professional contacts and networking, self-image and self-confidence, and balancing work

and family. Mentoring helped participants resolve the women/scientist dilemma. Often women cannot see themselves pursuing science because they

see conflict between the roles of scientist and the traditional roles of wife and mother. Most (94 percent) of the students said they planned to get

married and 77 percent planned to have children. It was important that these students meet women who were managing and transforming those roles

to meet their needs.

It will take years to learn if mentoring reduces women’s attrition rate in science, but as a result of the AWIS mentoring project, the percentage of
National Science Foundation Chapter Two . A Welcoming Learning Environment

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graduate students who reported being committed to or certain of a career

in science increased from 84 percent to 89 percent. The percentage of

women of color reporting themselves as committed to, or certain of,

science careers rose from 70 percent to 82 percent, while the percentage

for white women remained relatively constant, 82 percent to 88 percent.

Overall, minority women seem to have been more tentative in their initial

commitment to scientific career than white women, and the AWIS

mentoring project may have been more critical to their retention.

CODES: U, PD ASSOCIATION FOR WOMEN IN SCIENCE

LINDA H. MANTEL (IMANTEL@WILLIAMETTE.EDU), NINA M. ROSCHER, CATHERINE J. DIDION, NANCY M. TOONEY

www.awis.org/mentoring.html 

(WHERE YOU CAN FIND LINKS TO THE PROJECT’S MANY PARTNERS)

HRD 94-53754 (ONE-YEAR GRANT)

PUBLICATIONS: MENTORING MEANS FUTURE SCIENTISTS, A HAND UP: WOMEN

MENTORING WOMEN IN SCIENCE, AND GRANTS AT A GLANCE.

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, MENTORING, CONFERENCES, COMMUNITY-BASED, SEMINARS, ROLE MODELS, CAREER AWARENESS, RESOURCE CENTER, RETENTION, SELF-CONFIDENCE, RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

CODES: E, M, H, U, PD CENTRAL MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY

CLAUDIA B. DOUGLASS (CLAUDIA.B.DOUGLASS@CMICH.EDU), CAROLE BEERE

HRD 95-54494 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNERS: COLLEGE OF GRADUATE STUDIES (CMU), CENTRAL MICHIGAN

SCIENCE/MATHEMATICS/TECHNOLOGY CENTER, LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICTS

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, RURAL, MULTI-GENERATIONAL, UNDERPRIVILEGED, CAREER

AWARENESS, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS, RESEARCH EXPERIENCE, TEAMWORK APPROACH, MENTORING, SELF-CONFIDENCE, PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT, FIELD TRIPS

MENTORING THROUGH CROSSAGE RESEARCH TERMS

UNDER CONSERVATIVE ATTITUDES PREVALENT IN RURAL AREAS, GIRLS ARE RARELY ENCOURAGED TO STUDY MATH AND SCIENCE OR TO PURSUE CAREERS IN STEM. THIS CROSS-GENERATIONAL MENTORING PROJECT—WHICH SERVED EIGHT EXTREMELY RURAL, ECONOMICALLY

DISADVANTAGED COUNTIES IN CENTRAL MICHIGAN—CHANGED MANY GIRLS’ ATTITUDES

ABOUT CAREERS IN STEM AND OPENED MANY ADULTS’ EYES TO HOW GIRLS ARE TREATED IN

THE CLASSROOM AND HOW MUCH MORE THEY ARE OFTEN CAPABLE OF DOING. 

In a two-year period, more than 500 girls from grades 5 through 12

joined undergraduate and graduate women, parents, teachers, and

research professionals on 70 research teams. Women on the team

provided mentoring, encouragement, and academic support for their

younger “colleagues” as they all worked together on a common research

project. Adults who helped supervise and mentor girls gained confidence

in themselves and learned a lot about encouraging girls to continue in

science.

A fall kick-off event brought research teams and professionals together.

Mornings, teachers and research professionals met to discuss logistics.

Girls and their parents came in the afternoon, to hear and ask questions

of a panel of professional women, who talked about how they prepared

for their careers and what it was like to be a woman in their field. Then

the teams got acquainted and decided what to research. 

Research topics covered fields from math, physics, engineering, and

aeronautics to geology, health sciences, and microbiology. Most projects

had a very practical aspect: One group invented and tested an electric

bicycle; another looked at recycling plastics; one studied the physical

fitness, dietary habits, and sedentary recreational activities of fourth

through tenth graders; one tried to identify substance abuse in students

in grades 6 through 12, compared with national norms; one studied the

reading habits of junior high students. Some took on additional topics

such as the orbits of astronomical objects and the movement of spaceships between and around them. 

The girls learned about college, did original research with a professional

researcher, and developed poster presentations about their findings,

which they presented at a research exposition. In the process, they

learned about statistical analysis, scientific method, and how to make a

professional presentation. Many surfaced as leaders on their Odyssey of

the Mind and Science Olympiad teams. Many of the girls have since

entered college, are pursuing STEM-related majors, and attribute much of

their confidence and success to their involvement in the research

projects.

The project was revitalizing for teachers. It was the first real research experience

many elementary and student teachers had ever had—and their first exposure

to equity-based programs. Several male participants learned that their

communication styles were not particularly encouraging to girls and ended

up carrying new behaviors back to their own classrooms. To reach other

classroom teachers, the project acted as a test site for Operation SMART,

which trained a consultant from the Science/Mathematics/Technology Center

to work with teachers in grades 3–5. 

Mentoring through 

cross-age 

research teams

x

age

002
National Science Foundation Chapter Two . A Welcoming Learning Environment

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BRIDGES is an acronym (for building and replicating an innovative demonstration model to facilitate gender equity in sciences) but it also means the

bridge the community college provides between high school and university-level studies for millions of students each year—especially students from

nontraditional populations. 

Ten students were selected (on the basis of their personal motivation and career goals) from Apopka High School in Orange County, Fla. Twelve students

(ranging in age from 17 to 29) were selected from Valencia. The women were racially and ethnically mixed and from different backgrounds; their career

choices ranged from medicine, nursing, and veterinary medicine to chemical and biological research.

The project developed a 10-week course in research methods, offering lectures and labs in three subjects: biochemistry (with labs in protein and DNA

electrophoresis, DNA and restriction enzyme mapping, and enzyme kinetics), biology (with labs in microscopy, histology, and anatomy and a tour of

the electron microscopy lab at Orlando Regional Medical Center), and chemistry (labs in the use of high-performance liquid chromatography and

various types of chemistry computer software). A slightly modified version of the course is now an important part of Valencia’s science curriculum. 

CODE: U UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND

LINDA C. SCHMIDT (LSCHMIDT@ENG.UMD.EDU), PAIGE SMITH, JANET A. SCHMIDT

HRD 01-20786 (THREE-YEAR GRANT)

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, RESEARCH EXPERIENCE, INTERNSHIPS, ROLE MODELS, INTERVENTION, BARRIERS, SELF-EFFICACY, HANDS-ON, TEAMWORK APPROACH, MENTORING, BARRIERS, TEACHER TRAINING

BUILDING BRIDGES FOR COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENTS

GENERALLY, STUDENTS AT COMMUNITY COLLEGES ARE LESS LIKELY THAN OTHER COLLEGE STUDENTS TO

EXPERIENCE RESEARCH AND MENTORING THAT LEAD TO RESEARCH-BASED SCIENTIFIC CAREERS. VALENCIA

COMMUNITY COLLEGE’S BRIDGES PROGRAM HELPED PREPARE 22 YOUNG WOMEN FOR UPPER DIVISION SCIENCE

STUDIES AND CAREERS AND HELPED THEM MAKE INFORMED COURSE SELECTIONS AND CAREER CHOICES. 

RISE: RESEARCH INTERNSHIP IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH SUGGESTS THAT ROLE MODELING IS MOST EFFECTIVE WHEN THE MODEL

IS PERCEIVED TO BE “MOST LIKE” THE PERSON HERSELF. THIS UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND

INTERVENTION HELPS NEW UNDERGRADUATES SEE THEMSELVES IN ANOTHER UNDERGRADUATE—

AND LOOK AHEAD TO THE POSSIBILITY OF BEING A GRADUATE STUDENT AND A FACULTY MEMBER.

THE EXTERNAL FACTORS THE PROJECT ADDRESSES INCLUDE THE ISOLATED AND “CHILLY CLIMATE”

OF SCIENCE, THE UNDERSUPPLY OF WOMEN TO SERVE AS MENTORS AND ROLE MODELS, AND THE

CRITICAL MASS OF FEMALE STUDENTS AND FACULTY NEEDED IN STEM DEPARTMENTS. 

RISE offers a hands-on introductory program for freshmen and an

enhanced team research experience for upper class students. The idea is

that the first experience will excite and prepare entering freshmen

women, who then move on to an extended research internship involving

close contact with successful women scientists and engineers. 

Upper class students participating in all-women research teams are

mentored either by faculty women or by advanced (undergraduate or

graduate) students, women who are paid and trained to significantly

mentor or teach undergraduate women. The setting for student teamwork

and mentoring is the research program of the faculty member involved.

RISE supports faculty women by paying them and training them to be

involved in the project (so their efforts don’t become a shadow job).

Mentoring of undergraduates involves work they want to do anyway—their

own research—so they continue to make progress in their own research and

on the tenure track while supporting younger women. Built into the project

is significant recognition for faculty from their deans and the provost. 

The entire research team (the faculty member, RISE fellows, and up to

four RISE participants) take part in training: workshops in mentoring,

teamwork, and enough basic social psychology to help them understand

why the intervention should work. The chief internal barrier to success and

persistence in STEM is students’ underestimation of their own abilities

(what the literature calls “self efficacy”). Mentors can help by affecting

young women’s sense that they can “do science.”

This project could bring some of the advantages of a single-sex

learning environment (epitomized by women’s colleges) into the more

mainstream higher education of the College Park campus. Many

features of the program—role model hierarchies, mentor training, 

all-female research teams, and the notion of a two-level program—are

replicable.

RISE: 

research internship 

in science and 

engineering

002

RSE

Building bridges 

for community 

college students

002

Bcc
National Science Foundation Chapter Two . A Welcoming Learning Environment

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Valencia’s faculty examined existing courses for possible gender bias, and a mentoring program paired high school and college participants on the

basis of their academic goals and extracurricular interests. Pairs worked as lab partners in the research methods course and maintained regular contact

outside the lab. Valencia sponsored three informational seminars, at which noted female scientists from the science faculty and the local community

spoke to the group about their work, their educational backgrounds, and the demands of juggling career and family. Students were in touch not only

with these scientists and their mentors but also with counselors who

gave the students useful advice about careers, financial aid, and

university transfer procedures. 

An education specialist interviewed students by phone throughout the

semester to monitor the success of the mentoring program and students’

opinions about the projects. Students who completed the research

methods course were paid a stipend and awarded a framed certificate. 

CODE: U VALENCIA COMMUNITY COLLEGE

FRANCES A. FRIERSON (HSCORP@IXNETCOM.COM), JANICE EMS-WILSON

HRD 95-55734 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNERS: UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA, ORANGE COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS, AMERICAN

ASSOCIATION OF WOMEN IN COMMUNITY COLLEGES (VALENCIA CHAPTER) 

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, COMMUNITY COLLEGE, CURRICULUM, MENTORING, RESEARCH EXPERIENCE, CAREER AWARENESS, MINORITIES, ROLE MODELS

WISER lab 

research for 

first-year 

undergraduates

002

Wze

WISER LAB RESEARCH FOR FIRST-YEAR UNDERGRADUATES

HIGH DROPOUT AND SWITCH RATES AMONG UNDERGRADUATE WOMEN INTENDING TO MAJOR IN THE SCIENCES AND

ENGINEERING DEPLETES THE POOL OF INTERESTED, QUALIFIED, AND PREPARED STUDENTS—FURTHER EXACERBATING THE PROBLEMS OF WOMEN’S UNDERREPRESENTATION IN THESE FIELDS. THE PERIOD OF HIGHEST ATTRITION AT

PENN STATE AND OTHER INSTITUTIONS IS THE FIRST YEAR, ESPECIALLY THE FIRST AND SECOND SEMESTERS AND

THE SUMMER TRANSITION TO THE THIRD SEMESTER. BECAUSE RESEARCH PLACEMENTS AS A RETENTION DEVICE

TYPICALLY COME TOO LATE IN STUDENT CAREERS FOR MAXIMUM EFFECT, IN 1996 PENN STATE INITIATED WISER, AN

UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH PROGRAM FOR FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING. OVER FIVE

YEARS, WISER PLACED ABOUT 250 FRESHMAN WOMEN IN RESEARCH LABS IN THE SCIENCES AND ENGINEERING.

WISER is for both gifted and average students entering science and

engineering. WISERs’ SAT scores follow a standard bell curve: 95 percent

have cumulative scores of 1400 or less; 74 percent, 1300 or less—

refuting the notion that undergraduate research experiences are suitable

only for the academically gifted or that only such students will apply.

Some faculty and administrators resisted first-year student placements,

predicting dire consequences, if not the program’s outright failure. But

most of the faculty was supportive—even excited—at the prospect of

young students in the lab. Those who participate tend to keep accepting

WISERs and recommend the program to other faculty.

Faculty members receive up to 30 applications, interview as many

students as they have time for, and give their first through third choices

to the WISER administrator. Applicants may apply to as many as three

labs and state their first three choices after their interviews. The WISER

office matches the student and faculty, trying to give everyone her or his

first choice. About a third of the applicants—mainly those in the life

sciences—cannot be placed. The project emphasizes placements in

engineering and the physical sciences, where women are more likely to

be both isolated and underrepresented at every stage.

WISER is an adaptation of the research component of a more

comprehensive retention initiative, the Women in Science Project (WISP)

at Dartmouth College. After Penn had decided on research placements as

an intervention, it learned that a model for such a program already

existed at Dartmouth College, initiated by Carol B. Muller and Mary

Pavone. WISP incorporates formal mentoring, e-mentoring, a newsletter,

tutoring, scientific poster sessions, advising, and paid research placements, which sometimes take place in off-campus locations such as hospitals. It was a much more ambitious and comprehensive program than

Penn State was prepared to offer. Could the research placement component be separated from WISP’s integrated approach and still have a positive effect?

Dartmouth is a small, elite, private, teaching-oriented university, and

Penn State is a large, multisite, state-affiliated, research-oriented

university—yet Dartmouth and Penn State’s main campus share certain

features: a high residential (not commuter) student population, a paid

staff to administer STEM retention programs, staff adept at collaborative

(not competitive), cross-discipline projects, and the institution’s

acknowledgment that it could not keep blaming the poor retention of

undergraduate students in STEM on K–12 schools. 

And Dartmouth administrators were generous and trusting in handing off

material that could be considered proprietary. With the WISP administrators’ permission (and diskette), Penn copied WISP’s timetable, its student

handbook describing research opportunities, and its application form.

This alone allowed Penn to get the program up and running in weeks

rather than months or years.

Many Penn State students come from small or rural school districts where
National Science Foundation Chapter Two . A Welcoming Learning Environment

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CODE: U PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY, UNIVERSITY PARK

KAREN WYNN (KXW8@PSUVM.PSU.EDU), RICHARD F. DEVON

HRD 96-32186 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNERS: PENNSYLVANIA SPACE GRANT CONSORTIUM, PENN STATE AT

ABINGTON-OGONTZ

KEYWORDS: EDUCATION PROGRAM, RETENTION, RESEARCH EXPERIENCE, ENGINEERING, PHYSICAL SCIENCES, INTERVENTION, MENTORING, ELECTRONIC MENTORING, INTERNSHIPS, RURAL

they are highly visible and often sought out because of their academic

talent. The assertive behavior needed to successfully negotiate a research

placement at a competitive institution such as Penn State is considered rude

or even foreign to rural values, especially for women. So rural women (and

some men) can miss out on unparalleled opportunities to fast-track their

careers. The strength of the WISP application and selection process was that

it used a format familiar to students: writing applications and going to

interviews to which they were invited.

Preliminary data show a 50 percent reduction in dropout and switch rates

among WISERs, compared with their matched cohorts, at least during the

first three semesters when retention of science and engineering students

is most at risk.

Unlike the Dartmouth program, WISER offers almost nothing in the way of

support services beyond the initial matching of faculty and student. It is

up to the student to make her way through an interview, to negotiate a

satisfying research experience once placed, and to maintain contact with

the faculty member after the two-semester placement has ended. 

Interestingly, a spin-off of the program at Abington College, a two-year

branch campus of Penn State that is becoming a four-year institution, has

returned to the Dartmouth model of high ancillary support activities—with

great success. Abingdon values a retention program that directly benefits

a few undergraduate students daily more that it values a one-day K–12

program that benefits hundreds of girls. Dissemination to the Abington

College site has produced perhaps the most interesting outcome of all. It

has stimulated new research activities among the faculty, brought recognition

to faculty already doing research, and helped integrate adjunct faculty.

Project activities designed to improve their self-confidence and 

self-reliance include mentoring and the development of a support

network of peers that can be used throughout the women’s careers in

geoscience. The project also emphasizes developing the skills needed for

success, such as written and oral communication, team-building and

leadership, and good study habits and organization. Project activities

include a weekend field trip for entering female geoscience majors; a 

10-day field experience for senior undergraduate and graduate women; a

mentoring ladder in which freshmen are guided by upperclasswomen who

are counseled by graduate students, who in turn are supported by a faculty

member; scholarly seminars given by female students of all levels;

attendance at national meetings and a role-model lecture series that

brings prominent female geoscientists to campus.

The activity that has had the broadest impact to date is the role-model

lecture series. Three women are brought to campus each semester to give

the Friday afternoon colloquium in the department of geosciences. The

students decide whom to invite and handle bringing the speakers to

campus. Each speaker has said she came because the request came from

the students themselves, so it was an opportunity to be a role model and

interact with female students. So far the students have chosen only

professors—but professors at different stages of their careers (assistant,

associate, full) and at different types of institutions (public, private,

research oriented, and comprehensive). Speakers have lunch with the

undergraduate and graduate women, give a formal scientific talk in the

afternoon, and are guests at a reception for the whole department that

evening. Both the luncheons and receptions are well attended. 

Conversation at the lunches—sometimes quite lively—ranges from the

relevant scientific discipline to the realities of finding jobs for twocareer couples and the difficulties of balancing careers and family. Many

of the students are surprised and relieved to discover that the speakers

also faced, and sometimes still face, challenges similar to their own.

Differences in perspective between full professors and junior women

newer to academe enlighten and encourage the students. After these

discussions, the students clearly feel they can and will pursue graduate

studies, despite any earlier misgivings. For several students, direct

contact with a speaker during her visit has led to e-mail exchanges

about graduate school.

Supporting 

women in 

geoscience

002

Geo

CODE: U UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS

PAMELA E. JANSMA (PJANSMA@UARK.EDU)

HRD 00-96333 (ONE-YEAR GRANT); FORMERLY HRD 99-79305

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, ROLE MODELS, GEOSCIENCES, SELF-CONFIDENCE, MENTORING, PEER GROUPS, FIELD TRIP

SUPPORTING WOMEN IN GEOSCIENCE

TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF WOMEN COMPLETING GRADUATE STUDIES IN EARTH SCIENCES, IT IS

IMPORTANT TO OFFER ENCOURAGEMENT AT THREE CRITICAL TRANSITION POINTS: AS THEY ENTER

COLLEGE, WHEN THEY ARE SENIORS ABOUT TO GRADUATE, AND IN THE EARLY YEARS OF GRADUATE

SCHOOL. BY NURTURING FEMALE LEADERS IN GEOSCIENCE WHO CAN SERVE AS ROLE MODELS TO

YOUNG WOMEN ENTERING UNIVERSITY IN LATER YEARS, THIS UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS PROJECT

AIMS TO INCREASE THE NUMBER AND VISIBILITY OF WOMEN IN THE EARTH SCIENCES. 
National Science Foundation Chapter Two . A Welcoming Learning Environment

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Undergraduate

research 

fellowships

002

Fell

UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIPS

A 1996 STUDY OF FIVE UNIVERSITIES KNOWN FOR RETAINING WOMEN AND STUDENTS OF COLOR

IN THE SCIENCES REPORTED THAT CERTAIN PRACTICES WERE COMMON TO THE FIVE

INSTITUTIONS: UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES, HIGH LEVELS OF FACULTY–STUDENT

INTERACTION, AND AN EMPHASIS ON UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION. FUNDING CUTS HAVE

REDUCED THE NUMBER OF FELLOWSHIP AWARDS AVAILABLE FOR UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH,

HOWEVER, SO INDIANA UNIVERSITY’S UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM FOR

WOMEN IN THE SCIENCES PROVIDED RESEARCH EXPERIENCES FOR UPPER-DIVISION

UNDERGRADUATE WOMEN WHO HAD SHOWN INTEREST AND POTENTIAL IN THE SCIENCES. 

Upper division participants did 40 hours of research during the summer

of 2001 and 10 hours a week during the fall and spring semesters—interacting with faculty who served as mentors and role models. Introducing

more undergraduate women to lab work is expected to help retain women

in the sciences, build their confidence in their scientific abilities, and

make them more competitive for graduate school and the job market. 

The program provided training in scientific research and lab skills, as well

as in presentation and communication skills, to upper-division women

students in the sciences. Lab researchers presented their lab research and

experiences at an event organized by the Women in Science Program and

presented posters on their research at WISP’s annual Women in Science

Research Day. They could also compete for three monetary awards to be

used for attending or presenting their research at national or regional

conferences. 

Other factors important to the retention of women in the sciences include

frequent contact with faculty in classrooms and laboratories, faculty

concern for individual students, and an interactive (rather than

competitive) classroom environment. Bloomington’s WISP program has

had considerable success with research internships, mentoring, and

support networks for retaining women in the sciences. This project also

provided mentoring opportunities, peer support networks, and role

models for women science students, starting in sophomore year. Upperdivision mentors were matched up with sophomore students interested in

pursuing science majors. 

CODE: U INDIANA UNIVERSITY, BLOOMINGTON

JEAN C. ROBINSON (ROBINSON@INDIANA.EDU)

HRD 00-86373 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNER: WOMEN IN SCIENCE PROGRAM (OFFICE OF WOMEN’S AFFAIRS)

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, RETENTION, RESEARCH EXPERIENCE MENTORING, ROLE MODELS, SELF-CONFIDENCE, INTERNSHIPS

Training graduate 

students to develop

undergraduate 

research projects

dev TRAINING GRADUATE STUDENTS TO DEVELOP UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH PROJECTS

MOST TEACHER TRAINING OF GRADUATE STUDENTS EMPHASIZES CLASSROOM INSTRUCTION.

GRADUATE TRAINING RARELY ADDRESSES THE NEED TO DEVELOP SKILLS IN DESIGNING AND

SUPERVISING UNDERGRADUATE PROJECTS. STONY BROOK, WHICH RECEIVED AN NSF

RECOGNITION AWARD FOR INTEGRATING RESEARCH AND EDUCATION, HAS A LONG

TRADITION OF RESEARCH COLLABORATION BETWEEN UNDERGRADUATES AND FACULTY.

In this project, it found that the best way to train graduate students in how to supervise science and engineering research is to require every Ph.D.

student to develop one teaching module based on his or her research as an integral part of the Ph.D. program. This forces the students to explain the

social and scientific context of their research in terms freshmen can understand; to identify a research project that can be completed in two to three

weeks, one outcome of which is important to the project; and to define and develop an educational experience—all of which are important to the

professional growth of scientists in training.

In a one-year project, Hanna Nekvasil (in Geosciences) designed a two-semester seminar on the design and supervision of undergraduate research

projects. Graduate students were trained to develop and direct short undergraduate research projects and got experience doing both. The interdisciplinary modules in applied research could be repeated by undergraduates in subsequent years. The idea was partly to help women going on in

academia to understand the integral relationship between teaching and research, to foster the skills needed to carry out these activities, and to

enlarge women’s social and intellectual community by fostering collaborations between disciplines and with high-tech R&D scientists.

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National Science Foundation Chapter Two . A Welcoming Learning Environment

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The course, which met weekly, yielded six projects, five of which were

implemented in the hands-on course for freshmen, Introduction to

Research. The projects involved hands-on research involving synthetic

lavas, exercise’s ability to attenuate the human body’s response to

stressors, DNA fingerprinting, pollution and environmental policy, and the

chemistry of photosynthesis. 

Undergraduates were able to carry out projects in areas of science with

which they were unfamiliar and to which they would not otherwise have

been exposed as undergraduates. One in seven students said they planned

their intended major from their participation in these projects. They

learned about research topics, methodologies, and skills, benefiting

greatly from various hands-on experiences and from the collaborative

approach to research. They greatly preferred the team project approach

to doing research by themselves. 

Pairs of graduate students from different disciplines (in new and

emerging fields) learned to design research modules and supervise teams

of five to six undergraduates, considering such factors as the undergraduates’ science backgrounds, how much time they had to spend on the

project, and available facilities and materials. They gained skill in

promoting an inquiry-based, problem-solving approach to teaching and

strategies for encouraging frequent interaction and collaboration among

team members. And they valued the chance to work with graduate

students from other disciplines.

The project brought home the mutual benefits of graduate–undergraduate

interactions, the need for graduate students to be placed in instructional roles (yet the difficulty of finding time to do so), and the difficulties

of providing undergraduates with research experiences. For this reason,

Nekvasil developed a new required course that places undergraduate

geology majors (both male and female) with graduate geochemistry

students. Each graduate student becomes primary instructor in the

optical identification of minerals for a small group of undergraduate

students.

CODE: U, PD STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK (SUNY) AT STONY BROOK

WENDY KATKIN (WKATKIN@CCMAIL.SUNYSB.EDU), HANNA NEKVASIL

www.wise.sunsyb.edu/index.htm HRD 97-10556 (ONE-YEAR GRANT)

PARTNERS: CENTER FOR BIOTECHNOLOGY, COLLABORATIVE LABORATORIES, SYMBOL TECHNOLOGIES, INC.

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, HANDS-ON, RESEARCH EXPERIENCE, COLLABORATIVE

LEARNING, INQUIRY-BASED, PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS, GEOSCIENCES

AWSEM:

networking girls 

and women in

Oregon

Awe

AWSEM: NETWORKING GIRLS AND WOMEN IN OREGON

IN OREGON, HIGH-TECH CORPORATIONS HAVE SURPASSED THE TIMBER INDUSTRY TO BECOME THE

STATE’S NUMBER ONE EMPLOYER. ALARMINGLY, THESE SAME COMPANIES ARE CURRENTLY FORCED TO

HIRE OUTSIDE THE STATE FOR 50 PERCENT OF TECHNICIANS AND 90 PERCENT OF ENGINEERS. AND

WOMEN, WHO MAKE UP 45 PERCENT OF THE WORKFORCE, CONSTITUTE ONLY 16 PERCENT OF SCIENTISTS,

10 PERCENT OF COMPUTER SCIENTISTS, AND 4 PERCENT OF ENGINEERS. STUDIES ATTRIBUTE THIS

UNDERREPRESENTATION TO LACK OF ENCOURAGEMENT, SUPPORT, AND ROLE MODELS FOR GIRLS IN SCIENCE, ESPECIALLY DURING THE MIDDLE SCHOOL YEARS. GIRLS AS TALENTED AS BOYS IN MATH AND

SCIENCE, AND AS EXCITED ABOUT SCIENCE IN CHILDHOOD, BEGIN TO LOSE INTEREST IN MATH AND

SCIENCE AROUND THE AGE OF 12. THEY DROP OUT OF MATH AND SCIENCE CLASSES, CLOSING THE DOORS

ON MANY CAREER OPPORTUNITIES. THIS LOSS OF TALENT IS A QUIET CRISIS IN AMERICA. 

AWSEM (advocates for women in science, engineering and mathematics) developed a model of advocacy and curriculum to encourage girls to pursue

their early interests in the sciences. It began in 1994 as a project of the Saturday Academy, a community-based effort that in 1996 received the

Presidential Award for Excellence in Mentoring for its support of students from groups underrepresented in science and engineering. AWSEM brings

together parents, educators, and women professionals in science-related fields to kindle and support young women’s interest in STEM. Regional

networks of community leaders work together to dispel pervasive negative attitudes about girls, women, and science; to create local networks of

public and private institutions that give young women more science opportunities; and to establish a vertical mentoring system that links middle and

high school girls with female college students, teachers, parents, and professionals—to establish sustained contact between young women and science

practitioners. 

The AWSEM model of advocacy assumes that the most effective way to encourage girls in the sciences is to create meaningful interactions between girls

and role models in a wide variety of careers. Girls meet peers with similar interests in after-school clubs where they do fun, hands-on science projects,

get to know college women in STEM disciplines, and get to work with experienced women professionals, from aeronautic engineers to zoologists.

AWSEM’s slogan: “Making connections between inquiring young minds and accomplished community professionals to solve real problems.”

AWSEM maintains a network of 18 after-school science and math clubs in the Portland metropolitan area where middle and high school girls meet

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National Science Foundation Chapter Two . A Welcoming Learning Environment

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with each other and with college-age women to pursue their interests in

science. It tries to locate these clubs in schools serving high minority and

low-income populations, and schools with high dropout rates—typically

getting outside funding to support the clubs. Monthly site visits to local

science institutions such as the Oregon Regional Primate Research Center

allow girls to spend their day working with groups of women

professionals, getting a hands-on introduction to the excitement and

diversity of science careers and the women who pursue them. 

AWSEM supports regional advocacy efforts with products, curriculum, and

information. It held training for teachers and group leaders, with special

sessions on robotics engineering to help them help girls explore

In April 1996, after a monthly meeting of the Lane County Regional Gender Equity Committee, two members were reflecting on how—

despite math and science’s clear importance to girls’ self-esteem, education, and careers—girls were opting out of the more difficult math

and science classes at a greater rate than boys. These girls and their parents seemed unaware of the lifelong implications of this action.

“These girls need an advocate,” said Mary H. Thompson, publisher and co-author of a series of books on women and science. “Who do

you think has the greatest vested interest in a young girl’s welfare and future?”

“Their mothers!” said Marjorie DeBuse, director of the Lane County Saturday Academy and mother of a young daughter.

Thus began The M.A.D. (mothers and daughters) Scientists Club program.

Using seed money allocated from the Saturday Academy’s NSF-funded AWSEM program, Marjorie added The M.A.D. Scientists Club to the

U of O Talented and Gifted Institute’s Super Summer program. Mary developed the curriculum and took the first group of mothers and

daughters through hands-on science activities, discussing issues the girls were encountering that made it difficult for them to admit to

liking their math and science classes.

The M.A.D. Scientists Club brings fourth and fifth grade girls and their mothers (or another significant adult woman) together to do 

hands-on science experiments and activities, to learn about women scientists throughout history, and to be introduced to gender-related

issues that can reinforce positive attitudes about math and science in the girls and their mothers. The program consists of an

organizational meeting, six science sessions, and an optional “Mom Talk.”

Sessions are coordinated by a trained facilitator who provides the curriculum and helps organize the science activities. Sciences covered

are chemistry, structural engineering, physics, astronomy, mathematics, and geology/paleontology. Activities in The M.A.D. Scientists Club

are drawn from The M.A.D. Scientists Club Facilitator’s Manual and Mary Thompson’s The Scientist Within You: Experiments and Biographies

of Distinguished Women in Science.

Mothers enjoy the opportunity to get away on a special outing with their daughter, spending time together learning about science in a

comfortable learning environment (especially when science has intimidated them or left a bad taste in their mouth), watching their

daughter get excited about science activities, getting involved with other moms, and learning how many doors science can open for their

daughters and how to help their daughters grow.

THE M.A.D. SCIENTISTS CLUB

CODES: M, H, I OREGON GRADUATE INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY; OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCES UNIVERSITY

GAIL N. WHITNEY (GWHITNEY@ADMIN.OGI.EDU) JOANN S. LOEHR, EILEEN BOERGER, JOYCE CRESSWELL, CAROLYN LEIGHTON, HOLLIS MACLEAN, MELISSA FISHER

www.awsem.org www.alphaci.com/mads/4-progr/progr.htm (MAD SCIENTISTS CLUB) HRD 94-50030, HRD 97-14862 (THREE-YEAR GRANTS)

PARTNERS: PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY, OREGON GRADUATE INSTITUTE, OREGON UNIVERSITY SYSTEM, OREGON STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, WOMEN IN TECHNOLOGY

INTERNATIONAL (WITI), OREGON ROBOTICS TOURNAMENT AND OUTREACH ASSOCIATION, SOLAR ENERGY ASSOCIATION OF OREGON, EXPANDING YOUR HORIZONS, THE INSTITUTE FOR

SCIENCE, ENGINEERING, AND PUBLIC POLICY, AND COUNTLESS LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS. 

MATERIALS AVAILABLE FROM AWSEM WEBSITE: ACTION KIT; DIRECTORY OF PRACTITIONERS: ROLE MODELS FOR YOUNG WOMEN; PASSPORT TO SCIENCE; SITE VISIT HANDBOOK; AND CURRICULUM GUIDE.

KEYWORDS: EDUCATION PROGRAM, ROLE MODELS, PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT, SUPPORT SYSTEM, AFTER-SCHOOL, CLUBS, FIELD TRIPS, HANDS-ON, CAREER AWARENESS

computer-controlled Lego robots in their clubs and classes. AWSEM’s

website features hands-on science and math activities, gender equity

research, and links to career information and other science sites.

Participating in AWSEM has changed many girls’ and parents’ attitudes

toward STEM careers and courses as well as their behavior. The girls’

grades, activities, TV habits, and plans for education reflect a heightened

interest in STEM and STEM professionals. The undergraduates and

professionals who mentor benefit from the support network that develops

among them when they work together on a project. In developing the

interactive site visits, the leadership teams learn how to communicate

their careers and subjects to a lay audience of students. 
National Science Foundation Chapter Two . A Welcoming Learning Environment

5

WISE beginnings

002

WISE BEGINNINGS WB

FIRST-YEAR COLLEGE STUDENTS OFTEN BELIEVE THAT INTRODUCTORY SCIENCE CLASSES ARE

DESIGNED TO ELIMINATE STUDENTS NOT GOOD ENOUGH TO DO SCIENCE. SOME FACULTY ALSO

BELIEVE THAT STUDENTS LEAVE SCIENCE EARLY BECAUSE THEY LACK CERTAIN ATTRIBUTES OF ABILITY

OR CHARACTER, AND THAT THEIR LEAVING IS PART OF A NATURAL WEEDING-OUT PROCESS. BUT

STUDIES REPEATEDLY SHOW THAT MANY STUDENTS WHO LEAVE THE SCIENCES ARE INTELLIGENT AND

STRONGLY MOTIVATED BUT DISCOURAGED BY THE COMPETITIVE CULTURE AND THE BELIEF THAT A

DEPARTMENT IS MAKING EARLY NEGATIVE JUDGMENTS ABOUT THEIR ABILITIES. THE CHILLY CLIMATE

IN MOST SCIENCE CLASSROOMS—AND THE WAY SCIENCE IS USUALLY TAUGHT—ESPECIALLY LEADS

MANY WOMEN TO LEAVE SCIENCE FOR MORE CONGENIAL ACADEMIC FIELDS. 

Brown University initiated the successful Women in Science and

Engineering (WISE) program to improve the environment for

undergraduate women studying science. It launched WISE Beginnings to

provide strong support during that year when undergraduate women are

first exposed to college-level science and form their opinions about

whether or not to become scientists. 

More than 300 students participated in facilitated study groups for

introductory chemistry, engineering, physics, and calculus courses. The

first year of the program, students of color facilitated most of the study

groups, to address the dearth of women of color in the WISE program and

in the sciences generally. In its third year, the study groups became open

to all students. WISE developed a comprehensive training program on

group facilitation for study group leaders (using the supplemental

instruction model of group facilitation). It also created events for 

first-year science students for orientation day and for WISE Day, at the

beginning of the second semester. 

On the Women in Science website, first-year students could read: “One

important thing to remember as you are going through introductory

science courses is that everyone has a different learning style. The way

your course is taught may not be conducive to the way you learn. It is

important to try to find study techniques that fit your learning style.

Also, the college grading system is very different from the high school

one. Medians on exams here are often low, but this does not necessarily

reflect any change in intelligence, or ability to do science.” Advice on the

website aimed to dispel common first-year myths about college science.

Nearly a quarter of the undergraduate population became involved. More

than 50 science faculty worked actively often in collaboration with

students, to make their courses to more accessible to all students,

including traditionally underrepresented groups. Provided with guidance

on reforming science education, many faculty were persuaded that by

shifting the pedagogical focus away from a competitive, “weeding out”

model to a cooperative, welcoming, stimulating model the sciences would

retain more talented students. Science classes had previously tried to

engage students in competition, but students often respond more positively

to an atmosphere of cooperative learning—small groups of students

working together to solve problems, complete a task, accomplish a common

goal, ask questions, discuss ideas, learn to listen to others’ ideas, offer

constructive criticism, and so on. 

Some professors now find it useful to talk to classes about the weedingout theory, explaining that any weeding out that goes on goes on during

the admissions process, and that they expect all their students to do well.

When a professor expresses high expectations for a class, students often

have more confidence in their own abilities and perform better. To

address grade anxieties, some instructors stress that performance in

introductory courses is not necessarily an indicator of future performance

or ability—that students could earn low grades in introductory science

courses because of a weak high school science background or problems

making the transition to the college environment, among reasons that

might have nothing to do with science ability. By encouraging

apprehensive students to take a course on a pass/fail basis, they allow

students to explore a subject of potential interest without having to

worry as much about the grade—and to base decisions about their future

on how much they are learning and their interest in the subject matter

instead of on how good a grade they earn in an early course.

To move toward collaborative work, instructors increasingly designed

more cooperative and discovery-oriented introductory courses that

explore interesting topics yet cover the basics. To personalize large,

impersonal classes, they began encouraging more study groups—formal

and informal, in class and out. They began to adopt the student-aslearner model, with the teacher as coach. They tried to help students

develop the skills in critical thinking and group work that scientists use

every day in research and to see that science is not static. 

Engineering 3, for example, was a team-taught introductory course that

typically weeded out significant numbers of women and students of color,
National Science Foundation Chapter Two . A Welcoming Learning Environment

58

who found it too boring or difficult. The group that overhauled the course found that instructors were teaching to the “top” of the class (students who

already excelled in AP physics and AP calculus and were proficient in computer programming) and ignoring the less well prepared majority of students in

the middle and at the bottom. They split off an advanced class for students already familiar with much of first-year engineering and, for the rest of

the students, developed 10 hands-on labs closely connected to the weekly lecture. They encouraged collaborative work, introduced two design contests to make things interesting, assigned students to homework study groups based on dorm location, gave out class e-mail addresses to make communication easier, prepared a course handbook on basics and tips for working productively, and established an ombudsperson position (filled by a

junior or senior engineering student) to give the instructors ongoing feedback and to address student concerns. The traditional stream of student

complaints about the course ended.

As a result of these efforts to encourage study groups and to change the way science was taught, the retention rate for women in science at Brown

increased significantly, from 59.9 percent in the class of 1994 to 67.4 percent in the class of 1996.

CODE: U, PD BROWN UNIVERSITY

SHEILA E. BLUMSTEIN (SHEILA_BLUMSTEIN@BROWN.EDU), LYDIA ENGLISH, KAREN T. ROMER, FRANK G. ROTHMAN, DAVID M. TARGAN

www.brown.edu/Administration/Dean_of_the_College/homepginfo/equity HRD 94-53676 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

USEFUL LINKS: www.brown.edu/Administration/Dean_of_the_College/homepginfo/equity/Equity_handbook.html 

www.brown.edu/Administration/Dean_of_the_College/homepginfo/equity/toc_wisb.html 

www.brown.edu/Administration/Dean_of_the_College/homepginfo/equity/sme_links.html

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, STUDY GROUPS, COOPERATIVE LEARNING, SELF-CONFIDENCE, EXPLORATION-BASED, HANDS-ON, RETENTION

WISP: 

Dartmouth’s 

support program

wisp WISP: DARTMOUTH’S SUPPORT PROGRAM

IN 1993, DARTMOUTH LAUNCHED AN INNOVATIVE MODEL PROGRAM TO

ENCOURAGE NEW STUDENTS WITH HIGH INTERESTS IN STEM TO RETAIN

THOSE INTERESTS, BY IMPROVING THEIR EXPERIENCE IN STEM COURSES,

ESPECIALLY THEIR FIRST YEAR. DARTMOUTH’S COMPREHENSIVE WOMEN

IN SCIENCE PROJECT (WISP) PROVIDED EARLY HANDS-ON RESEARCH

EXPERIENCES, MENTORING, ROLE MODELING, TUTORING, ACCESS TO

INFORMATION AND ADVICE, A NEWSLETTER, SCIENTIFIC POSTER

SESSIONS, AND THE CHANCE TO BUILD A SENSE OF COMMUNITY IN THE

SCIENCES. MENTORING, IN WHICH WISP PIONEERED, TOOK MANY FORMS:

FORMAL AND INFORMAL, FACE TO FACE AND ELECTRONIC, AND WITH

PEERS, UPPERCLASSWOMEN, AND PROFESSIONALS IN INDUSTRY. 

As interns, first-year students spent up to ten hours a week for two terms

working with science faculty members (or researchers in nearby industrial

or government laboratories) assisting in ongoing research projects—

opportunities usually reserved for upper-class science majors preparing

for graduate work. NSF funding helped cover stipends to ensure the

participation of economically disadvantaged students. Interns were given

a student guide written by a former intern. At year’s end they could

present their work in poster sessions at Dartmouth’s annual science

symposium. In 11 years, 787 first-year women participated in research

internships and 219 faculty and researchers volunteered as WISP intern

sponsors. (Graduate students and post docs often served as supervisors

and “assistant sponsors.”) All of Dartmouth’s science departments,

including the medical school, participated, as well as such off-campus

institutions as the Veterans Administration Research Center and the U.S.

Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory.

Realizing that they wanted to share information and advice with younger

students, two junior science majors initiated WISP’s peer mentor program

in 1992. Over the years this student-directed program has touched the

lives of close to 1500 Dartmouth women.

WISP also pioneered an e-mentoring program that paired undergraduate

and graduate women in STEM with industrial scientists and engineers,

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National Science Foundation Chapter Two . A Welcoming Learning Environment

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using mainly e-mail to communicate and build relationships. WISP

developed the industrial e-mentoring program so that experienced

mentors could help young women connect their classroom studies to the

world of work. The mentors most available to women on rural college

campuses are those in the academic profession, but many students

eventually seek employment in business and industry. Expansion of the

Internet and the increasing prevalence of e-mail on college campuses and

in industrial workplaces diminishes the limitations of time and location and

opens up new mentoring possibilities. 

Protégées and mentors alike found their telementoring relationships

viable, valuable, and personally rewarding. They saw electronic

communication as an ideal medium for quick and easy communication

between people in different time zones or remote locations and on different

schedules. Written messages allowed protégées to express themselves more

thoughtfully, to feel less intimidated, and to preserve the correspondence

(because it was sometimes reassuring to go back and reread what the

mentor said later). There were some limitations, too. E-mail could feel

impersonal; conversation and the exchange of ideas may flow more easily

in face-to-face or phone conversations than in asynchronous communication; and it is harder on e-mail to maintain an open, spontaneous

discussion, to guide a conversation, or to correct a misinterpreted

question or comment. Clearly e-mail has to be supplemented with

occasional phone calls and personal visits over meals and at the mentor’s

workplace. Some mentors recommended videoconferencing for virtual

face-to-face conversations, gatherings, and group discussions.

WISP’s model e-mentoring program led to and became part of MentorNet,

the national e-mentoring program sponsored by WEPAN and funded by

the AT&T and Intel foundations.

CODE: U DARTMOUTH COLLEGE

MARY L. PAVONE (MARY.PAVONE@DARTMOUTH.EDU), CAROL B. MULLER, KAREN E. WETTERHAHN

www.dartmouth.edu/~wisp/ HRD 93-53764 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

GUIDE TO FIRST-YEAR RESEARCH INTERNSHIPS: www.dartmouth.edu/~wisp/student_guide.pdf

DARTMOUTH’S SCIENCE TEACHING WEBSITE: www.dartmouth.edu/~wisp/faculty/home.html

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, RETENTION, HANDS-ON, RESEARCH EXPERIENCE, MENTORING, ROLE MODELS, INTERNSHIPS, ELECTRONIC MENTORING, INDUSTRY PARTNERS
THE WORLD NEEDS MORE SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS, AND IT NEEDS A CITIZENRY THAT UNDERSTANDS THE DISCOVERIES AND

INVENTIONS THAT ARE CHANGING OUR LIVES. SCIENCE AND MATH COURSES NEED TO ENTICE, EXCITE, AND APPEAL, AS WELL AS

INFORM OUR STUDENTS. THEY CANNOT BE BORING AND OUTDATED AND UNNECESSARILY HARD—AIMED AT “WEEDING” MOST

STUDENTS OUT OF ADVANCED STUDIES. WE NEED TO ENGAGE AND INCLUDE MORE STUDENTS, AND A GREATER DIVERSITY OF STUDENTS, SO THAT THEY PERSIST FURTHER THAN BEFORE IN LEARNING THE BASICS OF SCIENCE, MATH, AND TECHNOLOGY.

THE PROJECTS IN THIS CHAPTER REVEAL MANY EXPERIMENTS IN COURSE DESIGN TO APPEAL TO A BROADER BASE OF STUDENTS,

PARTICULARLY FEMALE STUDENTS. THE NEW COURSES ARE TESTED IN ACTUAL SCHOOL SETTINGS, AND THEIR EFFECTIVENESS IS

EVALUATED. THE STORIES OF THESE PROJECTS SHOW A WIDE RANGE OF CREATIVITY IN BUILDING NONTRADITIONAL TEAMS TO

DESIGN AND TEST NONTRADITIONAL APPROACHES.

SOME TRENDS IN THE LAST 10 YEARS ILLUSTRATED IN MANY OF THESE STORIES:

• THE INTRODUCTION OF STANDARDS FOR SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS EDUCATION AND DEFINITIONS OF MINIMUM 

COMPETENCIES

• GREATER RELIANCE ON TESTING TO MEASURE LEARNING

• EMPHASIS ON TEAM PROBLEM-SOLVING IN THE CLASSROOM, WITH A MULTIDISCIPLINARY VIEW

• NEW CURRICULA INTEGRATING THE USE OF TECHNOLOGY, AND THE ARRIVAL OF DISTANCE EDUCATION USING TECHNOLOGY

• THE RISE OF THE “NONTRADITIONAL” STUDENT

• COMMUNITY COLLEGES’ GREATER ROLE IN UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION

CHAPTER THREE . COURSES THAT FEED, NOT WEED

Courses That Feed, 

Not Weed

003

Ch

SOME REFERENCES

Cuny, Janice, and William Aspray. Recruitment and Retention of Women Graduate Students in Computer Science and Engineering:

Results of a Workshop. Computing Research Association, 2000.

Fennema, Elizabeth, ed. Mathematics and Gender. U of Queensland Press, 1993.

Margolis, Jane, and Allan Fisher. Unlocking the Clubhouse: Women in Computing. MIT Press, 2001.

Musil, Carin McTighe, ed. Gender, Science, and the Undergraduate Curriculum: Building Two-Way Streets. Association of American

Colleges and Universities, 2001.

Rosser, Sue V., ed. Re-Engineering Female Friendly Science. Columbia University Teachers College Press, 1997.

Rosser, Sue V. Teaching the Majority: Breaking the Gender Barrier in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering. Columbia University

Teachers College Press, 1995.

Seymour, Elaine, and Nancy M. Hewitt. Talking About Leaving: Why Undergraduates Leave the Sciences. Westview, 1997.
National Science Foundation Chapter Three . Courses That Feed, Not Weed

6

EARLY INFLUENCES ON GENDER DIFFERENCES IN MATH ACHIEVEMENT

THIS THREE-YEAR LONGITUDINAL STUDY WILL EXAMINE GENDER

DIFFERENCES IN HOW FIVE FACTORS—SPATIAL SKILL, USE OF STRATEGY,

SPEED OF RETRIEVAL, CONFIDENCE ABOUT MATH, AND CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING—PREDICT MATH ACHIEVEMENT. CHILDREN WILL BE ASSESSED

EACH YEAR STARTING IN SECOND GRADE AND ENDING IN FOURTH GRADE.

USING THE FIVE FACTORS AS PREDICTORS OF MATH ACHIEVEMENT, THE

STUDY TEAM WILL BE ABLE TO SEE WHETHER SOME FACTORS INTERACT

WITH EACH OTHER AS PREDICTORS OF MATH ACHIEVEMENT. DOES THE

PRESENCE OF ONE FACTOR PROMOTE THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE OTHERS?

DOES CONFIDENCE PROMOTE SPATIAL SKILLS AND THE USE OF STRATEGY,

FOR EXAMPLE? DO EARLY SPATIAL SKILLS PROMOTE GREATER CONFIDENCE

AND USE OF STRATEGY? 

This project is studying the early elementary years because although

gender differences in strategizing, spatial skills, and confidence have

been documented in children of elementary school age, it is not clear how

these differences may affect math achievement. If math achievement and

conceptual understanding are affected by early emerging gender

differences, is there a need to intervene in girls’ math in the early

elementary years rather than waiting until middle school and high school,

when gender differences become more pronounced?

MATH MEGA CAMP

A TWO-WEEK NONRESIDENTIAL SUMMER ENRICHMENT PROGRAM IN MATH

AND SCIENCE, MEGA CAMP (MATH EXPLORATIONS FOR GIRLS

ACHIEVEMENT) TARGETED SIXTH GRADE MINORITY GIRLS, BECAUSE

MAJOR DECISIONS ABOUT WHETHER TO PURSUE MATH ARE MADE IN

JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL. HOSTED BY CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY AT

HAYWARD (CSUH), THE CAMP WAS DESIGNED TO SHOW GIRLS HOW

IMPORTANT AND USEFUL MATH SKILLS ARE AND TO EXPOSE THEM TO

POSITIVE ROLE MODELS. 

Sites for four field trips were chosen as much for motivational value as

for educational content. Four cycles were built around the field trips, with

introductory material before the trip and follow-up activities after. Each

girl reported her discoveries and experiences on her page on the camp

website. 

At the Aerospace Encounter at NASA’s Ames Research Center, students

could design a commercial airliner on computers, complete a mission in

a simulated space station, launch a “space probe” from a spinning chair,

and more. In post-trip activities—including NASA’s “planets made to

scale” (a modeling activity) and a NASA lesson on charting the planets—

girls explored really big numbers. At CSUH’s Microscope and Graphic

Imaging Center (MAGIC), they explored really small numbers, viewing

various kinds of samples through different kinds of microscopes. 

At Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream plant, they saw various phases of ice cream’s

manufacture, pondered such questions as why ice cream is sold in

cylindrical cartons, and calculated how much of each ingredient was

needed to make ice cream for a certain number of people. At the

Technology Museum of Innovation, they could design and market their

own bikes at a computer-assisted design station; study how robots see,

hear, and move in the robot gallery; and see how the basic units of life

are changed through gene splicing in the biotechnology station. 

CODE: E UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC.

MARTHA CARR (MCARR@COE.UGA.EDU)

HRD 01-14945 (ONE-YEAR GRANT)

KEYWORDS: RESEARCH STUDY, GENDER DIFFERENCES, SPATIAL SKILLS, SELF-CONFIDENCE, STRATEGY SKILLS

CODES: E, I, U CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY AT HAYWARD

JULIE S. GLASS (JGLASS@CSUHAYWARD.EDU), KATHY HANN

www.mcs.csuhayward.edu/~mega/mc2001/mc2001.html

HRD 98-10308 (ONE-YEAR GRANT)

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, SUMMER CAMP, ACHIEVEMENT, MATH SKILLS, FIELD TRIPS, MINORITIES, ROLE MODELS, WEBSITE

MATHEMATICS

Math mega camp

003

mmc

Early influences 

on gender 

differences in 

math achievement

ei

003
National Science Foundation Chapter Three . Courses That Feed, Not Weed

62

SINGLE-GENDER MATH CLUBS

WORKING WITH TEACHERS AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN BOSTON, LEXINGTON,

THE BERKSHIRE HILLS, THE TECHNICAL EDUCATION RESEARCH CENTERS

(TERC) DEVELOPED AND PILOTED SEVERAL SUCCESSFUL MODELS OF

SCHOOL-BASED MATH CLUBS FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL GIRLS, INCLUDING 

• Weekly math clubs for girls held during lunch or after school (boys who wished could attend). 

• Single-gender girls’ and boys’ math clubs. Teachers paired up and traded students to form two single-gender groups. After completing a six-week 

unit of work, teachers traded groups so each teacher could experience both all-girls and all-boys groups. Most groups met once a week for an hour. 

One group met one week a month for five straight days. 

In each school, the math clubs served as a framework within which teachers could learn about the gender dynamics in their classrooms. They also

used clubs as a low-risk place to experiment with reform math activities. After recognizing and reflecting on classroom gender issues in the 

math club framework, they could think about how to improve the coed classroom environment. Teachers at each site changed their regular classroom

math instruction after experiencing their students’ responses to reform math activities. 

The model clubs increased girls’ enthusiasm for math, helped teachers improve the learning climate in their math classrooms, and increased community

involvement in math education. Girls and boys participating in single-gender math clubs for 16 weeks scored significantly higher (an average 19.1 out

of 22) on attitude surveys measuring confidence in math than students at the same grade level in the same schools who did not participate in the

clubs (who averaged 16.0). Club participants also tested better on performance after 16 weeks of math clubs. 

Girls said the clubs gave them safety from the put-downs they had come to expect from boys in discussions in the coed classrooms, more and better

opportunities to participate, more fun socially, and better concentration (because the girls were calm and mature). Most participating girls and boys

recommend single-sex math clubs to students in other schools—boys, because they could be with friends and could ask questions they wouldn’t feel

free to ask in a coed environment (such as “Are girls more mature than boys?” and “Is it true that boys are better at math than girls?”). 

Teachers who participated expected to continue the work in their communities. Leading single-gender math clubs had made them aware of gender

issues, including their biases toward boys in regular classrooms. They asked themselves whether boys absorb most teacher attention because of discipline

issues or because they are more assertive, whether teachers unknowingly communicate different expectations for boys and girls, and how to address

the sometimes quiet culture of put-downs and harassment in many coed classrooms. Because they traded students, facilitated the same math activities

each club day, and met at common prep times, teachers began collaborating more and discussing pedagogical issues. After hearing about the 

reform-based curriculum being tested in the math clubs, a number of teachers in other schools chose to experiment with it—and similar math clubs

have appeared all over the country.

The experience improved the coed classrooms, where girls began to participate more and boys began to include girls more in class discussion and

group work. The math clubs also provided a manageable structure for involving parents and business partners, who regularly visited math clubs to

discuss the math they do in their work. Students and teachers learned more about the kind of math required for different careers and met successful

women who used math in many different fields of work.

The project was well covered by the media—notably in a segment in a

seven-part PBS television series, “Math: the Invisible Universe,” which

aired in 1998. Project materials included a presentation for parents called

“Math Counts: Does Your Daughter?” 

CODE: E TECHNICAL EDUCATION RESEARCH CENTERS (TERC)

JAN MOKROS (JAN_MOKROS@TERC.EDU), MARY BERLE-CARMAN, LISA YAFFEE

www.terc.edu/wge HRD 95-53337 (ONE-YEAR GRANT)

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, SELF-CONFIDENCE, TEAMWORK APPROACH, MATH SKILLS, INDUSTRY PARTNERS, SCHOOL-BASED, ROLE MODELS, PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT, CURRICULUM, ENGAGEMENT, PBS, TERC, INC., GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS

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WEAVING GENDER EQUITY INTO MATH REFORM

OVER THREE YEARS, TERC AND THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT SANTA BARBARA COLLABORATED WITH WELLREGARDED STAFF DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS FOR ELEMENTARY TEACHERS TO DEVELOP FOUR WORKSHOP SESSIONS

FOR USE WITH ELEMENTARY TEACHERS, STAFF DEVELOPERS, SCHOOL AND DISTRICT ADMINISTRATORS, AND OTHERS

CONCERNED ABOUT EDUCATIONAL EQUITY. EACH SESSION TACKLED AN AREA OF STANDARDS-BASED MATH (AS

ARTICULATED BY THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF TEACHERS OF MATHEMATICS) THROUGH THE LENS OF GENDER EQUITY.

CODES: PD, E TECHNICAL EDUCATION RESEARCH CENTERS (TERC INC.) 

JANICE R. MOKROS (JAN_MOKROS@TERC.EDU), CATHY M. GRANT, MARY BERLE-CARMAN www.terc.edu/wge HRD 97-14743 (THREE-YEAR GRANT)

PARTNERS: UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SANTA BARBARA; UCSMP EVERYDAY LEARNING CENTER; MATHEMATICS RENAISSANCE; MARILYN BURNS’ MATH SOLUTIONS; THE

DEVELOPMENTAL STUDIES CENTER’S NUMBER POWER PROJECT; THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO’S INSTITUTE FOR MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE EDUCATION TEACHING

INTEGRATED MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE (TIMS) PROJECT; VIDEO CASE STUDIES PROJECT; CALIFORNIA’S SSI MATH RENAISSANCE PROJECT; TERC’S INVESTIGATIONS IN NUMBER, DATA, AND SPACE WORKSHOPS; EISENHOWER REGIONAL ALLIANCE FOR MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE EDUCATION REFORM; EISENHOWER NATIONAL CLEARINGHOUSE; EDUCATION

DEVELOPMENT CENTER (EDC); NATIONAL COUNCIL OF SUPERVISORS OF MATHEMATICS (NCSM); INTEGRATING GENDER EQUITY AND REFORM (INGEAR); CENTER FOR RESEARCH ON

EDUCATION, DIVERSITY, AND EXCELLENCE; INTERCULTURAL DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH ASSOCIATION; AND MANY OTHERS. 

PRODUCTS: FOUR WORKSHOPS, NUMEROUS ARTICLES, AND A 70-PAGE EQUITY RESOURCE GUIDE (AVAILABLE ONLINE AT (www.terc.edu/wge/publications.html))

KEYWORDS: TEACHER TRAINING, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS, WORKSHOPS, TERC, INC., MATH, CURRICULUM, PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, RESOURCE GUIDE, WEBSITE

To incorporate equity into the most visible, well-attended math workshops

in the country, this project linked key developers of elementary math

curricula and staff development programs. These leaders and project staff

came together for an intensive three-day working conference each year to

develop four new workshops on equity and elementary math education.

These workshop sessions can be integrated into extended in-service

training or can be used as stand-alone sessions:

• What Is Equity?, an overview of equity in the context of 

standards-based math

• Measuring Student Achievement: The Impact of Standardized Testing 

on Equity and Excellence in Mathematics, on how state and national 

tests affect educational equity and on ways to help students prepare 

for standardized tests

• Technology, Equity, and Mathematics, on how computers can support 

children’s math learning and on how to use computer resources equitably

• The Home-School Connection, on how parent/caregiver involvement 

can support in-school math learning

Collectively, the partnering math reform programs reach more than

13,600 elementary school teachers annually, teachers who want to

transform their math curricula and pedagogical approaches. Teachers are

enthusiastic about the reform curricula, which involve teachers as

partners and insist they do math for themselves, understand how children

learn math, and take on new roles in the classroom. A central premise of

these curricula is that all students can do math, but this requires serious

staff development. 

As teachers become mathematically self-confident, they are going beyond

arithmetic to incorporate strands on geometry, data, algebra, and the

mathematics of change. They are learning to support discourse in their

math classrooms, to encourage children to develop their own strategies for

solving problems, to assess students’ work in new and deeper ways, and to

use technology to support children’s understanding of math. 

But the strand of gender equity, although honored as a concept, had not

previously been incorporated in staff development workshops and

leadership training. The unintended consequence was that few teachers

participating in staff development understood that gender equity is

essential to math reform. As student voices emerge, if teachers aren’t

helped to build classroom cultures inclusive of all voices, the risk is great

that assertive voices—all too often those of boys—will replace the

previously dominating voice of the teacher.

Many of the instructional strategies (cooperative learning, hands-on

activities) embraced by these reform curricula have particular value for girls

and for children of color, a fact rarely highlighted as a rationale for

adopting these instructional approaches. Teachers need to know, in

concrete ways, how they might change their practices to improve math

learning for all students, but especially for girls. Teachers have

experimented with various ways of recording and reporting about games

that allow a variety of players to share mathematical understanding. These

strategies weren’t developed to involve girls more in the number games, but

teachers report that these adaptations have improved the quality of girls’

engagement with the games and with the underlying mathematical

thinking. The communities involved in equity and in math reform have a

great deal to offer each other.

Through this project, an equity component has been introduced into the

teacher development work of the three major elementary-math

curriculum projects funded by NSF (Investigations, Everyday Math, and

Math Trailblazers). Gender equity is increasingly being incorporated in

professional development workshops, models of equitable

student–teacher interactions have been incorporated into the video

training material of two major projects, and many educators have become

familiar with the message that gender equity is essential to math

education through the Weaving Gender Equity website and 

resource guide.

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GENDERWISE: EXPORTING SUMMERMATH

SINCE 1982, THE INNOVATIVE SUMMERMATH HAS BEEN PREPARING A MULTIRACIAL GROUP OF HIGH SCHOOL

GIRLS FOR THE REAL WORLD OF MATH. AFTER PARTICIPATING IN SUMMERMATH, GIRLS RETURN TO SCHOOL WITH

MORE CONFIDENCE, INDEPENDENCE, AND PROBLEM SOLVING SKILLS. BY 1993 SUMMERMATH HAD BECOME A

NATIONAL MODEL, ELICITING MANY REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION AND MATERIALS FROM EDUCATORS WISHING TO

INCORPORATE ELEMENTS OF THE PROGRAM INTO THEIR CLASSES. THE GENDERWISE WORKING CONFERENCE WAS

CREATED TO GIVE EDUCATORS A MEANINGFUL WAY TO VISIT SUMMERMATH AND UNDERSTAND ITS ESSENTIAL

ELEMENTS—AND TO FACILITATE THE DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF NEW MATH INTERVENTION PROGRAMS

MODELED AFTER IT. THE MAIN OBJECTIVE WAS TO PROVIDE A LIVELY, HANDS-ON ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH EDUCATORS COULD OBSERVE, EXPERIENCE, AND DISCUSS A PROGRAM DESIGNED EXPLICITLY FOR GIRLS TO LEARN MATH. 

The 24 educators selected the first year spent five days at Mount

Holyoke while the SummerMath program was in session. They were given

a guided half-day experience with pair–problem solving, learned about

gender equity issues, and shared experiences and reflections on what

works for high school girls (and why), on problem-solving approaches,

and on gender-related issues. A full day of observing SummerMath

classes was followed by an in-depth discussion of perceptions and

questions. Participants then began designing a project they could

implement at their home institution. They all left with a copy of the

SummerMath curriculum (more than 300 pages of problems, from

fractions to precalculus) and with teachers’ guides, the camp’s Logo

curriculum units, support materials for workshops they might hold at

home, plans for an intervention project, and a network of colleagues. 

During the six years they held the GenderWise conference, SummerMath

hosted more than 100 educators from as far away as Alaska and

Hawaii—several of them already leaders in bringing girls, minorities,

and other underrepresented groups into math and science. Among the

participants, for example, was a physicist and educator of the deaf (deaf

himself) who brought two deaf staff members and eight deaf and 

hard-of-hearing girls to SummerMath 2001. GenderWise has widened the

network of people committed to supporting young women’s

mathematical education. 

CODES: H, PD SUMMERMATH, MOUNT HOLYOKE COLLEGE

CHARLENE MORROW (CMORROW@MTHOLYOKE.EDU)

www.mtholyoke.educ/proj/summermath HRD 93-53808 (ONE YEAR GRANT)

PARTNER: NASA

CHART ON WOMEN’S WAYS OF KNOWING: www.scu.edu/SCU/Projects/NSFWorkshop99/html/morrow.html

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, SUMMER PROGRAM, MATH, SELF-CONFIDENCE, CONFERENCE, INTERVENTION, HANDS-ON, PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS

COMPUTER GAMES FOR MATHEMATICAL EMPOWERMENT

POPULAR CULTURE OFFERS LITTLE OUT-OF-SCHOOL SUPPORT FOR CHILDREN’S

MATHEMATICAL LEARNING—WITH THE POSSIBLE EXCEPTION OF COMPUTER GAMES,

WHICH EXERT A TREMENDOUS PULL ON SOME CHILDREN. MANY GAMES PURPORT TO

BE EDUCATIONAL, EVEN TO PROMOTE CHILDREN’S MATHEMATICAL LEARNING, BUT

THERE IS LITTLE RESEARCH TO SUPPORT SUCH CLAIMS. RESEARCHERS ARE

BEGINNING TO GET A HANDLE ON THE CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH STUDENTS LEARN

MATH IN SCHOOL, BUT ALMOST NOTHING IS KNOWN ABOUT HOW COMPUTER 

GAME-PLAYING CAN SUPPORT AND EXTEND CHILDREN’S MATHEMATICAL KNOWLEDGE. 

Researchers and software developers have also paid little attention to the disparities between boys’ and girls’ involvement with these games. Computer

games could help increase all children’s mathematical learning, but girls are not benefiting from their potential. For girls, the computer’s screen is

like a kind of glass wall: They can glimpse its worlds from a distance but are not invited inside. Hence this project’s website name: “Through the glass

wall: computer games for mathematical empowerment.” 

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Through research with elementary and middle school students, this project seeks answers to three broad questions: 

• How can children learn significant math from computer games? 

• What characteristics of games, and of game-playing contexts, support learning? 

• What patterns are there in girls’ and boys’ approaches to (and learning from) computer games?

In three studies, the project observed and interviewed children 7 to 13. Two studies examined how girls and boys in a summer computer camp used

and learned from a variety of math-oriented computer games. One of the two looked at which games girls and boys chose to play and with whom

they chose to play them; the other observed a group of girls playing a game designed for girls, focusing on how they collaborated and competed with

one another. A third study, done with a small group of children in an after-school program, focused on how the children played a well-designed

mathematical computer game and the kinds of mathematical thinking they developed over several months.

The project developed criteria for evaluating computer games for their

mathematical potential, gender equity, and ability to engage children.

Games that meet all three criteria are called MEGS (mathematical,

equitable game software). The project website describes several dozen

math-related computer games, provides reviews of many of the games,

and gives lists of print and Web-based resources on gender equity, math,

and computer games. 

CODES: E, M, I TERC INC. 

ANDEE RUBIN (ANDEE_RUBIN@TERC.EDU) AND JANICE R. MOKROS

www.terc.edu/mathequity/gw/html/gwhome.html 

HRD 95-55641 (THREE-YEAR GRANT) 

CHOOSING MATHEMATICAL GAME SOFTWARE: www.terc.edu/mathequity/gw/html/ChoosingSoftwarepaper.html

KEYWORDS: RESEARCH STUDY, GENDER DIFFERENCES, COMPUTER GAMES, MATH SKILLS, INFORMAL EDUCATION, EVALUATION

ANIMALWATCH: COMPUTER-BASED MATH TUTOR

BECAUSE MANY GIRLS DISLIKE AND AVOID MATH, THEY ARE OFTEN UNDERPREPARED FOR

COLLEGE SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING PROGRAMS. GIRLS’ DECLINING CONFIDENCE IN THEIR

OWN MATH COMPETENCE—ESPECIALLY FROM GRADES 5 THROUGH 8—IS PARTLY ATTRIBUTABLE TO THE TYPE OF INSTRUCTION AND FEEDBACK ON PERFORMANCE TEACHERS TYPICALLY

PROVIDE, OR FAIL TO PROVIDE. GIRLS ARE MORE LIKELY THAN BOYS TO BELIEVE THAT SUCCESS

WITH MATH COMES FROM INNATE ABILITY, RATHER THAN EFFORT. IN THE TRADITIONAL

CLASSROOM, TEACHERS TEND NOT TO “PUSH” GIRLS IF A PROBLEM CHALLENGES THEM, WHICH

MAY IMPLY THEY ARE NOT SMART ENOUGH TO LEARN. AND MOVING TOO SLOWLY THROUGH THE

CURRICULUM MAY BE AS RISKY TO GIRLS’ CONFIDENCE AS MOVING TOO QUICKLY.

This University of Massachusetts demonstration project uses the power of

an intelligent computer-based tutoring system to help girls in grades 4–6

master math skills and gain in confidence and motivation—applying the

intervention in late elementary school, when gender differences in

attitudes toward math first become apparent. The software interface

studies both boys’ and girls’ interactions. Research shows that girls

benefit from and appreciate

• Learning through exploration and collaboration. Students, especially 

girls, respond positively to math software that does not rely on 

gender-stereotypic themes (such as storming a castle to save a 

princess), or competition with the self, another player, or the computer

—characteristics prevalent in commercial math software (such as Math 

Blaster) that girls typically do not enjoy.

• An interface and software environment responsive to girls and girls’ 

interest in environmental biology.

• Feedback that builds confidence, sets high expectations, provides specific 

hints about how to overcome errors, and emphasizes appropriate effort, 

rather than native ability, as the key to math success. 

Combining educational psychology with computer science, this

multidisciplinary research team deployed, evaluated, and continuously

revised its supportive, adaptive, interactive math tutoring software in

trials with hundreds of fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students in three

school districts over several years. A teacher who noticed that girls

enjoyed learning about endangered species suggested blending

mathematical problem-solving with environmental biology. The software

WhaleWatch was developed and then expanded to become AnimalWatch. 

AnimalWatch uses a four-part narrative about endangered species—the

right whale, the giant panda, and the Takhi wild horse (also known as the

Przewalski wild horse)—as a context for solving word problems involving

fractions, decimals, and percentages. The four-part narrative through

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which students progress was developed because students using an early

version of the program said they wanted more sense of progress as they

worked, and girls do not respond well to the notion of competitive scoring.

Now, for example, a student who chooses the Takhi wild horse adventure

begins working on problems about the species, then progresses to

problems about Mongolia (the original home of the species), then moves

to problems about preparing to go to Mongolia (fund raising, planning

the trip, and packing), and finally takes a virtual trip to follow a group

of horses being returned to the wild in Mongolia from a reserve in the

Netherlands. 

Word problems for all math operations are included for each part of the

story. Templates now exist for more than a thousand word problems.

When students complete one adventure, they can choose another and

continue working on the same math level. Students work at their own

pace and if they return for multiple sessions the tutor remembers where

they left off so they do not have to go through the entire curriculum

again. 

Intelligent tutoring systems, unlike common drill-and-practice systems,

modify themselves to conform to students’ learning styles. When a student

has trouble solving a problem, the software initiates a tutoring

interaction that provides tailored hints and guidance to help the student

work through the problem—using techniques from artificial intelligence

to generate problems, select hints, and assess and model student

preferences and abilities. A module called the “student model” creates a

representation of each student’s math understanding, selecting problems

appropriate to the students’ ability levels and responding to student

errors with help and feedback tailored to their needs. 

Although both boys and girls liked AnimalWatch, girls gave it a higher

rating than boys did. Results of the first evaluation study show that

WhaleWatch increased girls’ self-confidence about math, raising it as high

as the boys’ self-confidence, even after working with challenging math

problems. (The boys’ confidence level, which started out higher, remained

the same.) 

Results of the second evaluation study (adding a control group that did

drill-and-practice work with no feedback other than “correct” or

“incorrect”) were sometimes surprising: Girls benefited from structured,

interactive, concrete hints, examples, and adaptive feedback, whereas boys

at the same level of cognitive development lost confidence when helped by

the tutor (perhaps feeling slowed down by the time taken by hinting—

an argument for either reducing the hinting time or allowing students to

turn it off). Boys learned fastest when presented with demonstrations of

algorithms and procedures. 

Male and female students ended up with similar levels of mastery but took

different pathways—and the computer is able to adapt its instruction

accordingly. Boys remained confident about math even with a drill-andpractice version of the system that responded to student errors with a

simple “try again”; with the adaptive feedback turned off, girls were

affected more negatively than boys. 

Surprisingly, the tutor was most helpful to students in the middle range of

cognitive abilities, as determined by a Piagetian pre-test. Students with

low cognitive abilities responded better to more concrete procedural hints,

using interactive manipulables (such as Cuisenaire rods) that they could

drag and drop. Students at the higher end of the cognitive scale preferred

more abstract and symbolic hinting (such as “Are you sure you are using

the right operation?”). 

Even when there was no difference in problem-solving accuracy, girls and

boys tended to approach problems differently. When students had to share

a computer, girls showed a preference for working with other girls, and

same-gender girls’ pairs showed more genuine collaboration than mixedgender pairs, but in terms of math confidence and objective problemsolving, girls also did well working with a male partner. 

Finally, intelligent computer tutoring benefited students’ math

performance. Because AnimalWatch monitors the effectiveness of the

help it provides, if a student continues to make errors after viewing one

type of hint, the system will change to another type of hint. There was

evidence that the software was providing effective instruction, in that

errors on subsequent problems were reduced after hints were presented.

Data are still being analyzed for the final evaluation study, but

performance on a paper and pencil test were correlated with progress in

AnimalWatch problem solving, and working with AnimalWatch led to a

reduction in errors on fractions problems on the paper and pencil math test.

Students also learned about endangered species. 

Teachers often ignore instructional technology for fear that it won’t teach

the skills needed for standardized testing, so the team welcomed teacher

input about math content. The tutoring system was deployed in many

classrooms in three elementary school districts over the course of four

years (with additional classes for use as controls in evaluation). Several

regionwide in-service days helped 35 teachers incorporate the system

into their curriculum. The website includes many resources for teachers,

including a discussion feature and authoring tools that allow teachers to

create their own word problems and even their own endangered 

species adventure. 

CODE: E, I UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS, AMHERST

CAROLE R. BEAL, PSYCHOLOGY (CBEAL@PSYCH.UMASS.EDU) BEVERLY P. WOOLF, COMPUTER SCIENCE (BEV@CS.UMASS.EDU) KLAUS SCHULTZ, DAVID HART, PAUL R. COHEN

http://ccbit.cs.umass.edu/AnimalWatch

HRD 95-55737 (ONE-YEAR GRANT); HRD 97-14757 (THREE-YEAR GRANT)

THE ANIMAL WATCH CD-ROM (SUITABLE FOR AGES 10 TO 12) WORKS ON BOTH

MAC AND WINDOWS COMPUTERS. IT IS AVAILABLE BY REQUEST OR CAN BE

DOWNLOADED FROM THE WEBSITE, BUT THE DOWNLOAD TIME MAY BE PROHIBITIVE

FOR MOST USERS.

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, SELF-CONFIDENCE, COMPUTER-BASED TUTORING, MATH SKILLS, INTERVENTION, EXPLORATION-BASED, TEACHER TRAINING, CD-ROM, SOFTWARE, RESEARCH FINDINGS, INTERACTIVE, GENDER DIFFERENCES, PSYCHOLOGY, ENVIRONMENTAL BIOLOGY
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ANIMAL WORLD 

SOME NATIONAL ASSESSMENTS SHOW THE GENDER GAP IN MATH

ACHIEVEMENT TO HAVE NARROWED DRAMATICALLY IN THE LAST DECADE,

WITH SIGNIFICANTLY MORE HIGH SCHOOL WOMEN TAKING MATH COURSES.

BUT OTHER DATA INDICATE THAT GIRLS DO NOT CONFRONT THE CRITICAL

TRANSITION FROM HIGH SCHOOL TO COLLEGE WITH THE DEEP,

CONCEPTUALLY BASED MATHEMATICAL COMPETENCE THAT SUPPORTS ENTRY

INTO STEM CAREERS. GIRLS PERFORM MUCH LESS WELL THAN BOYS, FOR

EXAMPLE, ON COMPLEX PROBLEM SOLVING, WHEN THEY MUST APPLY NOVEL

PROBLEM-SOLVING APPROACHES, AND WHEN THEY MUST WORK UNDER TIME

PRESSURE OR TRANSFER SKILLS TO PROBLEMS THEY HAVEN’T SEEN BEFORE. 

Other research points to differences in male and female learning styles. Previous work by the project team indicates that, on average, girls require

more structured, concrete, and repetitive instruction where boys do equally well with more abstract hints and help, suggesting that they have a deeper

understanding of math concepts. 

This project is designed to investigate characteristic male and female learning styles during the transition from high school to college as well as the

factors that contribute to female students’ shallower competence. These investigations will take place in the context of the Web-based multimedia

simulation environment of Animal World: Wayang Outpost. Wayang Outpost provides high school women (and men) with

• An intelligent tutor for high school math (fractions, algebra, geometry, ratios/proportions/decimals, and probability) that provides gender-adaptive 

instruction, permits the analysis of male and female learning styles, and narrows the gender gap on the SAT math exam. 

• A virtual mentor component, in which students who are solving math problems in the simulated world can meet real women who are researchers 

and experts, who discuss their training through video clips embedded in the simulation.

• A math-at-your-fingertips module in which students periodically rehearse math facts to free their cognitive resources for higher-order problem 

solving, predicting higher math test scores.

• A module to improve students’ spatial cognition through dynamic manipulation of objects in simulated three-dimensional environments, which will 

permit a strong test of the hypothesis that girls’ poorer math achievement reflects less well developed spatial cognition.

The project predicts that girls who work with the Wayang Outpost site will show significant increases in their skill at solving complex math problems,

including their performance on the math SAT; that gender-adaptive

instruction will foster greater conceptual understanding in female

students; and that virtual mentors will encourage girls to report greater

interest in STEM careers. The results should improve our understanding

of male and female learning styles and produce new approaches to

effective math instruction for all students. 

CODE: H UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS, AMHERST

CAROLE R. BEAL (CBEAL@PSYCH.UMASS.EDU), BEVERLY P. WOOLF, JAMES M. ROYER

01-20809 (THREE-YEAR GRANT) 

KEYWORDS: RESEARCH STUDY, GENDER DIFFERENCES, COMPUTER-BASED TUTORING, MENTORING, SAT PREP COURSE, MATH SKILLS, SOFTWARE, PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS

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GIRLS ON TRACK: APPLYING MATH TO COMMUNITY PROBLEMS

UNDER A THREE-YEAR GRANT, NORTH CAROLINA STATE’S CENTER FOR RESEARCH

IN MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE EDUCATION ENGAGED 200 WAKE COUNTY MIDDLE

SCHOOL GIRLS IN COMPUTER-BASED MATHEMATICAL INVESTIGATIONS OF

COMMUNITY PROBLEMS TO HELP THEM DISCOVER THE ANSWER TO THE AGE-OLD

QUESTIONS: WHAT GOOD IS MATH? WHY DO WE HAVE TO LEARN THIS STUFF AND

WHEN ARE WE EVER GOING TO USE IT? THE GIRLS ON TRACK (GOT) MATH

ENRICHMENT PROGRAM SHOWED MATH’S RELEVANCE TO THEIR LIVES AND 

IMPORTANCE FOR SOLVING COMMUNITY PROBLEMS. THE PROGRAM ALSO

EXPLORED SOCIAL ISSUES RELEVANT TO RETAINING GIRLS IN MATH AND SCIENCES. 

The centerpieces of their empirical work were teacher/counselor workshops and free summer camps for middle school girls who like math. Camp helped

girls make the leap from arithmetic to algebraic thinking, a bridge many students have trouble crossing. Using computer technology, they explored

patterns and functions, spatial reasoning, probability, and statistics. Algebraic concepts embedded in camp activities relied heavily on proportional

reasoning (rational numbers, percentages, ratio and proportion, rate of change, slope), which is critical to success in Algebra 1 and beyond.

Understanding covariance—how one variable changes in relation to another—is a conceptual leap required to engage in algebraic thinking. Engaging

students in rate problems through “Virtual Vacation” activities, helped improve their skills in proportional reasoning. They also learned how to collect,

organize, represent, and analyze data, find patterns and generalize, and present the results of their investigation. 

To connect algebraic equations with the real world, the girls applied math concepts to community problems such as trash disposal, differences between

men’s and women’s earnings, and whether there should be an HOV lane on I-40. When the topic was trash and recycling, teams of girls measured and

weighed their personal and family trash for a week. To analyze the relative amounts of recyclables and decomposable trash, the girls did “action

research,” gathering data from the Web about the area’s population, projected total trash output, potential versus actual recycling, and so on. They

investigated problems the communities in Wake County might anticipate in the next 25 years, how fast the county’s population is growing, and where

the county should dump its trash. Counselors were careful not to burden the girls with their own opinions about these social problems—and to let them make

observations on their own.

In a computer lab filled with networked laptops, the girls learned to use PowerPoint and Excel software for research and math exercises. They eagerly

learned teamwork, investigative skills, and Web page design. By the second week, girls 11 to 13 were making PowerPoint slides with embedded Excel

spreadsheets, animation, sound, and color—and were making team presentations to visiting dignitaries, demonstrating skills many adults lack. 

Even daily games and sports algebra activities taught math concepts. In “blind volleyball,” for example, they tossed a ball over partitions (a game

that required constant scoring, counting, and mathematical analysis). Time was made during Math Moments and sports algebra to discuss the algebraic

concepts imbedded in the activities.

Forty girls participated in 1999, 73 in 2000, and 69 in 2001, with some girls returning as junior counselors the following year. Winters, the girls were

paired with math mentors. There was a significant correlation between girls’ scores on end-of-grade tests and their Year 1 scores on a Girls on Track test

of proportional reasoning (r=79). Campers who took Algebra 1 in grades 7 and 8 got midyear grades of A or B. They were also more confident about

their math and presentation skills and more positive about math and science. The longitudinal study is expected to yield information about why that

trend shifts as girls mature.

To ensure that the professionals interacting with the girls were qualified in both technology and educational approaches, GoT brought together 50

Wake County algebra teachers, 25 guidance counselors, and 30 math-education undergraduates from North Carolina State and Meredith College, to

develop year-round activities and summer programs. Very soon, teachers and counselors became proficient with the technology and incorporated sports

algebra into their curriculum. 

Girls on Track: 

applying math to 

community 

problems

got

003
National Science Foundation Chapter Three . Courses That Feed, Not Weed

6

The program also explored some areas of technology development, including models to automatically recognize the level and depth to which a student

understands a math or science topic (and models for predicting student achievement). Early results from the project’s work on an approach to

computerized instruction called fault-tolerant teaching were promising. The FTT method groups questions into concepts in such a way that the concepts

can be recovered from the questions and the questions can be recovered from the concepts. Their experiments showed that they can categorize test

questions in concept categories based on student responses to questions and, from that information, can identify the concepts students appear not to

understand. The FTT statistical approach is constructed to tolerate errors such as students answering a question correctly without knowing how, or

accidentally missing a question they actually understood well. FTT methods are being implemented in three NovaNET tutorals that will be administered

to 100 math students (to be compared with a control group of 50 students). They expect to produce a fully automated, fault-tolerant intelligent 

tutoring system.

CODE: M, I, PD NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY

SARAH B. BERENSON (BERENSON@UNITY.NCSU.EDU), MLADEN A. VOUK, TRACY ROBINSON, VIRGINIA KNIGHT, SARAH LAWRENCE, AND MICHAEL KESTNER

http://ontrack.ncsu.edu/ HRD 98-13902 (THREE-YEAR GRANT)

PARTNERS:CENTER FOR RESEARCH IN MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE EDUCATION, DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE, MEREDITH COLLEGE, WAKE COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS, NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION, IBM CORPORATION

VIRTUAL VACATION ACTIVITIES AND MATERIALS CAN BE FOUND AT

(http://ontrack.ncsu.edu/GoT/Materials/Vacation/) AND (http://ontrack.ncsu.edu/Materials/index.html)

PUBLICATION: S.B. BERENSON, L.O. CAVEY, AND N.H. SMITH, GIRLS ON TRACK: COMMUNITY INVESTIGATIONS AND FUN WITH MATH (NCSU, 2001).

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, ENGAGEMENT, COMPUTER SKILLS, EXPLORATION-BASED, SPORTS-BASED, INDUSTRY PARTNERS, RESEARCH FINDINGS, TEACHER TRAINING, REAL-LIFE

APPLICATIONS, HANDS-ON

GEMS: EXPLORING MATH THROUGH SOCIAL SCIENCES

THE DEMONSTRATION PROJECT GEMS (GIRLS EXPLORE MATHEMATICS

THROUGH SOCIAL SCIENCE) ENCOMPASSES THREE PROGRAMS DESIGNED

TO STRENGTHEN URBAN MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRLS’ INTEREST, COMPETENCE,

AND CONFIDENCE IN MATH BY ENGAGING THEIR NATURAL INTEREST IN

SOCIAL ISSUES; IMPROVING THEIR TECHNICAL SKILLS AND INTERESTS BY

BUILDING ON THEIR PREFERENCE FOR COLLABORATION AND CONNECTION;

AND ENCOURAGING CONTACT WITH OLDER ROLE MODELS AND MENTORS. 

A 10-week Saturday morning version of GO GIRL (gaining options: girls

investigate real life) appropriate for urban girls features high-interest,

hands-on math, social science, and computing experiences,

collaboration, and intergenerational mentoring. This program will be

offered in conjunction with Wayne State University in Detroit.

A Web-based version of the program SMART GIRL (surveys mathematics

and research technology: girls investigate real life) will expand the

capacity of a popular existing website (www.smartgirl.com) to teach girls

how to gather and analyze survey data online.

The third program, UM-GIRL (using mathematics: girls investigate real

life), was developed at the University of Michigan as a summer

intervention program to engage girls in social science research and

applied math activities. At both the University of Michigan and Wayne

State University, student teachers in math and social studies will observe,

train, and teach middle school girls on a small scale how to use

computers and math tools to evaluate social science questions. 

This project, which grows out of an NSF planning grant activity and an

Eisenhower grant project, will yield an economical version of the GEMS

curriculum, exportable to other institutions, and support material to help

other cities implement the curriculum. 

CODE: M UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

PAMELA T. REID (PAMREID@UMICH.EDU), ABIGAIL J. STEWART

HRD 01-14683 (THREE-YEAR GRANT), HRD 99-06201 (PLANNING GRANT)

PARTNER: WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, URBAN, SELF-CONFIDENCE, MATH, SOCIAL SCIENCE, ROLE MODELS, MENTORING, HANDS-ON, WEBSITE, CURRICULUM

GEMS: exploring

math through 

social sciences

003

Gem
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WOMENWIN: LEARNING MATH THROUGH TRANSACTIONAL WRITING

WOMEN TEND TO OUTPERFORM MEN ON MOST MEASURES OF RUDIMENTARY AND MIDLEVEL

LITERACY; MEN, ESPECIALLY AT HIGHER LEVELS, TEND TO OUTPERFORM WOMEN IN MATH; BUT

GOOD WRITERS TEND TO DO BETTER IN MATH THAN POOR WRITERS. IN THE WOMENWIN PROJECT,

MATH AND ENGLISH PROFESSORS TEAMED UP TO TEACH MATH TO COLLEGE AND MIDDLE SCHOOL

STUDENTS USING A TECHNIQUE CALLED TRANSACTIONAL WRITING—A KIND OF PUBLIC WRITING

THAT STUDENTS USE TO DEVELOP AND CONSTRUCT A CLEAR EXPRESSION OF THEIR MATHEMATICAL

UNDERSTANDING. WITH TRANSACTIONAL WRITING, WRITING BECOMES A TOOL TO LEARN.

In transactional writing, a math concept is broken down into its linguistic

parts. For example, teachers who ask middle school students to add integers

want both the sum and a written explanation of how they came up with

the sum, on the principle that if you can’t explain something, you don’t

really understand it. Students learn not only how to explain how they arrive

at their answers, but also how to write and solve their own math word

problems. They are graded on both their math and linguistic abilities.

Changing the emphasis from “calculating” to “understanding” represents a

change in teaching and learning strategy. But alternative delivery strategies

are needed in courses with consistently high student attrition such as

college-prep math.

Participating in the three-year project were teams of math and English

faculty from Miami–Dade Community College—a large urban two-year

college—and their students, as well as three middle schools from

Miami–Dade County’s large urban public school system. The project used

a quasi-experimental design with a nonrandomized control group

(including pre- and post-tests). Participants were not randomly assigned

to treatments, but four of eight college classes and nine of eighteen

middle school classes from each school—selected at random each term/

academic year—composed the experimental group; the other classes

were the control group. The experimental and control groups were further

separated by level and gender (females being the focus of the project).

The project examined whether transactional writing is useful both in

constructing knowledge and in reshaping beliefs and attitudes 

about math.

The experimental groups received whole-class instruction, including

transactional writing exercises. Using a split-page organizer, students

responded to a math exercise on the left side of the page. The assigned

mathematics investigator examined the writing exercises for content and

accuracy; saw what was written, not what was meant; commented on any

errors, omissions, and inconsistencies; and looked especially for failure to

define terms, answer the question, or provide reasons. 

Designated English and math faculty recorded their comments and

suggestions on the right side of the page. Using the critiques and the

split-page format, students had to submit a revision, which teachers

commented upon and rated on a five-point scale. (To discourage late

papers, one teacher placed incentive charts in her classroom. Having a

sticker placed next to their name actually encouraged students to turn

their papers in faster.)

Initially the project’s middle school students were shy, bewildered, and

frustrated, asking incessantly, “What do you want me to do?” Some flatly

refused to write in their math classes. Slowly, very slowly, changes began

to appear: less resistance, a marked increase in use of math terminology

(“numerator” instead of “the top”), and, especially in abler students,

more effort to write creatively. Those who had flatly refused to write

began putting pen to paper. 

Soon teachers observed that students in the writing groups were better

prepared, more responsive and energetic, and had a better general

attitude than those in the nonwriting group. Writers seemed to observe

more, ask more, think and hypothesize more. They seemed better able to

predict what would come next in the teaching and learning sequence.

They were more likely to initiate discussions, especially those based on

the draft-to-revision part of the writing cycle. Through the writing

assignments and the ensuing discussions, the instructor was better able to

diagnose and remedy the most obscure of missing pieces, such as a

student’s inability to correctly plot points in a unit on graphing lines.

Writing assignments revealed misconceptions that would not be picked up

on more traditional assessment measures. 

Womenwin: 

learning math 

through transactional writing

003

W
National Science Foundation Chapter Three . Courses That Feed, Not Weed

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Females and males participated equally, but, although all students’ math abilities improved, the most demonstrative changes were among female writers

and male nonwriters. Writers were more likely to successfully complete their college coursework in one semester and, on both levels, writers scored higher

on standardized measures of math achievement and attitudes toward math. 

Teachers outside the project were often perplexed about any possible correlation between mathematics and writing. The project demonstrated that

writing helped students understand relationships in math: If they could explain it, they understood it. Both the math and the writing improved. Writing

reinforced and helped students retain their math skills. Quiet females wrote and spoke more than they had before. Teachers observed an excitement

about writing the draft, a desire for immediate feedback and positive reinforcement, and a definite improvement in self-esteem. Improvements came

both academically and emotionally. Females who wrote were less likely to experience “math anxiety,” and the stronger students could be more creative.

Writing also allowed students to vent frustrations to which teachers were then better able to respond.

In middle schools, the courses ranged from sixth grade regular math to eighth grade gifted pre-algebra. The five community college classes ranged

from college prep algebra to general college math. Over three years, this variety of courses, coupled with distinctly different learning and teaching

environments and styles, provided ample opportunity to realize this

intervention’s value and flexibility. The project also contributed to

research on the pairing of teachers and students for consecutive years.

An incidental benefit to the project investigators was that networking

online (because they could get in touch or post materials on their

website virtually any time of the day or night) opened their eyes to the

power of technology for teaching. 

CODES: M, U MIAMI–DADE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

SUZANNE S. AUSTIN (SAUSTIN@MDCC.EDU), ADELAIDA BALLESTER, SUSAN BUCKLEY-HOLLAND

HRD 95-54188 (THREE-YEAR GRANT)

PARTNER: MIAMI-DADE COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS

PRODUCTS: TRAINING AND CURRICULUM MATERIALS, STUDENT WRITING SAMPLES, VIDEO

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, SELF-CONFIDENCE, TRANSACTIONAL WRITING, MATH SKILLS, COMMUNITY COLLEGE, GENDER DIFFERENCES, ENGLISH, INTERVENTION

CALCULUS RESEARCH: ANIMATION AND RESEARCH PORTFOLIOS

SINCE 1987 THE NSF HAS FUNDED DOZENS OF PROJECTS TO REFORM THE TEACHING OF CALCULUS.

FOR A WHILE, BOROUGH OF MANHATTAN COMMUNITY COLLEGE (BMCC) WAS THE ONLY TWO-YEAR

COLLEGE TO RECEIVE NSF FUNDING FOR CALCULUS REFORM. AWARDED SEVEN GRANTS IN EIGHT

YEARS, BMCC HAD BECOME A LEADER IN REFORM OUT OF CONCERN ABOUT LOW SUCCESS AND

RETENTION RATES IN CALCULUS. BMCC WAS ESPECIALLY TROUBLED THAT ITS CALCULUS

STUDENTS WERE ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY WHITE AND ASIAN AMERICAN MALES, IN A STUDENT

POPULATION THAT WAS TWO THIRDS FEMALE (12,000 WOMEN) AND 85 PERCENT MINORITY. 

Grant funding allowed BMCC to establish three state-of-the-art calculus

computer labs; purchase calculators, graphing calculators, and laptops;

send senior faculty to a weeklong workshop with Uri Treisman on

collaborative learning; send key faculty to a two-week workshop at

Dartmouth with John Kemenny on integrating computers into calculus,

differential equations, and numerical analysis; run workshops for City

University of New York faculty on the use of MAPLE (a computer algebra

system), graphing calculators, and collaborative learning techniques; run

two weeks of summer workshops for seven years, for hundreds of faculty

from all over the country; conduct half-day workshops on computer use

for adjunct faculty; and hire half-time college lab technicians and support

staff.

BMCC’s math department increased the number of minority students in

the calculus sequence by emphasizing collaborative work on complex

real-world problems, using appropriate technology; having students do

research and make film animations of calculus problems and algorithms;

and having them create portfolios of their best work. Teams of students

collaborated to “animate calculus”—to create animations of calculus

problems, or “calculus movies.” Students “learned to create” and “created

to learn.” BMCC’s math department made mathematics a lively

experimental science. And calculus students learned math in the process.

As part of their assessment, students produce “math movies,” using

computer software and the TI-92 graphing calculator to animate graphs.

Not only can they better visualize functions and series by animating these

mathematical expressions but they are continually introduced to the

unpredicted. 

With these innovations, enrollment in Calculus III (BMCC’s highest-level

calculus course) increased from seven students in 1989 to 46 in 1996. But

although reform helped attract and retain minority students, the

department still struggled with women’s enrollment. Faculty training and

Calculus research: 

animation and

research portfolios

003

Calc
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the purchase of classroom-size quantities of graphing calculators and

laptop computers allowed BMCC to extend the new, dynamic, interactive

learning environment to precalculus courses (drawing women who show

an interest in math) and statistics courses (drawing women in liberal arts

and business majors).

BMCC learned from its highly successful women’s portfolio project (HRD

97-10273) that involvement in real research activities, supervised by an

encouraging mentor, is the single most powerful catalyst for engaging

women in mathematics. Trying on the persona of a mathematician—which

includes doing research—is an important part of a mathematical scientist’s

education. One student analyzed the mathematical principles involved in

a series of children’s games from her local area in Africa, for example,

while a student in differential equations did a rigorous project on 

highway bridge construction. 

Students were taught that a proper presentation of results, both written

and oral, is a major part of research. One successful student completed

an animation project on polar coordinates. Using MAPLE computer

algebra software, she created moving images on the screen that showed

how the graph changed as she changed variables in her equation. Asked

by an evaluator to explain what she was doing, she responded, “What

level of explanation do you want? Should I start by explaining what polar

coordinates are? Do you want to know about the software that allows me

to graph my equations? Would you like to know about the program I

wrote that allows me to animate my equations? Do you want to hear what

I am concluding based on my animations?” Her response made it clear

that she was not just “learning” mathematics but was “doing”

mathematics, as a working mathematician does. She went on to major in

math at City College of New York. 

Emphasizing student research projects and portfolios increased tenfold the

number of students retained through Calculus III. And the ethnic make-up

of students in BMCC’s reform calculus program was now representative of

the college as a whole. Although the college was less successful in

breaking down gender barriers, it more than doubled the number of

women taking the courses necessary for a career in the mathematical

sciences. 

A recent project (HRD 99-08658, women’s animated research in

mathematics) extends the work on women’s research portfolios. It is using

successful strategies of calculus reform as well as learning strategies that

have successfully changed math for undergraduate women (for example,

tracking and respecting different participation styles, stressing the social

aspects of learning, and providing role models and mentors). It is providing

summer and academic-year fellowships for women in mathematical

research and two-week workshops on such topics as how to do analytical

graphing on the Macintosh, how to create animations on the TI-92, how

to solve problems using Maple and Mathematica, and how to give oral and

panel presentations. As the BMCC faculty has learned, however, it is

working one on one with senior faculty who respect their ideas that will

help these women grow. 

The calculus reform begun in 1987 was a response to high failure rates—as many as 40 percent of undergraduates failing introductory calculus—

and the perception that rote learning produced students unable to apply math to complex or real-world problems. 

A reform approach to calculus often encourages students to 

• Work collaboratively in small groups on challenging real-world problems (following Uri Treisman’s model)

• Do research

• Write and speak about their work

• Use appropriate technologies (such as computers and graphing calculators) to visualize and manipulate functions and families of functions

• Use computer algebra systems such as Maple to differentiate, integrate, and crunch data

The program at Borough of Manhattan Community College avoided the pitfalls of some reform projects that experienced backlash from traditional

faculty members who longed for a return to the good old days of straight lecturing and textbooks that don’t emphasize the use of technology.

The BMCC program adds labs, supervised by a laboratory technician, to the traditional classroom experience. Instructors are free to use as

much or as little changed pedagogy as they feel comfortable learning. Some are totally committed to collaborative learning, even allowing

some collaborative testing. Some insist on teaching classes in a lab (or with classroom-size amounts of graphing calculators) so the students

can actually see graphs, rotate functions, etc., as the need arises in class discussion. Others have not changed their teaching style and rely

on the lab to add the reform component. In the lab, students work together in groups on challenging problems. They learn to use a wide

variety of software (Maple, Mathematica, Derive, True BASIC) and to write and speak about their projects.

FLEXIBLE CALCULUS REFORM

CODE: U CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK, BOROUGH OF MANHATTAN COMMUNITY COLLEGE

PATRICIA WILKINSON (PBWILK@AOL.COM), LAWRENCE SHER HRD 97-10273 AND HRD 99-08658 (ONE-YEAR GRANTS)

PARTNERS: MATHEMATICAL ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA (MAA), FUND FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION (FIPSE), AND OTHER BMCC DEPARTMENTS, INCLUDING CORPORATE AND CABLE COMMUNICATIONS, MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTER INFORMATION SYSTEMS, AND INSTITUTE FOR BUSINESS TRENDS ANALYSIS. 

KEYWORDS: EDUCATION PROGRAM, CALCULUS, MATH, COMMUNITY COLLEGE, TEACHER TRAINING, COLLABORATIVE LEARNING, RESEARCH EXPERIENCE, ANIMATIONS, MENTORING, FELLOWSHIPS, MINORITIES
National Science Foundation Chapter Three . Courses That Feed, Not Weed

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PATHWAYS THROUGH CALCULUS

YOUNG WOMEN (ESPECIALLY MINORITY WOMEN) PREPARED FOR COLLEGE BUT DEFICIENT IN

MATH WERE GIVEN A CHANCE IN 1993 TO PARTICIPATE IN TWO INTENSIVE FOUR-WEEK

SUMMER INSTITUTES TO SHOW THEM THEY COULD EXCEL IN MATH AND TO STRENGTHEN THEIR

CHANCE OF SUCCESS. BASED ON AN HONORS CURRICULUM, THE FIVE AND A HALF HOURS OF

DAILY CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES WERE DEDICATED TO EXPLORATION AND REAL-WORLD 

APPLICATIONS OF PRECALCULUS AND CALCULUS. THE WORK WAS DESIGNED TO STRENGTHEN

PARTICIPANTS’ MATHEMATICAL POWER, KEEP THEM IN COLLEGE, CHANGE THEIR COURSE

PATTERNS IN MATH, AND REDIRECT THEM TOWARD STUDY AND CAREERS IN MATH AND THE

PHYSICAL SCIENCES. CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY AT FULLERTON HOSTED THE INSTITUTE.

Each of 34 participants was given a TI-82 graphing calculator and used it extensively, especially for analyzing function behavior. Working in groups

of three, and using the text Contemporary Precalculus Through Applications, the students covered data analysis, functions, polynomials, rational

functions, algorithms, exponential and logarithmic functions, trigonometry, and matrices. They were given a pre-test, four quizzes, and a post-test

and directed to enroll in the appropriate math course and supporting workshop for the fall semester. Students were paid a stipend of $400 and given

books and supplies, room and board. They lived in campus dorms but spent weekends at home. 

The next summer 35 students, each of whom had completed at least one semester of calculus, participated in Pathways Through Calculus. Participants at

the second institute included both returning students and new students, some of them junior college transfers. Each student was given a TI-82 graphing

calculator and investigated iteration, chaos, fractals, and the elliptic orbits of planets, using as a primary source Student Research Projects in Calculus. 

Through projects, they improved their critical thinking skills, learned how

to apply multiple skills and technology to one problem, and began to

overcome fear of word problems. They worked on projects such as why

astronomers use telescopes with parabolic mirrors, preparing for the census,

solving systems of linear equations, finding the area of your hand, exploring

uncharted waters, and finding the zero of a polynomial. Because of the

extended nature of the work, many learned how to work effectively 

in groups. 

CODE: U CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY AT FULLERTON

DAVID L. PAGNI (DPAGNI@FULLERTON.EDU), HARRIS S. SHULTZ

HRD 92-53060 (ONE-YEAR GRANT)

PARTNER: THE CALIFORNIA POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION COMMISSION

TEXTS USED: CONTEMPORARY PRECALCULUS THROUGH APPLICATIONS (DEVELOPED BY

THE NORTH CAROLINA SCHOOL OF SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS); STUDENT RESEARCH

PROJECTS IN CALCULUS (PUBLISHED BY THE MATHEMATICAL ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA).

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, CALCULUS, MATH, SUMMER PROGRAM, EXPLORATION-BASED, REAL-LIFE APPLICATIONS, CAREER AWARENESS, PHYSICAL SCIENCES, GRAPHING CALCULATOR, RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

E-WOMS: WOMEN’S WAYS OF LEARNING CALCULUS

GIVEN THE RIGHT CLIMATE, WOMEN ARE AS CAPABLE IN MATH AS MEN, BUT AS FEW AS 5 PERCENT

OF THE WOMEN WHO TAKE CALCULUS I GO ON TO TAKE MORE COLLEGE MATH. NORTHERN ILLINOIS

UNIVERSITY’S E-WOMS PROJECT (EXPANDING WOMEN’S OPPORTUNITIES THROUGH MATHEMATICAL

SCIENCE) FOUGHT STEREOTYPES AND CHANGED NIU’S APPROACH TO MATH EDUCATION.

EMPHASIZING THAT SCIENTIFIC LITERACY IS MORE THAN A WOMEN’S ISSUE, IT USED ADS TO ALTER

CAMPUS MISPERCEPTIONS ABOUT WOMEN’S MATH ABILITIES. IT ALSO OFFERED A CALCULUS I

COURSE GEARED TOWARD THE WAYS WOMEN LEARN—WHICH EMPHASIZED COLLABORATIVE PROBLEM

SOLVING IN A LEARNING COMMUNITY, RELATED CALCULUS TO REAL LIFE, REQUIRED STUDENTS TO

WRITE ABOUT HOW THEY APPROACH PROBLEMS, AND MADE USE OF MENTORS AND SUPPORT GROUPS.

One aim of the program was to help women pass Calculus I, a barrier course and falling-off point for women. All freshmen passing a math placement

test at A-level qualified to take the course and were also admitted to a well-publicized focused interest group (FIG) for women in math. Thirteen

women self-selected or were placed in the pilot program by college advisers.

E-WOMS: 

women’s ways of 

learning calculus

003

E-w

Pathways through

calculus

003

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The grant staff was chiefly female, but male professors were given a chance to work with the FIG students, because research suggests that whether

women students succeed academically depends more on the instructors’ accessibility and teaching techniques than on their gender. Richard Blecksmith,

one of the department’s most talented calculus professors, was course instructor for the intervention section.

Blecksmith drew on research about women’s ways of learning to develop appropriate teaching strategies for the course. The curriculum humanized math

by presenting math concepts and problems in contexts that connected with students’ interests, experiences, and relationships. For example, problemsolving used real-life applications to topics such as wildlife extinction rates and the populations of endangered species, world population growth, the

spread of infectious disease, and the rate at which drugs are absorbed into the bloodstream. 

Blecksmith listened, and the students talked, more than in a traditional classroom, because women like to talk through and verbalize problems, rather

than being left alone to solve them. Through the inquiry approach to learning, the teacher guided students through a process of discovering math

concepts for themselves, so that math made sense to them. The learning environment was less competitive and more collaborative than in traditional

calculus classes.

Students discussed how they solved problems and wrote narratives describing how and why they used certain problem-solving strategies, narratives

that included both explanations and mathematical computations. They got feedback from each other and from the teacher. They were asked to write

about current statistics or polls in the newspaper, to show their understanding of course principles. The instructor used both traditional and alternative forms of assessment, such as journals and self-critiques—and students were asked to critique the course and text at important junctures. Students

learned math in a way that convinced them they could and did understand the subject. 

To help create a learning community—a support network of peers—the same students were also enrolled in an extended version of a campus

orientation course, one that addressed issues pertinent to women. The instructor—a doctoral candidate in math—served as mentor for the women,

along with the calculus instructor and the project’s principal investigators. 

The pilot class met for an extra hour of mentoring each week. Instead of using the extra time to work through calculus equations, students participated

in other math-related activities, such as reading the Tony Award–winning play Proof (about a woman mathematician) and meeting notable women

who spoke on campus—including astronaut Mae Jamison. Many of NIU’s students come from rural communities in which there are few, if any, female

role models in careers involving math and higher education.

Part of the goal was to see what would happen to women if there were no competition from men in the class. Blecksmith was surprised by the program’s

across-the-board success. “I thought we’d be successful,” he said, “but not to this extent, to tell the truth. I’ve never had a calculus class outside of

honors where everyone has passed the course with a C or better.” Even though the course and exams were more rigorous than usual—almost to the

level of an honors course—test scores were 20 percent higher than they had been the year before and the students had a better grasp of the concepts

than any class he had seen in a long time. Many of the women expressed disappointment with their test results, although their grades were higher than

average for Calculus 1.

Research shows that many women in college will change their majors to avoid taking additional math classes, if they don’t find peer support for taking

math. None of the women in the FIG did so. Before the intervention, only one or two women usually took Calculus II, but 10 of the 13 students in the

pilot project took the regular Calculus II course the next fall, staying together at their own request. Women made up half the Calculus II class the next

year, and women from the FIG got the highest scores on the first exam. 

NIU’s departments of communications and math sciences and the women’s studies program collaborated on ads to reverse negative

misperceptions about women’s abilities in math. Graduate interns in communications designed a campus ad campaign around the slogan

“Women Succeed in Math.” The social-norms ad blitz was patterned after NIU’s nationally recognized social-norms program to curb alcohol

consumption among students. The ads appeared in the campus paper once a week or more (usually on Mondays, the heaviest circulation day)

and as posters in prominent spots around campus. The first ad stated that 15 percent of the men—and 20 percent of the women—who had

completed Calculus I from 1995 through 1999 had earned an A. Another ad asked which of the following was a woman: the head of 

Hewlett–Packard, the CEO of eBay technologies, the president of the Mathematical Association of America, the inventor of the computer

language Cobol, or (the correct answer) “all of the above.” 

AD BLITZ TO DISPEL STEREOTYPES
National Science Foundation Chapter Three . Courses That Feed, Not Weed

7

The support/study group, which continued to meet weekly the next year,

was an important factor in the project’s success and the women’s

commitment to helping the entire group succeed in math. And several

other study groups formed and students unused to collaborative studying

began faring better on math tests.

Men can also benefit from classroom and support interventions, but

research indicates that the learning environment is especially important for

women, who come into the university system not understanding how

important math is to their careers and less likely than men to pursue

coursework in advanced math. Those who advise women students could

play an important role in encouraging more women to take math instead

of automatically routing them into humanities and English courses. In this

project, positive reinforcement changed the numbers.

CODE: U, PD NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY

AMY K. LEVIN (WOMEN’S STUDIES) (ALEVIN@NIU.EDU) AND DIANE F. STEELE

(MATH SCIENCES) (DSTEELE@NIU.EDU)

www.clas.niu.edu/wstudies 

www.clas.niu.edu/wstudies/pdfs (SOCIAL-NORM ADS)

HRD 00-86310 (THREE-YEAR GRANT) 

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, MATH, CALCULUS, COLLABORATIVE LEARNING, PROBLEM- SOLVING SKILLS, REAL-LIFE APPLICATIONS, MENTORING, SUPPORT SYSTEM, INQUIRY-BASED, PEER GROUPS, FIELD TRIPS, ROLE MODELS, SELF-CONFIDENCE, INTERVENTION

RECRUITING WOMEN IN THE QUANTITATIVE SCIENCES

IMPROVING THE INSTITUTIONAL CLIMATE FOR WOMEN IN SCIENCE

REQUIRES ENABLING WOMEN TO DEVELOP ENOUGH RESILIENCE AND

ADAPTABILITY TO OVERCOME THE STRESSES INHERENT IN (WOMEN,

ESPECIALLY) PURSUING A CAREER IN SCIENCE. WITH PROJECT ADVANCE,

DUKE UNIVERSITY AIMED TO RECRUIT A RESILIENT COHORT OF TALENTED

FIRST-YEAR WOMEN STUDENTS INTERESTED IN, AND IDENTIFIED WITH,

THE QUANTITATIVE SCIENCES—ESPECIALLY MATH, STATISTICS, AND

COMPUTER SCIENCE, IN WHICH WOMEN’S PARTICIPATION IS DISMALLY LOW. 

The centerpiece of the ADVANCE program has been a model interdisciplinary course, Perspectives on Science. The half-credit course, which meets for

two hours once a week, introduces students to a cadre of dynamic women Ph.D.’s in scientific careers, fosters a greater sense of self- and group identity,

and showcases research and applications of the quantitative sciences in the light of current research and technology efforts in interdisciplinary 

science.

In the fall, the course deals with applications in the biological, medical, and environmental sciences. Local and nationally prominent women in science

and math come to speak on such topics as chaos and the spread of disease, pesticide exposure in preschool children, string theory and life with five

children, and how to mathematically model the optimal decision process for employment, medical care, and insurance. For the spring course—

emphasizing engineering and the physical and social sciences—speakers address such topics as conservation laws and traffic flow. Graduate student

panels encourage student identification with the speakers. 

Duke’s curriculum underscores the centrality of writing in all undergraduate work, and the university writing program mandates a 

first-year writing course: Academic Writing 20. Over two years, ADVANCE students took specially designed sections of Writing 20 to develop skills in

scientific writing and analysis: Cooperation, Competition, and Interpretation; Representing Disease; Reading and Writing Science; or The Science

Behind Controversy. 

Qs

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in the quantitative 

sciences
National Science Foundation Chapter Three . Courses That Feed, Not Weed

76 A section on Cooperation, Competition, and Interpretation, for example, explored a controversial theory in evolutionary biology, microbiologist Lynn

Margulis’s theory of evolution by symbiosis, which challenges the primacy of natural selection and the basic paradigm of neo-Darwinism. In short

exercises and four draft papers, students sought first to understand traditional Darwinist evolutionary biology and then to interpret and evaluate

Margulis’s challenges to neo-Darwinist orthodoxy. Students examined such issues as the bias in evolutionary biology toward complex organisms; the

challenge Margulis poses to the concept of the “individual” organism; the implications of making cooperation, rather than competition, a major image

of evolutionary change; and the effect these conflicting images of biological evolution have on concepts drawn from evolutionary thought (such as

progress and growth). Working in groups, students discussed and developed ideas, advising each other, reviewing each other’s work, and revising drafts.

They learned both to write better and how controversies emerge within scientific disciplines.

The writing course and a series of discipline-based seminars echo the theme of the emerging and interdisciplinary nature of science, the variety of its

applications, and science’s links to society. The idea is that if math doesn’t seem to most students to have practical applications, the facts will seem

more relevant and alive if emphasis is placed on the process of discovering ideas and the people who discovered them. 

ADVANCE also offered discipline-based first-year seminars in 2000–2002, including Artificial Intelligence and Automated Reasoning. Over two years,

eight ADVANCE students participated in Duke’s summer research fellows program.

Over 60 percent of the 2001–02 participants have declared a major in the sciences, including four math majors, two math/biology majors, and a 

computer science major. Five other ADVANCE students have chosen

science minors, and two nonscience majors are pursuing pre-med studies.

The two graduate coordinators are pursuing doctoral degrees in math and

physics, and Duke has begun recruiting more women faculty in the

sciences. 

CODE: U DUKE UNIVERSITY

ROBERT J. THOMPSON (BOBT@ASDEAN.DUKE.EDU), ANDREA L. BERTOZZI

HRD 99-79478 (ONE-YEAR GRANT)

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, QUANTITATIVE SCIENCES, MATH, STATISTICS, COMPUTER

SCIENCE, CURRICULUM, WRITING, SEMINARS, RECRUITMENT
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CODE: M EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT CENTER (EDC)

DOROTHY T. BENNETT (DBENNETT@EDC.ORG), CORNELIA BRUNNER, DIANTHA SCHULL

(LIBRARIES FOR THE FUTURE)

www.edc.org/CCT/imagination_placE HRD 97-14749 (THREE-YEAR GRANT)

PARTNERS: AUSTRALIAN CHILDREN’S TELEVISION FOUNDATION; LIBRARIES FOR THE

FUTURE

PRODUCTS: POSTER, RESOURCE GUIDE

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, INTERACTIVE, WEBSITE, MENTORING, ENGINEERING, EDC, DESIGN-BASED, RESEARCH FINDINGS, ENGAGEMENT, EDUCATIONAL GAMES, TELEVISION, UNDERPRIVILEGED

ENGINEERING

IMAGINATION PLACE

EDC’S CENTER FOR CHILDREN AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPED AN INTERACTIVE ONLINE DESIGN

SPACE, INVITING GIRLS 8 TO 14 TO THINK AND ACT AS TECHNOLOGY DESIGNERS, NOT JUST USERS.

IMAGINATION PLACE ENGAGES CHILDREN IN A DESIGN PROCESS THAT INVOLVES IDENTIFYING A

NEED, PROBLEM, OR OPPORTUNITY; COMING UP WITH AN IDEA TO MEET THAT NEED; UNDERSTANDING AND SELECTING DESIGN OPTIONS; AND MAKING A DESIGN IDEA A REALITY. ENGAGING

GIRLS IN COLLABORATIVE DESIGN PROVIDES A POWERFUL PATHWAY TO THE WORLD OF ENGINEERING,

GIVING THEM NEW WAYS TO SEE AND THINK ABOUT TECHNOLOGY’S IMPORTANCE IN THEIR LIVES. 

EDC is developing the interactive online environment in partnership

with Australian Children’s Television Foundation (ACTF, creators of

KaHootZ interactive software) and with Libraries for the Future (whose

agenda is to promote libraries as learning environments, especially to

low-income communities and to girls and women, the main users of

public libraries). 

To research children’s conceptions of the Internet, the project asked 30

children to create something to explain what the Internet is to someone

who doesn’t know. Nearly half the boys described features of navigating

and getting on the Internet rather than the functions one can perform.

Girls tended to describe its functions as a tool for connection and

communication (“it connects people to games and other people”).

Creating an environment that provides a sense of place and community

with useful multipurpose tools is more important for engaging girls than

the games targeted mainly to boys. Communication and discussion should

be an entry point to the design area. Children also need guidance in using

search engines to answer specific questions. 

When the children were asked to create a fantasy device to their own

liking, to name it, and to describe its performance, girls’ inventions were

often designed to solve human, health, or performance-related problems

(falling asleep, carrying things home, helping shoot baskets perfectly).

Their inventions tended to highlight portability and multiple functions,

which they tended to illustrate in a storyboard manner. Boys tended to

create computer-related inventions and to focus on their machines’

features rather than functions. Girls were less likely than boys to focus on

the parts of their machines in relationship to the whole, so the project

stressed games that would stimulate girls to do so. 

By testing ten activities at two sites, the project found that learning

about design carried over from one activity to another, but that children

were not experienced at using the computer to draw and create designs.

They need explicit instructions and time to experiment with the drawing

tools before being able to complete certain activities with minimal

frustration. Timing is crucial: kids are accustomed to working offline for

30 minutes and then on the computer for 30 minutes. And when asked

to think about marketing their inventions, students rarely connect the cost

of materials to create an object to the cost of the final object. Crucial

tasks for the project are to strike the right balance between discussion and

computer-based activities and between ease of entry into activities and

intellectually challenging content. 

The project learned other important lessons from the final field test,

conducted with about 200 students in informal and informal U.S. and

Australian settings. First, design club leaders hosting clubs in libraries and

informal settings need additional support to understand how to help girls

express their technological ideas and to think about how systems in

machines work. Nearly all leaders reported that their children had begun

to think of themselves as designers and inventors as a result of

participating in Imagination Place clubs—a significant first step toward

girls participating more fully in technology. 

They also learned that sharing work online and having an authentic

audience for their work is a big motivator for girls creating their own

investigations, but this requires that design club leaders help the girls

prepare for online discussions of their work by viewing their peers’

inventions before chatting and by drafting a set of critical questions to ask.

Participants who had fewer technical resources spent more time doing

start-up activities about design and technology, which altered the depth

of work students did online. 

Imagination

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EXPLORING ENGINEERING

THIS MOTIVATIONAL PROGRAM FOR EIGHTH GRADE GIRLS—ESPECIALLY GIFTED GIRLS FROM POOR

OR MINORITY FAMILIES, WHO TYPICALLY DO NOT SEE THE IMPORTANCE OF PREPARING FOR HIGHSKILL, HIGH-WAGE CAREERS—BROUGHT TOGETHER EDUCATORS, PRACTICING ENGINEERS, AND

OTHER PARTNERS TO TEACH THE GIRLS, THEIR PARENTS, AND THEIR MIDDLE SCHOOL TEACHERS

ABOUT OPPORTUNITIES IN MATH, SCIENCE, AND ENGINEERING. SEVENTY MIDDLE SCHOOL

TEACHERS RECEIVED TRAINING IN BIAS-FREE TEACHING, INSTRUCTIONAL METHODS FOR BUILDING

MATH AND SCIENCE SKILLS, AND STRATEGIES FOR INVENTION AND EDUCATION WITH GIFTED GIRLS.

Activities for the girls involved mentoring, enrichment activities, and career-related experiences. Over two years, about 250 girls and their parents

participated in such activities as

• Explorathon, AZ, hands-on workshops to show 100 girls that science is not forbidding. These workshops, coordinated by Arizona State University 

and the American Association of University Women, were conducted by professional women in STEM. In a simple introduction to aerodynamics, for 

example, they made paper helicopters (spinning rotor blades made from a single piece of paper and dropped from a height), varying the 

geometry to make the blades spin or fall faster or more slowly. Activities were designed for the girls to experience success.

• Career and high school exploration, math and science teachers telling eighth grade girls and their parents (200 in all) about high school courses, 

expectations, and opportunities. 

• Engineering exploration, an all-day Saturday event at which the Society of Women Engineers presented demonstrations and talked about their 

engineering experience. Lunch for girls and their parent or teacher was complimentary and transportation was available, so low-income and 

minority students could participate. Over two years, 116 girls attended. 

Girls also visited local institutions of higher learning, sat in on classes at the high school of their choice, and toured local industries such as the

Boeing Company, Motorola, Allied Signal, and a Phoenix hospital. Some entered engineering-based competitions (Future Cities, Sounds of Mars, and

the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers’ competition on space travel). 

A subset of participating seventh grade girls were told they had to maintain a B average to be a member in good standing, eligible for a mentor and

career-related experiences such as job shadowing. Their grades showed an average increase (on a 4.0 scale) from 3.43 to 3.73 in science and from

3.32 to 3.4 in math. The first year’s cohort (now in high

school) had an overall grade point average of 3.43 during

their first year in high school. The year before entering the

project, their average national percentile rank score was 63.

During their first project year, their average national percentile

rank score increased from 63 (the year before the project) to

74.8—an increase of 11.8 points. The district average that year

was 58; the average for all middle school girls was 47.5.

All of the students had gained confidence and planned to go

to college. “When I see other women doing jobs that are

mostly dominated by men,” said one student, “it gives me

confidence that I can do it also.”

CODE: M, PD WASHINGTON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DISTRICT (PHOENIX, ARIZ.)

JANICE K. JOHNSON (JJOHNSO@WESD.K12.AZ.US), JODILYN A. PECK

HRD 98-10240 (ONE-YEAR GRANT)

PARTNERS: SOCIETY OF WOMEN ENGINEERS; NEW FRONTIERS/CENTER FOR EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, ARIZONA SCIENCE CENTER; AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY WOMEN, GLENDALE UNION HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT, ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY (DEPT. OF PSYCHOLOGY), AND LOCAL ENGINEERING BUSINESSES. 

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, CAREER AWARENESS, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS, TEACHER TRAINING, PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT, ROLE MODELS, MENTORING, UNDERPRIVILEGED, MINORITIES, SELF-CONFIDENCE, ENGAGEMENT, ENGINEERING, CONFERENCE, HANDS-ON, WORKSHOPS, FIELD TRIPS, INDUSTRY PARTNERS

Exploring 

engineering

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DEVELOPING HANDS-ON MUSEUM EXHIBITS

IN THIS PROJECT FOR EIGHTH GRADE GIRLS, FIVE “ENGINEERING” TEAMS

DEVELOPED MUSEUM EXHIBITS FOR THE DISCOVERY MUSEUM, TWO

ADJACENT HOUSES IN ACTON, MASSACHUSETTS, FILLED WITH FOCUSED

SPACES AND INTERACTIVE EXHIBITS FOR CHILDREN OF ALL AGES. EACH

EXHIBIT ILLUSTRATES A PRINCIPLE OF SCIENCE OR ENGINEERING,

ALLOWING VISITORS TO LEARN THROUGH ACTIVITY-BASED LEARNING—AND

ALLOWING THE GIRLS DEVELOPING THE EXHIBITS TO LEARN EVEN MORE. 

Each engineering team comprised a female Tufts undergraduate, five

eighth grade girls from the same school, and at least two mentors (a

teacher and a mother), plus a support group: a Tufts University faculty

member, a Tufts staff member, and a museum staff member. 

Participants in one exhibit, for example, might compete in “feats of

strength” using one of the five simple machines to develop “mechanical

advantage”: the inclined plane, wedge, screw, lever, or wheel.

Participants in another might use Legos to learn about gears and the

trade-off between speed and power with a lifting crane, a car, or a water

well. To understand a mechanical clock (perhaps the most significant

invention in the history of our modern world), one exhibit might show a

clock constructed entirely from parts scavenged from children’s toys.

Another exhibit might display the fundamental relationship between

switching circuits and Boolean algebra (“if X or Y happens but not Z, 

then Q results”). 

As the father of two young daughters, engineering

professor Ioannis Miaoulis wondered why girls would ever

want to become scientists when commercials, movies,

and even Sesame Street and The Muppets typically

portrayed scientists as weird white men (usually ugly)

wearing thick glasses, carrying 16 pens in their shirt

pockets, and determined to destroy the universe. Images

of women in science were typically posters of Amelia

Earhart and Marie Curie, and he believed a 25-year-old

computer programmer would be a better role model for an

adolescent than a 90-year-old Nobel laureate. 

Miaoulis concluded that it’s important for girls to have a

role model or mentor fairly close to them in age. Mentors

for elementary school students might be middle school

students who enjoyed doing a project for a science fair,

mentors for middle school students might be high school

girls who excel in math and science, mentors for high

school girls might be college undergraduate or graduate

students, and mentors for undergraduates might be young

professionals. 

CLOSENESS IN AGE

CODE: M TUFTS UNIVERSITY

IOANNIS N. MIAOULIS (IMIAOULI@TUFTS.EDU), PETER Y.WONG

HRD 96-32175 (ONE-YEAR GRANT)

PARTNER: ACTON DISCOVERY MUSEUM

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, RECRUITMENT, ACHIEVEMENT, MENTORING, HANDS-ON, MUSEUM, PROJECT-BASED, ENGINEERING, PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT

CAMP REACH: ENGINEERING FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRLS

FOR SIX YEARS, CAMP REACH (REINVENTING ENGINEERING AND CREATING NEW HORIZONS) HAS

BEEN OFFERING MASSACHUSETTS GIRLS—GRADUATES OF SIXTH GRADE—AN ENGINEERING

SUMMER CAMP THAT INCORPORATES MATH, SCIENCE, AND ENGINEERING CONCEPTS INTO

HANDS-ON ACTIVITIES. THE PROJECT DIRECTORS BELIEVE THAT REALIZING WOMEN’S FULL

REPRESENTATION AMONG ENGINEERS LIES IN COMMUNICATING WHAT ENGINEERS DO, HOW THEY

HELP SOCIETY, AND WHAT SKILLS THEY NEED TO DO SO. YOU NEED TO CAPTURE THEIR INTEREST AT

THIS AGE IF THEY ARE TO TAKE THE MATH AND SCIENCE THEY WILL NEED TO BECOME ENGINEERS.

The camp encourages girls to pursue engineering through projects and workshops that promote teamwork, boost self-esteem, and establish close ties

among the campers and with the faculty (the camp is held on the campus of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute). Workshops at the two-week camp

reflect the various fields of engineering. At the forensic workshop girls do a chemical analysis of a mock crime scene; for structural engineering

concepts, they examine sand castles built on Cape Cod. 

Camp REACH: 

engineering for 

middle school girls

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RCH

Developing 

hands-on museum 

exhibits

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National Science Foundation Chapter Three . Courses That Feed, Not Weed

80

One day the campers cross WPI’s campus in search of handicappedaccessible (or inaccessible) features of the built environment, using

wheelchairs. They note barriers, from inaccessible curbs to narrow

elevators and doors without pressure-sensitive control mechanisms.

Armed with rulers, calculators, and protractors, they retrace their steps to

measure existing ramps and door jambs for compliance with the

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). They learn about abilities

handicapped people have that they don’t—such as being able to turn in

a wheelchair. To simulate what it is like to navigate with limited vision,

they smear goggles with rubber cement and try to read signs and written

materials. They compare their findings with ADA standards. 

The girls work as a team on a community service design project to solve

a problem for a local “customer.” They may modify a bedroom for a

disabled child, for example, or design a recycling program for a business.

One group designed a Web page for Big Brothers/Big Sisters, using a 

text-based style to allow for compatibility with screen readers for the

blind. Another picked ground cover (such as pebbles or wood chips) to

make a new toddler playground wheelchair-accessible. Girls learn at the

camp how engineering and technology are used to find solutions to some

of the world’s most pressing problems—for example, designing

earthquake-resistant buildings and safer roads. 

On July 22, 2002, Denise Nicoletti, a professor of electrical engineering at

WPI and the camp’s founder and director, was killed in a car accident, the

victim of a teenage driver who had fallen asleep at the wheel. 

CODES: M, U WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE

DENISE A. NICOLETTI, CHRYSANTHE DEMETRY (CDEMETRY@WPI.EDU)

www.wpi.edu/~reach HRD 96-31386 (ONE-YEAR GRANT)

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, ENGINEERING, SUMMER CAMP, SELF-CONFIDENCE, TEAMWORK APPROACH, REAL-LIFE APPLICATIONS

ENGINEERING GOES TO MIDDLE SCHOOLS

ENGINEERING CAREER DAYS AT DREXEL UNIVERSITY ALLOWED GIRLS IN

PHILADELPHIA TO PARTICIPATE IN HANDS-ON ENGINEERING EXPERIMENTS

WHILE INFORMALLY INTERACTING WITH PRACTICING FEMALE ENGINEERS

AND ENGINEERING FACULTY AND STUDENTS. WITH THE GOES PROJECT

(GIRLS’ OPPORTUNITIES IN ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE), WOMEN IN

ENGINEERING HELPED THE COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING TAKE CAREER DAY TO

MIDDLE AND JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOLS WITHIN AN HOUR’S RADIUS OF DREXEL.

These traveling workshops in engineering education tried to get sixth to

ninth grade girls to view engineering as a viable career option and to take

college-track math and science courses that would prepare them for it.

Workshops opened with a five-minute warm-up exercise in which girls

identified what happened when they woke up and came to school, after

which leaders explained how an engineer was involved in every single

step. Given a handout listing various engineering specialties and salaries

(“startling statistics”), the girls were asked to guess what percentages

represented women. The girls loved their name tags, which indicated they

were engineers for the day, attending a professional conference.

Hands-on labs (in which teachers and parents were encouraged to

participate) conveyed the fun and excitement of engineering, captured

students’ interest, and acquainted them with the engineering profession:

• Polymers and microencapsulation (chemical and biomedical 

engineering)

• Sound and image processing, digital video, and videoconferencing 

(electrical and computer engineering)

• Slime, foam, and metals (materials engineering)

• K’Nex (a construction toy) and the design process (civil engineering) 

• Groundwater contamination (hydrology and environmental 

engineering)

• Drills (mechanical engineering). 

Schools preferred all-day to partial-day sessions (with 40-minute labs the

best length), many girls began to lose interest in any activity 

after the third lab, and the girls liked having something to take home with

them.

CODES: M, I, U DREXEL UNIVERSITY

BANU ONARAL (ONARAL@CBIS.ECE.DREXE.EDU), CLAIRE WELTY, DOROTHY BALL, LINDA S. SCHADLER, AND XIAOWEI SHERRY HE

HRD 94-53683 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNERS: WOMEN IN ENGINEERING, DU’S COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

WOMEN IN ENGINEERING PROGRAMS FOR UNDERREPRESENTED POPULATIONS: www.gatewaycoalition.org/underrepresented_populations/wie/support_programs.cfm

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, ENGINEERING, HANDS-ON, CAREER AWARENESS, WORKSHOPS, ROLE MODELS, PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT

Engineering 

GOES to 

middle schools

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HANDS-ON ENGINEERING PROJECTS FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRLS

FOR MANY STUDENTS, MIDDLE SCHOOL IS A TURNING POINT IN MAKING

CAREER CHOICES. GIRLS EXPERIENCE SOCIAL PRESSURE NOT TO PURSUE

TECHNICAL CAREERS, AND MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS—ESPECIALLY IN

RURAL AND INNER-CITY AREAS—OFTEN DON’T KNOW WHAT CAREER

OPTIONS ARE AVAILABLE. AT BINGHAMTON UNIVERSITY, THE WATSON

SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING LAUNCHED A YOUNG WOMEN’S TECHNICAL

INSTITUTE TO LET GIRLS IN GRADES 6–9 EXPERIENCE SCIENCE AND

ENGINEERING THROUGH POSITIVE, HANDS-ON EXPERIENCES IN A TWOWEEK SUMMER SCHOOL. THE INSTITUTE, WHICH STARTED AS A PILOT PROGRAM FOR FOUR SCHOOLS, EXPANDED UNDER THIS NSF GRANT. BECAUSE

OF ITS LOCATION, THE PROJECT ESPECIALLY HELPED RURAL GIRLS.

Middle school teachers, Binghamton faculty, and industry professionals worked together with the students in classroom activities. Teachers and girls

had a common experience and teachers who worked as staff got a feeling for how they might do projects in the classroom that could be related to

everyday problems. Parents were invited to project presentations so they could see what their daughters would need to learn to become scientists or

engineers. Everyone learned that there is more to technical subjects than textbooks—that the real fun starts with projects.

The summer school curriculum consisted entirely of hands-on activities and field trips to local industries. The girls built robots, model rockets, paper

towers, electronic circuits, paper and balsa airplanes, and amateur radio and TV antennae. They learned how to use drills, saws, tape measures,

soldering irons, and the Internet. After learning how to program a milling machine, they tested how well their instructions worked in making the

machine carve their initials into a piece of plexiglas. They solved math puzzles, did chemistry experiments, and learned how household appliances

work. They built scale models of the solar system, constructed a model moon base, and visited the Kopernik Space Education Center. 

Visits with role models brought to life their discussions of various kinds of careers. They were mesmerized when former television meteorologist Erica

Boyd discussed what her career was all about. They did a little karate. 

They were especially interested in projects relevant to helping others. They found recycling paper and building solar ovens much more interesting than

just talking about preserving the environment. They loved learning the importance of mechanical engineering to buildings withstanding collapse in an

earthquake. They built model buildings for an earthquake test and tested them using a shake-table, accelerometers, and computers. Engaging in these

activities brought latent interests to the surface in many girls. Time will tell how many engineers, astronauts, or meteorologists the experience produces,

but these middle school girls came to appreciate engineering. 

In outlining procedures for an activity such as antenna building, the

principal investigators added a rubric for grading projects. A rubric is a

well-defined point system for grading projects, giving a certain number

of points for creativity, understanding, display, cooperation, and so 

on—whatever is important for that project. It is important that the

students know the point system beforehand.

CODES: M, I, U STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK, BINGHAMTON

LYLE D. FEISEL (LFEISEL@IEEE.ORG), LINDA B. BIEMER

HRD 96-31841 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNER: WATSON SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING

KEYWORDS: EDUCATION PROGRAM, HANDS-ON, TEACHER TRAINING, ROLE MODELS, ENGINEERING, RURAL, REAL-LIFE APPLICATIONS, PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT, FIELD TRIPS, INDUSTRY PARTNERS

Hands-on 

engineering 

projects for middle 

school girls

Hop

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PARTNERS IN ENGINEERING

THE PARTNERS IN ENGINEERING PROGRAM BROUGHT TOGETHER A TEAM OF

CLARKSON UNIVERSITY’S WOMEN ENGINEERING STUDENTS AND 50 SEVENTH

AND EIGHTH GRADE GIRLS FROM THE LOW-INCOME, LARGELY RURAL REGION

AROUND CLARKSON IN UPSTATE NEW YORK—SOME OF THEM HOME

SCHOOLED. UNDERGRADUATE MENTORS, TRAINED DURING THE FALL

SEMESTER THROUGH A THREE-CREDIT COURSE ASSOCIATED WITH THE

PROGRAM, LED MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS TO SOLVE A REAL-WORLD PROBLEM

RELEVANT TO THEIR SCHOOL COMMUNITY—TO START WITH, REDUCING SOLID

WASTE IN THE SCHOOL CAFETERIA AND INCORPORATING WASTE MATERIAL

INTO CEMENT COMPOSITE. EMPHASIZING TECHNICAL DETAILS MAY BE ENOUGH

FOR YOUNG MEN, BUT GETTING GIRLS INTERESTED IN ENGINEERING GENERALLY

REQUIRES SHOWING THAT IT CAN IMPROVE PEOPLE’S LIVES. 

The girls were challenged first to understand critical issues associated with

the problem and then to find and implement an acceptable solution.

Instead of memorizing a description of the problem-solving process, as

they might in a traditional classroom, they experienced it firsthand. They

met after school once a week for mentoring, leadership, and 

problem-solving activities involving math, engineering, economics,

communications, and social studies. They visited a solid-waste separation

facility, a waste-recycling facility, a landfill operation, a manufacturing

facility that uses recycled materials, and an industrial facility—to see how

they deal with their own wastes. They investigated the types and amounts

of trash generated at school and conducted computer-aided analysis

(spreadsheets, graphics) of the data. They designed a bench made of

recycled materials. 

This holistic, project- and problem-based approach to learning was a

female-friendly vehicle for teaching STEM concepts and improving critical

thinking and problem-solving skills. The project’s collaborative approach to

engineering benefited both the middle school students and their collegeage mentors. Visiting speakers were local women in the sciences, about

whom most of the middle school girls knew nothing.

Findings from the first year indicate that mentors, who were paid a

stipend, served 10 to 14 hours a week, which did not interfere

significantly with their academic progress. They all maintained fairly

constant GPAs. Each mentor, after formal training, was assigned to two

or three eighth grade girls, and three to five mentors worked together

during a class period. The girls solved problems in small groups, which

gave some of the quieter girls a chance to emerge as leaders. The eighth

grade girls stayed in touch with their mentors by e-mail and often

socialized with them at Clarkson’s hockey games. Most parents saw the

mentoring as the most valuable aspect of the project, with hands-on

experience in science and problem solving secondary. 

CODES: M, U CLARKSON UNIVERSITY

SUSAN E. POWERS (SEP@CLARKSON.EDU), AMY K. ZANDER, JAN E. DEWATERS, H. JAMES BAXTER

www.clarkson.edu/pie

HRD 99-79279 (ONE-YEAR GRANT)

PARTNERS: SOCIETY OF WOMEN ENGINEERS, A.A. KINGSTON MIDDLE SCHOOL, AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY WOMEN

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, AFTER-SCHOOL, MENTORING, PROBLEM-BASED, ENGINEERING, UNDERPRIVILEGED, RURAL, PROJECT-BASED, REAL-LIFE APPLICATIONS, FIELD TRIPS

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GIRLS RISE

IN THIS 18-MONTH INTERVENTION, A GROUP OF HIGHLY MOTIVATED SEVENTH GRADE

GIRLS—MOST OF WHOM LIKED MATH AND SCIENCE AND WERE CONSIDERING STEM

CAREERS—LEARNED ABOUT ENGINEERING, A FIELD THEY HAD RARELY CONSIDERED AND

KNEW LITTLE ABOUT. THROUGH RECOMMENDATIONS AND INTERVIEWS WITH THE GIRLS,

THE PROJECT SELECTED 24 GIRLS, MORE FOR THEIR INTEREST IN MATH AND SCIENCE

THAN FOR THEIR GRADE-POINT AVERAGE, WITH AN EMPHASIS ON GIRLS OF COLOR. 

Building on work the Miami Museum of Science had already conducted

with underrepresented youth, the Girls RISE (raising interest in science

and engineering) project emphasized things that had worked before: the

acquisition of advanced computer skills, the use of college-level mentors as

instructors, interaction with professionals in the workplace, project-based

active learning, and paid internships. 

Saturday sessions. During the school year, 23 girls attended 20 Saturday

sessions at the museum. In the museum technology center’s computer

lab, mentors introduced the girls to MicroCAD (drafting and emulation

software) and to communications and presentation software such as

Hyperstudio. The girls learned to use e-mail and the Internet for fun and

research, to scan and manipulate images with Adobe PhotoDeluxe, to

prepare presentations integrating text and graphics using PowerPoint,

and to create Web pages with Netscape 3.0. Each girl designed a personal

Web page with links to her favorite engineering websites and kept an

electronic journal. In two career academies, the girls interacted with

women working in electrical, industrial, and mechanical engineering.

The girls learned engineering principles and conducted hands-on

activities at a nearby elementary school. In an informal, collaborative

setting, the girls felt safe experimenting with engineering concepts and

processes and applying them to real-life projects. They completed

projects in basic circuitry and learned about structural engineering

through a bridge-building competition, group competing against group.

To complement class discussions of bridge design, they visited different

Miami bridges, taking photos and notes about the bridge construction

materials—learning later why steel is no longer the material of choice

and why concrete has replaced it for efficiency.

Summer Academy. Forty girls attended the Summer Academy. Girls new

to the program were interspersed with girls who had completed the

program during the academic year. Engineering students were recruited

as mentor staff from the Society for Women Engineers, Florida

International University, and the University of Miami. After a one-week

orientation, the mentors helped the girls learn about different kinds of

engineering through four weeks of presentations, research, and hands-on

activities designed to teach specific concepts.

In cooperative learning groups, they built a line tracker and a miniature

electric vehicle—designed to drive a set load up an incline. Each team

member had an engineering position with specific responsibilities for

design, facilities, development, or test engineering. Such projects helped

the girls learn basic principles of electricity, electrical circuits, Ohm’s law,

conservation of energy, friction, gears and carrying power (gear ratio and

wheel size), motor-carrying power, and aerodynamic drag.

In field trips to labs at the University of Miami, they spoke with engineers

and students in robotics, environmental engineering, computer

animation, and biomedical engineering. They toured the extrusion plant

at the Cordis Corporation (seeing how catheters are made), and also

visited Epcot Center, the IMAX Theater, and the Metro–Dade County

Sewage Treatment Plant. 

In the end, the girls not only knew more about engineering and female

engineers, but most were more interested in science and technology

and planned to attend math or science magnet schools and to pursue

careers in STEM. Most of the girls interviewed had changed their plans

because of the program, had more perspective on how things are made

and work, and were more aware of the options available to them.

Because parents influence their daughters’ academic choices and

careers and cannot all attend the final Family Night, it is important to

find ways to convey similar information to them. The project would

have benefited from having more mentors during the academic year

(not just the summer) and from more formal mentor training and

orientation—about computer programs, hands-on projects, adolescent

development, group processes, conflict resolution, and social 

problem solving. 

SECME RISE EXPANDS THE RISE MODEL

SECME Inc. (formerly Southeasthern Consortia for Minority Engineers) is

a national organization that helps school systems provide hands-on

engineering experiences for middle and high school students and

encourages them to enroll in math and science courses. SECME RISE

significantly expanded the Girls RISE model by integrating RISE strategies

into SECME activities in 47 Miami–Dade County middle schools. The participants were mostly African American and Hispanic middle school girls

from Miami’s inner city who showed an interest in math or science. The

project exposed this receptive young audience to fields unknown to

them, involving them in engineering- and technology-related activities

they could enjoy. 

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Peer leadership summer academy. A four-week session of computer-assisted, team-based engineering experiences built girls’ confidence and boosted

their interest in math and science. Mentors reported that some of the girls selected to attend the summer academy (two from each school) were

neither outstanding students nor leaders in their schools. Some girls were not even initially interested in pursuing careers in STEM but were chosen

because their teachers saw they could do well in science if someone could motivate them to become interested in school. The girls were intelligent

but had behaved poorly in school and had no interest in academic activities. Their parents credited the personal attention and hands-on activities they

experienced in the academy with changing their children’s attitudes toward school and toward their future careers. 

Many of the girls said the team mentors had influenced their thinking. The fact that three of the mentors were African American or Latina and had

attended school in the Miami–Dade public system encouraged them to believe that they too could succeed as engineering students. It was important to

these middle school girls that the mentors were attractive young ladies who wore nice clothes and had boyfriends—it counteracted their belief that female

engineers would look and be “weird.”

Four in-service teacher workshops. Each year, up to 32 teachers (two from each middle school) attended workshops that introduced them to e-mail

(most had not used it), the Internet, and the graphing calculator, and learned about gender-fair teaching and how girls get excluded from the path

to college majors and careers in STEM. The Myra and David Sadker video, “Gender Equity in the Classroom,” showed subtle inequities in a middle school

science lab and equitable strategies for managing the same classroom situations. Mixed-gender teams of teachers worked on engineering design

challenges, observing firsthand the differences between competitive and collaborative processes. 

Technology workshops might start with a warm-up game of Internet Lingo Bingo, introducing teachers to Internet vocabulary, followed by staff

modeling the use of graphing calculators in hands-on math lessons. In the concluding workshop, teachers worked in teams to meet the most difficult

design challenge: Using two sheets of paper, they had to build a support structure that would hold 20 textbooks more than two inches above the

ground (a metaphor for building support structures for girls in their classrooms). Finally, they watched “Women Who Walk Through Time,” a video

portrait of three successful women scientists, to change their vision of what was possible for their students. In general, the teachers valued and wished

for more time spent on hands-on activities, on the computer, and on graphing calculator. They also valued time spent sharing and discussing gender equity

issues with their peers. 

Over three years, 48 teachers attended national summer institutes designed to provide SECME club teachers with strategies, suggestions, and sources

of support. SECME activities are designed to be flexible, and teachers were encouraged to adapt them to their schools’ needs. In some schools, SECME

clubs met regularly after school and hosted a variety of activities. In other schools, SECME activities were carried out as part of the regular science

curriculum or were not carried out at all.

Family E-Days. Two special engineering days were held at the Miami Museum of Science for girls and their parents. Activities included design

challenges for students and parents and talks by women engineers, with an emphasis on pathways toward college and careers in engineering and

special seminars on standardized testing, college applications, and financial aid—plus a chance to explore the museum’s exhibits. 

Lack of transportation for students and of compensation for teachers lowered attendance at E-days and the teacher’s technology workshops. Schools

have limited budgets, few teachers receive additional pay or even expense money for work performed on Saturdays, and poor communication systems

at some schools prevented notices of events reaching students and teachers or reaching them on time. For those who had access to it, the website

was useful for keeping calendar and contact info current. 

A number of significant accomplishments can be directly linked to the SECME RISE project. By building robots and bridges and designing Web pages

and PowerPoint presentations, girls demonstrated mastery of the engineering and computer skills the program introduced. More important, by the end of

the program, the majority of the girls said they wanted to pursue science or engineering careers, and the majority of the students rated themselves one

of the smartest, very smart, or above average in science. The girls also learned to work in cooperative groups, to get along and become friends with

girls from different backgrounds, and to resolve problems and interpersonal conflicts. Almost all teachers who participated in the in-service workshops

agreed that the training made them more aware of gender equity issues and more knowledgeable about the use of technology and 

hands-on engineering activities in the classroom.

CODES: M, I, U, PD MIAMI MUSEUM OF SCIENCE, INC.

JUDY A. BROWN (JBROWN@MIAMISCI.ORG), WENDY JAMES (RISE); BRENDA SIMMONS, ANA M. LOPEZ, CONSTANCE THORNTON, AND JENNIFER SANTER (SECME RISE)

www.miamisci.org/rise HRD 96-31886 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) AND HRD 98-13891 (THREE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNERS: SECME INC.; MIAMI–DADE COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS URBAN SYSTEMIC INITIATIVE; MIAMI–DADE COUNTY MIDDLE SCHOOLS; ASPIRA OF FLORIDA; BOYS AND GIRLS

CLUBS OF MIAMI, THE COCONUT GROVE YOUTH AND FAMILY INTERVENTION CENTER.

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, COOPERATIVE LEARNING, SELF-CONFIDENCE, COMPUTER SKILLS, CAREER AWARENESS, ROLE MODELS, PROJECT-BASED, INTERNSHIPS, MUSEUM, HANDS-ON, ENGINEERING, FIELD TRIPS, PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT, URBAN, AFRICAN-AMERICAN, HISPANIC, TEACHER TRAINING, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS, GRAPHING CALCULATOR
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ENGINEERING LESSONS IN ANIMATED CARTOONS

OFTEN YOUNG WOMEN DON’T GO INTO ENGINEERING BECAUSE THEY THINK

IT’S TECHNICAL, DIFFICULT, AND BORING—AND FEW TELEVISION SHOWS

FEATURE ENGINEERING HEROES OR HEROINES. THIS PROJECT HOPES TO

ATTRACT STUDENTS TO ENGINEERING THROUGH A MULTIMEDIA

PRESENTATION FOR ALL AGES—SEVEN CARTOON MOVIES VIEWABLE ON

THE INTERNET, FEATURING ANIMATION, HUMOR, MUSIC, CHARACTER

DEVELOPMENT, SOAP OPERA–LIKE DIALOGUE, AND HUMANIZED

CHARACTERS INTERACTING AND USING BASIC ENGINEERING PRINCIPLES

AND COMMON SENSE TO GET THEMSELVES OUT OF DIFFICULT SITUATIONS.

Each short cartoon movie presents a challenge in human terms, then

explains and illustrates problem-solving approaches or engineering

principles to address the challenge, and wraps up by reinforcing the moral

of the story. In one cartoon, Pumpy Power (a female student) and Pipy

Length (a male student), working on their final project, talk to each other

about fluid mechanics in a water tower. Having made a series of mistakes,

they are guided by the spirit of Daniel Bernoulli (of Bernoulli’s theorem)

to solve the problem themselves—by choosing two “smart points” along

their assembly that define the smart system and smart process along the

flow line. 

By demystifying the field with cartoons that humanize engineering

principles, the project hopes to interest students in the simplicity and

intellectual beauty of basic engineering. All seven animated cartoons can

be viewed on the Internet in roughly 90 minutes (allow for slow loading). 

At a Saturday workshop, 30 pre-college math, physics, and chemistry

teachers viewed the cartoons and learned about basic multimedia

programming and production. 

CODES: H, U, I, PD NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY

XUESHU SONG (SONG@CEET.NIU.EDU), KRISTIN WILSON

www.ceet.niu.edu/faculty/song/AS_THE_GEARS_TURN/menu.html

HRD 99-08753 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNER: ROCKFORD PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, ENGINEERING, CARTOONS, PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS, TEACHER TRAINING, WEBSITE, ANIMATIONS

PRE-COLLEGE ENGINEERING WORKSHOPS

THAT MALE STUDENTS TEND TO IGNORE THE FEW WOMEN IN ENGINEERING

CLASSES AND GRAVITATE TO OTHER MEN WHEN FORMING STUDY GROUPS

OR WORKING ON GROUP PROJECTS CAN AFFECT THE WAY UNDERGRADUATE

WOMEN PERCEIVE THEIR ROLE IN ENGINEERING AND THEIR SENSE OF

BELONGING. WITH JEMS (JUNIOR ENGINEERING, MATH, AND SCIENCE),

THE UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO OFFERED A TWO-WEEK SUMMER 

PRE-ENGINEERING EXPERIENCE FOR HIGH SCHOOL JUNIORS AND

SENIORS—MALE AND FEMALE. NEW STRATEGIES AND APPROACHES WERE

INCORPORATED INTO AN ONGOING SUMMER ACTIVITY THAT HAD NOT

PREVIOUSLY SUCCEEDED IN ATTRACTING YOUNG WOMEN. WOMEN ARE

OFTEN LESS INHIBITED IN ALL- OR MAINLY FEMALE CLASSES/SUMMER

WORKSHOPS, BUT SUCH APPROACHES DON’T PREPARE THEM FOR THE

PROBLEMS THEY WILL FACE WHEN THEY ENTER A COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING.

This two-week program was the first exposure to a university atmosphere

for most participants, providing a useful transitional experience for

mostly rural high school students. They registered for and attended a

two-credit pre-engineering course, worked in university labs, and used

other university facilities. The idea was to show engineering as a

welcoming environment and encourage engineering as a career option.

A leadership unit informed participants about diversity issues (involving

race, gender, and disability) and encouraged male students’ more

acceptable (less adversarial) behavior toward female students—in the

framework of “human factors engineering.” Faculty and counselors were

given sensitivity and gender-equity training and as much as possible the

project recruited female faculty and counselors (engineering

undergraduates) to provide female role models. Scholarships for female

and minority participants were an important factor in recruitment. Female

enrollment increased from 10 in 1994 to 28 in 1995 (out of 57 total) and

to 16 in 1996 (out of 36). 

Instructors were trained to work with teams of students, to observe group

dynamics, and to encourage team members to rotate all tasks, so girls

weren’t stuck with note-taking while the boys assumed leadership and

did all the hands-on experimentation. 

A scavenger hunt was the warm-up activity the first year, but in response

to student feedback this was changed to an experiment in an engineering

lab. To make the content more interesting, the emphasis shifted from

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mechanical engineering to environmental engineering. Student teams of

two or four were responsible for a group project (for example, figuring out

whether the wood-fired boiler on the Moscow, Idaho, campus provided

the most cost-effective and environmentally safe option). They used CAD

tools to design their project and to prepare posters and visual aids for its

presentation to their families and other visitors the final day. 

CODES: H, I, U UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO

JEAN A. TEASDALE (JEANT@UIDAHO.EDU)

www.uidaho.edu/engr/jems/ 

HRD 94-53741 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, ENGINEERING, SUMMER PROGRAM, RESEARCH EXPERIENCE, CAREER AWARENESS, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS, COLLABORATIVE LEARNING, HANDS-ON

CODE: PD, M, H, U ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY

MARY R. ANDERSON-ROWLAND (MARY.ANDERSON@ASU.EDU), STEPHANIE BLAISDELL, JEAN A. ABEL, DALE R. BAKER, MELINDA ROMERO

www.eas.asu.edu/~wise HRD 98-72818 (THREE-YEAR GRANT)

PARTNERS: NORTHERN ARIZONA UNIVERSITY; CHANDLER-GILBERT, SOUTH MOUNTAIN, AND GLENDALE COMMUNITY COLLEGES; PHOENIX, TEMPE, AND CHANDLER UNIFIED

HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICTS; KYRENE, CREIGHTON, AND ROOSEVELT SCHOOL DISTRICTS; INTEL CORPORATION, MOTOROLA, LOCKHEED MARTIN, ANDERSON CONSULTING, HONEYWELL, BOEING HELICOPTERS, MEDTRONIC MICROELECTRONICS, AND SALT RIVER

PROJECT; THE PHOENIX URBAN SYSTEMIC INITIATIVE, THE ARIZONA STATE PUBLIC

INFORMATION NETWORK (ASPIN), AND OTHER PROGRAMS. 

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, ENGINEERING, COMMUNITY COLLEGE, TEACHER TRAINING, REAL-LIFE APPLICATIONS, INQUIRY-BASED, HANDS-ON, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS, INTERNSHIPS, INDUSTRY PARTNERS, CAREER AWARENESS, PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT, MENTORING, ROLE MODELS, FIELD TRIPS

WISE INVESTMENTS

SOCIALIZED TO ADOPT NURTURING AND PEOPLE-ORIENTED CAREERS, COLLEGE WOMEN OFTEN CONSIDER

CAREERS LIKE ENGINEERING MORE DIFFICULT AND LESS IMPORTANT THAN CAREERS LIKE NURSING,

ACCORDING TO ONE STUDY—THE PERCEPTION BEING THAT ENGINEERING IS NOT PEOPLE ORIENTED.

ACCORDING TO ANOTHER STUDY, YOUNG WOMEN PLANNING CAREERS IN SCIENCE ARE OFTEN DRAWN TO

THEM BECAUSE OF A DESIRE TO HELP PEOPLE, ANIMALS, AND THE ENVIRONMENT. THE IDEA BEHIND

THIS ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY PROJECT WAS TO CONVEY THAT ENGINEERING IS A WAY TO HELP THE

WORLD AROUND THEM, SO GIRLS AND STUDENTS IN OTHER UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS WOULD STUDY

MATH AND SCIENCE WITH AN EYE TO POSSIBLE CAREERS IN ENGINEERING AND THE APPLIED SCIENCES. 

Many young women do not pursue science and engineering because they

are not encouraged to. WISE Investments targeted middle and junior high

and community college teachers and counselors, encouraging them to

convey the message that engineering is a helping profession, that math

and science have real-world applications (such as cardiac pacemakers and

artificial kidneys), and that engineering welcomes women. It targeted

teachers and counselors at community colleges because half of ASU’s

undergraduate engineering transfer students do not decide to enter

engineering until they are at a community college. 

Interactive workshops for teachers. Teachers and community college

faculty participated in a two-week workshop featuring inquiry-based,

hands-on labs conducted by ASU engineering faculty and graduate

students. They also had the option of a one-week engineering internship

in industry. The point of the workshop and internship was to familiarize

them with the different engineering disciplines, get them excited about

engineering, and help them develop applications they could use to get

young women and minority students interested in engineering—and to answer

a universal question, “When am I ever going to use math or science?” 

They learned about gender-equitable teaching and experienced

engineering labs that modeled gender-inclusive engineering activities

and a collaborative learning style. They learned about eight fields of

engineering (biomedical, chemical, civil/environmental, computer

science and engineering, electrical, industrial, materials, and

mechanical/aerospace). What they learned about engineering in the labs

was reinforced by what they learned through industry tours and keynote

speakers (women engineers or other company representatives). They

organized and presented a Saturday academy for students. The project

also provided year-long mentoring, two half-day follow-up sessions, and

participation in an electronic forum.

Workshops for counselors. Counselors influence girls’ career choices but

are often left out of programs to encourage women to consider STEM

career choices. After testing one-day and four-day workshops, the project

offered a one-week workshop for counselors, overlapping with the one for

educators. The counselors’ session offered hands-on labs for engineering

disciplines and sessions on recruitment and admissions requirements,

financial aid, and career counseling in engineering for female students.

They learn what it is like to be a female engineering student, what young

women face, and how they have succeeded. Many of the participants had

no idea what engineering was about and are now in a better position to

advise their students. 

Saturday academies for students. To counteract common perceptions of

engineers as boring or antisocial nerds, the project invited 40 middle and

high school girls and their parents to a dinner featuring a talk by a

woman engineer. During the year, students participated in nine 

single-sex Saturday academies (each emphasizing a different area of

engineering) and three industry tours. Pre-college students were also

matched with female undergraduates majoring in engineering, who

served as mentors and role models 

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RECRUITING ENGINEERS IN KENTUCKY, K–12

SOUTH CENTRAL KENTUCKY NEEDED TO DOUBLE ENROLLMENT IN ENGINEERING TO MEET

INDUSTRY’S NEEDS, SO IN 2001 THREE UNIVERSITIES—WESTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY (WKU),

THE UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY, AND THE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE—BEGAN OFFERING JOINT

DEGREES IN CIVIL, ELECTRICAL, AND MECHANICAL ENGINEERING. BECAUSE MOST K–12

STUDENTS HAVE NO IDEA WHAT ENGINEERS DO, WKU’S ENGINEERING FACULTY BEGAN MENTORING

LOCAL K–12 STUDENTS AND ENGAGING THEM IN HANDS-ON ENGINEERING APPLICATIONS.

Children who succeed despite adverse conditions usually do so because they got support from an adult other than their parents. Building on existing

programs, WKU’s engineering faculty is bringing engineering activities to elementary, middle, and high schools—to help students understand and

appreciate the field and to elicit their interest in various kinds of engineering.

At local schools, engineering faculty are already mentoring impressionable children in engineering activities. One of them is offering an introduction

to electrical engineering. After school for nine weeks children in grades 4–6 spend an hour learning about different kinds of engineering, by examining

small machines and building small battery-powered devices. WKU’s Center for Gifted Studies is also offering five Super Saturday programs for gifted

and talented students in grades K–6, giving able students a chance to broaden their interests and develop their creative and critical thinking abilities.

Students have 35 classes to choose from. In electrical engineering they can build a small flashlight, fan, boat, and cat; in civil engineering, examine

structures and build miniature bridges and canoes, and so on.

In middle school, many children form preferences about subjects they will study in high school and college, so it is important that engineering faculty

address their special needs. WKU’s Center for Gifted Studies offers a two-week Summer Camp for Academically Talented Middle School Students. Roughly

180 residential students and 50 nonresidential students spend six hours daily, in classes of 90 minutes each, on topics ranging from computer science

and math to science and foreign languages. In electrical engineering classes, they study basic concepts, engage in experiments, and build a 

small robot. 

High school students have often decided if they are studying science but may know nothing about engineering. In 2000 the department of engineering

organized a high school robot competition through BEST (Boosting Engineering, Science, and Technology) Inc., a Texas organization with 18 hubs

nationally. Given a set of rules and a kit of allowable materials, teams of high school students have six weeks to design, test, and build a 

remote-controlled robot for competition against the other teams. Building the robot under a time constraint with restricted materials is similar to what

engineers do regularly. In the Kentucky hub’s first year, eight Kentucky teams (75 students) participated, creating a lot of excitement among area high

schools. Allowing students to creatively solve an engineering problem and to interact with team coaches (engineers from industry and faculty) has had a

great impact on engineering recruitment. Each kit costs about $700, but the university and local industry, not the high schools, provide the funds. 

An engineering career day for students and their teachers offers hands-on engineering experiences for young women, as well as “a day in the life of

a WKU student.” The project also sponsored a weeklong summer workshop and two follow-up sessions for elementary and middle school teachers and

counselors. Changing attitudes has to start not just with girls but with their teachers and counselors, who, when made aware of subtle 

gender-inequitable mannerisms and the need for sound career advice, can generate different career expectations in the girls in their charge. Parents,

teachers, and counselors learn about gender equity issues and are given information about engineering, university housing, financial aid, and

scholarships. Teacher participants are expected to make presentations to their peers about women’s careers in science and engineering.

The younger girls are when you turn them on to science, the better the chances they will pursue it. But you have to give them some attention and they

need role models to look up to—and to show them a possible future. The project is establishing a mentoring network, connecting women in STEM with

college students and faculty at Western Kentucky University and with middle and high school students and science teachers in Bowling Green/Warren

County and the state of Kentucky. 

CODES: E, M, H, U, PD WESTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY

STACY S. WILSON (STACY.WILSON@WKU.EDU), KATHLEEN MATTHEW

www.wku.edu/girlstoscience HRD 00-86370 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNERS: DEPARTMENT OF ENGINEERING; WISE; WOMEN’S STUDIES; CENTER FOR GIFTED STUDIES; BEST

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, HANDS-ON, MENTORING, ENGINEERING, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS, TEACHER TRAINING, PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT, CAREER AWARENESS, ROLE MODELS

Recruiting 

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REALISTIC MODELING ACTIVITIES IN SMALL TECHNICAL TEAMS

A COLLABORATION BETWEEN THE ENGINEERING AND MATH EDUCATION

FACULTY AT PURDUE UNIVERSITY, THIS PROJECT WILL IDENTIFY LIKELY

BARRIERS FOR WOMEN IN COURSES ON MATH TOPICS FUNDAMENTAL TO

ENGINEERING AND WILL DESIGN ENVIRONMENTS IN WHICH THE SKILLS AND

ABILITIES WOMEN BRING TO ENGINEERING ARE VALUED AND REWARDED. 

Realistic, small-group mathematical modeling activities will be incorporated into selected early engineering courses at Purdue—including those

required of all incoming freshmen engineering students—to demonstrate how their use in college engineering courses may address gender differences

in interest and persistence in engineering. These activities will involve more than 3,000 freshman engineering students (about 600 women), all

freshman engineering faculty and graduate assistants, and several faculty who teach sophomore engineering. Because the innovation will be systemic,

it might well become a permanent part of the Purdue engineering program. 

Complementing course lectures, the modeling activities should improve women’s experiences in engineering by adding spatial reasoning experiences

and contextualizing tasks (making clear who the client is and what the client needs). Presenting tasks in realistic engineering contexts should help

students make stronger connections between course content and on-the-job engineering problems. 

During phase one, all students in freshmen engineering courses will be required to collaborate in small mixed-gender technical teams on realistic

modeling activities. To emphasize team communication, modeling will be presented in a structured environment, via WebCT (<www.webct.com>), an

Internet-based instructional tool. All team members will be required to post their initial ideas about a problem’s solution individually on the team’s

WebCT discussion board. After the initial posting by all group members, they will all have access to each other’s initial responses. Then the group will

be required to form one solution, or product, to respond to the client’s needs.

During phase two, additional realistic modeling activities will be incorporated into sophomore-level engineering courses, providing more sustained

experiences for a subset of students. This focused effort in sophomore engineering could generate innovation beyond the project’s duration, since

engineering faculty in fields such as mechanical engineering have expressed interest in working with the activity design team and have agreed to

pilot a few activities. The activities design team is already part of Purdue’s School Mathematics and Science Center.

During implementation, research will be done to shed light on how these modeling activities are used to identify emerging student talent; how various

constituencies—male and female students and instructors—react to the use of these activities; how students use math and generate mathematical

models in these activities; and how students’ gender is related to their vision of a future career in engineering. This research will provide insights into

the potential effects of small technical teams and realistic modeling activities in engineering courses, into the dynamics of gender equity issues in

Purdue’s engineering program, and into factors outside of engineering that may influence whether students (especially women) remain interested in

and persist in the field. 

In short, this project will initiate systematic changes in course content, providing an opportunity to study gender-related issues at the student,

instructor, and program level. The modeling activities developed for this

project will be made available as part of the Digital Library of Case

Studies on Purdue’s School of Education Twenty-First Century Conceptual

Tools Center, and linked to the Women in Engineering Program. As

progress reports and research reports become available they will be

published on the same website. 

CODE: U PURDUE UNIVERSITY

JUDITH ZAWOJEWSKI (JUDIZ@PURDUE.EDU), HEIDI DIEFES-DUX , P.K. IMBRIE, AND KEITH J. BOWMAN

HRD 01-20794 (THREE-YEAR GRANT)

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, ENGINEERING, MATH SKILLS, GENDER DIFFERENCES, COLLABORATIVE LEARNING, MIXED-GENDER, RESEARCH STUDY, CURRICULUM

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CODES: U, PD UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT COLUMBIA

ROSE M. MARRA (RMARRAR@MISSOURI.EDU), BARBARA BOGUE

(PENN STATE UNIVERSITY)

HRD 01-20642 (THREE-YEAR GRANT)

PARTNERS: WOMEN IN ENGINEERING PROGRAMS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI, PENN STATE UNIVERSITY, RENSSELAER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE, GEORGIA TECH, AND THE

UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN

KEYWORDS: EVALUATION, BENCHMARKS, DATA COLLECTION, RECRUITMENT, RETENTION, ASSESSMENT TOOLS, ENGINEERING

ASSESSING WOMEN IN ENGINEERING PROGRAMS

WOMEN IN ENGINEERING (WIE) PROGRAMS AROUND THE COUNTRY ARE A

CRUCIAL PART OF OUR NATIONAL RESPONSE TO THE NEED FOR MORE

WOMEN IN ENGINEERING. THIS PROJECT WILL DEVELOP STANDARDIZED,

EXPORTABLE, COMPARABLE ASSESSMENT MODELS AND INSTRUMENTS,

ALLOWING COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES TO ASSESS THEIR WIE

PROGRAM’S ACTIVITIES AND PROVIDE THE DATA NEEDED FOR 

WELL-INFORMED EVALUATIONS. THE PROJECT INVESTIGATORS WILL WORK

WITH WIE PROGRAMS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AND PENN STATE

UNIVERSITY AND WITH COOPERATING PROGRAMS AT RENSSELAER

POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE, GEORGIA TECH, AND THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS

AT AUSTIN. THE FIVE PROGRAMS COLLECTIVELY REPRESENT A VARIETY OF

PRIVATE AND PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS, YEARS OF EXPERIENCE FOR WIE

DIRECTORS, AND STUDENT BODY CHARACTERISTICS. 

The project will develop pilot assessment instruments, implement and

revise them, conduct preliminary data analysis, and disseminate reliable,

valid, easy-to-access instruments. The principles of formative evaluation

will be applied to all instruments and products, and all institutions will

use the same set of instruments—giving them access to powerful

benchmarking data as well as that from their own institutions. 

An earlier project, the Women’s Experience in College Engineering Project,

sought to characterize the factors that influence women students’

experiences and decisions by studying college environments, events, and

support programs that affect women’s satisfaction and persistence in

their engineering major. By contrast, this project’s target audience is WIE

directors and its focus is on WIE programs, not students.

Data from these instruments should make it easier for directors of the

roughly 50 WIE programs nationwide to make decisions about how to

revise the programs or redistribute limited resources, and to provide

substantiated evidence for administrators, advisory boards, and potential

funding agencies. 

TEACHING INCLUSIVE SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

THIS MODEL PROJECT TO IMPROVE THE ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH WOMEN

LEARN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING BUILDS ON RUTGERS UNIVERSITY’S

CURRENT KNOWLEDGE AND PROGRAMS, ESPECIALLY ITS PRE-COLLEGE

EDUCATIONAL STEM PROGRAMS, ITS STRONG WOMEN’S STUDIES

PROGRAM, THE EXPERIENCE OF DOUGLASS COLLEGE (RUTGERS’

UNDERGRADUATE COLLEGE FOR WOMEN), AND A RECENT TWO-DAY

SYMPOSIUM AMONG FACULTY IN SCIENCE, ENGINEERING, HUMANITIES,

AND WOMEN’S STUDIES DEPARTMENTS, “BUILDING BRIDGES: BEGINNING

THE CONVERSATION ACROSS TWO CULTURES.”

The project designed and sponsored informal faculty development

workshops to heighten the faculty’s interdisciplinary knowledge of

science, engineering, and women’s issues. Scholars from science/

technology and women’s studies/humanities jointly facilitated the

workshops, a natural outgrowth of the symposium. These informal

workshops will help in establishing a formal interdisciplinary seminar

spanning 14 weeks, based on a series of readings that raise issues for

faculty to consider. Douglass College and the Institute for Women’s

Leadership will jointly sponsor two public events to highlight women’s

participation in science and technology. 

Working together, scholars in science, engineering, humanities, and

women’s studies will design three variations on an engineering studies

module—for students taking engineering courses, for women’s studies

courses, and for Introduction to Scientific Research.

Module 1, for young women already enrolled in engineering, will cover

the history of women in engineering, as well as engineering problems and

solutions of particular interest to women (for example, auto air bags

designed for the average male and unsafe for women shorter than five

feet). It will emphasize teamwork, an interdisciplinary approach to

problem-solving, a total-systems view of society (emphasizing

responsible knowledge and problem-solving), and students’ learning and

working styles as they relate to preferences for different engineering

disciplines or subspecialties. 

Teaching inclusive 

science and 

engineering

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Module 2 incorporates a gender focus into Introduction to Scientific

Research a prerequisite for summer science research internships offered

to women in Project SUPER. Working in teams, students learn how

scientists communicate, do literature searches, read scientific papers,

prepare abstracts, analyze data, present results, and analyze the social

implications of their research problem or project. They also discuss, for

example, Rosalind Franklin’s role in the work of John Watson and Francis

Crick, and read June Goodfield’s An Imagined World: A Story of Scientific

Discovery (about the life and work of a woman scientist). 

Module 3 stresses the importance of engineering and technology in a

special section of Women, Culture, and Society, a women’s studies course

for first-year Douglass College students. Students read classic writers in

feminist science studies (e.g., Helen Longino, Anne Fausto-Sterling, and

Evelyn Fox Keller) and analyze case studies to learn how technology may

lead to social change. A woman’s introducing icons on Mac computers,

for example, changed computer use from arcane and specialized

knowledge (traditionally gendered male in our culture, for complicated

but traceable reasons) to a more accessible everyday knowledge

(traditionally gendered female). Representing the “delete” function with

a trash can icon rather than a special code that had to be memorized

democratized access to computer skills. 

CODES: U, PD RUTGERS UNIVERSITY (DOUGLASS COLLEGE), NEW BRUNSWICK

ELLEN F. MAPPEN (EMAPPEN@RCI.RUTGERS.EDU), BARBARA A. SHAILOR, JOHN W. YOUNG, HELEN M. BUETTNER, 

HRD 99-08931 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNERS: DOUGLASS COLLEGE, THE INSTITUTE FOR WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP

KEYWORDS: EDUCATION PROGRAM, TEACHER TRAINING, SEMINAR, ENGINEERING, PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS, RESEARCH EXPERIENCE, INTERNSHIPS, WOMEN'S STUDIES

GENDER AND TEAM DECISION-MAKING

ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE INCREASINGLY USE TEAM DECISION-MAKING—FROM

WHICH WOMEN HAVE HISTORICALLY BEEN EXCLUDED—TO MEET THE NEEDS OF

A RAPIDLY DEVELOPING TECHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY. RESEARCH SUGGESTS THAT

THERE ARE INDEED GENDER DIFFERENCES IN GOALS, LEVELS OF CONFIDENCE,

RISK PROPENSITY, PREFERRED DECISION PROCESSES, PROBLEM-SOLVING

MOTIVATION, AND VERBAL, QUANTITATIVE, AND VISUAL–SPATIAL ABILITY. 

We don’t know what implications those differences will have for organizations as women ascend the corporate ladder. So few women work in

engineering that it has been difficult to assess how women’s inclusion in decision-making affects engineering decisions. This project from the Colorado

School of Mines (CSM), an engineering university, is investigating how the gender composition of design engineering teams affects the decisionmaking process, the quality of the solution developed, the roles of team members, and the quality of their experience. 

Women often exit engineering shortly after starting their college careers, so freshman and sophomore years are critical to keeping them in the engineering

pipeline. This project will examine interactions between male and female first- and second-year engineering students enrolled in CSM’s Engineering

Practices and Introductory Course Sequence (EPICS) program as they try to solve open-ended problems in teams of four. Each year roughly 140 women

(20 percent) and 560 men enroll in EPICS’ 14 sections. 

An open-ended problem has no single correct solution. Instead, students on the design teams use their knowledge of math, science, engineering, and

computer science to develop one of many appropriate solutions. They might be asked, for example, to design a piece of interactive playground

equipment for use by children with disabilities and their typical peers. 

Six graduate students are being trained to observe team interactions using the observational guidelines of Jovanovic and King (1998). During a 

three-minute interval, observers will indicate a score of “1” for every

behavior they observe and “0” for those they don’t observe, indicating

whether a student engages in (for example) directing (instructing other

group members on the procedure and execution of the activity),

manipulating (handling the materials/equipment), or explaining

(explaining a science concept to another student).

CODE: U COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES

ROBERT D. KNECHT (RKNECHT@MINES.EDU), DANIELLE T. CHENEY, DEBRA K. LASICH, BARBARA M. MOSKAL

HRD 99-79444 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

KEYWORDS: RESEARCH STUDY, TEAMWORK APPROACH, SELF-CONFIDENCE, GENDER

DIFFERENCES, ENGINEERING

Gender and team

decision-making

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CODE: U OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY RESEARCH FOUNDATION

AUDEEN W. FENTIMAN (AFENTIMA@MAGNUS.ACS.OHIO-STATE.EDU)

HRD 93-53774 (ONE-YEAR GRANT)

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, WORKSHOPS, RETENTION, VISUALIZATION SKILLS, ENGINEERING, HANDS-ON

DEVELOPING VISUALIZATION SKILLS

COLLEGE WOMEN DROP OUT OF ENGINEERING PARTLY BECAUSE OF THE CULTURE AND PARTLY

BECAUSE OF PRACTICAL PROBLEMS SUCH AS THE ONE THIS OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY PROJECT

ADDRESSED: WOMEN ACCUSTOMED TO ACADEMIC SUCCESS TEND TO LEAVE ENGINEERING IF

THEY PERFORM POORLY IN EARLY ENGINEERING COURSES. THE FIRST ENGINEERING COURSE

OSU ENGINEERING STUDENTS OFTEN ENCOUNTER IS ENGINEERING GRAPHICS—A COURSE IN

WHICH FEMALE OSU STUDENTS SCORE AN AVERAGE 12 PERCENTAGE POINTS LOWER THAN

THE MALE STUDENTS. A POOR GRADE IN THIS COURSE CAUSES SOME TALENTED WOMEN TO

LEAVE ENGINEERING, CONVINCED THEY CANNOT SUCCEED AS ENGINEERS. 

The problem seems to be that most women have trouble visualizing a

three-dimensional (3-D) object, given a two-dimensional (2-D)

representation such as a set of orthographic views or even an exploded

assembly drawing. Assuming that girls don’t experience enough hands-on

activities to develop visualization skills, this project offers a workshop that

helps them do better in engineering graphics. 

In a weeklong workshop, 30 women learned about tools and vocabulary

by getting an up-close look at shop tools (such as drills, lathes, and

welding equipment), using small hand tools (for example, to tap a hole),

and handling and learning the characteristics of various fastening devices

(such as nuts and rivets). While improving their skills and knowledge, 

the women also learned some basics about engineering and 

engineering courses.

To learn how to relate 2-D representations to 3-D objects, participants

were asked to look at orthographic views of an object (on paper or on a

computer screen) while holding and rotating the object; to rotate the

object to orient it the same way it is oriented in an isometric drawing;

to draw orthographic and isometric drawings of a solid object (manually

or using a CAD system); to produce an isometric drawing based on a set

of orthographic views; to carve a solid object from clay using a set of

orthographic views; and to assemble an object from a set of parts,

following an exploded assembly drawing. 

The activities in this workshop were designed for the critical period

between high school and college but could be incorporated into either

high school or college courses.

SISSIES, TOMBOYS, AND GENDER IDENTITY

SOCIOLOGY GENERALLY DEFINES “GENDER IDENTITY” AS “SOCIALLY CONSTRUCTED NOTIONS OF

MASCULINITY AND FEMININITY.” IN THE SPRING OF 1995, THE POWER PROJECT (POSITIVE

OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN ENGINEERS’ RETENTION) SURVEYED 614 FACULTY MEMBERS AND 1,314

STUDENTS AT THE NEW JERSEY INSTITUTE FOR TECHNOLOGY AND FOUR NEW JERSEY COMMUNITY

COLLEGES ABOUT ISSUES OF GENDER IDENTITY. SURVEY RESULTS REVEALED THAT WOMEN ENROLLED IN

ENGINEERING FELT THEY HAD TO HIDE BOTH THEIR FEMALENESS AND THEIR FEMININITY TO SUCCEED IN

ENGINEERING. LOOKING AND ACTING MORE MASCULINE—TO BLEND IN WITH THE BOYS—HELPED WOMEN

SURVIVE. STUDENTS WHO WERE PREGNANT AND COULD NO LONGER HIDE BEING A WOMAN FELT

ESPECIALLY VULNERABLE AND WERE NOT TAKEN SERIOUSLY IN THE ENGINEERING CLASSROOM. 

Women appear freer about crossing gender identity lines than men. In

response to the entry “Based on the way I dress, my outer appearance looks

‘very masculine, somewhat masculine, both masculine/feminine, somewhat

feminine, neither masculine nor feminine,’” all male faculty and most male

students saw themselves as looking masculine, some women said they look

masculine, but no male faculty member said he looks feminine. 

Men may feel more pressure to conform to gender stereotypes from an early

age: 95 percent of male students and 70 percent of female students

reported that they were “normal” as kids. Only 3 percent of males said

they were labeled sissies and three fourths of those “sissies” said they

look masculine today. Men may feel more compelled to look masculine

than women feel compelled to look feminine. 

Sissies, tomboys, 

and gender 

identity

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In this sample of students, about 30 percent of all women, half of the “masculine females,” and a quarter of the “feminine females” reported being

called tomboys as a child. There were no masculine-appearing or androgynous “sissy” females; all “sissy” girls described themselves as now appearing

feminine. Tomboyishness exists across all disciplines, but the incidence of tomboys increases in the traditionally masculine fields of the “hard sciences”

and declines in the traditionally female fields of the “soft sciences” and the liberal arts. A masculine identity favors females in engineering science.

For purposes of analysis, respondents who said they were either “both masculine and feminine” or “neither masculine nor feminine” were classified

as “androgynous.” Of androgynous men, 80 percent identified as “neither masculine nor feminine”; of androgynous women, 80 percent identified as

“both masculine and feminine”—a major finding that held true for both faculty and students. People’s gender or biological sex seems to affect even the

type of androgyny they choose. Roughly 10 percent of the New Jersey faculty said they look androgynous—of which two thirds are women. Of 52 

self-labeled androgynous people in the faculty sample, 81 percent are American and 85 percent are white. 

There was a correlation between gendered boys’ toys and a major in science, math, and engineering. Few future engineers liked only girls’ toys, as

children, even if they were girls. In all disciplines, the majority of girls liked both girls’ and boys’ toys. Again, girls felt more freedom to cross gender

identity lines. It appears more girls were allowed to play with boys’ toys than boys were allowed to play with girls’ toys. The great majority (78 percent)

of “androgynous” females and a majority (61 percent) of “feminine” females liked both girls’ and boys’ toys, while 43 percent of “masculine” females

liked both girls’ and boys’ toys (half liked boys’ toys exclusively). Even among feminine females (46 percent of whom major in the social sciences,

mostly in the humanities, in this sample), 54 percent liked both girls’ and boys’ toys—only 42 percent preferring girls’ toys. (Parents and toy

manufacturers, take note: Provide more girls’ toys that teach the same math/science/spatial skills as boys’ toys do.)

Androgyny among men varies by race: 83 percent of androgynous white and Asian males preferred boys’ toys, compared with only 57 percent of blacks

and Hispanics. No Asian male played exclusively with girls’ toys, but more Asian males played with both boys’ and girls’ toys than any other racial

group. In this study, whites appear less rigid about girls’ gender identity than people of color. No black woman in this study was ever called a sissy. 

Ethnicity and gender identity were the two of the most interesting

variables in the survey. The majority of Asian (59 percent) and Middle

Eastern (57 percent) faculty agreed that “women students won’t have any

problems in my department as long as they blend in with men.”

EuroAmericans (75 percent), Jews (67 percent), Indo-Pakistanis (56

percent), and other people of color disagreed (96 percent).

CODE: U NEW JERSEY INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

SUSAN CAVIN (CAVIN@ADMIN1.NJIT.EDU), AUDREY D. LEVINE

HRD 94-50012 (THREE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNERS: HUDSON COUNTY COLLEGE, MIDDLESEX COUNTY COLLEGE, OCEAN

COUNTY COLLEGE, AND BROOKDALE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

KEYWORDS; RESEARCH STUDY, ENGINEERING, GENDER DIFFERENCES, SURVEY, GENDER

IDENTITY, FEMINISM

WISE SCHOLARS DO ENGINEERING RESEARCH

ALTHOUGH THE PIPELINE THROUGH WHICH YOUNG WOMEN TRAVEL ON THEIR WAY TO

GRADUATE PROGRAMS IN ENGINEERING AND APPLIED SCIENCE LEAKS ALL THE WAY,

WOMEN TEND TO EXIT AT THREE JUNCTURES, ESPECIALLY: AT THE POINT OF (NOT)

CHOOSING A CAREER IN ENGINEERING, IN THE TRANSITION FROM UNDERGRADUATE

TO GRADUATE (ESPECIALLY PH.D.) PROGRAMS, AND WHEN THEY MUST DECIDE

WHETHER TO PERSIST AS ENGINEERS IN ACADEME AND INDUSTRY (WHERE THE

ENVIRONMENT MAY BE HOSTILE FOR TOKEN WOMEN). THROUGH PROFESSIONAL

DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNITY BUILDING, THE LUCILE B. KAUFMAN SCHOLARS

PROGRAM AT ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY (ASU) IS ENCOURAGING UNDERGRADUATE

WOMEN IN ENGINEERING TO PURSUE GRADUATE DEGREES IN ENGINEERING. 

Louise Kaufman was the first woman to become a faculty member in

ASU’s college of engineering and applied science. The Scholars program—

a joint initiative of the graduate college, the college of education, and

the college of engineering and applied science (CEAS)—combines

professional development and community building.

The summer between her junior and senior years, a Scholar participates

in an eight-week research experience, working about 200 hours with local

faculty and receiving a $1500 stipend. The faculty working with the

Scholars must attend a seminar on gender diversity. Fifteen faculty

members with ongoing research projects have agreed to participate.

WISE scholars 

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CODES: U, PD ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY

MARY R. ANDERSON-ROWLAND (MARY.ANDERSON@ASU.EDU) GAIL HACKETT, BIANCA BERNSTEIN, STEPHANIE BLAISDELL

HRD 97-10554 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, ENGINEERING, RESEARCH EXPERIENCE, GENDER DIFFERENCE, MENTORING, SELF-EFFICACY

Scholars completing academic-year program activities also receive a 

$500 scholarship. 

Every other week, workshops and seminars are presented on topics such

as what you can do with a graduate degree in engineering, what to

expect from graduate school, choosing a graduate program, breaking the

glass ceiling, writing an effective résumé/curriculum vitae, how to apply

for graduate school, interviewing to get in, gender differences in the

classroom, and creative financing in higher education. Participants are

invited to monthly networking events sponsored by the Scholars program

and are notified of other relevant events. They are mentored and get to

know one another and CEAS faculty. Mentors are recruited from ASU, local

industry, the Society of Women Engineers, and other professional

associations. 

Self-efficacy is one’s belief that one can perform a certain task or behavior.

One builds self-efficacy through accomplishments, vicarious learning 

(seeing others model the behavior), encouragement and support, and

physiological arousal (such as reduced anxiety). Expectations of 

self-efficacy are viewed as mediators of behavior and behavioral change.

Expectations of outcome (one’s belief about the consequences that will

result) also affect one’s motivation to perform a task or behavior. The

Scholars program is giving its scholars opportunities for performance,

accomplishment, vicarious learning, encouragement, support, and

reduced anxiety. And they will be paid for their effort.

Project evaluation will compare Scholars’ achievements with those of a

cadre of comparably motivated women who did not participate in the

Scholars program.

BRING YOUR MOTHER TO (ENGINEERING) SCHOOL

TO ATTRACT MORE YOUNG WOMEN TO ENGINEERING, THE SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING AND

TECHNOLOGY AT CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY’S LOS ANGELES CAMPUS (CSULA) WILL

EXPAND ITS MOTHER–DAUGHTER ACADEMY—AN INTRODUCTION-TO-ENGINEERING WORKSHOP

FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS AND THEIR MOTHERS. ITS AIM: TO ENCOURAGE GIRLS AND

THEIR MOTHERS TO CONSIDER ENGINEERING A VIABLE OPTION FOR WOMEN, TO DISPEL THE

MYTH THAT ENGINEERING IS PHYSICALLY DIFFICULT AND UNFEMININE, TO RAISE THE LEVEL

OF SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE, AND TO FOSTER A PUBLIC APPRECIATION OF ENGINEERING.

Neda Fabris, a professor of mechanical engineering at Cal State, developed CSULA’s first Mother–Daughter Academy in 1995, piloting it on a shoestring.

Funded by state lottery income, the workshops have been well received and nationally publicized. Fabris hopes a tradition of Bring Your Mother to

School will grow to complement Bring Your Daughters to Work. 

Fabris starts her presentation about engineering by holding up a $20 bill and saying she will give it to whoever can name one thing in the room

untouched by engineers. Participants often start with themselves; she mentions the toothbrush, coffee cup, and comb they used that morning. They

mention air and she discusses smog, which comes mainly from automobiles, which are designed by engineers (whose influence may not always be

positive!). She thought she was in trouble when a girl showed a silver

ring made by American Indians but then explained how silver must be

dug by picks and hammered. She always keeps her money and they get

a lecture on how important engineering is to everyday life.

All but one of the daughters who participated in 1996 decided to

study engineering, although only a few were considering it before

the workshop. At least one mother, intellectually stimulated by the

workshop, returned to school to work toward an advanced degree.

Ratings were high for all parts of the workshop, with students

preferring the hands-on contests and mothers preferring the theory

and demonstrations. 

Bring your mother

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“Overselling any profession does not yield results,” says Dr. Fabris. “We all

know that engineering is a hard and serious profession. Neither students

nor professional engineers spend their time making Popsicle bridges and

touring companies.” Activities need to be meaningful, yet attainable

enough that participants can benefit from the experience.

Now CSULA will conduct (and evaluate the impact of) two different

models of the Mother–Daughter Academy. The year-round academy will

consist of six five-hour sessions, combining lectures, videos, demonstration

experiments, and hands-on contests. Contests scheduled involve girls

in building a tower to hold a soda can, using Popsicle Sticks and

rubber bands (related to civil engineering); an egg drop test (materials

and mechanical engineering); assembling solar cars from kits and

racing them (electrical and power engineering); and engraving their

initial in a piece of hard wax using Mastercam software 

(manufacturing engineering). Participants will be introduced both to

engineering careers and female role models and will visit a local 

high-tech company. Winners of hands-on contests and awards for 

best attendance and most enthusiasm will be awarded scientific 

calculators. 

The project targets high school juniors, who often lack the math required

for engineering and rarely consider a career in engineering, for lack of

female role models, parental encouragement, or an understanding of

what engineers do. Participants will be selected from schools

participating in the Mathematics, Engineering, and Science Achievement

program. The MESA office will monitor and track the girls’ success and

career choices.

Asked what they wanted to study, most high school girls answer,

“I don’t know.” Asked who most influenced their career choices,

they usually answer, “My parents”—and for girls, especially, “My

mother.” Intentionally or unintentionally, mothers influence their

teenage daughters’ career paths, typically know very little about

math and science, and tend to perpetuate stereotypes about math

and science being men’s work, best avoided by women. 

As the daughter of an open-minded mother, Neda Fabris was

unaware of research on the subject at the time she launched the

Mother–Daughter Academy, but she had noticed that mothers

play a significant role in their daughters’ career choices. And as

the mother of two small children, Fabris noticed that PTA

mothers often showed considerable interest in her career as a

mechanical engineer. Several middle-aged women told her, often

with a touch of sadness or jealousy, that they wanted to major

in science or engineering but were discouraged from doing so by

their mothers, counselors, and teachers. They were surprised

when she told them that her mother, a foreign language teacher,

had strongly encouraged her to study engineering. Fabris’s

mother, from her experience in Sarajevo (Bosnia) in World War

II, had concluded that engineering offered a solid chance for

survival and prosperity anywhere in the world. Although Fabris

was scared to death of engineering, the more she learned, the

more she came to enjoy it and agree with her mother. She also

became convinced that mothers should be more actively

involved in their daughters’ academic and career choices. 

At the June 2001 meeting in Denver of the Society of Women

Engineers, Fabris accepted the Distinguished Educator Award.

After a standing ovation greeted her acceptance speech, she

said, “It is a long way from Sarajevo to Denver.”

A MOTHER’S INFLUENCE

CODES: H, U CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY

NEDA S. FABRIS (NFABRIS@CALSTATELA.EDU)

HRD 99-08811 (ONE-YEAR GRANT)

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, ROLE MODELS, ENGINEERING, PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT, CAREER AWARENESS, HANDS-ON, TEAMWORK APPROACH
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PHYSICS

EXPERIMENT-BASED PHYSICS FOR GIRLS

PHYSICS FOR GIRLS SHOWED FIFTH AND SIXTH GRADE GIRLS THAT SCIENCE IS FUN,

WHILE INTRODUCING THEM TO BASIC SCIENCE CONCEPTS AND SIMPLE SCIENTIFIC

EQUIPMENT. NOW EXPANDED INTO THE SEVENTH GRADE, THE EXPERIMENT-BASED

PROGRAM WAS A COLLABORATION BETWEEN A PHYSICS PROFESSOR AT THE UNIVERSITY

OF MISSOURI AND THE SCIENCE COORDINATOR OF COLUMBIA’S PUBLIC SCHOOL

SYSTEM. THE VOLUNTEER PARTICIPANTS—SOME HIGHLY MOTIVATED, SOME LESS SO—

BECAME MORE SKILLED AT BUILDING, EXPERIMENTING, AND LOGICAL REASONING. 

The programs were taught by science teachers who were trained at three-week summer institutes, using the same materials and equipment their

students would use. The project has developed and tested modules in

• Optics (the reflection, refraction, dispersion, and polarization of light)

• Sound (resonance in strings and tubes and sound as a wave—interference and beats)

• Matter and mechanics (air, air pressure, and Bernoulli’s theorem)

• Fluids, density, and Archimedes’ principle (the mechanics of solid objects, stability and equilibrium with torques and forces, the principles of 

conservation in simple machines—energy, linear, and angular momenta)

• Electricity and magnetism (circuits, or the flow of electricity; magnetic fields; and building small motors, doorbells, and burglar alarms)

• Energy and rockets (energy and kinematics, trajectories, collisions, dynamics, and energy conversion)

An average 25 to 40 girls participated in extracurricular after-school programs at 18 schools, with parents providing transportation. Local interest was

high, and materials and sources were inexpensive. As a bonus, a female astronaut came to visit.

For each physical concept, children learned in a logical sequence to

• Play a game to internalize the concept

• Use the internalized concept to build a gadget, game, art 

project, or toy (thereby developing building and mechanical skills)

• Develop the concept through experiments, using simple 

scientific equipment and commonly available materials

• Perform mathematical analysis (for students in higher grades)

Wildly enthusiastic about the program, all the girls stayed till the

end. A six-item instrument sampled their confidence in physics

using pre- and post-tests, and comparing them with male and

female peers who did not attend the program. All girls showed less

confidence than boys on pre-tests for optics and electricity, but

after attending the program the girls reported more confidence,

equaling or exceeding that of their male peers on all items in optics

and in five out of six items in electricity. 

CODES: E, M, PD UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI, COLUMBIA

MEERA CHANDRASEKHAR (MEERAC@MISSOURI.EDU ), REBECCA Q. LITHERLAND

www.missouri.edu/~wwwepic 94-50533 (ONE-YEAR GRANT)

THE CD EXPLORING PHYSICS—ELECTRICITY AND MAGNETISM IS AVAILABLE AT (www.exploringphysics.com) 

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, SCIENCE EXHIBITS, TEACHER TRAINING, EXPERIMENT-BASED, HANDS-ON, PHYSICS, AFTER-SCHOOL, SELF-CONFIDENCE, REAL-LIFE APPLICATIONS

Experiment-based

physics for girls

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SELLING GIRLS ON PHYSICAL SCIENCES

ONLY 20 TO 25 PERCENT OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS TAKE PHYSICS

BEFORE THEY GRADUATE, WITH PERCENTAGES SLIGHTLY HIGHER FOR BOYS

THAN FOR GIRLS. MANY STUDENTS TAKE TWO OR THREE SCIENCE

COURSES—ENOUGH TO MEET THEIR REQUIREMENTS—BUT NOT PHYSICS,

WHICH THEY DON’T THINK THEY WILL NEED, VIEW AS A COURSE ONLY FOR

THE TOP KIDS, AND ARE OFTEN SIMPLY AFRAID OF. WHEN THEY GO TO

COLLEGE, WHERE PHYSICS IS REQUIRED FOR MANY FIELDS (INCLUDING

ENGINEERING AND MOST HEALTH-RELATED PROFESSIONS), THEY GET

CLOBBERED. 

This comprehensive University of Missouri (MU) program to engage girls

from grades 5 through 12 in learning physics is a collaboration between

MU faculty, teachers and administrators in the Columbia, Mo., public

schools, parents, and local industries. Training, curriculum, and

extracurricular activities emphasize hands-on learning—such as building

a factory to produce bouncing balls—to spark girls’ interest in the

physical sciences and show them its relevance to their lives. Pre- and

post-tests were administered in all project components.

“If they don’t see that science is going to be useful, they don’t want to

take it,” says co-director Meera Chandrasekhar, the MU physics professor

who received a Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics

and Engineering Mentoring for the project. “Many girls don’t feel they can

do science, so they shy away from science courses. They are interested in

science but haven’t done much with their hands. That’s where I started

out. I really got interested in physics in my first year in college. I had a

really good teacher and all of a sudden it just made sense.” 

Exploring Physics, an after-school enrichment activity for girls,

grades 5–7. Middle school girls were offered units in optics, electricity

and magnetism, and matter and mechanics. For each unit, they met twice

a week for four weeks. In the first seven sessions the girls engaged in

hands-on projects, using everyday materials. The eighth session was held

in the evening so the girls could share what they had learned with family

members.

Newton Academy, a summer science academy for girls who have completed

grades 9, 10, or 11. To give high school girls a chance to engage their hands

and minds and to show them science’s practical applications, the project

invited 33 high school girls to make bouncing balls in an 11-day summer

science academy. The girls spend a week building a miniature “toy factory” to

produce the kind of bouncy balls sold in machines in grocery stores. Working

in teams, they had to design a process to mix the materials, roll the balls,

transport them from one place to another, and package them. They had to

automate two of the manufacturing processes using machines they built

themselves and were allowed to patent their designs. 

Before building their factories, the girls dismantled copying machines,

typewriters, CD players, and Teletypes, using reverse technology to understand

the instruments’ design and layout. They salvaged many small parts and

devices—especially paper feeders for conveyor belts, and gears, motors, and

pulleys—for their factory. Some girls had never “taken stuff apart”—an activity

traditionally associated with boys—and loved doing so. Girls who had grown up

on farms had often taken things apart and put them back together before, but it

was “cool” to have someone there to explain to them how things worked. 

They could purchase other needed parts—including wire, string, batteries, and

duct tape—from a “store” in another classroom, using fake Newton dollars

distributed to each team, which they had to budget. Before drawing up plans

for their facility, they toured the university’s engineering manufacturing lab

and the nearby Unilever manufacturing facility, where they saw the value of

precision and efficiency and got new ideas for their factories, such as using

conveyor belts and doing different steps at different stations. Unexpectedly,

they also became aware of the importance of reducing waste as they produced

the balls. At their final session, a Family (pizza) Night, the students

demonstrated their factories to their families and friends and sold their

polymer balls. Their families were given Newton dollars to use that evening,

which was a big hit among the younger siblings.

The program allowed teenage girls to identify with their peer group, to see that

other girls were interested in science, and to focus more on learning and less on

the fact that they were working in an area traditionally dominated by males.

Meanwhile, in addition to their project mentors and role models, they had such

visitors as an “awesome” woman from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, who

showed slides of Mars, watched the film Contact with them, and told them

what was fact and fiction. Their interest in science and astronomy soared. 

In producing the balls the girls learned math, computer programming, and

graphing skills (determining the optimal mix of glue and borax required to get

the highest bounce out of their balls), engineering (system design and factory

layout), physics (gears, pulleys, and electrical systems), chemistry

(encountering polymers, acid-based chemistry, absorbance spectophometry,

and waste generation), economics and cost–benefit analysis (budgeting

Newton dollars to purchase factory materials), and law (evaluating designs for

novelty and completeness, for patents). 

MAKING BOUNCING BALLS

Selling girls on

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In the unit on electricity and magnetism, the projects taught the girls the underlying principles of batteries, including those made from vegetables

and those that are a natural part of the human body; electric generators; magnets and electromagnets; charging and discharging capacitors in electric

circuits; and the resistance of common materials such as pencil lead. 

Tests to measure changes in interest and confidence showed that before taking the program, neither the girls in the program nor a control group were

as confident as a control group of boys, but after the program the girls who took the program were as confident as, or more confident than, the boys,

on all items but one (out of 12). 

Saturday Scientist for junior high. With help from local industry, 98 students from three junior high schools learned about what they needed to

study to pursue science careers, toured local industrial facilities, saw science professionals in action, and did experiments on their own. At Columbia

Water & Light, for example, they built small houses from materials such as cardboard, plexiglass, and sheetrock, and heated them with a light bulb—

measuring heat loss to see which material was the best insulator. With an infrared camera, they could see the “hot spots” in their houses and determine

where heat loss was the worst. 

FEST (families exploring science and technology). Science is rarely one of the things parents and children do together. FEST, which offered handson science activities for sixth and seventh graders and their parents, grew out of an earlier program for younger children. In two-hour sessions, children

and their parents worked together to build a working drawbridge, incorporated concepts of structure, stability, gears, motors, and electrical circuits.

They saw working drawbridges in a video and in clips from Annie, The Blues Brothers, and The Wizard of Oz. They got lessons on structure, gears, and

electricity, and practiced skills they would need to build their own bridges. They built trusses from balsa sticks and tested their designs for strength.

They investigated the effect of gear size on force and speed. In the electricity lesson, they assembled simple series and parallel circuits connected

to motors and LEDs and learned how to operate a double pole–double throw switch, to operate the drawbridge. They built the floor and sides at home

and assembled their drawbridges at the final session.

Parents and children enjoyed the time they spent together on building projects and suggested expanding the program to six or eight sessions and

building more projects. Establishing a positive relationship around science encouraged parents to encourage their children’s pursuit of science. 

Summer physics workshops for teachers. In 1998, two one-week summer physics workshops were held, an optics institute (for 18 middle-school

teachers) and a sound institute (for 21). Paralleling content covered in the schools and the student programs, the workshops taught concepts through

hands-on activities supplemented by lecture, discussion, and problem-solving. For the sake of evaluation, teachers recorded their thoughts and

questions in a learning log. 

No one came to the workshop with a good understanding of optics, but all learned a lot and left with a much better grasp of a complex subject. They

felt challenged and stretched but found the workshop an excellent and enjoyable way to learn difficult material. Initially, however, they were very

anxious and not so optimistic. When they were clearly uncomfortable with the material being presented or what they were expected to learn, they

interacted little, except to agree that they were confused. One heard, “I don’t understand”—especially about frequency and the Doppler effect in the

sound course and about focal length and the differences between concave and convex mirrors and lenses, in optics. After a few classes they settled

down and began asking pointed questions and using the course terminology.

For their hands-on projects, participants applied their newfound knowledge by building an apparatus. Their projects—for example, a laser light show,

a water xylophone, and a kaleidoscope—were all of high quality, some with innovative construction, and showed they’d assimilated the material. Projects

made the concepts concrete for them, reinforcing their understanding. Some participants said they felt they would retain what they learned because of the

course expectations, the materials used, the enjoyable hands-on reinforcement of concepts, the real-world applications, and the many homework problems. They

became consultants, often answering questions for each other so the instructor didn’t have to do so. In the flexible learning environment, the

participants became interactive learners, showing a beginning mastery of the material. Some thought the hands-on projects took up too much

(sometimes frustrating) time with no obvious benefit, but in listening to their presentations, looking at their uniformly good writeups, and knowing

how far the participants’ knowledge level had advanced, the evaluators concluded that the participants had learned a lot without realizing it. 

CODES: E, M, H, I, PD UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI, COLUMBIA

MEERA CHANDRASEKHAR (PHYSMC@SHOWME.MISSOURI.EDU), REBECCA Q. LITHERLAND (SCIENCE COORDINATOR, COLUMBIA PUBLIC SCHOOLS), SILVIA S. JURRISON, LLOYD H. BARROW, AND PAULETTE SAAB

HRD 96-19140 (THREE-YEAR GRANT)

PARTNERS: COLUMBIA (MISSOURI) PUBLIC SCHOOLS, 3M, CITY OF COLUMBIA WATER & LIGHT DIVISION, THE MU DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING, AND LOCAL INDUSTRIES

KEYWORDS: EDUCATION PROGRAM, PHYSICS, HANDS-ON, REAL-LIFE APPLICATIONS, AFTER-SCHOOL, SUMMER PROGRAM, SELF-CONFIDENCE, FIELD TRIPS, PEER GROUPS, MENTORING, ROLE

MODELS, CAREER AWARENESS, PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT, TEACHER TRAINING
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The girls started by building a pine toolbox. At first some girls were intimidated by the power drills, but soon they were vying for access to them.

Guided by women scientists and instructors, they built large-scale inventions such as roller coasters, water-powered rockets, and 

motor-controlled planes. Each was given a hammer, pliers, and a six-in-one screwdriver to use at camp and to take home.

After building their own siege engine—a medieval invention to catapult objects—they launched the head of a Barbie doll, to mimic the medieval

practice of launching diseased corpses over castle walls, to introduce disease among the besieged. Nestling Barbie’s head in a sling, they tugged a

rope, released a lever, and launched the doll’s head in an arc across the college lawn. Her head was too light. By stuffing it with lead sinkers they

made it heavy enough to launch. They also catapulted a motorized plastic pig, eggs, and fruit, learning through experience that potatoes and apples

were a good weight for the purpose. 

Working together, they learned about inquiry, teamwork, physics principles, and the use of tools. Betsy Fochs, a former pilot and a professor at the

University of Minnesota at Duluth, taught them about conductors and transistors during a marathon appliance-smashing session in which they

smashed open, tore apart, and studied the inner workings of telephones, VCRs, toaster ovens, TV sets, and parking meters. Exposure to science and

women scientists is important at this age, says Fochs, “because it’s the age they start to think it’s not cool to be smart.”

As part of TNT, the girls experienced both the intensive summer residential camp and monthly follow-up activities during the school year. On Physics

Fridays, they worked in pairs or teams on small-scale inventions that included a simple machine and demonstrated a principle of physics—culminating

in a TNT Girls Expo at the Science Museum of Minnesota, whose staff participated in programming. The girls developed a website and presented their

inventions with posters and PowerPoint presentations that illustrated their hypothesis, data collection, and conclusion.

They also took field trips to construction sites (to see large tools in action), the Science Museum of Minnesota, a robotics laboratory, an aerial lift

bridge, a repair and maintenance facility for large aircraft, a pulp and paper plant, and, for the second cohort, a Science & Technology Weekend at

The Works Museum in Eden Prairie, Minn. 

The girls enjoyed working together on group construction projects, taking apart household objects, and making friends. Students and parents both

noticed that the girls grew in self-confidence, knowledge of physics, and social relationships. Students said they had better grades and were more familiar

with technology. 

TNT GIRLS GO TO PHYSICS CAMP

IN 1998 THE COLLEGE OF ST. SCHOLASTICA PUT 35 MINNESOTA

AND WISCONSIN SEVENTH GRADERS THROUGH A FIVE-DAY

TOOLS AND TECHNOLOGY (TNT) PHYSICS CAMP, DESIGNED TO

ENGAGE THEM AND THEIR PARENTS IN HANDS-ON PHYSICS

ACTIVITIES. IT WAS THE SECOND IN A SERIES OF PROGRAMS TO

SUPPORT A COHORT OF GIRLS AS THEY MOVED THROUGH K–12.

CODES: M, I THE COLLEGE OF ST. SCHOLASTICA

ANN SIGFORD (IASTAFF@STFO.CSS.EDU), MARGARET J. CLARKE, CHANDRA M. MEHROTRA

www.css.edu/PLUS HRD 97-10974 (ONE-YEAR GRANT)

PARTNERS: UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA–DULUTH (COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING), THE NORTHERN PINE GIRL SCOUT COUNCIL, THE GREAT LAKES AQUARIUM, THE

ASSOCIATION FOR WOMEN IN SCIENCE, AND THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, HANDS-ON, PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT, SUMMER CAMP, MUSEUM, STAFF TRAINING, PUBLICATION, PHYSICS, WEBSITE, FIELD TRIPS, TOOLS, TEAMWORK

APPROACH, INQUIRY-BASED, SELF-CONFIDENCE

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CHANGING HOW INTRODUCTORY PHYSICS IS TAUGHT

TO REDUCE THE DROPOUT RATE FROM CALCULUS-BASED INTRODUCTORY PHYSICS COURSES, AND TO IMPROVE THE LEARNING AND

RETENTION OF ALL STUDENTS (BUT ESPECIALLY WOMEN AND

MINORITIES), A MODEL PROJECT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS

UNDERTOOK TO CHANGE THE WAY INTRODUCTORY PHYSICS COURSES

ARE TAUGHT. THE PROJECT EMPHASIZED CHANGES NOT IN THE

CONTENT BUT IN HOW IT IS PRESENTED, AN EMPHASIS THAT MAKES

THE PROJECT PORTABLE FROM ONE COURSE OR DISCIPLINE TO

ANOTHER AND PRESUMABLY MORE ACCEPTABLE TO MORE FACULTY. 

Like much current reform in math and science, the project emphasized

• Increasing students’ comfort level by establishing a sense of 

community in the classroom

• Showing the subject’s value and relevance in everyday life

• Making the course less competitive and more collaborative 

(encouraging small-group discussions and problem-solving, for 

example, and stressing collaboration rather than rivalry)

• Using problem-solving as a vehicle for understanding physical concepts 

and developing intuition

• Adopting criterion-referenced grading (based on students’ progress 

toward clearly defined class objectives) instead of grading on a curve

• Building students’ confidence and skill at self-assessment

• Encouraging risk-taking

Teachers can encourage risk-taking and learning from mistakes by

• Emphasizing improvement and factor improvement into grades

• Emphasizing mastery of the material, not finishing fast, or first

• Aiming at specific objectives (regardless of time or trials)

• Allowing students to drop their lowest grade or redo an assignment

• Giving some assignments that are ungraded but carefully read—with 

students getting feedback but not grades, thereby teaching them to 

separate the analysis of mistakes from their grade

Naturally, reforming the way physics is taught and evaluated requires

introducing new teaching techniques to STEM faculty—techniques for

being more supportive of students and presenting the material in a way

that helps engage them with the subject material and learn it better. It

also means showing them how the old ways of teaching are turning off

many students that the department and the scientific and technical

workforce need. 

Workshops for professional development emphasized developing

awareness of the problem (how current practices limit opportunities for

women and students of color), improving classroom climate and

dynamics, developing alternative ways of structuring the course and

testing for mastery, and improving the course content by providing

concrete demonstrations and examples accessible and engaging to a

wider audience.

Particular attention was paid to helping students develop skills in 

self-assessment—knowing when a project is “good enough” to turn in and

when it needs revision, when they have mastered a topic and can stop

studying, when to ask for help, whom to ask, and what to ask. Women tend

toward underconfidence, so they often set lower goals and avoid risks—

a problem exacerbated by many teachers’ lower expectations, especially

of women of color. Males are more likely to say “I did well,” and females

to say, “The teacher said I did well,” laying emphasis on others’

perception of their performance.

The project taught students to avoid such dysfunctional ways of explaining

success and failure, to understand their own role in that success or failure,

and to correctly label any external influences on performance. A teacher

might ask students to predict how they will do on exams, for example,

have them evaluate their own work, give them clear grading guidelines

to help them do so, have them evaluate group projects and group

participation, and ask for predictions before in-class physics demonstrations. Making predictions forces students to think about and evaluate

factors that cause or affect outcomes. They should also be asked to

reflect on discrepancies between their own evaluation and the

instructor’s.

CODES: U, PD UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS

MILAN C. BUNCICK (MBUNCICK@CC.MEMPHIS.EDU), LYNN WEBER, DIANNE D. HORGAN, PHYLLIS G. BETTS, CORINNA A. ETHINGTON

HRD 95-53630 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNERS: PHYSICS DEPARTMENT; DEPARTMENT OF COUNSELING, EDUCATIONAL

PSYCHOLOGY AND RESEARCH OF THE COLLEGE OF EDUCATION; CENTER FOR RESEARCH

ON WOMEN; UNIVERSITY HONORS PROGRAM

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, PHYSICS, CALCULUS, RETENTION, COLLABORATIVE

LEARNING, REAL-LIFE APPLICATIONS, SELF-CONFIDENCE, TEACHER TRAINING, CURRICULUM

Changing how 

introductory 

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TEACHING INTERNSHIPS IN PHYSICS FOR UNDERGRADUATES

WOMEN REPRESENT 25 TO 45 PERCENT OF UNDERGRADUATES ENROLLED IN INTRODUCTORY PHYSICS

BUT ONLY 10 PERCENT OF PHYSICS GRADUATE STUDENTS. MANY WOMEN COME TO THE UNIVERSITY

OF ROCHESTER EXPRESSING AN INTEREST IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING BUT LEAVE SCIENCE IN

THEIR LAST TWO YEARS. BY PROVIDING TEACHING INTERNSHIPS FOR UNDERGRADUATES, THIS

MODEL PROJECT FROM ROCHESTER’S DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY INCREASED BOTH

THE NUMBER AND COMPETENCE OF INSTRUCTORS IN LAB SECTIONS FOR INTRODUCTORY PHYSICS.

ONLY TIME WILL TELL IF IT INCREASES THE LONG-TERM RETENTION OF UNDERGRADUATE WOMEN

IN SCIENCE, BUT THE PROJECT IMPROVED INSTRUCTION IN INTRODUCTORY PHYSICS ENOUGH THAT

THE DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY HAS INSTITUTIONALIZED IT.

At Rochester, all students preparing for science and engineering majors must take an introductory physics sequence and the associated lab course.

Each semester roughly 600 students are placed in 20 lab sections led by graduate student teaching assistants (TA). This project recruited 20

undergraduate women concentrating in science as paid teaching interns (TIs), pairing each of them with an incoming graduate teaching assistant as

co-instructors for the introductory physics labs. The undergraduate trainees were recruited from top-scoring sophomores and juniors (not just physics

majors) who had already taken the course. The lead TA and the TI shared equally in teaching duties (except for grading, which the TAs did). 

Before they got their assignments, the TIs were trained in teaching, leadership, and communication skills. Instructor training was important for

developing confidence, teamwork, and a sense that gender equity was valuable. Both students and instructors benefited from the team and peer

instruction. The qualities brought to the classroom by the undergraduate TIs complemented those of the graduate student TAs: The TIs were closer to the

lab students in age and level of understanding of physics, while the TAs knew more about physics.

Initially concerned about being able to speak confidently before a group of students, some of the TIs feared knowing too little about physics to answer

students’ questions. Overwhelmingly, after the experience, they felt more confident about their ability to teach, to speak to a group, and to be a TI

for a second year (even if it meant learning new lab material). As teachers, they learned how to be patient with undergraduates, how to get a point

across, how to express the same idea patiently in many ways, and how to deal with different levels of understanding. They learned enough about the

lab experiments to facilitate completion of the labs, and most of them learned enough about the subject matter, generally, to answer questions adeptly

or to say “I don’t know.” 

Undergraduates enrolled in the labs gave the TAs and TIs feedback about instruction through small group instructional diagnosis, a method for students

to evaluate instructors midcourse through focus groups (or facilitated small-group discussions) to improve learning. After the instructors discussed the

feedback with them, students were more motivated. Undergraduates had two sets of hands to help them in the lab courses and were largely happy

with the interactive, one-on-one teaching they got on lab experiments, especially when TIs circulated, answering questions and giving them hints

while the labs were in progress. They were impressed by the TIs’ ability to explain the lab material clearly, felt most TIs knew the material well, and

were more critical of timing than of clarity and coherence: They suggested that instructors start the lab with a brief introduction and then dole out the

rest of the details in installments as they reached that part of the lab work—rather than give them too much all at once. 

With one exception, TAs and TIs considered the relationship mutually beneficial. The TIs helped the TAs manage the lab and made their life much

easier, and the TAs helped the TIs understand their physics homework. The TAs felt the TIs generally were well prepared, knew what they were doing,

weren’t afraid to ask questions and get clarification if they needed it, and knew the ins and outs of the labs even if they didn’t always fully understand

the concepts behind them. The TAs who spoke English as a second language were especially grateful for the TIs’ help interpreting both the students’

questions and the TAs’ explanations. The TIs bridged the TAs’ understanding of what the undergraduates would not understand and got high marks from

the students for being friendly, approachable, and accessible. The TIs learned about both physics and graduate school from the TAs, who as graduate

students had a greater knowledge of physics.

The dynamics changed the second year, when the project recruited 16

women and four men. A man volunteered to be lead TI, there was less

continuity and cohesion in the group, and the project realized that, if the

intent was partly to encourage female leaders, attention must be paid to

male–female interactions as the program became institutionalized.

CODES: U, PD UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER

PRISCILLA S. AUCHINCLOSS (PSA@PAS.ROCHESTER.EDU), LYNNE H. ORR

HRD 95-53445 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

HANDOUTS AVAILABLE AT (http://server-mac.pas.rochester.edu/yigal/TA-training.html)

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, PHYSICS, INTERNSHIPS, TEAMWORK APPROACH, SELF- CONFIDENCE, TEACHER TRAINING, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS

Teaching

internships

in physics for

undergraduates

TIP

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COMPUTER SCIENCE AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

GO TEAM!

THIS PILOT AFTER-SCHOOL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY PROJECT FOR

UNDERSERVED GIRLS 11 THROUGH 13 IS AN OUTGROWTH OF THE SCIENCE IN THE

CITY PROGRAM OF THE CHICAGO ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. DEMAND FOR THE

COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY WORKSHOPS OFFERED THROUGH SCIENCE IN THE CITY

WAS SO STRONG THAT WITHIN TWO WEEKS THE ACADEMY STAFF HAD TO ADD FOUR

WORKSHOPS AND DEVELOP A NEW TECHNOLOGY WORKSHOP FOR OLDER GIRLS. 

Responding to this incredible demand, the academy proposed to expand

one of its most successful after-school programs, a program for (mostly

affluent) students that combined learning about science with learning

about computer technology. To broaden its reach into the Chicago

community, for the new program—Girls Online (GO Team!)—the academy

teamed with El Valor (two community centers serving a largely poor

Hispanic population) and James Ward Elementary School, which serves a

low-income mixed-ethnic population. 

Each semester 45 girls will meet once a week after school in computer

labs to learn basic Web design and to engage in hands-on learning in the

natural sciences—ecology in the introductory class and water quality in

the intermediate course. To offer a creative, engaged style of learning

suited to girls, both classes will have the girls create a Web-based

magazine, or “webzine,” for publication on the academy’s website. 

In the first week of the introductory session, the girls will learn about a

computer’s internal and external parts by taking apart a computer, but

they will also learn about urban land habitats and ecosystems. The

second week they will learn about information storage and computer

operation as well as about urban water habitats and systems. As they

learn about plant and animal defenses and camouflage, renewable and

nonrewable resources, and energy resources, they will also learn about

information transfer, the Internet, the World Wide Web, search

techniques, digital scanning, and Web design. They will create a scienceoriented Web page, using HTML. 

In the intermediate class, they will use advanced HTML to create tables,

frames, and animated GIFs, as they also learn about water chemistry, macroinvertebrates, and water quality. They will understand the factors involved in

purchasing a computer and selecting an Internet service provider. Parents will

be invited to events at the beginning and end of the 13-week session.

Two girls from each class will be teacher assistants for the next class. They

will also take part in a job shadow day with museum staff and other professional women in science and technology, because informal social sessions with

adult scientists have been shown to change high school girls’ perceptions. If

girls team with a woman staff member as she goes about her daily routine

and see that she is social and has a sense of humor instead of being “nerdy”

and “strange,” they are more likely to select a science-related career. 

CODES: M, I CHICAGO ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

JENNIFER A. BLITZ (JBLITZ@MCS.COM), RAFAEL ROSA

www.caosclub.org/ HRD 01-14859 (THREE-YEAR GRANT)

PARTNERS: EL VALOR AND JAMES WARD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, AFTER-SCHOOL, REAL-LIFE APPLICATIONS, UNDERPRIVILEGED, HANDS-ON, ROLE MODELS, COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY, HTML, MUSEUM, JOB SHADOW, WEBSITE, PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT

DESIGNING WITH VIRTUAL REALITY TECHNOLOGY

THIS MODEL PROJECT FROM THE MIAMI MUSEUM OF SCIENCE AIMS TO INCREASE GIRLS’

CONFIDENCE, INTEREST, AND PREPAREDNESS FOR COMPUTER SCIENCE AND FOR HIGH-END CAREERS

IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY. BUILDING ON RESEARCH ABOUT GIRLS’ WAYS OF KNOWING, THE

PROJECT IS DEVELOPING HANDS-ON CURRICULUM TO ENGAGE GIRLS IN DESIGNING—NOT SIMPLY

USING—IT APPLICATIONS. FOR 12 WEEKS DURING THE ACADEMIC YEAR, THE FIRST COHORT OF 44

MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRLS PARTICIPATED IN SATURDAY TECHNOLOGY WORKSHOPS, ACQUIRING THE

SKILLS THEY WOULD NEED FOR INCREASINGLY SOPHISTICATED SOFTWARE APPLICATIONS. 

Most of the girls were highly motivated, enjoyed working on computers, liked math and science, and were confident about their math and science

skills. Nine of the girls had participated in an earlier academy at the museum. Most of the girls had access to computers at home, used them often,

and were fairly familiar with e-mail and electronic chat rooms—but needed help learning how to use a CD-ROM drive, an external zip drive, a scanner,

sophisticated database/spreadsheet software, and the multimedia software they would need for their summer project

Designing with 

virtual reality 

technology

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Skill-oriented sessions engaged students in using the Internet, creating a

public service announcement, creating personal Web pages, using a digital

camera, taking and downloading digital images to their desktops, using

Adobe PhotoDeluxe to manipulate and save images in formats suitable for

incorporation into Web pages, working with graphics, creating panoramic

views and object movies, and working with sound files. They would also

learn math concepts needed to work with the virtual reality technology:

perspective, measurement, scale, polyhedrons, and tessellations. 

After finishing the 12-week series of Saturday workshops, the first cohort

would complete a four-week intensive design studio, where (working in

teams of four) they would produce an invention of their own design,

using state-of-the-art virtual reality technology (VRQuest’s 3-D 

Studio Max). 

CODES: M, I MIAMI MUSEUM OF SCIENCE, INC.

JUDY A. BROWN (JBROWN@MIAMISCI.ORG)

www.miamisci.org HRD 01-14669 (THREE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNERS: CENTER FOR CHILDREN AND TECHNOLOGY, VR VISIONS, MIAMI–DADE

COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, MUSEUM, SELF-CONFIDENCE, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, COMPUTER SKILLS, MATH SKILLS, VIRTUAL REALITY

WHY GIRLS GO TO WHYVILLE.NET

NUMEDEON, A SOFTWARE DEVELOPER FOR ONLINE COMMUNITIES, WAS

SURPRISED TO DISCOVER THAT MORE THAN 60 PERCENT OF THE PEOPLE WHO

USED ITS INTERACTIVE SCIENCE-ORIENTED WEBSITE (WWW.WHYVILLE.NET)

WERE GIRLS, MOSTLY FROM GRADES 4–8. SINCE LITTLE COMMERCIALLY

AVAILABLE SOFTWARE APPEALS TO GIRLS, NUMEDEON TURNED TO RESEARCHERS

AT CALTECH’S PRE-COLLEGE SCIENCE INITIATIVE (CAPSI) TO LEARN WHY. 

Whyville is a free and informal learning space launched in 1999 to help kids explore science concepts in a social and interactive learning environment.

Science activities embedded in the site (presented in the context of a 3-D community) promote inquiry, experimentation, and discussion. On a typical

summer day, more than 4,000 users visit the site, with a mean log-on time of 50 minutes. Users range from young children to college age, but most

of its 225,000 registered users are 11 to 13. The popularity of Whyville with middle school girls is important, because this is the age when the gender

gap in science often first appears. Computer use in girls drops off dramatically after 13, for lack of games that don’t involve speed, fighting, or

competition.

Whyville has become so crowded that it can’t always accommodate all the users who want in. Those who enter can chat with other users, visit popular

gathering spots such as the town swimming pool, engage in noncompetitive games and activities, interact socially, or create their own identities. Users

especially love shopping at the “mall” for new face parts, clothing, or accessories for their online persona. They can create and sell items such as

jewelry and face parts, or they can buy them from other Whyvilleans—with “clams,” not dollars. Clams can be earned by engaging in science or math

activities or by selling one’s own products. The desire to buy things on the site motivates students to engage in and eventually master science

activities. Whyvilleans who improve their performance increase their salary; they are further rewarded if they play the games many times over. They

can also set up a charity to give away face parts to less fortunate citizens.

Although users may go to the site more to shop and to create new identities than to learn about science, the site is designed to draw them into science

learning—in a constantly evolving scenario that affects their online lifestyle. For example, the site introduced a plague (“whypox”) to trigger their

interest in epimediology. Mysterious spots began appearing on the faces of a few of the most active Whyvilleans, spots that at first looked like freckles

and later like red welts. The pox spread through contact. Several days of ugly faces and messages erased by virtual sneezes sent Whyvilleans scurrying

for explanations to the bulletin board of Whyville’s equivalent of the Centers for Disease Control, where they found a simulation of how disease spreads,

a graph of how many Whyvilleans had been affected, and links to a real newspaper article about a wave of unexplained rashes affecting students in

East Coast schools.

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The site specializes in “edu-tainment,” tapping the Internet’s capacity for interactivity to get kids engaged in learning. CAPSI’s goals are to analyze how

much and what students are learning on the site and to explore what types of students (especially girls) are drawn to it. Besides surveying the Whyville

population for background, demographics, and interests, CAPSI is doing pre- and post-assessments of science and technology interest for a group of

students newly introduced to Whyville for the study. It is also monitoring the movements of the new users and a sample of current users to determine

the activities of greatest apparent interest and appeal. Project researchers are conducting online and personal focus group discussions with current

and new users to understand more fully their perceptions of the site. Project findings should provide suggestions for making educational websites

more effective in attracting girls and may offer ideas for making school-based learning more appealing as well.

CODES: M, I, U CALTECH PRECOLLEGE SCIENCE INITIATIVE, CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

PAMELA R. ASCHBACHER (PAMA@CALTECH.EDU)

www.capsi.caltech.edu HRD 00-86338 (ONE-YEAR GRANT)

PARTNER: NUMEDEON

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, WEBSITE, INQUIRY-BASED, RESEARCH STUDY, INFORMAL EDUCATION, ENGAGEMENT, INTERACTIVE

RESEARCH IN COMPUTER SCIENCE

RURAL LOUISIANA HAS ONE OF THE HIGHEST HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUT RATES IN THE

NATION. FOR THAT REASON, RURAL STUDENTS WERE SPECIAL TARGETS OF A THREE-WEEK

RESIDENTIAL COMPUTER SCIENCE PROGRAM TO EXPOSE MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRLS TO CAREER

OPPORTUNITIES IN COMPUTER SCIENCE. HOSTED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA AT

MONROE, THE PROGRAM ACCEPTED 24 INCOMING EIGHTH AND NINTH GRADE GIRLS WITH

GOOD GRADES AND AN INTEREST IN COMPUTER SCIENCE—GIVING SPECIAL

CONSIDERATION TO PHYSICALLY CHALLENGED, MINORITY, AND RURAL STUDENTS.

Three weeks may seem like too long for middle school students to live on

campus, but experience has shown that it is not, if the students are kept

busy and happy. First the girls were introduced to computer science,

computer problem-solving techniques, and popular software (including

word processing, e-mail, a database manager, a spreadsheet, and

presentation and programming tools). They learned HTML, developed

their own Web pages, created and edited a newspaper, and developed

presentations for a research symposium. The more students use a

technology, the less anxiety it produces. 

For two hours each afternoon they learned about expert systems, data

mining, and software engineering, the broad topics within which they

would conduct research in computer science. This part of the project

emphasized the science—seeking problems, forming hypotheses,

performing tests, and finding solutions—in computer science. On field trips

to Black Bayou and Vicksburg, the girls saw concepts from computer

science being applied in local industries and talked with scientists about

their careers. 

For three weeks, the participants lived in a campus residence hall, ate

in university dining facilities, and participated in both program

activities and unsupervised recreation such as swimming and volleyball.

Six college students majoring in computer science served as the girls’ “big

sisters,” living in the dormitory with them and helping them with program

activities.

During the school year, they returned to the university on three Saturdays

for follow-up activities, including preparation of a project to enter in a

local science fair. To make follow-up visits feasible, the project limited

recruitment to girls living within 50 miles of the university.

CODES: M, U, I UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA, MONROE

VIRGINIA EATON (CSEATON@ALPHA.NLU.EDU), CHARLOTTE H. OWENS, KIMBERLY W. TAYLOR

www.cs.ulm.edu/~girlsroc/overview.htm HRD 99-08786 (ONE-YEAR GRANT)

DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, RURAL, MINORITIES, CAREER AWARENESS, ROLE MODELS, FIELD TRIPS, RESEARCH EXPERIENCE, COMPUTER SCIENCE, DISABLED, HTML, SUMMER CAMP, COMPUTER SKILLS

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Girls often opt out of computer use because they are unwilling to compete

with boys for computing resources. In girls-only sessions, the eighth grade

girls in this project learned about basic electronics, computer platforms,

operating systems, hardware, software, device drivers, user interfaces,

and applications (such as spreadsheets, word processors, databases).

They learned how to use e-mail and the Internet, built a home page and

learned about algorithms. They played math and communication games.

Dedicated sites for the monthly meetings allowed ample opportunity for

hands-on experiences to bolster their computer skills, critical thinking,

problem-solving abilities, and confidence.

Earlier research had shown that mentoring—including online mentoring—

by female role models is one of the most effective strategies for changing

girls’ self-images. These girls networked with each other and benefited

from face-to-face and electronic mentoring by undergraduate women in

computer science at Ole Miss. 

The teachers in charge of monthly site workshops (who were given a

special two-day workshop before the girls’ activities began) acquired

contacts, new skills, and new insights into promoting gender equity in

their schools.

OLE MISS COMPUTER CAMP

THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI (“OLE MISS”) LIES IN RURAL COUNTRYSIDE IN A RURAL STATE WHERE A HIGHER THAN AVERAGE PERCENTAGE OF

CHILDREN LEAVE SCHOOL WITHOUT HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMAS AND LIVE

BELOW THE POVERTY LINE. THIS PROJECT BROUGHT RURAL EIGHTH GRADE

GIRLS TO THE OLE MISS CAMPUS FOR AN INTENSIVE WEEKLONG COMPUTER CAMP (TO BUILD A SENSE OF COMMUNITY AND LAY A KNOWLEDGE BASE

FOR LATER ACTIVITIES) FOLLOWED BY MONTHLY SATURDAY PROGRAMS AT

LOCAL SCHOOLS, CULMINATING IN A CAPSTONE WEEKEND BACK ON CAMPUS

CODES: M, U, I, PD UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI

PAMELA LAWHEAD (LAWHEAD@OLEMISS.EDU), DAWN E. WILKINS, PENNY RHEINGANS

HRD 96-31242 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

KEYWORDS: EDUCATION PROGRAM, RURAL, UNDERPRIVILEGED, COMPUTER SCIENCE, HANDS-ON, SELF-CONFIDENCE, PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS, ROLE MODELS, MENTORING, WORKSHOPS, TEACHER TRAINING, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS

At the heart of this University of Delaware project to make computer

science cool for girls is POWER, an eight-week half-day summer camp for

20 juniors and seniors from high schools in Delaware and nearby

Pennsylvania and Maryland. An all-girl activity for students good in math

and at about the same skill level with computers, the camp chose projects

that involved programming for practical purposes the girls could relate to.

It often had the girls work in groups, because some research shows that

girls are less interested in the field since they believe computer specialists

work alone with no social interaction—when in truth software development

is typically done by project groups.

MAKING COMPUTER SCIENCE COOL FOR GIRLS

BOYS TYPICALLY COME INTO A COMPUTER SCIENCE CLASSROOM WITH A HIGHER COMFORT

LEVEL THAN GIRLS, NURTURED PARTLY BY A WELL-DEVELOPED MARKET FOR BOYS’ VIDEO

GAMES. ON VIDEO GAMES, BOYS LEARN WHAT DOES AND DOESN’T WORK, TEST NEW

IDEAS, AND “OUTSMART” THE MACHINE BY LEARNING ITS SECRETS AND STRATEGIES.

SEEING BOYS UNAFRAID TO EXPLORE A COMPUTER AND EXPOUNDING ON TOPICS SHE

DOESN’T UNDERSTAND CAN BE DAUNTING TO A NEW GIRL IN A COMPUTER CLASS. 

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Girls often describe their interest in computers in terms of “what they

can do in the world” and how computers can link them to the worlds

of education, medicine, communication, art, music, and so on.

Designing Web projects allows them to see what interesting

applications are possible with the programming skills they learn. The

Web’s client-server model allows them to create socially oriented

applications, such as electronic RSVPs, shopping carts, chat rooms, and

games. Animation, multimedia, interactivity, and graphic user

interfaces allow them to be creative and artistic. 

In camp the girls learned about static and interactive Web pages,

electronic forms (rsvp, survey, etc.), Java applets, animated Web

pages, GUI development with Java, and GUI-based interfaces. The

project arranged for regular guest speakers from the business world

and for occasional social activities. The three tenure-track women who

served as faculty had often experienced being the lone woman in a

class, especially in graduate school. Things are changing in the field

and they hope projects like this will speed that change along.

Components for high school and undergraduate students will reduce

the sense of isolation women in computer science often feel by

introducing role models, mentoring, and opportunities to work with

other women in the field. 

CODES: H, U UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE

LORI L. POLLOCK (POLLOCK@UDEL.EDU), MARY S. CARBERRY, KATHLEEN F. MCCOY

HRD 00-86424 (ONE-YEAR GRANT)

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, COMPUTER SCIENCE, SUMMER CAMP, ROLE MODELS, MENTORING, FIELD TRIPS, RESEARCH EXPERIENCE, TEAMWORK

APPROACH

COMPUTER CAMP FOR TEACHERS

SEVEN HIGH SCHOOL COMPUTING TEACHERS (THREE WOMEN AND FOUR MEN)

FROM WISCONSIN AND SURROUNDING AREAS GATHERED AT THE UNIVERSITY

OF WISCONSIN AT STEVENS POINT FOR A TWO-WEEK SUMMER WORKSHOP THAT

PROVIDED TRAINING ON GENDER ISSUES, ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION, AND

INFORMATION SYSTEMS. THEY DEVELOPED GIRL-FRIENDLY LESSONS TO BE

PILOTED WITH 19 HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS IN A SUBSEQUENT TWO-WEEK SUMMER

COMPUTER CAMP. UNDERGRADUATE WOMEN SERVED AS TEACHING

ASSISTANTS, ROLE MODELS, AND MENTORS TO THE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS. 

All participants were connected electronically in a virtual learning community. Everyone learned about the university computer environment, e-mail,

searching the Internet, and developing Web pages. (Another time, the project would probably also give experienced or fast-learning students a chance

to learn C++, Visual BASIC, LegoLogo, and the like.) 

That the summer camp for girls was free was important to some students, but making the camp free meant there were no consequences for canceling

when a summer job turned up. The project recommended charging a

nominal fee (such as $50) in later camps, which could be returned when

the girl completed the camp. Recruiting qualified mentors/counselors was

similarly challenging because university computer students typically have

lucrative summer jobs or internships.

CODES: H, U, PD UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN AT STEVENS POINT

SANDRA K. MADISON (SMADISON@UWSP.EDU)

HRD 97-11023 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS, TEACHER TRAINING, SUMMER CAMP, COMPUTER SCIENCE, COLLABORATIVE LEARNING, ROLE MODELS, MENTORING

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RETOOLING HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS OF COMPUTER SCIENCE

CHANGING THE PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE USED IN THE EDUCATIONAL TESTING

SERVICE’S ADVANCED PLACEMENT TEST IN COMPUTER SCIENCE FROM PASCAL TO

C++ PRESENTED A WONDERFUL OPPORTUNITY: MOST OF THE ROUGHLY 1,500

TEACHERS OF ADVANCED PLACEMENT COMPUTER SCIENCE (APCS) COURSES NEEDED

TRAINING IN HOW TO TEACH THE NEW LANGUAGE AND ITS OBJECT-ORIENTED

STYLE OF PROGRAMMING. THIS PROJECT DEVELOPED A SUMMER PROGRAM THAT

COMBINED THAT RETOOLING WITH TRAINING IN GENDER EQUITY ISSUES AND IN

EDUCATIONAL PRACTICES TO RETAIN FEMALE STUDENTS IN COMPUTER SCIENCE. 

Girls tend to be well represented in early computing courses but move on to advanced courses in far smaller numbers than boys. APCS courses are a

perfect vehicle for increasing the number of women in computer science. By integrating gender equity activities with the training offered by a

prominent computer science department with close ties to the Advanced

Placement program, the project hoped to attract a substantial fraction of

APCS teachers, who are key players in high school computing education

nationwide. Integrating gender equity training into computer science

training needed equally by both male and female teachers should make it

more effective and equally attractive to all teachers. 

CODES: PD, H CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY

ALLAN L. FISHER ALF@CS.CMU.EDU

HRD 96-18865 (THREE-YEAR GRANT)

KEYWORDS: PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, COMPUTER SCIENCE, COMPUTER PROGRAMMING, ADVANCED PLACEMENT, TEACHER TRAINING, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS

PLUGGED IN!: AN INTERACTIVE SCIENCE WEBSITE 

WHEN THIS PROJECT WAS PROPOSED, CLASSROOM COMPUTER EXPERIENCES TYPICALLY

FAVORED THE DEVELOPMENT OF BOYS’ SKILLS, AND COMMERCIAL SOFTWARE FAVORED

COMPETITIVE “DEATH GAMES” (SUCH AS “MORTAL KOMBAT” AND “DOOM”) THAT GENERALLY

APPEALED MORE TO BOYS THAN TO GIRLS. “WHERE IN THE WORLD IS CARMEN SANDIEGO?,”

A GEOGRAPHY GAME FEATURING A SMART FEMALE CROOK, WAS THE CLOSEST THING TO A

“KILLER AP”—A WILDLY POPULAR COMPUTER APPLICATION—FOR GIRLS. CARMEN

APPEALED TO BOTH SEXES, THE SOFTWARE PROVIDED THE KINDS OF STORY-DRIVEN

EXPERIENCES MOST GIRLS FAVOR, AND THE CHALLENGES WERE NOT JUST ABOUT WINNING.

The Mid-Continent Council of Girl Scouts and Ottawa University (aided by many other Kansas City, Mo., organizations) collaborated on creating an

interactive, graphics-intensive science website for girls who get a kick out of being good at math and science. They concentrated at first on

interactions between weather and the environment, making use of real-time data on weather, water, and soil. The idea was that girls could collect

data from their own locations to supplement data published on the website, studying science by becoming scientists and contributing meaningful

data. Girls’ Science Network currently allows girls to share data on acid rain and light pollution.

Specialists designed interactive modules on such topics as water, birds, astronomy, fractals, and computers (demystifying their insides). A problem

posed in the popular All-Weather Detectives goes like this: If a local tree farm was vandalized and several trees were cut down while the owner was

away, how would a team of meteorologists evaluate the weather data and narrow down the time during which a footprint found at the scene could

have been made? Would it be washed away in heavy rain? Was the soil frozen?

Plugged in!: 

an interactive 

science website

plug

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CODES: E, M, H, I, PD MID-CONTINENT COUNCIL OF GIRL SCOUTS

SUZANNE C. METZLER, DAVID R. KRAEMER, SUSAN D. HARMISON, HATTIE GRACE

www.plugged-in.org HRD 95-55724 (THREE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNERS: OTTAWA UNIVERSITY, SOUTHWESTERN BELL, KANSAS COLLABORATIVE

RESEARCH NETWORK, ROCKHURST COLLEGE, NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE, KANSAS

CITY MUSEUM, SOCIETY OF WOMEN ENGINEERS

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, WEBSITE, INTERACTIVE, GIRL SCOUTS, TRAINER TRAINING, SUMMER CAMP, HANDS-ON

Panels of Girl Scouts tested each program. Ottawa University provided

trainer training for classroom teachers and volunteer leaders in Girl

Scouts and other youth groups. Many adults needed training on Internet

skills, program activity options, and strategies for effectively teaching

math and science skills to girls.

Plugged In! laptop programs were used at a resident summer camp for

elementary school girls (along with Bridging-the-Gap Science Wonder

tubs, from another NSF-funded project); at Tech Trek, a weeklong

Scout science day camp for fourth through sixth grade girls held at

Rockhurst College; and at a summer science institute at Ottawa

University, where 44 Girl Scouts from grades 6 through 9 designed a

research project. Plugged-In! classes held near Tonganoxie, Kans.,

offered girls in grades 1–12 hands-on activities involving weather,

astronomy, exercise physiology, math, biology, and computers. 

Scout troops could access programs such as Fractal Finders and

StarGazers on 20 laptops available through the council’s computer

checkout program.

WHAT’S IN THE BOX? DIAGNOSING AND REPAIRING COMPUTER HARDWARE 

INTERVENTIONS TO REVERSE THE SHARP DECLINE IN COLLEGE DEGREES IN COMPUTER SCIENCE

OFTEN ASSUME THAT WOMEN’S INDIFFERENCE TO OR FEAR OF COMPUTERS IS RELATED TO

ATTITUDES ABOUT SOFTWARE. BUT WOMEN MAJORING IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING AT

PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY PERCEIVED THEMSELVES AS INEXPERIENCED OR

INCOMPETENT WITH HARDWARE, NOT SOFTWARE. TO LEAPFROG A GROWING GENDER GAP IN

COMPUTER COMFORT AND COMPETENCE, THE WOMEN IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING (WISE)

INSTITUTE AT PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY DEVELOPED A PROGRAM TO OFFER 

HANDS-ON WORKSHOPS IN COMPUTER HARDWARE DIAGNOSIS, UPGRADING, AND 

REPAIR—GIVING YOUNG WOMEN A SKILL RARE EVEN AMONG THE COMPUTER LITERATE.

This project expanded on SCROUNGE (Student Computer Recycling to Offer

Underrepresented Groups in Education), a program that had successfully

recycled industry-donated used computers to rural and inner-city schools.

In recycling several hundred computers over four years, SCROUNGE had no

woman apply to do computer repair, despite vigorous efforts to recruit

women. Even a female honors student in industrial engineering admitted

being afraid to open up a computer for fear of breaking it—a common

but generally unappreciated version of computer anxiety. Few women or

men entering college engineering had experience doing computer repairs

that require a screwdriver, much less such skills as soldering. 

Dr. Richard Devon ran a pilot course in computer repair for undergraduate

women majoring in science and engineering, providing collaborative,

noncompetitive instruction, with many hands-on activities, including

intentional computer glitches to test the students’ developing

competence. The WISE program added in-service teacher training to the

undergraduate training because K–12 teachers who received the recycled

computers reported not being skilled enough to troubleshoot the

hardware and software problems that inevitably occur with computer use,

or even to tell the difference between them. And nothing was more likely

to ensure another round of disenchantment with computers in the

classroom than schools failing to provide technical support.

Hence the WISE program, where young women were trained in

diagnosing, repairing, upgrading, and maintaining personal computer

hardware. At hands-on workshops, they were encouraged to take apart,

test, and repair used computers solicited from local industry. Publicizing

that the “fixed” computers would be recycled to inner-city and rural schools

attracted women to the program. 

Participants learned to diagnose common computer malfunctions,

troubleshoot, and cannibalize parts to prepare used computers for reuse

in schools and other nonprofit agencies. They learned techniques for

repairing minor components (desoldering and soldering) and testing

parts, using their computer toolkits. They learned to identify computer

system boards and components and to demonstrate techniques for

assembling, disassembling, installing, and configuring components—and

for preventive maintenance. Workshop instructors covered the evolution

of computers over time, suggesting ways for participants to assess their

true needs against ever faster advances in the consumer market for

computers. 

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This was not a remedial course. The goal of the training was to make

women and girls more comfortable, competent, and independent with

personal computers (especially computer hardware), less dependent on

male gurus for handling common glitches in PCs, and better informed consumers able to choose compatible components and appropriate software.

Some participants acquired the rudiments of a marketable skill in computer repair. Each participant took home a computer toolkit. The workshops were geared to women and girls but men and boys were accepted,

partly to provide good role models for both boys and girls. The single-sex

approach was not an issue. 

The courses “sold out” quickly and most participants reported high levels

of satisfaction with the instruction and greater comfort with and

understanding of computers. The training demystified computers, and

participants reported feeling more relaxed and independent, with a better

understanding of how computers work and more confidence, especially

about troubleshooting. 

Teachers reported that participating in the workshops gave them more

visibility within their schools. Several teachers reported promotions or

other upgrades in status, particularly among the teachers who took yearlong training at Wheeling Jesuit University. By learning how to recycle

computers at little or no cost, teachers learned how to exploit the rapid

turnover in computers in industry to augment computer inventories in

underserved inner-city and rural schools. By becoming more competent

and independent with computer hardware, teachers who took the

workshops learned enough to help train other teachers, students, and

staff members how to deal with computer glitches—an important area of

competence in small and rural schools, which are far less likely than large

or suburban schools to have computer or network specialists onsite. 

The provost of Penn State University established the WISE Institute to

recruit and retain women in sciences and engineering. The idea was that

exposing students early on, in a nonintimidating atmosphere, to

computer hardware components would reduce attrition rates in computer

science and engineering by reducing the gender gap in comfort and

expertise with computers. During 1998–2000, 386 women and girls and

108 men and boys—high school and undergraduate students, teachers,

and members of the public—participated in hands-on workshops at five

sites: Penn State University Park, Penn State Berks–Lehigh College,

Penn State Altoona College, Temple University, and Wheeling Jesuit

University. 

Project findings suggest that anxiety about computer hardware does

contribute to women’s current attrition rates in computer sciences and

engineering. This modest intervention can be replicated by even the poorest

school district and may help fill the void in technical support. Such training

can be adapted to other institutions and population groups, including

undergraduates, teachers (through in-service or preservice training),

Scouts, and vocational, technical, and high school students. 

SUMMER RESEARCH PROJECTS IN COMPUTER SCIENCE 

WOMEN IN THE COMPUTER SCIENCE DEPARTMENT AT THE COLLEGE OF STATEN ISLAND (CSI)

DEVELOPED THIS ADOPT-AN-UNDERGRADUATE MENTORING PROGRAM, PAIRING UNDERGRADUATE

WOMEN WITH SUCCESSFUL WOMEN IN INDUSTRY. THEIR PROJECT WAS MOTIVATED BY DATA

SHOWING THAT WOMEN’S PASS RATES IN REQUIRED AND MAJOR COURSES WERE SUBSTANTIALLY

HIGHER THAN THOSE OF THEIR MALE CLASSMATES, BUT ALTHOUGH THE WOMEN WERE DOING WELL

IN THEIR COURSEWORK, THE NUMBER OF WOMEN TAKING COMPUTER SCIENCE CLASSES ON CAMPUS

WAS DISPROPORTIONATELY LOW AND, AS A PERCENTAGE, HAD BEEN DROPPING.

The pilot project featured closed labs that met six hours a week, review sessions for introductory computer science, workshops for potential female

majors about opportunities for women in computing, and the undergraduate mentoring program that encouraged students to complete their major and

provided contacts for graduate school or job opportunities. The sample was small and the time frame short, but results were encouraging: The percentage

of women majors in computer science increased from 16 (in 1992) to 21 (spring 1993) and then 28 (fall 1993). 

CODES: U, PD WISE INSTITUTE, PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY

JUDI WANGALWA WAKHUNGU (JWW105@PSU.EDU), RICHARD F. DEVON, XIAOKANG YU, JANICE MARGLE

www.psu.edu/dept/wise/wcache.htm HRD 97-14759 (THREE-YEAR GRANT)

PARTNERS: TEMPLE UNIVERSITY, WHEELING JESUIT UNIVERSITY, AND PENN STATE

UNIVERSITY’S ABINGTON, BERKS–LEHIGH VALLEY, ALTOONA COLLEGE

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, HANDS-ON, COLLABORATIVE LEARNING, INTERVENTION, INDUSTRY PARTNERS, RECRUITMENT, RETENTION, WORKSHOP, COMPUTER HARDWARE, TECHNICAL SKILLS, SELF-CONFIDENCE, COMPUTER SCIENCE, TEACHER TRAINING, ROLE MODELS

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With this NSF grant, the college-based program was expanded to Staten Island Technical School (SSTI). For high school students, research recommended

structured labs, group projects, and cooperative learning; formal peer, faculty, and alumni mentoring programs; and positive peer role models—pairing

college students with high school students and graduate students with college students. 

Female graduates and alums of CSI gave lectures at the high school, and eight undergraduate women earned stipends for doing summer research with

faculty mentors. During the summer of 1995, six students worked independently on mentored research projects, and three worked as a team. Their

projects: a mobile robot laboratory, calculus for the blind, estimating robust parameters, multimedia courseware for teaching arithmetic to children,

a graduate tracking program for SSTI, and a World Wide Web home page. The students presented their research at an expo at the college attended by

SSTI students and their parents.

CODE : U BOWLING GREEN UNIVERSITY

ANN-MARIE LANCASTER (AMLANCAS@AOL.COM), BRUCE W. SMITH, DAVID W. CHILSON

HRD 94-53702 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, COMPUTER SCIENCE, RECRUITMENT, ROLE MODELS, FIELD TRIPS, SELF-CONFIDENCE, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS, TEACHER TRAINING, MENTORING, RETENTION, COOPERATIVE LEARNING, CAREER AWARENESS, INDUSTRY

PARTNERS

RECRUITING WOMEN INTO COMPUTER SCIENCE

THIS BOWLING GREEN UNIVERSITY PROJECT USED BOTH INSTRUCTIONAL AND

MOTIVATIONAL STRATEGIES TO RECRUIT MORE WOMEN INTO COMPUTER

SCIENCE. IT IDENTIFIED POTENTIAL CANDIDATES AMONG FRESHMEN AND

SOPHOMORE WOMEN WHO WERE UNDECIDED ABOUT THEIR MAJORS AND

INVITED THEM TO EXPLORE COMPUTING CAREERS AND A POSSIBLE COMPUTER

SCIENCE MAJOR. IT IDENTIFIED THE FOLLOWING FACTORS AS CONTRIBUTING

TO SUCCESSFUL RECRUITMENT: AN EXPLORATION PROGRAM TAILORED TO THE

SPECIFIC CANDIDATE (WITH COOPERATION FROM ADVISERS WHO WORK WITH

UNDECIDED MAJORS), PERSONAL CONTACT WITH MEMBERS OF THE COMPUTER

SCIENCE FACULTY AND WITH CORPORATE REPRESENTATIVES, VISITS TO

BUSINESS WORKPLACES, AND COOPERATIVE EDUCATION ASSIGNMENTS. 

Many computer teachers are unaware of how their behavior and manner

of interaction can undermine women students’ self-confidence. As part of

this project, computer science faculty, admissions personnel, and

program advisers from seven Ohio institutions of higher learning and

representatives from five corporations participated in two gender equity

workshops. The workshops dealt with perceptual bias and stereotypes,

language and gender, communication and learning styles, instructional

alternatives, a computer science culture more inviting to women, faculty

mentoring, and recruitment and retention strategies—including

cooperative education. 

Studies have shown that cooperative education—placing students in a

series of paid, supervised, and academically relevant work assignments in

business and industry—enhances students’ personal and professional growth,

making them more mature, self-confident, and independent. Students’

interviewing skills improved because they took a co-op preparation course

(which covered résumé-writing, interviewing, interpersonal skills, and

career information—and interviews for co-op positions). 

CODES: H, U CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK, STATEN ISLAND

DEBORAH STURM (STURM@POSTBOX.CSI.CUNY.EDU), MARSHA MOROH, MIRIAM TAUSNER, AND ROBERT KLIBANER

http://scholar.library.csi.cuny.edu/wics/nsf_pjct.htm HRD 94-53139 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNER: STATEN ISLAND TECHNICAL SCHOOL

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, COMPUTER SCIENCE, MENTORING, ROLE MODELS, COOPERATIVE LEARNING, PEER GROUPS, INTERNSHIPS, RESEARCH EXPERIENCE, CAREER AWARENESS, PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT

Recruiting women

into computer

science

wcs

003
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Improving diversity 

in the software 

development 

community

003

div IMPROVING DIVERSITY IN THE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY

THIS CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY PROJECT AIMS TO IMPROVE WEB-BASED EDUCATION

PROGRAMS IN WAYS THAT IMPROVE DIVERSITY IN THE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY.

USING THE COURSES OF CMU SUBSIDIARY CARNEGIE TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION (CTE) AS TEST CASES,

THE PROJECT WILL TACKLE RECRUITMENT, CURRICULUM, AND GENDER-EQUITABLE INSTRUCTION. 

Recruitment. The project will develop materials to help onsite recruiters locate and enroll women and people of color in Web-based software

development courses CTE already offers. The assumption is that the recruiters know their jobs and need only materials and techniques to reach groups

currently underrepresented in software development. 

Having studied websites and recruitment materials for postsecondary institutions around the country that serve women and people of color, the project

is developing content for CTE’s home page, course descriptions (in technical and plain English versions), pages about information technology (IT)

careers and lifestyle, stories about people in various IT studies and jobs, and links to other helpful sites. There will be a text-only version of the

website for vision-impaired users, and the project will draft a booklet for recruiters on effective approaches for recruiting women and people of color. 

Curriculum. The project will develop and disseminate ways to make learning materials appeal to and serve the needs of diverse audiences. In

exploratory efforts the project assessed some CTE content, tested male and female audiences’ emotional and cognitive responses to sample content,

then retested the sample content revised to incorporate explanations by analogy. Project investigators found significant gender gaps in participation

and performance and modified the content along the lines the literature suggested would narrow or close those gaps. A key challenge, they find, is

determining what, exactly, constitutes a gap between members of different populations. Several gender gaps exist in CTE courses, and not all of them

favor men. Next steps are to analyze the causes for selected gaps and design and test changes in course content. 

Gender- and race-equitable instruction. The project is developing a Web course on gender- and race-equitable instruction, intended for two different

groups: local CTE instructors who will be meeting students in face-to-face classes and CTE employees who serve as mentors to the instructors. One

module will use simulations.

CODE: U CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY

ALLAN L. FISHER (ALF@CS.CMU.EDU) HRD 00-80395 (THREE-YEAR PROJECT) 

PARTNERS: WASHINGTON RESEARCH INSTITUTE, CARNEGIE TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION, CHROMOZONE, BRILLIANT DESIGN

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, SOFTWARE, RECRUITMENT, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS, CURRICULUM, WEBSITE, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, TEACHER TRAINING

PipeLINK: 

young women in

computer science

003

LINK PIPELINK: YOUNG WOMEN IN COMPUTER SCIENCE

“WHAT’S THE GRATEFUL DEAD’S WEST COAST HOTLINE NUMBER?” TWENTY HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS TRIED

ANSWERING THIS AND OTHER QUESTIONS BY CRUISING THE INTERNET IN A COMPUTER LAB AT RENSSELAER

POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE. THE GIRLS WERE PARTICIPATING IN A PROJECT TO GET YOUNG WOMEN TO THINK

ABOUT CAREERS IN COMPUTER SCIENCE. WOMEN HOLD MANY JOBS IN MARKETING, GRAPHIC DESIGN,

CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS, AND PUBLIC RELATIONS, BUT THE HIGH-TECH FIELD DESPERATELY NEEDS

MORE WOMEN WITH REAL TECHNICAL EXPERTISE. GENDER EQUALITY IN THE INFORMATION AGE REQUIRES

THAT GIRLS BE EXPOSED TO AND TAUGHT ABOUT COMPUTERS—EDUCATION THAT IS NOT HAPPENING NOW. 

The pipeline to computer science shrinks as girls and young women move

through school. Half of the high school students majoring in computer

science are girls, but only 30 percent of BS or BA degrees in computer

and information science go to women, only 28 percent of MS degrees, and

only 16 percent of Ph.D.s. To attract girls and women to computer science

and keep them there from high school through graduate school, this

model project provided computer education for high school girls, research

projects for undergraduates, and female role models in computer science
National Science Foundation Chapter Three . Courses That Feed, Not Weed

1

for high school through graduate studies. Women further along the

pipeline mentored those coming along behind them.

The high school students participated in a two-week computer science

program at Rensselaer, where the girls learned about computers

(especially enjoying e-mail, the Internet, and the Web), met women

working in the field, and saw how many careers and topics there were to

explore. Female graduate students and computer science professors

visited the high school girls and talked about research and work in their

field. Not surprisingly, some topics (such as computer vision, robotics,

and sorting animations) were more popular than others. 

Local high school students and math and computer science teachers

were connected to women at Rensselaer through electronic

discussions. PipeLINK provided the electronic network, paying for 

e-mail accounts for teachers and girls from 16 high schools, as well

as for female undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty in

Rensselaer’s computer science department. Teachers at the 

high school learned about PipeLINK and electronic mentoring at 

one of three workshops during the project year. The electronic 

mentoring was used less than expected partly because of technical 

problems with the TeaMate system. Teachers thought it 

would be more effective if an undergraduate visited the high 

school at least once a week, so the girls had more face-to-face 

contact. 

At Rensselaer, formal programs were held to aid students in transition

from one educational level to the next—discussing what computer

science majors do and how to adjust to college, options for computer

science degrees, how to apply to graduate school, work in industry (with

a BS or MS), adjusting to graduate school, doing research, and getting a

faculty job. Distinguished computer scientists from academia and

industry spoke and held informal discussions with young women studying

computer science, encouraging them to take part in undergraduate

research projects. 

Nine undergraduate women participated in a 10-week summer research

program, each working with a faculty or graduate student mentor and in

turn serving as teaching assistants and counselors for the high school

program. Each undergraduate made a research presentation to the high

school students and other undergraduates. The mentors helped the

undergraduates prepare their talks, suggesting visual aids when possible.

The undergraduates were well prepared and captivated the high school

students. At least one undergraduate plans to pursue a Ph.D. because of

this experience. They all plan to apply to graduate school. 

CODES: H, U, PD RENSSELAER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE

ELLEN L. WALKER, SUSAN H. RODGER

www.cs.rpi.edu/~walkere/pipelink HRD 94-50007 (ONE-YEAR GRANT)

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, COMPUTER SCIENCE, ROLE MODELS, SELF-CONFIDENCE, RESEARCH EXPERIENCE, ROLE MODELS, MENTORING, ELECTRONIC MENTORING

Agents for 

change: 

robotics for girls

003

bot AGENTS FOR CHANGE: ROBOTICS FOR GIRLS

WHEN THEY WERE FIRST INTRODUCED, COMPUTERS WERE OFTEN VIEWED AS FANCY TYPEWRITERS, SO

COMPUTER EDUCATION LARGELY INVOLVED TEACHING KEYBOARDING AND FILE AND DISK MANAGEMENT.

AS TECHNOLOGY SHIFTED TO APPLICATIONS, STUDENTS HAD TO LEARN TO USE WORD PROCESSING,

SPREADSHEET, AND GRAPHICS SOFTWARE AND INTERNET BROWSERS. BUT INTERFACE-LEVEL FAMILIARITY

WITH APPLICATIONS MAY NOT GIVE STUDENTS ENOUGH BACKGROUND TO BE TECHNOLOGICALLY COMPETENT

WITH SOPHISTICATED INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY. CURRENTLY AVAILABLE HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE

WILL SOON BE SUPERSEDED AS INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SYSTEMS MOVE TOWARD INCREASINGLY

INTELLIGENT OR “SMART” TECHNOLOGY, EMBODYING VARIOUS FORMS OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. 

This University of Pennsylvania (Penn) project is developing school-based and informal education robotics curriculum and activities to engage middle

school girls in advanced IT. The “virtual pet” craze showed that robotics can be approached in an appealing, age-appropriate manner. When Penn’s

General Robotics and Active Sensory Perception (GRASP) lab suggests to middle school girls that a virtual pet is simply an interactive graphic

simulation and that they can create their own, they head for the nearest keyboard.

Visitors to the GRASP lab quickly see robotics as a creative, cooperative, horizon-expanding endeavor aimed at improving people’s safety,

independence, and quality of life—not the lone scientist toiling at a cluttered workbench. They see a “smart” wheelchair developed to climb curbs,

robotics devices for quadriplegics, and small robots being designed to play “robot soccer.” A central research theme in the lab is “cooperative robotics”:

designing robots that can work intelligently and adaptively as partners with each other and with people. 

In this project’s work with sixth to eighth graders, important concepts in robotics are introduced in lively, even humorous ways. A graduate student

in computer science becomes Rosy the Robot, for example. Armed with a list of commands Rosy can carry out and objects she recognizes, students
National Science Foundation Chapter Three . Courses That Feed, Not Weed

112

must write a program for her to paint a bookcase. When Rosy does exactly what she is told, with mildly disastrous (but entertaining and instructive)

results, students quickly realize that what they take for granted in human perception, action, and communication must be analyzed and specified in

great detail for a robot. This simulation is a tool for introducing the programming concepts of functions, loops, logic operators, and conditions.

The project is not about helping students “feel comfortable” with technology or giving them limited-purpose skills such as word processing or

multimedia navigation. As an interdisciplinary, problem-based blend of science, math, engineering, and technology, robotics—the design and study of

intelligent, autonomous agents—fits beautifully with current standards-based recommendations for STEM education. Adding robotics to the middle school

curriculum does not “push out” other STEM content. It is a good vehicle for improving pre-college STEM education, providing an entry point for learning

appropriate to the new century. It motivates students to study such basic topics as electrical circuits, mechanics, optics, geometry, probability, and

statistics. And as students pursue robotics projects, they may well find themselves drawn toward computer science, math, engineering, psychology

(perception, human factors), cognitive science, and physics. 

Moreover, robotics projects—maybe because they produce new creations that actually do something—are unusually successful in getting students to take

ownership of their learning both in and out of school, to set increasingly sophisticated goals for themselves, and to work in a focused, sustained way to

achieve an outcome. Introducing robotics in middle school opens an intellectual domain that is not yet effectively represented in the pre-college

curriculum. It puts students in productive control of smart technology rather than making them feel that are at its mercy or are locked out of

environments that use it. This project will 

• Develop a comprehensive series of after-school and summer education programs—some based in the robotics research lab—based on girls’ 

interests and preferences and emphasizing their relationships with mentors and role models.

• Develop and implement a gender-fair, multidisciplinary robotics curriculum for middle schools as a series of project-based learning modules, 

providing substantial professional development for teachers on both content and gender equity. The curriculum will emphasize information 

engineering—the encoding, transfer, processing, and interpretation of information in interactive technology systems. Core activities will use the 

Lego Mindstorms Robotics Invention SystemTM—the most readily available, cost-effective, reusable, and robust of the systems evaluated. 

• Engage teachers and students in a change process leading to equitable STEM learning environments that support high achievement for 

underrepresented students. 

• Disseminate age-appropriate instructional materials for project-based learning in robotics that can be implemented in both informal and 

school-based settings.

• Conduct new research on the relative impacts of formal and informal STEM learning programs on achievement and persistence in, and attitudes 

toward, science and technology—examining the effects of both program characteristics (e.g., single-sex versus mixed-sex, school-based versus 

informal) and student characteristics (gender, race/ethnicity, prior achievement in math and science, family income level, and urban versus rural).

In a baseline study to probe how much middle school students understood IT systems, the project learned that there was no difference in boys’

and girls’ access to and frequency of use of computers and the Internet. They e-mailed friends, did Internet research, played games, and sought

information about personal interests and hobbies. Offline, they played games and wrote reports for school. Most students could describe how to

get on and use the Internet and some could describe various button and menu operations at the level of “do this and you’ll get that.” Fewer

students could describe what was happening outside the room they were working in. Some students made no distinction between the Internet and

their browser or service provider—thought the Internet was America Online. Rural students fared somewhat better than urban students but there

were no significant gender differences. 

When students were asked to reverse-engineer several mechanical and electronic artifacts, researchers noted when responses attributed (or

denied) to an artifact some kind of information processing function (e.g., mentioning sensors that picked up information from the environment

or some kind of hardware or program that controlled the artifact’s behavior). Rural students scored significantly higher on the more advanced

subscales and a reliable gender difference emerged, with boys scoring higher than girls on two of the information processing subscales.

Despite concern about the “digital divide,” there was reason for optimism. The gap between girls and boys and between urban and rural students

was not as wide as they expected, despite the urban sample’s bias toward the low end of the socioeconomic range. For this generation of students,

digital technology is not the restricted domain of a few “nerdy” peers, but the sea in which they swim. These 11- to 13-year-olds do not remember

a time when there were no cell phones or e-mail or laptops or digital toys. Most students—male and female, rural and urban—were enthusiastic,

HOW WELL THESE MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS UNDERSTOOD IT
National Science Foundation Chapter Three . Courses That Feed, Not Weed

1

confident, and frequent users and consumers of IT products and services. Reliable differences in understanding that emerged—especially between

rural and urban students (who also differ socioeconomically)—were generally contained within a broad middle range. All students knew something

but few students were conceptually sophisticated. 

Under current standards for technology education, few if any of the students were achieving the level of skill and knowledge in IT indicated for their

grade level. None were able to think productively and robustly about the entities and processes underlying IT. The processes involving encoding,

transmitting, receiving, storing, retrieving, and decoding information in technology systems were largely a mystery to them. Many learned to do

Internet research in school, but much of what they know was either self-taught or learned informally from peers and relatives. The formal education

required to move students from being superficial users and consumers of technology to being problem-solvers and designers has not yet been

established in public education.

Even with present-day technology, effective problem-solving, decision-making, and troubleshooting requires behind-the-scenes knowledge and

strategies for applying that knowledge to new cases. (For example, to avoid filling a hard drive with large graphics files, girls can’t decide to use

more economical formats or software that compresses files if they don’t understand that a picture exists not as a picture but as a data file.) And

as intelligent technology becomes more embedded in “smart” artifacts that do not resemble a desktop computer, students will need a solid base

from which to assess novel systems that do not resemble the systems with which they are familiar.

CODES: M, I, U, PD UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA (INSTITUTE FOR RESEARCH IN COGNITIVE SCIENCE)

CHRISTINE M. MASSEY (MASSEY@LINC.CIS.UPENN.EDU), GERALD F. WEAVER, JAMES P. OSTROWSKI, THOMASENNIA AMOS

HRD 99-76527 (THREE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNERS: PENN’S GRASP LAB; THE WASHINGTON (CHAIN) AND UNIVERSITY CITY MIDDLE SCHOOL CLUSTERS IN THE SCHOOL DISTRICT OF PHILADELPHIA

KEYWORDS: EDUCATION PROGRAM, ROBOTICS, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, ENGAGEMENT, AFTER-SCHOOL, PROJECT-BASED, RESEARCH STUDY, GENDER DIFFERENCES, INFORMAL EDUCATION, TEACHER TRAINING

Self-authorship and 

pivotal transitions

toward IT

003

Sat SELF-AUTHORSHIP AND PIVOTAL TRANSITIONS TOWARD INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY 

WHAT ARE THE PIVOTAL TRANSITION POINTS IN GIRLS’ LIVES THAT DETERMINE WHETHER THEY

SEE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AS A VIABLE CAREER CHOICE? THIS PROJECT IS GATHERING

NEW PRIMARY RESEARCH DATA ABOUT HOW THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT—IN AND OUT OF

SCHOOL, FROM HIGH SCHOOL THROUGH COMMUNITY COLLEGE AND THE UNIVERSITY—HELPS

SHAPE GIRLS’ PERCEPTIONS OF IT AS FRIENDLY OR UNFRIENDLY TO WOMEN. THE RESEARCH

WILL DOCUMENT THE LONGITUDINAL EFFECT OF FAMILY, PEERS, SCHOOL, AND COMMUNITY ON

GIRLS’ PERCEPTIONS OF IT CAREERS; EXAMINE THE KEY TRANSITION POINTS IN GIRLS’

EXPERIENCES WITH TECHNOLOGY; AND DETERMINE HOW THE CHOICE OF A NONTRADITIONAL

CAREER IS ASSOCIATED WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF SELF-AUTHORSHIP (INVENTING ONESELF). 

Standard interview and survey techniques will be combined within the

framework of self-authorship, with pre- and post-surveys and interviews

with individuals and small groups. The project will prepare a videotape

documentary and case studies of the longitudinal development of girls’

career choices and transitions. It will develop and use group activities

using computer programs to stimulate girls’ interest in and understanding

of IT careers. It will develop and present IT workshops as an incentive for

participating students and parents, as another data collection point, and

as a model for exploring IT careers.

The project is an interdisciplinary collaboration among faculty experts in

gender and science, in quantitative and qualitative social science

research methods, and in how information technology affects children,

youth, and families. Project advisers include an expert in how college

students’ and young adults’ self-authorship affects their learning

capacity, a former school principal and superintendent, an expert in

evaluation and data analysis, an expert in educational technology, the

director of a state technology workforce, and a communications researcher.

CODES: E, M, H, U VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE AND STATE UNIVERSITY

HRD 01-20458 (THREE-YEAR GRANT)

CAROL J. BURGER (CJBURGER@VT.EDU), PEGGY S. MESZAROS, ELIZABETH CREAMER

KEYWORDS: RESEARCH STUDY, TRANSITION POINTS, WORKSHOPS, CAREER AWARENESS, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, VIDEO, SURVEY, ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS, SELF-AUTHORSHIP
National Science Foundation Chapter Three . Courses That Feed, Not Weed

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OTHER SCIENCES

Oceanography

camp for girls

003

O OCEANOGRAPHY CAMP FOR GIRLS

OCEANOGRAPHY IS INHERENTLY INTERDISCIPLINARY, REQUIRING A FOUNDATION IN

MATH AND A FAMILIARITY WITH BIOLOGY, CHEMISTRY, GEOLOGY, AND PHYSICS, FOUR

AREAS OF SCIENCE IN WHICH WOMEN ARE OFTEN UNDERREPRESENTED. THE OCEANOGRAPHY

CAMP FOR GIRLS ENCOURAGES GIRLS POISED TO ENTER HIGH SCHOOL TO TAKE MORE MATH

AND SCIENCE COURSES AND TO CONSIDER THE SCIENCES AS A CAREER OPTION.

Developed jointly by the University of South Florida’s Department of

Marine Science and the Pinellas County School System, the camp allows

girls to apply the knowledge gained from hands-on activities to a

tangible marine environment in their own backyard. They accomplish this

bridging through field trips, data-collection cruises aboard a research

oceanographic vessel, and extensive lab work and problem solving. 

The camp, which at first reached only 30 girls in Pinellas County, later

expanded to serve 64 girls from middle schools in six counties—selected

from an applicant pool of nearly 300. The project targeted girls of all

aptitudes who were entering ninth grade, especially girls from ethnic

minorities. The initial target audience was girls leaving seventh grade,

but feedback suggested that a year more of maturity, responsibility, and

science content (in earth, life, and physical sciences) would enable girls

entering ninth grade to benefit more from the camp than girls entering

eighth grade. About 23 percent of the residential campers and 29 percent

of the commuter campers were African American, Hispanic, Asian, and

Native American. The most valuable (albeit labor-intensive) tool for

selecting participants was interviews, done in person during school hours

or by phone after school. 

The project tried both commuter and residential camps and found the

residential format to be more effective. In residential camps, participants

were more willing to be involved during daytime activities, worked more

cohesively as a group, and felt more of a sense of camaraderie, engaging

in detailed conversations about their camp experiences. Interviews

revealed many girls’ hesitation about being away from home for three full

weeks, so girls went home Friday evenings and returned to camp Sunday

evenings. 

The three-week camp was held at USF’s College of Marine Science, with

room and board provided by Eckerd College, a private four-year school

with an excellent undergraduate program in marine science. Groups of 10

girls spent a day at sea aboard Suncoaster, an oceanographic research

vessel, collecting data about Tampa Bay and adjacent coastal waters.

They learned about biological and chemical diversity (including 

mud-dwelling fauna) through a field trip to Fort DeSoto County Park. At

Shell Island, they learned about the biological and physical parameters of

a protected habitat, learned to paddle a canoe (a peak experience for

many first-timers), and discovered how to observe the sensitive marine

habitat of mangrove islands. At Caladesi Island State Park, they learned

about the physical and geological parameters of the barrier coastline,

from waves and currents to dunes and berms. A beach cleanup effort

helped them study the human impact on marine life and provide a

community service, counting and estimating the amount of trash and

recording data for the state census.

Campers also engaged in group lab activities. Using a wax modeling

system, they simulated the geophysical processes affecting plate

tectonics, created their own fault lines, and collided wax plates to

visualize the geophysical processes underlying an earthquake. To learn lab

research methodology, they did small-group experiments and problem

solving, working with marine science graduates on such topics as

geophysics/plate tectonics, computer modeling in oceanography, marine

microbiology, zooplankton ecology, coastal geology/beach mapping,

satellite oceanography, and seawater chemistry.

Visits to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the

Clearwater Aquarium (a facility for the statewide rescue and

rehabilitation of marine mammals) and the Florida Aquarium added to

their knowledge of career options and the academic preparation needed

for science careers. One spinoff of visits to local aquariums was a

counselor-mediated discussion on the pros and cons of having animals in

captivity, of animal rescue and rehabilitation, of educational missions,

and of public versus private funding of such undertakings. Ethics-inscience simulation games such as Fish Banks the final week advanced the

discussion.

The middle school participants benefited from real-world environmental

studies and awareness, from one-on-one mentoring by career

professionals, and from interactions with their peers and with returning

camp alum, who were role models. In learning about research, academic

requirements, and career options, they also learned that their graduate

mentors (accomplished scientists) were “cool” and “fun.”
National Science Foundation Chapter Three . Courses That Feed, Not Weed

1

“I learned a lot more than I do in science classes in school,” said one camper. Getting dirty was part of what made it a great experience, said another.

“It was all girls so we were more intent on doing stuff, rather than how we looked.” 

Positive media stories brought in additional funding, and the oceanography camp, supported by endowments and local private and business donors,

continues as a free camp for local girls. Spinoffs included an oceanography workshop for six secondary-level science educators, with hands-on

instruction to broaden their ability to teach math and science through ocean sciences; Project Oceanography, a live, satellite-televised marine science

education program appropriate for middle school students; and “Making Waves,” a multimedia approach to learning that offers teachers and students

an insider’s view of current ocean science research efforts.

CODES: M, I, U UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA (MARINE SCIENCE INSTITUTE)

TERESA M. GREELY (GREELY@MARINE.USF.EDU), PAULA G. COBLE, PETER R. BETZER, PAMELA HALLOCK-MULLER, CARMEN KELLEY, JOAN B. ROSE, SARAH F. TEBBENS, HEPSI D. ZSOLDOS

www.marine.usf.edu/girlscamp HRD 93-53012, HRD 95-52898, HRD 95-54493, (ONE-YEAR GRANTS)

PARTNERS: PINELLAS COUNTY (FLORIDA) SCHOOL SYSTEM, ECKERD COLLEGE, UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, FLORIDA MARINE RESEARCH INSTITUTE, AND CENTER FOR OCEAN

TECHNOLOGY

PRODUCT: INFORMATION ON STARTING A SCIENCE CAMP IN YOUR AREA.

KEYWORDS; DEMONSTRATION, OCEANOGRAPHY, HANDS-ON, FIELD TRIPS, PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS, MINORITIES, CAREER AWARENESS, ROLE MODELS

Jump start

003

jump

JUMP START 

ALONG FLORIDA’S SOUTHEASTERN “TREASURE COAST,” ATTITUDES TOWARD WOMEN ARE STILL VERY

TRADITIONAL, AND THE PROPORTION OF WOMEN ENTERING NONTRADITIONAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

CAREERS IS EVEN LOWER THAN THE DISCOURAGING NATIONAL AVERAGE. MANY YOUNG WOMEN IN THE AREA

DROP OUT OF MATH AND SCIENCE BETWEEN HIGH SCHOOL AND THEIR FIRST TERM OF COMMUNITY COLLEGE.

IN THIS PROJECT, AN OCEAN SCIENCE RESEARCH ORGANIZATION TEAMED UP WITH A COMMUNITY COLLEGE

AND A LOCAL FLORIDA SCHOOL DISTRICT TO ENCOURAGE YOUNG WOMEN’S INTEREST IN SCIENCE CAREERS. 

The idea was to provide girls and women with mentors/role models and

hands-on science experiences in the transition from middle school to

high school and when they enter college, either directly from high school

or as re-entrants to academia. Both projects highlighted oceanography

and marine science, which are good vehicles for understanding planetary

ecology (including global warming), areas with clear potential to help

humanity, and hence appealing to women. This was the first time the

Harbor Branch Ocean Institute (HBOI) had used—or even recognized the

existence of—gender-friendly instructional techniques.

Science and technology careers for women. Over two years, 24 women

participated in the pre-college program, more than half of them 30 or

older and re-entering college. 

Half the participants experienced a classroom-centered module at Indian

River Community College (IRCC), which emphasized assessing the

students’ interests and capabilities, giving them one-on-one

opportunities to listen to and interact with women in different scientific

and technological careers, and engaging them in activities that exposed

them to technical training programs (such as CAD-CAM and industrial

design) in the applied science and technology departments. Participants

rated this program highly, especially the guest speakers and

opportunities to talk with women from various careers. 

The other half experienced a highly hands-on module on the HBOI

campus, which emphasized active learning experiences in various lab and

field settings and opportunities to interact with women in various

careers. The women heard presentations, engaged in group discussions,

and got direct experience exploring work in marine science, biomedical

marine research (discovering drugs from marine sources), museum

collections, aquaculture, and ocean engineering. 

To stem a 35 percent dropout rate after year 1, material designed to

expose students to the scientific method of problem solving was shifted

from the IRCC section to the HBOI section, to make the material less

formal and potentially intimidating. The re-entry students especially had

been daunted by the unfamiliar technical and scientific terminology

associated with an experiment they were to conduct and write up in the

IRCC section and doubted their abilities. 

Participants found the HBOI program valuable, appreciated how

enthusiastic and approachable the guest scientists were, and liked the

program’s experiential nature. They ended up feeling more comfortable

with scientific techniques and technologies and more interested in science

and technology. In response to an open-ended question about a hypothetical research problem, at the end of the program, all but two of 21

students gave answers that indicated an acceptable level of understanding. 
National Science Foundation Chapter Three . Courses That Feed, Not Weed

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Participants in both programs wished they had had longer class sessions

and more hands-on (experiential) learning. Instructors agreed that longer

class sessions would allow more complete instruction, training, and

discussion of results and observations, improving learning. 

None of the HBOI staff had experience working with older, less traditional

re-entry students. Dr. Mimi Bres from Prince George’s Community College

in Maryland conducted a 4.5-hour workshop on understanding and

working with adult learners, recommending that they use a highly

interactive informal format. One strategy she used was to frequently stop

and ask participants to respond to short written questions (both multiple

choice and open ended) and follow that up with a facilitated discussion

of answers. 

Just We Girls. In the summer of 1998, 27 girls entering ninth grade

attended Jump-Start Week for Girls (nicknamed Just We Girls), a 

weeklong summer program HBOI provided in partnership with the 

St. Lucie County School District. These pre-camp experiences gave girls

practical experiences in skill and content areas in which boys typically

had more experience than girls: aquarium setup and maintenance, water

testing and chemical analysis, specimen collecting, and computer use.

The girls also met with women in science.

To test changes in attitude, boys and girls were asked (in pre- and 

post-tests) to select five out of 15 problems posed and describe how they

would approach them. The problems were of three types: “girl” topics

(such as “How do I find out what’s wrong when my best friend won’t

speak to me?”), “guy” topics (such as “How do I find out which fishing

lure works best?”), and “scientific” questions (such as “How do I

determine whether or not a baby sea turtle will head toward the lights

on beachfront condos?”). They hoped the girls would have become

comfortable enough with the scientific questions to choose more of them

on the post-test than they had on the pre-test. They did not find the

striking gender differences they expected. Both boys and girls tended to

choose “scientific” questions with an environmental theme; they both

also tended to prefer labs and outdoor science to classroom science; and

girls were more confident about their abilities than expected.

CODES: H, U, I HARBOR BRANCH OCEAN INSTITUTE

SUSAN B. COOK (SCOOK@HBOI.EDU), SHIRLEY A. POMPONI

HRD 97-10971 (ONE-YEAR GRANT)

PARTNERS: INDIAN RIVER COMMUNITY COLLEGE, ST. LUCIE SCHOOL DISTRICT

KEYWORDS: EDUCATION PROGRAM, COMMUNITY COLLEGE, OCEANOGRAPHY, MENTORING, ROLE MODELS, HANDS-ON, CAREER AWARENESS, GENDER DIFFERENCES, SELF-CONFIDENCE

CODE: H J.L. SCOTT MARINE EDUCATION CENTER AND AQUARIUM, GULF COAST RESEARCH LABORATORY

SHARON H. WALKER, HOWARD D. WALTERS HRD 94-50558 (ONE-YEAR GRANT)

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, HANDS-ON, EXPLORATION-BASED, OCEANOGRAPHY, INQUIRY-BASED

Marine and

aquatic

mini-camp

aqu MARINE AND AQUATIC MINI-CAMP 

GIRLS’ SCIENCE EDUCATION OFTEN STOPS AFTER SECONDARY SCHOOL BECAUSE OF THEIR POOR PREPARATION FOR SCIENCE. GIRLS ARE SOCIALIZED AWAY FROM SCIENCE IN MIDDLE SCHOOL, DON’T GET THE

EXPLORATORY EXPERIENCES THEY NEED TO DEVELOP AN INTEREST IN SCIENCE, INSTEAD VIEW SCIENCE AS

DULL OR DIFFICULT, AND MAY LOSE WHATEVER INTEREST THEY DID HAVE WHEN THEY STUDY IRRELEVANT

SCIENCE TOPICS UNDER UNINSPIRING OR POORLY EDUCATED TEACHERS. TO HELP GIRLS BEGIN TO ACHIEVE

THE KIND OF SCIENTIFIC LITERACY NEEDED IN A CHANGING JOB MARKET, THE GULF COAST RESEARCH

LABORATORY IDENTIFIED 355 GIRLS AT RISK OF DROPPING OUT OF THE SCIENCE PIPELINE AND PROVIDED

THEM WITH A HANDS-ON, FIELD-BASED EXPERIENCE IN 12 TWO-DAY RESIDENTIAL MINI-CAMPS. 

The Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, administered by the University of

Southern Mississippi, is organized in five research groups: aquaculture,

fisheries sciences, environmental fate and effects, biodiversity and

systematics, and coastal ecology. In groups of 30, students from

Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, and northwest Florida were introduced to

inquiry- and field-based science activities in four areas: oceanography and

hydrologic processes, marine and aquatic fauna, marine and aquatic flora,

and beach and barrier islands. By improving their perception of science,

the project hopes to get more of the participants involved in science.

Factual knowledge alone is insufficient for maintaining the

nation’s edge in STEM fields. Motivation and inclusiveness are

important for sustaining and growing our STEM workforce. This

project hoped that giving these students a positive science

experience and a chance to see themselves (however briefly) as

part of a community of research scientists helped bring about a

realistic change in their academic and career aspirations—at

least to the extent of enrolling or re-enrolling in high school

science courses. 

003
National Science Foundation Chapter Three . Courses That Feed, Not Weed

1

CODE: M, PD FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY

PAUL H. RUSCHER (RUSCHER@MET.FSU.EDU), MARA Z. HERNANDEZ, ALEJANDRO J. GALLARD

www.met.fsu.edu/CUDOS/ HRD 01-14882 (THREE-YEAR GRANT)

PARTNERS: FSU’S METEOROLOGY DEPARTMENT AND SCIENCE EDUCATION PROGRAM; NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION; STATE OF FLORIDA DIVISION OF

EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT, METEOROLOGY, INQUIRY-BASED, AFRICAN-AMERICAN, HISPANIC, COLLABORATIVE LEARNING, SCIENCE CLUBS, REAL-LIFE

APPLICATIONS

REALM: REALLY EXPLORING AND LEARNING METEOROLOGY

THIS PROJECT FROM FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY’S METEOROLOGY DEPARTMENT AND SCIENCE RLM

EDUCATION PROGRAM WILL EXPOSE STUDENTS IN 18 MIAMI–DADE COUNTY PUBLIC MIDDLE

SCHOOLS TO INQUIRY-BASED METEOROLOGY, AN EARTH SCIENCE OFTEN NEGLECTED IN

MIDDLE SCHOOL. BECAUSE THE PROGRAM IS HIGHLY ENGAGING AND IMMEDIATELY

APPLICABLE, IT IS EXPECTED TO SIGNIFICANTLY AFFECT THE PARTICIPATION IN SCIENCE OF

GIRLS AND THE AREA’S SIZEABLE AFRICAN AMERICAN AND HISPANIC STUDENT POPULATION. 

To help reduce girls’ attrition from math and science as they move from middle to high school, the project will develop a supportive learning

environment, incorporating collaborative learning and staffing labs and tech rooms with women to help make the subject more attractive to girls.

Social and artistic factors will be woven into the program because girls find science content more meaningful when it is good for the world, relevant

to their everyday world, and connected to subjects like math and art. 

Teachers and alternates from the 18 schools will be given two weeks’ intensive training to strengthen their knowledge of content and 

science pedagogy.

Following in part the model of the Oklahoma mesonet, REALM will establish a network of high-quality weather stations that use professional-grade

instruments, including wind sensors robust enough to record highly accurate high-resolution data along Florida’s “Tornado Alley.” Data loggers will be

installed at each station and wireless communications will be used to upload data to a central server in Dade County. All 18 schools will have online

access to the data, and because NOAA will also make use of the data, NOAA will have a stake in maintaining access to them.

Girls dig it

online

003

Dig GIRLS DIG IT ONLINE

THIS PROJECT EXPANDS THE INTERNET-ENHANCED LEARNING COMPONENT OF

GIRLS DIG IT, A NATIONWIDE GIRLS INC. ARCHAEOLOGY PROGRAM THAT REACHES

OUT TO LOW-INCOME GIRLS AND GIRLS OF COLOR IN EARLY ADOLESCENCE (AGES

12 TO 14). THE PROGRAM COMBINES COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH TEAMS AND

DISCOVERY-BASED ACTIVITIES THAT TEACH THE PRINCIPLES OF SCIENTIFIC

INVESTIGATION WITH ONLINE RESOURCES: AN ELECTRONIC BULLETIN BOARD, AN

“ASK THE ARCHAEOLOGISTS” PROGRAM FIELDED BY WOMEN ARCHAEOLOGISTS

AND ANTHROPOLOGISTS AT VARIOUS STAGES IN THEIR CAREERS, EXTENDED

SEARCHES, LINKS TO “COOL” ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESOURCES, AND A PLACE ON

THE WEBSITE WHERE GIRLS CAN PUBLISH EXCAVATION REPORTS.

For the pilot project, six to 12 girls each were selected for four geographically and ethnically diverse sites chosen for their archaeological resources

and technological readiness: in Santa Barbara, Cal. (at the site of the Santa Barbara Presidio), in Bloomington, Ind. (a survey and excavation at Lick

Creek, site of a 200-year-old African American settlement), in Lynne, Mass. (a simulation of Boston’s “Big Dig,”), and in St. Louis, Mo. (a simulated

excavation at the White Haven historic site, once the home of Ulysses S. and Julia Dent Grant). 

003

REALM: really 

exploring and 

learning 

meteorology
National Science Foundation Chapter Three . Courses That Feed, Not Weed

118

The project’s hypotheses—that archaeology would make girls get excited about new technology—was inverted: Girls who had access to Internet technology

got excited about archaeology. When the online component was added, many participants who had found the face-to-face program “too much like

school” were suddenly quite excited about archaeology—apparently because of their excitement about having access to and support in using online

technology. For many girls, the online site—with its accessible and accurate archaeological information—was their first online experience and

sometimes their first sustained use of computers.

And the fact that archaeologists study a variety of cultures and rely on physical evidence rather than exclusively on written records ensures that

minority participants find themselves represented in the curriculum in ways they may not experience in a typical school curriculum.

Girls used their discussion board extensively, unlike the program facilitators, who used theirs very little. Staff members were more comfortable getting

answers to their questions by phone or e-mail. Unlike the girls, the archaeologists and program facilitators were more comfortable with print than with

online documents (including surveys)—unanimously requesting print versions of online materials to use as they viewed the online materials. For adults,

online training may be more powerful when conducted in conjunction with face-to-face programs. 

The online/telephone training tested by this project has far-reaching possibilities for implementing programs at distant sites. By using specially created

Web pages viewable almost like slides while participants engage in a telephone conference call, training can be delivered at a minimal cost. Face-toface training can cost as much as $2,000 per participant; telephone-plus-online training may be a cost-effective alternative. But making such training

more effective requires certain adjustments: ensuring that call participants find a quiet place to work from, providing print-based materials to

supplement online materials, and sending a list of URLs in advance, with instructions on presetting the browser to those pages.

Delivering an Internet-enhanced program creates challenges for youthservicing organizations. One team, for example, was using computer

facilities at a local library, and when they tried e-mailing questions to

Ask the Archaeologists, a firewall blocked delivery of the e-mail without

alerting the girls that their e-mails went unsent. At another site, the

telephone/online staff training could be conducted only in a noisy group

office space, seriously compromising the quality of communication.

CODES: M, I, PD GIRLS INCORPORATED

HEATHER JOHNSON NICHOLSON (HJNICHOLSON@GIRLS-INC.ORG), RAY SHORTRIDGE

www.girlsinc.org/digit 

HRD 99-08759 (ONE-YEAR GRANT)

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, WEBSITE, EXPLORATION-BASED, MANUAL, MENTORING, UNDERPRIVILEGED, AFRICAN-AMERICAN; GIRLS, INC., ARCHAEOLOGY, ENGAGEMENT, COLLABORATIVE LEARNING, INTERNSHIPS

Earth systems:

integrating

women’s studies

003

Esys EARTH SYSTEMS: INTEGRATING WOMEN’S STUDIES 

HAS THE “MASCULINITY” OF SCIENCE AND SCIENCE EDUCATION KEPT WOMEN, MEN

OF COLOR, AND PEOPLE FROM WORKING-CLASS BACKGROUNDS OUT OF SCIENCE

COURSES AND SCIENCE CAREERS? HAS SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY AND EDUCATION FAILED

TO SITUATE SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE IN ITS SOCIAL AND HISTORICAL CONTEXT?

DOES THE SCIENTIFIC ESTABLISHMENT’S INSISTENCE ON THE “PURITY” OF SCIENCE

SUPPORT THE CLAIM THAT SCIENTIFIC FINDINGS IMPROVE HUMAN WELFARE? 

Earth Systems—the PROMISE project—aimed to create a cooperative,

noncompetitive learning environment in which all student voices could

be heard and the collaborative production of geological knowledge would

be linked to their daily lives through the lens of sociology and feminist

theory. Examining the role science plays in shaping definitions of

knowledge, power relations, and social inequalities helped students

recognize their capacity to act. 

In a women’s studies classroom, students sit in a circle to decentralize

authority. Everyone in the room has a name and a voice, and each is a

learner and a potential teacher, contributing to the collaborative

construction of knowledge. PROMISE started its earth science course with

only a vaguely structured syllabus that would allow for collectively

developing course content with the students. Students and teachers alike

were immediately made uncomfortable by this departure from traditional

education. And while the social science and humanities majors were

comfortable sitting in a circle, it made one geology major so uncomfortable she considered dropping the course. In time, everyone became comfortable with the classroom environment and with the “process” method

of learning, but in the early days students felt there was too much social

context and not enough scientific inquiry. The principal investigators

quickly realized how difficult it was to develop integrated knowledge. 

Not until the last weeks of the course did participants begin to
National Science Foundation Chapter Three . Courses That Feed, Not Weed

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CODE: U UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA AT LAS VEGAS

MARGARET N. REES (REES@NEVADA.EDU), MARALEE MAYBERRY

HRD 95-55721 (THREE-YEAR GRANT) 

PUBLICATION: “FEMINIST PEDAGOGY, INTERDISCIPLINARY PRAXIS, AND SCIENCE

EDUCATION” BY MARALEE MAYBERRY AND MARGARET N. REES, IN NATIONAL

WOMEN’S STUDIES ASSOCIATION JOURNAL, SPRING 1997.

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, COOPERATIVE LEARNING, SOCIOLOGY, GEOLOGY, WOMEN'S STUDIES, FEMINISM

collectively feel the integration of knowledge. They were engaged in an

oil-exploration game intended to demonstrate the geological concepts of

oil reservoirs and traps. The game was designed to interest students in

learning about geology by having them play the role of an independent

petroleum company with geologists and economists who needed to make

business decisions about where to purchase land and drill for petroleum

exploration. But what the students gained was a new understanding of

the relationships between natural resources and economic imperatives, as

this journal entry shows: 

When we first started the game, I had a few unvoiced objections. 

[I wanted to ask,] what about the environment, ecology, and social

consequences of drilling for petroleum? However, these were quickly

forgotten as the excitement mounted. Our team wanted to be the first to

“strike gold.” So we bought information about the land, searched for the

best places to drill, bought land, and drilled. We made a profit so we did

it again. Soon we were up to $950,000, we were rolling in money and

profits were soaring. Could we stop? No! Did I have any reservation about

continuing? No. We went absolutely crazy with greed and power. . . . My

desire to finish first and make a profit clouded my thinking. Never once

did I think about the flora or fauna on top . . . only what was underneath.

I looked at risk factors in terms of dollars only, and never once thought of

human penalties.

During a weekend excursion into Death Valley to see and experience many

of the geological processes and features discussed in class, the students

found it easier to understand sedimentary deposits, limestone,

sandstone, and basalt, when they were tangible. To reach out and touch

rocks that are 1.6 billion years old meant much more than hearing that

the rocks existed. On the second day of the field trip, as they entered

Mosaic Canyon, they saw faulted, brecciated, polished limestone

beautifully displayed in the steep-sided, narrow, curving passage into and

through the mountains. They saw how the history and future of a fault

cannot be captured by observing a limited rock section. Suddenly and

spontaneously, the students began to discuss the unforeseen

environmental problems that could result from a spatially limited

geological study of a site marked by numerous active faults.

Students began to realize that although we can do little about natural

occurrences, we can do something about those who are affected by them.

By the end of the course, they had a more complex understanding of the

processes that shape scientific inquiry and the uses to which science is

put. The project’s experience demonstrated that the gap between social

and natural sciences can be narrowed. 

Women who 

walk through 

time

W WOMEN WHO WALK THROUGH TIME

THIS AWARD-WINNING VIDEO WAS DEVELOPED TO SHOW GIRLS AND YOUNG WOMEN THAT EARTH

SCIENCE IS A FASCINATING CAREER. “WOMEN WHO WALK THROUGH TIME” SUGGESTS THE IDEA OF

WOMEN WALKING THROUGH GEOLOGICAL LAYERS (REPRESENTING TIME) WHILE ENJOYING SUCCESSFUL

CAREERS IN EARTH SCIENCE. IT PORTRAYS THREE WOMEN WHO INTRODUCE YOUNG PEOPLE TO THE FIELD,

DEMONSTRATE WHAT THEY DO AS EARTH SCIENTISTS, AND ADVISE YOUNG PEOPLE ON HOW TO PREPARE

FOR A CAREER IN SCIENCE. THE VIDEO WON A TELLY AWARD FOR HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATION IN 1998. 

Earth science is rarely taught in high school, so pre-college students are rarely exposed to earth science mentors of either gender. Few girls are exposed

to female role models in the earth sciences or realize the key role geoscientists play in solving environmental problems. Students typically think of

science as chemistry, physics, or biology. The video demonstrates earth science’s interdisciplinary nature, drawing on math, chemistry, physics, biology,

engineering, geography, anthropology, computers—and love of the outdoors.

The 30-minute video is appropriate for students 12 to 18, and older. The allied website features earth science links for girls and young women and

information about volcanoes, earthquakes, dinosaurs, minerals, fossils, water, ice, and rock.

CODE: M, H, I UNIVERSITY OF UTAH

MARJORIE A. CHAN (MCHAN@MINES.UTAH.EDU), PAULA N. WILSON, SUSAN L. HALGEDAHL

www.mines.utah.edu/geo/video/Video.html HRD 96-25566 (ONE-YEAR-GRANT) 

PRODUCT: THE VIDEOTAPE WOMEN WHO WALK THROUGH TIME.

KEYWORDS: DISSEMINATION, VIDEO, WEBSITE, EARTH SCIENCE, GEOLOGY, CAREER AWARENESS, ROLE MODELS

003
National Science Foundation Chapter Three . Courses That Feed, Not Weed

120

ACES: adventures 

in computers, 

engineering 

and space

003

ACE ACES: ADVENTURES IN COMPUTERS, ENGINEERING, AND SPACE

THE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE AT CHATTANOOGA, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH GIRLS INC.

OF CHATTANOOGA AND THE UTC CHALLENGER CENTER, LAUNCHED ACES TO ENCOURAGE

GIRLS TO KEEP STUDYING MATH AND SCIENCE AND TO CONSIDER CAREERS IN SPACE,

COMPUTERS, AND ENGINEERING. THE PROGRAM OFFERED 25 MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRLS

POSITIVE ROLE MODELS AND POSITIVE HANDS-ON ACTIVITIES, 

At a one-week residential summer camp, 25 girls entering seventh and

eighth grade are participating in space-related activities at the

Challenger Center; hands-on activities in computer science and electrical,

mechanical, and industrial engineering; and activities designed to

nurture each girl’s self-esteem and development as a whole person. Girls

Inc. provided leadership for camp counselors, who reduced attitude,

behavior, and discipline problems by enforcing rules without alienating

the girls.

Engineering activities. The girls tended to like the hands-on experiments

best and the discussion before the activity least. An industrial engineering

activity, for example, introduced systems thinking, product assembly,

workstation design, and quality management. Using Lego ZNAP materials

(similar to K’nex) and working in teams of six or seven, the girls designed

their own assembly environment to build a boat or an airplane. Teams

structured themselves to have one inventory person, assemblers (who

determined whether to emulate craft, factory, or mass production,

introduced through a short lecture on production systems), and a quality

person. Teams competed on time to complete each unit, number of units

completed within the allotted time, and number of units without 

quality faults. 

An electrical engineering activity familiarized the girls with common

circuit elements, circuit schematics, and Ohm’s and Kirchoff’s laws. In an

environmental engineering session, the girls discussed how pollutants

and particulates suspended in air reduce visibility and can alter the

absorption, scattering, and reflection of colors perceived by the human

eye to make up visible light. In a robotic activity—using Lego Mindstorm

robotic materials, including a programmable “brick” preprogrammed to

drive two motors and a light—students in groups of two designed and

built a vehicle that would go forward, stop, turn on a light bulb, spin on

one wheel, play an engineering song, and return. 

In a mechanical engineering session, teams of two to three girls built

experimental bridges using strips of paper, books of like thickness, small

paper cups, and pennies. In a civil engineering activity the last night of

camp, girls built towers out of standard drinking straws, competing as

teams to build the tallest tower that would support a tennis ball for at

least 30 seconds. They were given 50 straws, a roll of masking tape, a

pair of scissors and a set of instructions about what they could and could

not do, in what time frame. In retrospect, the team leaders thought it

would be good to start with a slide presentation to help the girls visualize

structure building and triangulation.

Computer activities. The girls liked having something to take home to

show their family and friends. Hands-on experiences with computers,

using gender-neutral software, allowed the girls to develop Web pages

that reflected their interests, to do simple programming (building a basic

user interface form for a program to play Hangman), and to use

computer-assisted design (CAD) software—for example, to study

perspective using a Lego block from robotics. 

Space-related activities. More than three dozen nonprofit, informal

Challenger science education centers opened after the 1986 space shuttle

tragedy. For this project, the UTC Challenger Center provided studentbased space mission simulation programs to reinforce and introduce

students to real-world applications of science principles and concepts

discussed in their classrooms. Activities included a Mission to Mars

activity, with Team A at mission control and Team B “traveling” via a

shuttle simulation to a space station on Mars; the design, construction,

launching, and testing of rockets, using plastic soda bottles, glue, tape,

and construction paper; and the design and construction of a space

station on land and under water, using a large container of Quadro

(buoyant material similar to PVC) containing various types and sizes of

extensions and connectors.

Lightening or varying the mix of camp activities were ice breakers to help

the girls get to know each other, craft sessions, team-building activities,

and interactions with role models, who learned the importance of visual

aids, to help the girls visualize what they do. Follow-up activities for the

school year involved computer science, product design (the popular

design and construction of a container/device to protect eggs from a 

3-story drop), industrial engineering, the Discovery Museum, and a field

trip. An ACES Fair—featuring hands-on engineering, computer, and space

activities—was to be held at selected elementary, middle, and high

schools and community centers.

CODES: U, M, I UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE AT CHATTANOOGA

CLAIRE L. MCCULLOUGH (CLAIRE-MCCULLOUGH@UTC.EDU), NESLIHAN ALP, CECELIA WIGAL, KATHY WINTERS, STEPHANIE SMULLEN

www.utc.edu/aces HRD 00-03185 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNERS: GIRLS, INC. AND THE UTC CHALLENGER CENTER

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, HANDS-ON, ROLE MODELS, INFORMAL EDUCATION, CAREER AWARENESS, ENGINEERING, COMPUTER SCIENCE, SPACE, FIELD TRIPS
National Science Foundation Chapter Three . Courses That Feed, Not Weed

1

Using hands-on learning and girls’ natural interest in animals, the Wildlife Conservation Society’s three-year WSC program promotes enthusiasm for

the basic sciences and for careers in wildlife science. Each year, the program recruits 105 Girl Scouts, aged 12 to 14, from the inner city of New York

City’s five boroughs. It also trains 12 to 15 Girl Scout leaders and parents as leader–mentors, to help with the program and to share information about

the Bronx Zoo and wildlife sciences with others in their troops. 

As part of the program, each year Cadette and Senior Girl Scouts (aged 12 to 14) attend a three-day winter career workshop at the Bronx Zoo, which

gives them an entirely different perspective from their daily urban environment. The zoo—a verdant oasis in the midst of seemingly endless urban

sprawl—gives many Girl Scouts their first-ever experience with plants and animals. 

Instructors from the zoo’s education department give the girls a behind-the-scenes look at various animal exhibits and teach them about different

animals’ needs, habitats, and behaviors. Girls learn to use scientific equipment such as microscopes, binoculars, range finders, and radio tracking units.

They speak with women professionals at the zoo, learning firsthand about careers in conservation (such as primatologist, ornithologist, wild animal

keeper, veterinary technician, lab supervisor, media archivist, and field biologist). At a career fair, participants present projects featuring the six

clusters of wildlife-related careers: animal care and management, education, exhibit design, field science, wildlife health, and wildlife science park

support. The workshops culminate in an overnight at the zoo, where girls eat dinner, observe the habits of nocturnal animals on a night hike, and

participate in a wildlife scavenger hunt. 

The girls also participate in field experiences at WCS’s other living institutions. At the New York Aquarium, they learn about the differences between

aquatic and terrestrial animals and go behind the scenes with dolphin trainers. They hit the beach at Coney Island for a hands-on demonstration of

plankton sampling. At the Prospect Park Zoo, they practice common field methods used to study primates in the wild. At the Queens Zoo, they learn

about domestic and farm animal care and visit a unique bird feeding station in the marsh exhibit.

Before the winter workshops, Girl Scout leaders receive training in leadership and mentoring, gender equity issues, and the importance of wildliferelated careers. Girls 14 to 17 who are interested in developing leadership skills can get training as program aides, helping troop leaders with meetings

of younger Girl Scouts and sharing what they have learned about wildlife science. In 2000, WCS trained more than 80 girls as aides. This train-thetrainers model will extend the program’s impact. 

Girls who have completed aide training and service are eligible for the competitive WSC internships at one of the five New York WSC parks (those

mentioned plus the Central Park Zoo and the St. Catherines Wildlife Survival Center), where they are carefully matched with a mentor–supervisor and

get work experience, mentoring, and a modest stipend. More than two dozen young women have served as interns, working with professionals in such

fields as herpetology, ornithology, publishing, wildlife nutrition, and veterinary pathology. 

This project offers inner-city girls an opportunity to learn about fields unknown to them and to experience professional/technical activities firsthand.

Their first reaction is to reach out and touch the animals. After being at the zoo and interacting with role models, they become interested in the

many kinds of opportunities available at the zoo. 

Careers in 

wildlife science

003

wild CAREERS IN WILDLIFE SCIENCE

WHETHER DISSECTING OWL PELLETS, LEARNING ABOUT

EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR BECOMING A VETERINARIAN,

TEACHING YOUNGER GIRLS HOW ANIMALS COMMUNICATE, OR

HELPING HERD FLAMINGOS AT THE BRONX ZOO, THE GIRLS IN THE

THREE-YEAR WILDLIFE SCIENCE CAREERS (WSC) PROGRAM ARE

BEING EXPOSED TO CAREER OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN IN

WILDLIFE SCIENCE. 

CODES: M, H, I, PD WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY

ANNETTE R. BERKOVITS (ABERKOVITS@WCS.ORG)

www.wcs.org HRD 96-31959 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) AND HRD 97-14791 (THREE-YEAR GRANT)

PARTNERS: BRONX ZOO, GIRL SCOUT COUNCIL OF GREATER NEW YORK

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, CAREER AWARENESS, GIRL SCOUTS, TRAINER TRAINING, FIELD TRIPS, HANDS-ON, WILDLIFE SCIENCE, INTERNSHIPS, MENTORING, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS, ROLE MODELS, INFORMAL EDUCATION
National Science Foundation Chapter Three . Courses That Feed, Not Weed

122

Bioinformatics 

for high school

003

binfo BIOINFORMATICS FOR HIGH SCHOOL

BIOLOGY IS QUICKLY BECOMING AN INFORMATION-DRIVEN SCIENCE, AND THE

INTEGRATION OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY HAS

CREATED A NEW DISCIPLINE: BIOINFORMATICS. THE ANALYSIS OF DATA ABOUT

MOLECULAR SEQUENCES IS CHANGING NOT ONLY THE WAYS BIOLOGISTS

APPROACH PROBLEMS BUT THE VERY QUESTIONS THEY ASK—ESPECIALLY

ABOUT HOW SCIENTISTS CAN USE THE DATA BECOMING AVAILABLE FROM THE

HUMAN GENOME PROJECT AND OTHER DNA DATABASES.

With this project, Immaculata College offered a summer enrichment

program on bioinformatics for 16 girls entering senior year of high

school. The project targeted minorities and other student groups

underrepresented in STEM, from the greater Philadelphia area, including

counties in nearby Delaware and New Jersey

In the five-week residential program, students learned about molecular

biology, including genetic diseases and evolutionary classification;

computer technology, incorporating bioinformatics tools; group processing techniques; and related legal and ethical issues. Guided by educators,

students working in problem-based learning groups learned the concepts

and gathered the information needed to solve real problems. They used

the NSF-funded program Biology Student Workbench, a Web-based

computational interface for analyzing genetic data.

Women from industry, government, and education spoke to them, and

they took field trips to a science museum, a pharmaceutical company, a

university laboratory, the National Institutes of Health, and the Institute

LIFE SCIENCE BIOGRAPHIES 

THE AMERICAN PHYSIOLOGICAL SOCIETY (APS) DEVELOPED CURRICULUM

MATERIALS TO HELP SECONDARY SCHOOL BIOLOGY TEACHERS ACQUAINT

MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS WITH 20 WOMEN IN SCIENCE AND WITH

THE INQUIRY APPROACH TO SCIENCE ACTIVITIES. THE APS DEVELOPED,

REVIEWED, AND FIELD-TESTED 20 LEARNING MODULES THAT CAN BE DROPPED

INTO LIFE SCIENCE CURRICULA, COORDINATING THEM WITH CURRICULAR

GOALS AND PROPOSED NATIONAL STANDARDS FOR INTRODUCTORY BIOLOGY. 

Published in one volume as Women Life Scientists: Past, Present, and Future—Connecting Role Models in the Classroom Curriculum, these biographies

will help middle school life science students and high school biology students view science as an exploratory activity done by real people, including

women of color and women with disabilities. 

Scientists in physiology, medicine, and public health are physiologist Kim Barrett, reproductive physiologist Betsy Dresser, cardiovascular physiologist

Joyce Jones, medical researcher Maria Mayorga, microbiologist Judith Pachciarz, public health physician Sara J. Baker, and AIDS researcher Linda

Laubenstein. Betsy Dresser, for example, helps preserve endangered species through in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer. In the Dresser unit,

student groups debate the relative merits of preserving endangered species through conservation or through embryo transfer. Sara J. Baker, best known

for Genomic Research Sequencing Center. 

While a fair number of women choose biology as a career, fewer choose

computer-related careers. This program was designed to encourage girls

interested in biology to consider bioinformatics as a field of study and a

profession. When the summer program ended, the students gave

presentations in their high school science classrooms and clubs,

demonstrating their confidence in what they have mastered and serving

as role models for their classmates. At a fall reunion, they shared their

peers’ responses. The program directors stay in touch with the girls and

work with BioQUEST and the Biology Student WorkBench team to

encourage replication of the program at other sites nationwide.

CODES: U, H IMMACULATA COLLEGE

SUSAN J. CRONIN (SCRONIN@IMMACULATA.EDU), CHARLOTTE R. ZALES

www.immaculata.edu/Bioinformatics/ HRD 00-86360 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, BIOINFORMATICS, BIOLOGY, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, SUMMER PROGRAM, PROBLEM-BASED, FIELD TRIPS, ROLE MODELS

Life science 

biographies

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for helping track down Typhoid Mary, reformed public health in the early 1900s. In the Baker unit, students must develop an action plan for tracking

down the source of a present-day typhoid epidemic before it becomes widespread. 

Scientists in ecology, botany, and animal behavior are behavioral ecologist Jennifer Clarke, marine biologist Sylvia Earle, behavioral ecologist Deborah

Gordon, ecologist Rachel Carson, animal behaviorist Dian Fossey, botanist Ynez Mexia, and naturalist Beatrix Potter. 

Scientists in molecular biology, biochemistry, genetics, and microbiology are microbiologist/molecular geneticist Alice Huang, molecular virologist

Marian Johnson-Thompson, geneticist Mary-Claire King, biochemist and molecular biologist Lambratu Rahman, biohemist Gerty Cori and geneticist

Barbara McClintock. 

Each module includes a brief biography of a woman of science followed by hands-on (inquiry-based or problem-solving) activities related to the work

of the woman profiled. The modules were field-tested with students in middle and high school and community college classrooms and with teachers

during workshops held at meetings of the National Science Teachers Association and the National Association of Biology Teachers. These teachers concluded that the units would be appropriate for many ages but especially for students in grades 7–12. 

APPRENTICESHIPS IN SCIENCE POLICY

WOMEN TEND TO COME LATE TO THEIR UNDERGRADUATE MAJORS, OFTEN CHANGING MAJORS

SEVERAL TIMES AFTER ARRIVING AT COLLEGE. THIS TENDENCY TO DECIDE LATE ON A MAJOR IS

ONE REASON MANY WOMEN DROP OUT OF MATH AND SCIENCE, BUT IT COULD ALSO BE ONE WAY

THEY ARE DRAWN INTO STEM. WOMEN WHO LEAVE SCIENCE EXPLAIN THAT THEY SEE MOST MATH

AND SCIENCE COURSES (EXCEPT FOR PRE-MED) AS NOT BEING PEOPLE-ORIENTED. AMERICAN

UNIVERSITY (AU) DESIGNED THIS PROJECT—A SPRING SEMINAR ON SCIENCE POLICY FOLLOWED

BY A SUMMER RESEARCH INTERNSHIP—TO ALTER THAT NARROW VIEW OF SCIENTISTS AS

ISOLATED RESEARCHERS, WORKING ALONE, DEALING WITH CONCEPTS BUT NOT PEOPLE. 

The spring seminar on science policy included discussions of science

ethics, the environment, space policy, justice, statistics, the information

age, and such applications of chemistry and biology as cloning, DNA

work, and mad cow disease. The project brought in AU faculty as well as

speakers from government and nonprofit organizations working on science and science policy. Students were offered special computer training,

especially in the use of databases and statistical software. Each student

wrote three papers and participated in a group project. 

They then worked fulltime in NSF-funded summer internships in science

policy in government, industry, or nonprofit organizations. They were

housed together in AU dormitories so they could share experiences. 

Several students changed to math or science majors as a result of the

project, and others registered for more math and science courses. (AU’s

math department had already had some success persuading women to

select statistics or applied statistics as a second major after they took the

one statistics course required for their majors in the social sciences.)

Final results won’t be known until the students graduate, go to graduate

school, or take up their careers. But even if they don’t pursue careers in

math or science, they will have a better appreciation of how important a

solid knowledge of math and science is to concerned citizens and to

public servants formulating policy about health, education, the

environment, defense, and other critical issues. 

CODE: U AMERICAN UNIVERSITY

MARY W. GRAY (MGRAY@AMERICAN.EDU), NINA M. ROSCHER

HRD 96-32086 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, SCIENCE POLICY, INTERNSHIPS, RESEARCH EXPERIENCE, COMPUTER SKILLS

CODES: M, H, I AMERICAN PHYSIOLOGICAL SOCIETY

MARTIN FRANK (MFRANK@APS.FASEB.ORG) AND MARSHA L. MATYAS

www.faseb.org/aps AND www.the-aps.org/education/k-12misc/ord-wls.htm HRD 93-53760 (ONE-YEAR GRANT)

PUBLICATIONS: WOMEN LIFE SCIENTISTS: PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE (MATYAS AND HALEY-OLIPHANT, 1997).

KEYWORDS; DEMONSTRATION, BIOLOGY, CURRICULUM, BIOGRAPHIES, HANDS-ON, LIFE SCIENCES, INQUIRY-BASED

Apprenticeships 

in science policy

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SPLASH: THE MATH AND PHYSICS OF WATER

THIS ACTIVITY- AND TEAM-BASED MODEL PROJECT FOR EIGHTH GRADE

GIRLS EXTENDED AND ENHANCED AN NSF-FUNDED FOUR-WEEK SUMMER

CAMP (SUMMER SCIENCE SPLASH) THAT IN 1993 HAD SERVED 50 OF THE

SAME GIRLS: ABLE, WELL-MOTIVATED MINORITY STUDENTS WHO, WITHOUT

SPECIAL ATTENTION, WERE LIKELY TO LOSE INTEREST IN SCIENCE AND MATH. 

In camp, the students used group discussions, experimentation, and

fieldwork to learn about water’s physical properties and role in the

Northwest ecology, the principles of waves, and issues of water 

quality. The project provided for 25 of the campers, building on 

knowledge and skills gained in the camp, to carry out a challenging

science project on a water-related issue (for example, stream 

monitoring, hydroelectric power, and water in weather, avalanches,

and marine biology). Teams of two to five students—plus a middle

school teacher, a professional mentor, and a Seattle University 

undergraduate mentor—worked on the science projects together. The

idea was that academic-year reinforcement of the excitement generated

by the camp would heighten many students’ continuing interest in 

science.

The 25 students read, did field work, experimented, held team

discussions, built models, and wrote. A curriculum designer helped the

teams design projects that were significant but appropriate for the time

frame (five months). The students spent time learning about science,

interacted with scientists as friends and role models, and gained skills in

leadership, teamwork, presentations, and project management. They

appreciated being part of a program that stressed cooperation more 

than competition.

Two students taught a unit on whales in an elementary class. Several

ENGAGED LEARNING: INVESTIGATING WATER QUALITY

AT A FOUR-WEEK SUMMER SCIENCE CAMP HELD AT SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY AT

EDWARDSVILLE, HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS WERE IMMERSED IN RESEARCH ABOUT A SUBJECT OF

REAL-LIFE CONCERN—THE WATER QUALITY OF OUR RIVERS AND STREAMS—AND LEARNED ABOUT

MATH, PHYSICS, CHEMISTRY, AND ENGINEERING CONCEPTS ON A NEED-TO-KNOW BASIS. THE IDEA

BEHIND THIS EXPERIMENT IN “ENGAGED LEARNING” WAS TO MOTIVATE STUDENTS TO LEARN THE

SKILLS AND BACKGROUND NEEDED TO COLLECT, ANALYZE, AND INTERPRET DATA.

Under the direction of university faculty, and using labs and equipment not available to them in high schools, the students engaged in empirical

research about water quality. To prepare for collecting and analyzing data, students were guided to understand the meaning of accuracy, reliability,

replicability of experimental results, and sources of error. They learned about standard deviation, percentage-precision error, average deviation, and

teams did stream restoration projects on Bear Creek and North Creek. A

team of Native American students took an elementary class on a stream

monitoring expedition. One group learned about fractals, programming a

IIgs computer and playing a game called Chaos, first with dice and then

with the TI-81 graphing calculator, using random numbers. (If the game

Chaos is played long enough, the Sierpinski triangle always emerges—an

application of the law of large numbers.) One team mentored students at

First Place (a school for children who live in shelters), teaching them

about Lego-Logo—creating Lego machines, using Lego toys, and

instructing a computer to operate them. Other teams studied the space

shuttle Challenger and how comets travel in space; studied avalanches

and went to Snoqualmie Pass to gather data on avalanche conditions;

built a model sailboat and tested various sail positions; learned how to

use ultrasound; and edited a videotape explaining the entire project. One

student won a national award for testing airfoils on a model wind tunnel.

Many students were featured on TV or radio and in newspaper and

magazine articles.

Splash: 

the math and

pshysics of water

H02

CODE: M SEATTLE UNIVERSITY

KATHLEEN SULLIVAN (KSULLIVA@SEATTLEU.EDU)

HRD 93-53804 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNER: NATIVE AMERICAN HERITAGE SCHOOL

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, ACTIVITY-BASED, TEAMWORK APPROACH, WATER, ECOLOGY, HANDS-ON, MATH, PHYSICS, MENTORING, ROLE MODELS

Engaged 

learning: 

investigating 

water quality

inv

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National Science Foundation Chapter Three . Courses That Feed, Not Weed

1

rejection quotients, as they relate to accuracy. Math instruction

emphasized functions (a key to success in calculus) and the relationship

between functional form and the shape of a graph. Students manipulated

data on computers to fit curves to the data, producing graphical output,

algebraic functions, and correlation statistics. 

In an introduction to environmental engineering and wastewater

treatment—using math, physics, and chemistry—the students addressed

a request for proposal (RFP) from an entity that wanted residential 

wastewater treated. 

They investigated the properties of campus pond water and analyzed its

quality, measuring the water for pH, turbidity, total solids, dissolve

oxygen, nitrates, phosphates, biochemical oxygen demand, temperature

change, and fecal coliform. 

CODES: H, U SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY AT EDWARDSVILLE

RAHIM G. KARIMPOUR (RKARIMP@SIUE.EDU), SUSAN MORGAN, KIMBERLY SHAW, VIRGINIA R. BRYAN

HRD 99-08734 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, RESEARCH EXPERIENCE, WATER, SUMMER CAMP, ENGINEERING, ENGAGED LEARNING

Women’s images

of science and 

engineering

img WOMEN’S IMAGES OF SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

HANDS-ON EXPERIENCES WITH STATE-OF-THE-ART IMAGING TECHNOLOGY SERVED AS THE MAGNET TO

DRAW FEMALE STUDENTS (AND THEIR TEACHERS) TO THIS PROJECT FROM ARIZONA MIDDLE SCHOOLS,

HIGH SCHOOLS, AND COMMUNITY COLLEGES. BY EXPERIENCING HOW SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS

EXPLORE THE STRUCTURE, PROPERTIES, AND FUNCTIONS OF MATERIALS, PARTICIPANTS WERE BETTER

ABLE TO UNDERSTAND CONCEPTS OF PHYSICS, CHEMISTRY, AND BIOLOGY AT THE ATOMIC LEVEL. 

Students were able to look through telescopes and charge couple

detectors (which make objects appear closer) to see objects in the sky

typically studied by astronomers; through magnifying glasses and

surveyors’ transits at objects the human eye can measure; through optical

microscopes and videoscopes at objects too small to be seen unaided;

through the electron microscope at submicroscopic objects (smaller than

a wavelength of light), such as viruses; and through a scanning tunneling

microscope and a transmission electron microscope at nanometer-scale

landscapes on the same common objects. 

WISE days (women’s images of science and engineering) were held

Saturdays for middle and high school girls and Fridays for community

college students. Cross-discipline activities (e.g., apples, red blood cells,

and integrated circuits) gave pre-college students a chance to use

microscopy to examine everyday items or items of high interest. The most

popular WISE day, on forensic science (crime lab, DNA, murder mystery,

fingerprinting—and a pathologist’s presentation), became a teacherdriven module the third year; mining and air pollution (acid rain) were

also popular. Project-based learning activities for community college

students emphasized Web-based research and how to develop Web pages

to display project results. 

Family nights, held roughly once a month on Friday evenings, sometimes

offered hands-on exhibits and activities, sometimes presentations (for

example, on “Rainbows, Soap Bubbles, and Peacock Feathers,” on

iridescence, or a night at the ASU planetarium). 

Summer workshops for students and teachers used presentations, guest

speakers, group activities, role playing, hands-on lab activities, and

journals to cover a range of topics, from women in science and Web page

construction to scaling (microscopes to telescopes), photosynthesis,

superconductivity, scanning probe microscopy, and high-resolution

electron microscopy. Teachers were paid stipends and encouraged to

participate in activities for students. At their request, teachers were also

given separate two-day, six-hour faculty workshops. 

Students and teachers alike preferred hands-on, inquiry-based activities

using the various imaging technologies, but they also rated highly a river

rafting trip and Web page construction. Of students who participated, 60

percent said they were now more likely to take advanced math and 

science courses.

CODES: M, H, U, I, PD MARICOPA COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGES

MARIA HESSE (HESSE.CGC.MARICOPA.EDU), B.L. RAMAKRISHNA, PUSHPA RAMAKRISHNA, AND PATRICIA WILSON

HRD 95-55733 (THREE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNERS: CHANDLER-GILBERT COMMUNITY COLLEGE, WILLIS JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL, ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY (AND PLANETARIUM), ARIZONA SCIENCE CENTER. 

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, COMMUNITY COLLEGE, HANDS-ON, WORKSHOPS, PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT, PROJECT-BASED, TEACHER TRAINING, INQUIRY-BASED, FIELD TRIPS

003
“WHEN THOSE WHO HAVE THE POWER TO NAME AND TO SOCIALLY CONSTRUCT REALITY CHOOSE NOT TO SEE YOU OR HEAR

YOU, WHETHER YOU ARE DARK-SKINNED, OLD, DISABLED, FEMALE, OR SPEAK WITH A DIFFERENT ACCENT OR DIALECT THAN

THEIRS, WHEN SOMEONE WITH THE AUTHORITY OF A TEACHER, SAY, DESCRIBES THE WORLD AND YOU ARE NOT IN IT, THERE

IS A MOMENT OF PSYCHIC DISEQUILIBRIUM, AS IF YOU LOOKED INTO A MIRROR AND SAW NOTHING.”

—POET ADRIENNE RICH, INVISIBLE IN ACADEME 

ONE OF NSF’S STRATEGIC GOALS AND THEMES IS “PEOPLE”—ESPECIALLY BROADENING PARTICIPATION IN SCIENCE

TO INCLUDE GROUPS TRADITIONALLY UNDERREPRESENTED IN THE ENTERPRISE: WOMEN, CERTAIN MINORITIES, AND

PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES. OF COURSE THESE POPULATIONS INTERSECT—HALF OF OUR POPULATION IS FEMALE,

HALF OF MINORITIES ARE FEMALE, AND SO ON. JUST AS BEING FEMALE CAN POSE CERTAIN BARRIERS TO THE 

PURSUIT OF SCIENCE AND MATH, SO ETHNIC AND RACIAL DIFFERENCES AND DISABILITIES CAN POSE BARRIERS.

BEING FEMALE AND AFRICAN AMERICAN, OR FEMALE AND NATIVE AMERICAN, OR FEMALE AND HISPANIC, OR FEMALE

AND DISABLED, OR FEMALE AND “AT RISK” OR ECONOMICALLY DEPRIVED CAN POSE DIFFERENT CHALLENGES IN

ACCESS TO QUALITY EDUCATION AND ENCOURAGEMENT TO REALIZE AN INTEREST IN SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS. 

MANY PROJECTS HAVE ADDRESSED THE COMPLEXITIES OF MULTIPLE DIVERSITIES HEAD ON. THEY USUALLY START BY

ASSESSING THE “TARGET POPULATION” AND ITS UNIQUE CHARACTERISTICS, AND THEN DESIGNING A PROGRAM THAT

WORKS FOR THAT GROUP, WHETHER IT IS ADDRESSING THE ISSUE OF LANGUAGE LEARNING AND SCIENCE 

EDUCATION, OR LIVING IN A REMOTE RURAL AREA AND SCIENCE EDUCATION, OR IN AN INNER CITY AND SCIENCE

EDUCATION, OR HAVING LIMITED OPPORTUNITIES AND LIMITED FINANCIAL SUPPORT.

CHAPTER FOUR . NEW DIMENSIONS IN DIVERSITY

New Dimensions

in Diversity

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Ch

SOME REFERENCES

Campbell, Patricia G., Eric Jolly, Lesli Hoey, and Lesley K. Perlman. Upping the Numbers: Using Research-Based Decision Making

to Increase Diversity in the Quantitative Disciplines. Education Development Center, 2002.

Clewell, Beatriz Chu, and Bernice Anderson. Women of Color in Mathematics, Science and Engineering: a Review of the

Literature. Center for Women Policy Studies, Washington, D.C., 1991.

Differences in the Gender Gap: Comparisons Across Racial/Ethnic Groups in Education and Work. Educational Testing Service,

2001.

Ginoria, Angela, and Michelle Huston. Si, Se Puede! Yes, We Can: Latinas in School. American Association of University Women,

Educational Foundation, 2001.

Hammonds, Evelynn. Articles on race and gender in science.

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Entry and Persistence of Women and Minorities in College and Science and Engineering Education. NCES 2000-601
National Science Foundation Chapter Four . New Dimensions in Diversity

12

LATINAS EN CIENCIA

LOCATED IN THE HEART OF OREGON’S “SILICON FOREST,” THE OREGON

MUSEUM OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY (OMSI) IS DEVELOPING A PILOT

PROJECT TO GIVE HISPANIC GIRLS EARLY EXPOSURE TO HANDS-ON

SCIENCE PROGRAMS, BOTH IN AND OUT OF THE MUSEUM. EARLY

PARTICIPATION IN INFORMAL SCIENCE PROGRAMS DOES INFLUENCE CAREER

CHOICES, AND OREGON’S HIGH-TECH INDUSTRIES NEED MORE HISPANIC

WOMEN IN THE WORKFORCE. 

Latinas en ciencia aims to engage Hispanic girls in science and

technology in grades 3–5, before they have formed a decision against

that career pathway; to support Latinas’ engagement with science and

technology from preschool through high school; and to change the

museum’s internal culture so that it feels more like home for the girls.

The outreach program is targeting three communities: a rural town in

Washington State (White Salmon), a suburban community south of

Portland (Tigard), and an urban community housing center in northeast

Portland (Villa Clara Vista). 

The museum will pilot an all-school assembly to draw Latinas to the

program, a weekly science club to make science fun and accessible, family

science nights, community programs, museum field trips, and activities

to make girls comfortable with equipment such as microscopes and

digital cameras. All activities will be designed to build leadership and

strengthen the girls’ belief in their own ability to succeed in science and

technology.

OMSI will pilot various age-based science programs designed to provide

Hispanic girls with continuous science and technology options from

preschool through high school, with mentorship opportunities designed

to bridge age gaps. For example, girls in grades 3–5 will design science

Latinas en 

ciencia

004

Lat

The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry based its pilot projects

on lessons learned during its planning grant activities: 

• Latina girls often rule out math, science, technology—and 

possibly school in general—by middle school. Advocacy programs 

for high school girls tend to support the rare Latina girls who have 

already chosen to be involved in science and have exhibited a level 

of success. Advocacy programs that begin in middle school must 

work on issues of self-esteem, leadership, and reversing the notion 

that science is not for girls. Programs at the elementary school level 

should excite girls about options in math, science, and technology 

before barriers to these subjects are internalized.

• The Latino community is ready to support a project to improve 

science opportunities for Latinas, but the Spanish-speaking 

population in the Portland metropolitan area is only in the early 

stages of creating the community networks needed to support 

Latina girls in this area. They do not have efficient mechanisms 

for communicating, sharing resources, and doing program recruitment.

• Efforts to reach Latinas must concentrate first on the family. Latino 

family and culture is central to the image Latinas have of 

themselves and their career options. Latinas are more comfortable 

and confident in the museum when many Latino families are 

present. Parents must be comfortable with Latino programs before 

they will grant permission for their girls to participate. And 

family expectations (for example, that girls will baby-sit their 

siblings) may limits girls’ ability to participate in programs 

outside of school. 

• The ability to succeed in school and in academically based careers 

is greatly influenced by learning experiences that take place in the 

home and in preschool through primary grades. Programs for girls 

in science must engage and address the learning needs of young 

girls before grade three science clubs and programs begin.

• Building confidence around science and technology requires 

familiarity, repeated opportunities, and recognition of successes. 

Even highly successful girls tend to doubt their own skills in math, 

science, and technology. All girls need frequent acknowledgment 

and praise for their accomplishments and progress.

• Role models should be provided informally and at many levels. 

Girls can picture themselves five years older, but not much more. 

Girls in grades 3–5 are viable role models for the youngest 

Latinas, late elementary and middle school girls may respond best 

to college-age leaders and role models, and high school girls may 

respond best to young adults and college graduates. 

• It is important to expose girls of all ages to successful women in 

STEM careers. Many children from low-income and marginalized 

communities, especially in rural areas, are not aware of career 

options beyond waitressing, logging, clerking, and teaching.

INFORMAL SCIENCE EDUCATION FOR HISPANIC GIRLS
National Science Foundation Chapter Four . New Dimensions in Diversity

128

activities for younger students and will be trained to read science books

aloud to younger children, while middle school and high school girls will

in turn help the younger girls in their museum science clubs. Latinas from

grades 3 through 12, along with adult role models from the community,

will enjoy overnight Science Camp-Ins at the museum, and middle school

girls will work regularly with female museum scientists and other

community mentors.

To strengthen parental support for girls engaging in the field, OMSI will

hold free monthly Latino family science events, providing bilingual staff

and volunteers and other Spanish-language resources. Training will be

provided on how to interact with Latino children and families and how to

facilitate a parent-based program fostering pre-literacy and science

inquiry skills. 

Schools involved in the project serve predominantly Latino students,

most of whom get free or reduced-price lunches. Some of the children live

in shantytowns with no running water or electricity. Many of their

families, despite living in this country for generations, have been trapped

in a cycle of poverty that only a successful education can break. And most

of the elementary school teachers are Anglo-European women. This

project aims to help those teachers move from the realm of good

intentions to transformative action. 

As a three-year longitudinal study, MAXIMA started with a cohort of

about 200 girls in grade 4, whose progress it will follow through grades

5 and 6. All teachers in those grades are involved in the project, and their

growth will also be followed. Girls will work both with their regular

teachers and with student teachers who have taken MAXIMA’s

professional development seminar.

Changing teaching norms. One reason for poor academic attitudes and

performance in math and science is that elementary teachers are poorly

prepared for teaching science, with too little knowledge both of science

content and of effective strategies for effectively teaching girls. There is

agreement about the need for reform but little guidance about how the

average teacher can implement substantive changes in the classroom. 

Teachers tend to teach the way they were taught, and teacher education

programs have had little or no impact on student teachers’ personal

philosophies of teaching or learning. Some student teachers resist or

struggle with learning to teach for understanding or for diversity, and if

student teachers feel they lack the support required to take risks during

student teaching, they will fall back on the safe, traditional, teachercentered norm to which they have become accustomed after 15 or so years

of schooling.

Teachers need concrete opportunities to improve their skills and knowledge

of content. They need to explore how issues of power and privilege,

ethnicity, gender, and voice influence the how, when, and why of what is

to be learned. They need concrete examples of how to be more genderMAXIMA: CHANGING THE WAY CHILDREN LEARN SCIENCE

USING A MULTICULTURAL, INQUIRY-BASED APPROACH TO ACTIVE LEARNING, MAXIMA, A

PROGRAM AT NEW MEXICO STATE UNIVERSITY, IS EXPLORING WAYS TO TEACH MATH AND SCIENCE TO

ELEMENTARY AND MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS THAT WILL INCREASE GIRLS’ CHANCES OF BECOMING

SCIENTISTS. ALTHOUGH LATINOS ARE THE FASTEST-GROWING POPULATION GROUP IN THE UNITED

STATES, ONLY 3.5 PERCENT OF ALL SCIENCE DEGREES ARE AWARDED TO LATINOS. THIS PROJECT IS

TARGETED TO LATINAS, WHO ARE THE LEAST LIKELY OF ALL TO PURSUE SCIENCE CAREERS.

Work under the planning grant revealed that Latinos in the Portland

metropolitan area were uncomfortable with the museum setting. The

museum is located in a nonresidential area and first-time visitors often

have trouble finding it. Providing transportation, especially for first-time

visitors, made a difference. Bilingual communication is important, and it

helps to provide a small “family” room as a comfortable entry point for

Latino families to gradually acclimatize to the museum space. 

CODES: I, E, M, H, PD OREGON MUSEUM OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY

MARILYN D. JOHNSON (MARILYN.JOHNSON@OMSI.EDU), SUSAN HOLLOWAY, ALISON HEIMOWITZ

HRD 00-86419 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) AND HRD 99-76572 (PLANNING GRANT)

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, HISPANICS, LATINAS, HANDS-ON, ENGAGEMENT, SCIENCE CLUB, FIELD TRIPS, SELF-CONFIDENCE, MENTORING, ROLE MODELS, MUSEUM, PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT, INFORMATION EDUCATION

MAXIMA: 

changing the 

way children 

learn science

Max

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National Science Foundation Chapter Four . New Dimensions in Diversity

12

sensitive and how to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse student population. In math class, for example, as students measure the carpet in the

classroom, they might ask how many fathers and mothers have tape measures at home. When space is the topic, they might talk about the first

Hispanic astronaut and make students aware of the names of Latino scientists, countering the constant negative images Hispanic boys and girls see

of themselves on television. In a unit on architecture, they might take the time to learn and discuss how adobe homes are built. And they must learn

to make sure that a shy, quiet Hispanic girl gets the attention she needs. 

Summer institutes for professional development. MAXIMA focuses on preparing cooperating and student teachers to conduct hands-on, minds-on

activities and on how to make them more gender-inclusive. It also emphasizes critical discussions of how science knowledge is produced and reproduced,

who are (were) the scientists, how their work affects society, and how society determines which scientific work is worth funding. This requires that teachers

undergo a very different kind of professional preparation from the kind they have probably had in their content area studies.

Each year, 36 elementary school teachers attend a two-week summer institute and receive in-school support during the school year. To promote 

long-lasting change, all teachers from each of the selected schools participate. Participants are immersed in hands-on, minds-on math and science

activities eight hours every day, including problem-solving scenarios/learning centers. 

Every second evening, teachers develop curriculum collaboratively. Teachers and student teachers work in groups of their choosing, within their school

sites, to develop gender-inclusive, inquiry-based lessons. They are responsible for preparing a two-week curriculum unit for their grade level, which

they will share with each other.

At the same time, participants learn how to conduct action research projects, which can be tied to the curriculum units they design. They learn to

use new technologies, activities, and problem-solving scenarios. Program funding helps pay for school equipment such as kits for building bottle

rockets, electricity kits with voltmeters, orange juice clocks, graphing calculators, and heart rate monitors. 

To increase opportunities for professional development, student teachers are paired with workshop participants during the school year. To create a

community of learners, teachers are offered release time for meetings to share ideas and concerns and to discuss curriculum or action research projects

with their peers. They are encouraged to observe each other’s classes. 

The research component. The research team is observing classes and teachers’ meetings, videotaping two classes, and using the videotapes to analyze

classroom interactions. Teacher participants themselves can call up a library of video clips to compare what they planned to do in the classroom with

what they see themselves doing. Student teachers will be interviewed as the year begins and end and data on students’ attitudes and performance in

math and science will be gathered through questionnaires, pre- and post-content unit tests of knowledge, and ethnographic interviews with a focus

group of 30 students.

Teaching under MAXIMA emphasizes hands-on, minds-on experience in the sciences and making the curriculum more relevant to the lives of

the students. Some of the strategies master teachers model in summer institutes and in methods classes for student teachers are

• Using a variety of student-centered teaching and learning strategies

• Monitoring groups for equity (who is doing the talking and using the equipment)

• Assigning tasks equally

• Taping students’ learning styles

• Providing opportunities for problem solving

• Encouraging discussions of career options

• Monitoring praise and acknowledging accomplishments

• Accepting more than one right answer

• Implementing wait time and equitable turn-taking

• Encouraging peer tutoring

• Displaying images of men and women from varying ethnic backgrounds in career roles

• Praising and encouraging collaborative learning and avoiding a competitive environment

• Linking careers in science with math, engineering, and technology

• Bringing into the classroom community women successful in STEM-related careers 

MODELING EFFECTIVE TEACHING
National Science Foundation Chapter Four . New Dimensions in Diversity

130

Early findings. Teacher participants credit MAXIMA with giving them stronger content knowledge, more enthusiasm, and more skills and effectiveness in

the classroom. They greatly appreciate the time they spend, the community they build, and the ideas and suggestions they get in their monthly

meetings, which let them learn from each other and have an active, reflective dialogue about teaching issues and challenges. Most of the teachers

are becoming more skilled and comfortable with learning technologies—especially digital cameras, educational software, Internet research tools,

PowerPoint, and Excel. 

The project has become a recruitment project in terms of encouraging teachers to stay in the profession and to consider teaching math and science-related

subject in the upper grades. New Mexico has a shortage of 1,500 teachers a year, and many of the best and brightest (often bilingual and Latino) are

recruited by other states that offer higher pay. But some of the teachers involved in the project have chosen to keep working locally so they can

remain active in the MAXIMA learning community.

The girls in the project generally like math, science, and technology (with some exceptions, such as division and writing up lab assignments). Most

of the girls like it best when teachers talk less and allow them to do hands-on activities or experiments; when their teachers explain difficult material to

them in caring and understandable ways; and when teachers don’t spend too much time explaining a concept or problem with which only a few students

are struggling. Girls often prefer to work in same-gender groups, out of impatience with boys, who tend to prefer “messing around” to working. After

the institute, many teachers began implementing same-gender groups in science and math. In the first “draw a scientist” test, more than half the

girls drew a scientist male in gender but with ambiguous ethnicity. They are clearly aware of gender differences but are still forming understanding of

ethnic identity. Some did not know what ethnicity or culture meant.

A fourth grade teacher whose students got the highest science scores in the district on the science portion of the Terra Nova test (a national

standardized test) credited her participation in MAXIMA as one of the main reasons her students’ academic performance improved.

CODE: PD, E, U NEW MEXICO STATE UNIVERSITY, LAS CRUCES

SUSAN J. BROWN (SUSANBRO@NMSU.EDU), ALBERTO J. RODRIGUEZ, LISA SNOW, PATRICK B. SCOTT, CATHY ZOZAKEIWIZ

http://education.nmsu.edu/Maxima HRD 99-06339 (THREE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNERS: THE LAS CRUCES PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT (SERVING AN URBAN COMMUNITY) AND THE GADSDEN INDEPENDENT PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT (SERVING A RURAL

COMMUNITY); MESILLA, UNIVERSITY HILLS, AND VALLEY VIEW ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS AND ZIA AND LYNN MIDDLE SCHOOLS; THE NEW MEXICO COMMISSION ON HIGHER EDUCATION.

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, TEACHER TRAINING, INQUIRY-BASED, HISPANIC, LATINA, CONSTRUCTIVISM, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS, PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, HANDS-ON, PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS, RESEARCH STUDY, GENDER DIFFERENCES

Role models

change Hispanic

girls’ job 

aspirations

Rmd ROLE MODELS CHANGE HISPANIC GIRLS’ JOB ASPIRATIONS

TO REVERSE THE TREND IN MATH AND SCIENCE AVOIDANCE THAT CLOSES OFF YOUNG HISPANIC

WOMEN’S CAREER CHOICES, THE ES MIJA (ENGINEERING, SCIENCE, AND MATH INCREASE JOB

ASPIRATIONS) PROJECT TARGETED 63 HISPANIC GIRLS WITH A SUPPORT SYSTEM TO PROMOTE

THEIR RETENTION IN ADVANCED MATH AND SCIENCE COURSES AND TO EXPAND THEIR CAREER

OPTIONS. IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT SAN ANTONIO, THE

INTERCULTURAL DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH CORPORATION (IDRA) DESIGNED THE MODEL

PROJECT TO TARGET SIXTH GRADE GIRLS AND SOME SEVENTH AND EIGHTH GRADERS. 

During the year students attended an Expanding Your Horizons

conference, participated in monthly ES MIJA Circles and Family

Math/Science sessions, attended a summer institute, and visited

wetlands and an aquarium in Corpus Cristi.

On average, the girls increased their belief that math and science were

useful and that they were good students. Their grades in math and

science and their math scores on standardized state tests improved.

Surprisingly, their belief that math and science are interesting, that

teachers think they are good math students, and that parents think they

are good science students declined somewhat—but their level of

awareness changed considerably. They were less inclined to believe there

are right and wrong answers and are more inclined to believe they could do

what they want to do, if they tried hard enough and paid attention. 

Most important, they were able to interact with Hispanic professional

women who spoke to and did hands-on activities with the girls, especially

an architect who brought in tools, sat on the floor with the girls, got

them to draw a floor plan for their ideal house, and made them realize

that this kind of career was not beyond them. The confidence of a

004
National Science Foundation Chapter Four . New Dimensions in Diversity

1

CODES: E, M, I INTERCULTURAL DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH CORPORATION

CHRIS GREEN (CGREEN@IDRA.ORG)

HRD 95-53423 (ONE-YEAR GRANT)

PARTNERS: UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT SAN ANTONIO (UTSA) ALLIANCE FOR EDUCATION, HARLANDALE INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT (SAN ANTONIO), AND THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, INDUSTRY PARTNERS, PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT, HISPANIC, RETENTION, HANDS-ON, ROLE MODELS, SELF-CONFIDENCE, FIELD TRIPS, CONFERENCE

withdrawn student with limited English went up tenfold after a project

to make windmills. She not only did one of the best projects but was

willing to speak up, to say something would not work, and was accurate

about why. Cooperative hands-on projects made the girls see that although

not all ideas will work, everyone should have a chance to express her ideas.

They became more patient and appreciative of each other. 

One teacher reported being criticized by other teachers for “not doing

real science,” but the project teachers came to realize that making the

girls aware that math and science are part of their everyday lives, and

motivating them to consider taking advantage of that professionally, was

an important preliminary step to successfully teaching them “content.”

Participating parents learned firsthand that playing games made it easier

to learn math and would sometimes continue playing the games when

they got home. Seeing parents interact with other parents, the girls

became motivated to interact themselves. One parent said it was “like an

awakening.” Parents were proud that they had made time for their

children—which often meant taking time off from work—and had given

them this opportunity. 

Biographical

storytelling

empowers

latinas in math

004

BIOGRAPHICAL STORYTELLING EMPOWERS LATINAS IN MATH

GIRLS AND YOUNG WOMEN LOST TO MATH AND SCIENCE IN THEIR ADOLESCENCE

Lim

ARE DEPRIVED LATER OF OPPORTUNITIES FOR HIGHER INCOME AND FULFILLMENT. THE RESULTING INEQUITIES ARE ESPECIALLY SERIOUS FOR LATINA

STUDENTS. THIS COLLABORATION BETWEEN DETROIT’S SCHOOL OF THE AMERICAS

(A BILINGUAL PUBLIC SCHOOL) AND EASTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY BRINGS

BOTH RESEARCH AND SCHOOL-SYSTEM RESOURCES TO BEAR ON THE PROBLEM.

The research design, which includes experimental and control groups and pre-and post-testing, will help answer the question Can poor girls in grades

6 through 8 in a bilingual school develop positive attitudes toward science and math through a combination of transactional writing and storytelling?

The storytelling by positive role models explores the lives of women scientists, especially Hispanic women in science. Research shows that

• Language is important in teaching math to girls

• Linguistic minority students benefit from bilingual math instruction, especially when math teaching stresses communication 

• Mexican American students learn better through humanized knowledge than through abstract knowledge

• Personalized instruction raises Latino scores in math more than standard instruction does

• Writing facilitates math teaching and learning for underachievers and their teachers, corresponding to other powerful learning strategies 

• Minority students benefit from studying the achievements of women and minority scientists and mathematicians

To recruit Latina women into technical fields, it makes sense to promote math through culturally relevant literacy and storytelling. Hence this project to document the effect of integrating transactional writing (Rose 1989) and biographical storytelling (Daisey 1996) into sixth and eighth grade

math classes at an urban middle school populated with Latino students.

In 10 four-hour after-school workshops, 12 teachers will learn through modeling to integrate math concepts, transactional writing, issues related to

Latina success in math, oral storytelling, and biographies of Latino mathematicians and local high school Latinas successful in math—as well as

Hispanic folk tales about math concepts. They will learn the five-step learning cycle: engage, explore, explain, elaborate, and evaluate. Research will

focus on poor attitude and lack of achievement.
National Science Foundation Chapter Four . New Dimensions in Diversity

132

The idea behind transactional writing for mathematics (TRM), or writing to learn, is that the best way to master a field is to write about it. Writing

is therapeutic for struggling or underprepared students (reducing math anxiety, boredom, and frustration, for example) and lets strong students be creative. Using a split-page format, the student solves problems and writes on the left side of the paper, and the teachers comment on errors (and reasons for errors) on the right side of the paper. Both the math and the English/Spanish teacher write comments, and students revise each exercise. As

a result, students become more competent in both language and math, do not feel threatened by technical mistakes, and concentrate more on what they

are exploring—revising as many times as necessary to clarify math concepts using language.

The idea behind biographical storytelling is to provide a vicarious introduction to diverse female scientists and mathematicians through biographical reading and storytelling, so girls may realize that what seemed simply the way things are could actually be a social construct, advantageous to

some and detrimental to others. By telling biographies, girls are encouraged to choose rather than simply inherit a story: the storytelling itself affects

their imaginations, attitudes, construction of knowledge, and memory of information. And hearing different biographies encourages teachers to have

visions of their students that their students may not yet have of themselves. 

Teachers in the project schools often describe the challenge Latino students present. Every year on career day, Latinas in different professions

came to school and made dynamic presentations. Students read stories with strong minority characters in sixth grade language arts class.

Posters in classrooms and hallways showed famous Latinas in diverse careers. After two years, none of this seemed to have been enough to

influence the pictures the eighth graders drew when asked to “draw a Latina at work.” Despite teachers’ best efforts, “nothing sunk in.” But

experiencing a year of biographical storytelling made a remarkable difference in their post drawings, as this table shows. 

WHAT STUDENTS DREW

After storytelling, fewer students portrayed factory and domestic workers and more students portrayed professional workers. Over and over,

students in an eighth grade class that engaged in biographical storytelling said they had not realized they could aspire to the lives and careers

portrayed in the biographical stories they were discussing in class.

A bilingual sixth-grade math teacher explained that for many Latina students their role model is their mother, but when they heard biographical

stories, they realized that they could choose other role models. This teacher was a role model for Latina students; she has heard Latinas talk

about how their teacher has both a career and a family, and how maybe they did not need a boyfriend right away. Ever aware that one

encouraging comment from a teacher could change a student’s life path, she feared that many girls would be overcome by the pressure to conform

to society’s expectation and would drop out of school before graduation—but she saw “light bulbs come on” during storytelling. There is a long

road between grasping an idea and achieving a goal, but it is no small task to have Latino middle school students realize what is possible for

them. Stories have the power to make a difference in their thinking.

DRAW A LATINA AT WORK

BEFORE THE PROJECT AFTER THE PROJECT

Factory/domestic/migrant worker 72% 13%

Semiskilled worker (secretary or clerk) 18% 13%

Professional/technical worker (teacher, scientist, etc.) 8% 70%

Pop singer 2% 4%

CODES: M, PD EASTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY

CRISTINA JOSÉ-KAMPFNER (CARINO@UMICH.EDU)

HRD 99-08749 (ONE-YEAR GRANT)

PARTNER: DETROIT’S SCHOOL OF THE AMERICAS

USEFUL SITE: www.sacnas.org/bio/index.html (BIOGRAPHY PROJECT OF THE SOCIETY FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF CHICANOS AND NATIVE AMERICANS IN SCIENCE, OR SACNAS)

KEYWORDS; EDUCATION PROGRAM, RESEARCH FINDINGS, TRANSACTIONAL WRITING, STORYTELLING, HISPANIC, LATINA, BILINGUAL, ROLE MODELS, MEXICAN-AMERICAN, AFTER-SCHOOL, WORKSHOPS, TEACHER TRAINING, BIOGRAPHIES
National Science Foundation Chapter Four . New Dimensions in Diversity

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Integrating math 

and science with

Lego Logo

004

L

2

INTEGRATING MATH AND SCIENCE WITH LEGO LOGO

COMBINING LEGO STRUCTURES WITH LOGO PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE ALLOWS CHILDREN—AND

TEACHERS—TO CREATE MACHINES OR CREATURES THAT RESPOND TO COMMANDS THEY PROVIDE BY

PROGRAMMING A COMPUTER. LEGO LOGO ACTIVITIES THAT INTEGRATE MATH AND SCIENCE WERE

THE CENTERPIECE OF PROJECT SAME (SCIENCE AND MATH EQUITY), AN INITIATIVE TO REDUCE

EDUCATIONAL INEQUITY, ESPECIALLY FOR HISPANIC GIRLS. THIS UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT

SANTA CRUZ PROJECT REACHED ABOUT 250 CHILDREN AGED 10 TO 14, IN GRADES 6 THROUGH 9.

UNA MANO AL FUTURO: MAKING SCIENCE ACCESSIBLE TO LATINOS

THE ASSOCIATION FOR WOMEN IN SCIENCE (AWIS) WILL DEVELOP A GUIDE TO MENTORING (UNA MANO AL

FUTURO) AIMED AT THE LATINO COMMUNITY. STUDIES SHOW THAT STUDENTS ARE MORE LIKELY TO PURSUE

SCIENCE IF THEY HAVE MENTORS, LEARN IN A SUPPORTIVE ENVIRONMENT, AND HAVE OPPORTUNITIES TO

EXPLORE POTENTIAL CAREERS. WITH A FOCUS ON REACHING LATINAS IN HIGH SCHOOL, THE GUIDE WILL

PROVIDE RESOURCES TO HELP THE GIRLS AND THEIR PARENTS, TEACHERS, AND COMMUNITY CREATE AN

ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH THE GIRLS CAN EXPLORE THEIR INTEREST IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY CAREERS. 

For 10 years, AWIS has been establishing and improving 

community mentoring programs for pre-college, undergraduate, and

graduate students, with funding from the Sloan Foundation, NSF, and

the NEC Corporation. Earlier projects built on the knowledge and

success of the Sloan mentoring program and produced the 

publication Creating Tomorrow’s Scientists: Models of Community

Mentoring. AWIS will edit and revise its award-winning mentoring

books (A Hand Up: Women Mentoring Women in Science and 

Mentoring Means Future Scientists) and will produce Spanishlanguage editions with online companion materials in both English

and Spanish.

In developing materials and disseminating them to the Latino community, AWIS will work with two partners: ASPIRA, a nonprofit organization

committed to Latino youth issues, and Minority Women in Science.

Through its 76 local chapters, AWIS will distribute materials and help

plan community-based events to reinforce the material’s message. 

In a two-week summer workshop for students and teachers, 48 girls and

eight teachers from three schools participated in a Lego Logo lab and a

hands-on math design workshop. Working in small collaborative groups—

with teachers forming their own cohort—students and teachers learned

the Lego Logo design system one week and constructed a final product

the next week, for a final technology design fair. In the math design

workshop, they carried out various paper engineering and visual math

projects and built backdrops and other structures to integrate into their

Lego Logo projects. They also visited the labs of four women on Santa

Cruz’s natural sciences faculty, who talked about the research they 

were doing.

The idea was that the teachers in the workshop would integrate Lego

Logo into their regular class work, with the girls serving as peer experts,

but there was strong interest at each school site for more advanced Lego

Logo activities—for example, building bridges, area calculators, and

shaking tables. A Santa Cruz High School teacher integrated Lego Logo

into her ninth grade biology courses. Projects included a composter with

automatic temperature regulation.

To encourage Hispanic parents to participate, bilingual assistants were on

hand for a series of five Saturday morning parent–daughter math and

science workshops and a six-week parent math review class. The theme

of the math-and-science workshops was earthquakes, a theme explored

with Lego Logo and hands-on activities, with guest speakers from the

geology and physics departments. Hands-on interactive activities were

also featured in the math review courses, which were designed to help

parents learn ways to help their children with math assignments. 

CODES: E, M, H UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SANTA CRUZ

MARIA E. MATUTE-BIANCHI, MIRIAM FL. LANDESMAN, LAURIE D. EDWARDS, PATRICIA L. STODDART

HRD 94-50077 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, HANDS-ON, ROLE MODELS, BILINGUAL, PARENTAL

INVOLVEMENT HISPANIC, MATH SKILLS, FIELD TRIPS, TEACHER TRAINING

Una mano al

futuro: making

science accessible

to Latinos

004

Una

CODE: H ASSOCIATION FOR WOMEN IN SCIENCE, INC.

CATHERINE J. DIDION (DIDION@AWIS.ORG

www.awis.org HRD 01-20865 (ONE-YEAR GRANT)

PARTNERS: ASPIRA; MINORITY WOMEN IN SCIENCE (MWIS)

KEYWORDS: DISSEMINATION, PUBLICATION, HISPANIC, LATINA, BILINGUAL, MENTORING, CAREER AWARENESS, AWIS
National Science Foundation Chapter Four . New Dimensions in Diversity

134

Hispanic girls 

learn computerassisted design—

and English

Cad HISPANIC GIRLS LEARN COMPUTER-ASSISTED DESIGN—AND ENGLISH

ALTHOUGH CARSON CITY IS NEVADA’S CAPITAL, IT IS A RURAL COMMUNITY

WITH A POPULATION JUST OVER 50,000, MUCH OF IT POOR OR NEARLY

POOR. ITS MAIN INDUSTRY IS GAMING, BUT IN RECENT YEARS MANY

BUSINESSES WITH HIGH-TECH NEEDS HAVE RELOCATED TO THIS PART OF

NEVADA, WHERE THEY HAVE DIFFICULTY ATTRACTING QUALIFIED PERSONNEL. 

A conversation with a student led technology teacher Anita Brooks to

create a program to integrate Hispanic girls into the world of computer

technology. A senior enrolled in Brooks’s computer-aided drafting class at

Carson High School told Brooks that for students like her, for whom

English was a second language, learning to use a computer was like

earning a third language. Language problems kept the student from being

able to apply concepts she understood, despite two hours of work outside

the class for every hour of class work. “Sometimes she would just put her

head down and cry,” says Brooks. Through the Carson City School District,

Brooks proposed a small experimental project to recruit Hispanic teenage

girls into the computer-aided design (CAD) programs that would prepare

them for high-tech jobs. 

Carson City GREATS (girls really enjoy advanced technical skills) was

launched in September 1999, just as the high school opened its new High

Tech Center. The director of the high school’s School-to-Careers program

arranged for five local businesses to provide internships for five students

each semester. Interns worked 90 hours a semester, earning either $6 an

hour or half a credit for participating in the project. Girls were to be

recruited from CAD courses, but because no girls had signed up for those

courses, the bilingual teacher’s aide recruited students from the English

as a Second Language (ESL) program. Recruitment meant selling the

program to the girls’ parents, many of whom believed that a woman’s

place is in the home, a future that did not call for advanced computer

classes. She persuaded the parents that the girls needed to study if they

were to have a better life.

The girls also enrolled in the school’s AutoCAD course and were given

remedial instruction in English/language art and math, if needed. In

addition to all their other classes, the girls were enrolled in a geographic

information systems (GIS) class at 7 a.m. in the High Tech Center’s spatial

analysis/GIS/CAD technology lab. All instructions and demonstrations

were in English, which the aide then translated into Spanish. Lab

assignments were given in English. The aide attended a 

two-day training session in GIS, which made her more confident and

productive in the classroom. 

The results of the research and education activities were startling. It was

assumed that perhaps eight to ten Hispanic girls would be interested in the

program, but those estimates were far surpassed. Not only did the girls learn

skills that could help them land high tech jobs, but also their confidence

levels soared, they became more proficient in English, and during the

summer they improved their math, raising their scores on state math

proficiency exams. A program through which students could learn in both

languages empowered the girls to learn that they had far more ability than

they thought they had—which opened the door to more learning.

Enrollment in high technology classes increased substantially in 2000–2001.

The girls’ comfort zone expanded and, deciding they needed a support

group outside the classroom, they started a lunchtime club that would

meet weekly to discuss such concerns as how to achieve their career goals

without alienating their families. They invited speakers and took field

trips, to expand their career horizons, but they also wanted to help

Latinas who had just immigrated. For the club to be formally sanctioned

on the Carson High School campus, they had to present their club’s

mission and goals to the entire student council. Twenty of the girls

attended the meeting, one presented their proposal, and after asking

many questions, the student council unanimously approved the club.

Speaking up for themselves before students who barely knew they

attended the same school was a monumental achievement for these girls,

who had to articulate their desires and answer questions on the fly. They

opened lines of communication with the majority population that had

not existed before, and in so doing they took the first step in attaining

their dreams and broke ground for many girls to come after them.

GREATS gave these girls a true sense of the possible. Before, they had

been disenfranchised from learning. Now they are standing up for

themselves and asking more from themselves, their counselors, their

peers, and their teachers. They are signing up for classes they never

would have considered before. They view college as a viable option,

which it was not before. And they are advocating for each other as well

as for themselves.

The project brought national recognition to the flexibility and untapped

resources of GIS as a multilingual tool for teaching. Carson High School

and its instructor have become information resources for other

institutions interesting in instituting a similar program. The Nevada State

Department of Education funded an additional year of the program

through the Technology Leadership Challenge Fund. During the summer

of 2000, the Carson City GIS Department was a mentoring agency for 10

004
National Science Foundation Chapter Four . New Dimensions in Diversity

1

CODE: H CARSON CITY (NEVADA) SCHOOL DISTRICT

VALERIE DOCKERY (VDOCKERY@CARSON.K12.NV.US), ANITA BROOKS, GREGORY MARANGI

HRD 99-08730 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) PARTNER: CARSON CITY GIS DEPARTMENT

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, HISPANIC, LATINA, INTERNSHIPS, COMPUTER-ASSISTED

DRAFTING (CAD), INDUSTRY PARTNERS, RURAL, BILINGUAL, CLUB, COMPUTER SKILLS, ENGLISH, SUPPORT SYSTEM, ACHIEVEMENT, SELF-CONFIDENCE, FIELD TRIPS, MENTORING

Week 1. No technology content was presented. To break up

potential cliques and encourage the girls to be mutually

supportive, the class engaged in icebreakers, including a game of

human bingo that required the girls to learn pieces of life

information about one another. These lighthearted activities

promoted a safety net for the girls and cemented their desire to

continue with the class. After assessments in computer and

English proficiency, instruction began. 

Week 2. The girls learned basic Windows and printing

instructions, then took pictures of each other with digital

cameras, opening images from floppy disks and printing the

images out—as a way to engage their interest and get them

experimenting with file navigation on the network, saving, and

document printing. 

Weeks 3–9. The girls learned analysis concepts of geographic

information systems using ArcVoyager software. Some concepts

almost defied translation. Gross national product, for example, is

a difficult concept even for native speakers of English. After

many tears and much tenderness—with other students helping

to translate—the girls experiencing discomfort agreed to remain

in the class. After completing each unit, students were required to

apply what they learned with a small project of their own—so the

teacher could tell if they really understood what they were doing

or were just reading and parroting what they read or saw in the

lessons. During this phase the students were all highly 

motivated and ready to work, diligently completing all of the

assignments and coming in during their breaks to get extra help

from the aide.

Week 10. During the first nine weeks, some of the students

showed tremendous improvement in verbal and written skills.

(One student, who spoke no English when the class started,

beckoned the instructor for assistance and said, “Ms. Brooks, I

have confusion in my heart,” articulating the need for help and

showing the courage to seek it in her own words.) But many of

MASTERING ENGLISH AND TECHNOLOGY

girls, who got field experience gathering data for use in Carson City’s

geographic information system. The girls became a valuable resource for

the city agency while amassing valuable workplace skills. 

This account is drawn partly from a story by Teri Vance in The Nevada

Appeal, February 12, 2000.

the girls, despite becoming more English and technology literate,

still refused to speak English outside the classroom. This

concerned the staff, because on the job they would have to be

able and willing to speak English. Several days were set aside to

discuss the girls’ concern, and the girls admitted anxiety about

making mistakes in English, concern about being laughed at in the

classroom by the Hispanic boys. Not all the boys would laugh but

enough did that they felt humiliated in English-only classes and

preferred speaking Spanish. After long discussions about career

and cultural issues, the girls were encouraged to get past prior

hurts and to start practicing their English skills. To show good

faith, the non–Spanish-speaking teacher offered to give a 

10-minute lecture in Spanish if they would agree to do three of

their four GIS presentations in English.

Weeks 11–18. The girls progressed to ArcView, standard

software for the GIS industry, and became responsible for relating

what they had learned to a new project. They were learning skills

that required they query or narrow down their data. Once they

understood the new tools, they were instructed on how to create

a layout, show and describe the results of their work, and present

their findings. They found this graphic part of the curriculum

very satisfying.

ELLIS (English language software). In addition to regular

classwork, the girls were encouraged to come in during study

period or on their own time to use the English language software

procured with the NSF grant. ELLIS is an interactive multimedia

platform with microphone and headphones. The students may

tape themselves and then hear themselves speaking. Visuals

show specifically where points of articulation are so students can

see how they should be enunciating. The software provides

regular comprehension tests and gives girls feedback on their

progress. The aide is there to help with software mechanics, but

the students drive their own progress. Their English skills, both

written and spoken, improved markedly.
National Science Foundation Chapter Four . New Dimensions in Diversity

136

Student-peer

teaching in

Birmingham,

Alabama

peer STUDENT-PEER TEACHING IN BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA

IN URBAN DISTRICTS THAT ARE PREDOMINANTLY AFRICAN AMERICAN,

MAKING CLASSROOMS GIRL-FRIENDLY MAY BE ONLY A SMALL PART OF WHAT

NEEDS TO HAPPEN. FIRST, THE DESPERATE NEEDS OF AFRICAN AMERICAN

BOYS AND THE LOW NUMBER OF STUDENTS TAKING ADVANCED SCIENCE

MUST BE ADDRESSED. BUT A COMPREHENSIVE STRATEGY FOR INCREASING

THOSE NUMBERS OFFERS AN OPPORTUNITY TO INTRODUCE ISLANDS OF

SUPPORT FOR MATH AND SCIENCE ACTIVITIES GIRLS WILL ENJOY.

In Birmingham, where more than 90 percent of the students are African American, the Russell Mathematics and Science Center (RMSC) provided outreach to students and in-service training programs for middle and upper elementary school teachers and for adult leaders of girls’ organizations. RMSC

is a five-year project of the Alabama School of Fine Arts (ASFA), where nearly half the students major in math and science. 

In the project’s most original training and development activities, every ASFA student did outreach—presenting a lesson or activity to outside students

or adults. RMSC built “presenting” into the curriculum. Three days a week, teacher–student teams—a teacher–coach and five to seven highly trained

and motivated high school students—presented science lessons and labs at after-school sites run by Girls, Inc.

To present a lesson on the basics of electrical circuits, they took strings of Christmas tree lights that kids in the class could cut up and work with in

various ways—allowing students to safely handle circuit principles using cheap materials. The presenters (mostly girls) had to master the material to

field questions from the audience, had to think on their feet, and had to pay close attention to girls in the audience to engage their interest in the

subject. This peer-to-peer teaching was a hit all over Alabama and developed in the presenters a calm and poise that paid off when they interviewed for

scholarships and awards. Some of them left the math/science program with more than $75,000 apiece in scholarship offers. Over three years, the

students presented modern, hands-on science and math instructional demonstrations to more than 800 teachers and 4,500 students a year.

Teachers and students spent most of a year designing a Math and Science Day at a new theme park. They wrote original problems to fit specific rides

(calculating and graphing changes in the roller coaster’s speed, for example), designed written materials, and advised the theme park on the day’s

structure. Math and science activities were conducted at every major ride, where a team of RMSC students helped students trying to solve the problems. 

In an important series of teacher training workshops on African American scientists, teachers were presented with a biographical sketch of an 

African American woman and then did lab activities based on the woman’s specialty—providing a kit so the teachers could reproduce the lab for 30

students back in their own school. For nutritionist Flemmie P. Kittrell, for example, students determined the iron content of cereals by using a magnet

to remove iron filings from iron-fortified cereals; they also determined the protein content of various foods using a biuret solution. 

Girls Inc. recruited 100 students for a four-week all-day summer camp. RMSC conducted the exploratory morning programs, designed to build the girls’

skill, confidence, and self-esteem: an 80-minute math activity, a short break, and an 80-minute science activity. 

CODES: M, H, PD ALABAMA SCHOOL OF FINE ARTS

MICHAEL J. FRONING (ASFAMS@AOL.COM), BARBARA NUNN

HRD 96-19214 (THREE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNERS: RUSSELL MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE CENTER, GIRLS INC.; VISIONLAND; AND THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA PSYCHOLOGY DEPARTMENT

PRODUCT: A BOOKLET OF PROBLEMS FOR THE OUTDOOR MATH AND SCIENCE CLASSES AT VISIONLAND. 

KEYWORDS: EDUCATION PROGRAM, AFRICAN-AMERICAN, TEACHER TRAINING, AFTER-SCHOOL; GIRLS, INC., HANDS-ON, SELF-CONFIDENCE, INFORMAL EDUCATION, ROLE MODELS

004
National Science Foundation Chapter Four . New Dimensions in Diversity

1

Improving

science in a

Dayton

magnet school

Day

IMPROVING SCIENCE IN A DAYTON MAGNET SCHOOL 

DUNBAR MAGNET HIGH SCHOOL SPECIALIZES IN THE HEALTH SCIENCES. LOCATED

IN DAYTON, OHIO’S, INNER CITY, IT SERVES A STUDENT BODY THAT IS 80 PERCENT

MINORITY—MOSTLY AFRICAN AMERICAN. IN 1992, WRIGHT STATE UNIVERSITY

(WSU) UNDERTOOK A MODEL PROJECT TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF HIGHLY

MOTIVATED, ACADEMICALLY COMPETENT YOUNG WOMEN AT DUNBAR WHO WOULD GO

ON TO EARN BACCALAUREATE (AND HIGHER) DEGREES IN THE SCIENCES. 

During the school year, the project revised and updated Dunbar’s science

courses; co-taught (with Dunbar’s science teachers) a college-level

introductory biology course to facilitate the transition to college

(students earning a C or better were eligible for four hours of college

credits); offered a course on the health science professions to interest

girls in health science–related careers; educated girls about career

opportunities and requirements; and developed collaborative activities

between Dunbar science teachers and WSU faculty to reduce the science

teachers’ sense of isolation. WSU science faculty and graduate and medical

students participated extensively in these activities. Most of the student

participants were minority students. 

During the summer, selected high school girls from the Dayton area

worked as apprentices and had a chance to do seven weeks of research

under the close supervision of faculty mentors. Students who had

completed a year of math, biology, and chemistry could apply, with

preference given to students from economically disadvantaged families

who knew no local scientists. Afternoons, students heard presentations

by scientists from WSU and the private sector or went on field trips to

private research and development laboratories, where they interacted

with women and minority scientists.

To strengthen the students’ academic background, WSU faculty gave

lectures on working with fractions, ratios, and percentages; working with

logs and antilogs; performing calculations using mole, molarity, and

titrations; understanding the concept of pH and buffers; plotting XY data

and finding the best fit using linear regression; and calculating

correlation coefficients. 

To strengthen the teaching skills of in-service and preservice teachers,

the project offered a seven-week summer program to update their

knowledge of modern research tools and techniques. The project tried to

integrate activities of the teacher participants and student apprentices

into a close working relationship with laboratory personnel, including

undergraduate and graduate students. Teachers were helped to design

simple classroom experiments.

On Fridays, students, teachers, and faculty mentors gathered for informal

lunches at which women and minority scientists from the private sector

gave talks about their own family and educational background and how

they became interested in science. Toward the end of the summer

program, parents were invited to hear participants give oral presentations

about their accomplishments. Participants also had to submit written

reports, with tables and figures, to gain insight into workplace

requirements. By summer’s end, all of the students who participated

planned to go on to college and to major in math or science. 

CODES: U, H, PD WRIGHT STATE UNIVERSITY

PREM P. BATRA, NOEL NUSSBAUM, RUBIN BATTINO

HRD 92-53433 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNERS: DUNBAR HIGH SCHOOL, DAYTON PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, AFRICAN-AMERICAN, CURRICULUM, CAREER AWARENESS, RECRUITMENT, RESEARCH EXPERIENCE, FIELD TRIPS, MENTORING, TEACHER TRAINING, PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT

004
National Science Foundation Chapter Four . New Dimensions in Diversity

138

Turnage scholars

program

004

Turn TURNAGE SCHOLARS PROGRAM

THIS COMPREHENSIVE REGIONAL EXPERIMENTAL PROJECT FOR GIRLS AND WOMEN IS A COLLABORATION

BETWEEN THE HISTORICALLY BLACK ELIZABETH CITY STATE UNIVERSITY (ECSU) AND THE ROANOKE

RIVER VALLEY CONSORTIUM—FIVE RURAL, ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED, PREDOMINANTLY AFRICAN

AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEMS. TO OVERCOME MESSAGES OF SCIENTIFIC INFERIORITY THAT MANY

STUDENTS RECEIVE BECAUSE OF RACE, GENDER, OR SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS, IT AIMED TO CHANGE

SOCIAL, ACADEMIC, AND SCIENTIFIC CLIMATES SO THAT GIRLS’ AND WOMEN’S APTITUDE AND INTEREST

IN STEM COULD FLOURISH AND AT THE SAME TIME TO LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW INFRASTRUCTURE IN

STEM INTERACT WITH GENDER. IT WOULD ACHIEVE THESE GOALS THROUGH STAFF DEVELOPMENT, INNOVATIVE PROGRAMS FOR EIGHTH GRADE GIRLS, MORE PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT IN THE GIRLS’ EDUCATION, AND PARTNERSHIPS BETWEEN BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY. 

The project trained 300 educators—200 teachers, 50 administrators, 25

counselors, and 25 staff members—in more gender-equitable teaching,

in new approaches to multidisciplinary teaching of math and science, and

in alternative methods of assessment.

For eighth grade girls there were after-school clubs, a Saturday

academy (providing valuable activities for children who had nothing

to do and nowhere to go on Saturday), a residential summer

enrichment institute at ECSU, and alumni scholars. The girls learned

about fitness, nutrition, entrepreneurship, and goal setting. Guest

experts demonstrated how to use a stethoscope and spoke about

everything from what it takes to be a good nurse to what it takes to

start and maintain a business. Simulations, labs, experiments, and

other hands-on activities helped them learn the scientific method

and the basics of research, including Internet research. They sought

answers to such questions as “Can sound be heard in space?” and

“What percentage of gum is sugar?” They viewed videos in the

Breakthrough video series, including “The Path of Most Resistance”

(chronicling the rewards and challenges people of color confront in

choosing a life in math or science), learned about career planning,

reported on African Americans in STEM, and completed career action

plans. Field trips and other occasions offered lessons in etiquette

and proper mealtime behavior. Parental involvement was encouraged

throughout.

In the four-week summer enrichment institute, the girls studied a

different theme each week: population ecology/environmental science;

space science/astronomy/physics; architectural design and drafting/

geometry; and living creatures/biological sciences. They took field trips

to the Marine Science Center in Virginia Beach, to the Air and Space

Center in Hampton, and to Hampton University. 

CODES: M, H, U, PD ELIZABETH CITY STATE UNIVERSITY

JAMES A. MCLEAN, GEORGE THIGPEN, SANDRA C. HARDY, CHERYL LEWIS, PATRICIA DOBBIN

HRD 95-55817 (THREE-YEAR GRANT)

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, AFTER-SCHOOL, SATURDAY ACADEMIES, SCIENCE CLUBS, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS, CONSTRUCTIVISM, PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT, INDUSTRY PARTNERS, AFRICAN-AMERICAN, RURAL, STAFF TRAINING, SUMMER INSTITUTE, HANDS-ON, CAREER AWARENESS, FIELD TRIPS

Project PRISM

004

PrSm

PROJECT PRISM

TO KEEP GIRLS AND ETHNIC MINORITY STUDENTS—ESPECIALLY NATIVE AMERICAN STUDENTS—IN THE STEM

PIPELINE, AND TO RECRUIT MORE WOMEN AND ETHNIC MINORITY PRACTITIONERS INTO THE STEM WORKFORCE,

THIS COLLABORATIVE DEMONSTRATION PROJECT AIMS TO PROMOTE SUSTAINABLE REFORM ON GENDER AND

CULTURAL ISSUES IN SECONDARY MATH AND SCIENCE CLASSROOMS. AMONG OTHER THINGS, IT AIMS TO

DEVELOP A UNIVERSITY COURSE FOR TEACHERS AND STUDENT TEACHERS TO HELP THEM IMPROVE THEIR COMPUTER SKILLS AND TEACHING ABILITIES AND INTRODUCE THEM TO ISSUES OF GENDER, CULTURE, AND SCIENCE.

The project’s target population is student teachers at Washington State University and Lewis-Clark State College and teachers, counselors, and

administrators from eight school districts, five of which serve the Colville Confederated Tribes and CCT secondary students. The project aims to make

secondary teachers and counselors more committed to inclusive teaching and curricula and more aware of how gender and cultural issues affect

students’—especially girls’ and Native Americans’—learning and persistence in STEM classrooms.
National Science Foundation Chapter Four . New Dimensions in Diversity

1

CODES: H CLARKSON UNIVERSITY

JULIUS P. MITCHELL, SUZANNE BENALLY

HRD 97-10429 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNER: AMERICAN INDIAN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING SOCIETY (AISES)

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, NATIVE AMERICAN, ALASKAN, SUMMER PROGRAM, MATH, ENGINEERING, HANDS-ON, COOPERATIVE LEARNING, PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS

Teachers and counselors will participate in interactive in-service development opportunities involving gender, culture, and education. A summer

institute will focus on reform in STEM classrooms and curricula. Faculty learning communities will support participants in revision and reform efforts. 

All faculty development components will be designed and developed by teams of secondary and university faculty in cooperation with CCT personnel

and a CCT advisory council. The project will produce and disseminate manuals detailing what goes on in the faculty in-service workshop, the summer

institute, and teaching and curricular reform. 

CCT students will learn about STEM careers and the schooling needed for

them through field trips, hands-on projects, career planning, and

community service projects. The project should add to the knowledge

base about which intervention strategies are effective with Native

American students, especially girls. 

CODES: PD, M, H, U WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY

SANDRA C. COOPER (SCOOPER@MATH.WSU.EDU), JUDY L. MEUTH

HRD 01-20884 (THREE-YEAR GRANT)

PARTNERS: LEWIS-CLARK STATE COLLEGE; COLVILLE CONFEDERATED TRIBES (CCT)

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, TEACHER TRAINING, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS, CURRICULUM, FIELD TRIPS, HANDS-ON, COMMUNITY SERVICE, CAREER AWARENESS, MANUAL, NATIVE AMERICAN, PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Feed the mind,

nourish the

spirit

004

Feed FEED THE MIND, NOURISH THE SPIRIT

OVER TWO SUMMERS, 46 NATIVE AMERICAN AND ALASKAN NATIVE GIRLS FROM HIGH

SCHOOLS ALL OVER THE COUNTRY GATHERED AT CLARKSON UNIVERSITY, IN POTSDAM,

N.Y., FOR A FOUR-WEEK RESIDENTIAL PROGRAM IN MATH AND ENGINEERING DESIGNED

TO EMPOWER AND PREPARE THEM TO MAKE INFORMED CHOICES ABOUT COLLEGE AND

CAREERS IN SCIENCE, ENGINEERING, AND TECHNOLOGY. THE PROJECT WAS A

PARTNERSHIP WITH THE AMERICAN INDIAN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING SOCIETY. 

To show math’s relationship to and application in engineering, the 

math-intensive, hands-on curriculum emphasized major principles in

mechanical, civil, and environmental engineering. Classes were held daily

in math, computers, logic, problem solving, engineering, and

entrepreneurship. The math teacher moved students adroitly from a

review of algebraic concepts through geometry and trigonometry

functions to calculus—without the girls fully realizing it, so they were

not intimidated by the materials. 

Cooperative learning was stressed during problem-solving, which

integrated math and computers, engineering projects, and entrepreneurship (involving a business plan and a PowerPoint presentation). 

• For mechanical engineering, the girls worked in pairs to design, build, 

and demonstrate a model tram that could traverse a sloped string and 

return to the starting point (40 feet, round trip). They had to 

accommodate energy and material constraints and were restricted to a 

one-minute climb. 

• For civil engineering, three-person teams had to build and demonstrate 

the load capacity/weight of a 2-foot truss-design model balsa wood 

bridge, using a computer design program to save time. They competed 

to build the lightest bridge that would support the heaviest load—after

choosing between a Pratt, Howe, or K-Truss or creating their own design. 

• For environmental engineering, one group studied the environmental 

review checklist prepared by the St. Regis Mohawk tribe and submitted 

to the State Department of Transportation in connection with one 

of two bridges on the Akwesasne reservation that DOT had identified 

for replacement. They performed a site visit and queried authorities and 

people affected by the bridge replacement. The end result was that 

DOT redesigned the bridge to include a pedestrian walkway. 

Enrichment and leadership classes were held evenings and some

weekends, when they went on field trips (one year to Toronto, Ontario,

and the next to New York City for the July 4 fireworks), to the theater, to

amusement parks, to Native American cultural events, and so on. 

The personal development component nurtured students to unexpected

levels of accomplishment. When students feel good about themselves and

their existence, they are more inclined to succeed academically. Caring staff

willingly gave each student time and consideration and the students

responded accordingly. Students came to recognize that they were

performing well beyond their own expectations and assumed an “I can do

this” attitude. Tests administered before and after the camp showed an

average 40-point gain in 1997 and 18 in 1998.
National Science Foundation Chapter Four . New Dimensions in Diversity

140

Math enrichment 

for Native 

American girls

N’rich MATH ENRICHMENT FOR NATIVE AMERICAN GIRLS

THE MEGA PROJECT (FOR MATHEMATICS ENRICHMENT GIRLS ACADEMY) ENGAGED 26

NATIVE AMERICAN HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS IN SMALL-GROUP COOPERATIVE LEARNING AT

A FOUR-WEEK SUMMER MATH ACADEMY AT TURTLE MOUNTAIN COMMUNITY COLLEGE

IN NORTH DAKOTA. FOR FOUR WEEKS, GIRLS IN GRADES 10–12 STUDIED ALGEBRA,

TRIGONOMETRY, AND CALCULUS IN A LIVELY MATH ENVIRONMENT. THE GOAL: TO

PREPARE THEM TO MATRICULATE INTO COLLEGE STEM COURSES. 

The math dealt with everyday applications in the students’ Native

American Ojibwa (Chippewa) culture, with an emphasis on problemsolving activities, data analysis, and mathematical modeling. Instruction

followed the “rule of three” stressed in elementary math reform: every

major topic was presented geometrically, numerically, algebraically—and,

in this case, culturally. 

Instructors doubled as role models: math professor Bob Megginson is one

of only 12 Native Americans in the country with a doctorate in math, and

co-instructor Martha Aliaga is a young Latina statistics professor, with

whom the girls could relate. (With role models, younger is better.) The girls

also read biographies of real-life women in STEM careers, from the book

She Does Math!

The girls were given and learned to use a TI-82 graphing calculator—

learning as well such math tools as Mathematica and Lotus 1-2-3. Using

computer spreadsheets, they analyzed data they collected in field trips to

local cultural sites. Problem solving in teams of two or four, they tried

different ways of measuring the four cement Peace Towers. At the native

site Anishnabaug they measured the diameter and height of selected

trees using surveying equipment. They discovered the relationship

between the diameter and the mass of rocks using regression analysis.

They managed to solve a tremendously difficult problem about filling a

swimming pool with water, when they realized the importance of time

and the rate at which the pool is filled. Students will tackle tough math

problems if they see math as an everyday tool with real-life applications.

With graphing calculators in hand, they made house drawings, complete

with round windows and an inclining roof. They wrote fictitious business

plans for businesses they thought could survive in the area, using word

processing and spreadsheet programs to create a loan application and

apply for a $5,000 loan. They became members of the American Indian

Science and Engineering Society (AISES), entitling them to four issues of

Winds of Change magazine. 

Follow-up activities one Sunday a month and a summer camp the second

year had to compete with opportunities for girls to make money—a priority

on a reservation with high unemployment. Although the girls earned $100

a week participating in the project, the tribe’s job program paid more, so

17 girls dropped out the second summer.

But the nine girls remaining attended the second summer session,

which emphasized probability and statistics applications, starting with

the visual representation of data: relative-frequency histograms, 

stem-and-leaf diagrams, empirical distribution functions and ogives,

box-and-whisker diagrams, and scatter plots. Once students had some

visual notion of the concepts of central tendency and dispersion, they

were taught the numerical measures of those concepts through sample

means and sample standard deviations, then proceeded to analyze

bivariate data correlation (both as a numerical measure and as a

concept) and linear regression. At that point, the notion of probability

was introduced as an intuitive extension of the idea of relative

frequency. Permutations and combinations were presented, with strong

emphasis on the intuitive ideas of these concepts and the differences

between them. 

The project will provide strong follow-up for these bright students,

staying in touch with them through high school, graduation, and college.

To keep them improving and taking higher and higher math courses,

everybody—the school, the principal, and their parents—must keep

asking, “How are you doing? What classes are you taking?” That is how the

next Ph.D.’s will come.

CODES: H, I, U TURTLE MOUNTAIN COMMUNITY COLLEGE

SUNIL R. KARNAWAT (KARNAWAT@GIIZIS.TURTLEMOUNTAIN.CC.ND.US)

HRD 95-54495 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, NATIVE AMERICAN, COOPERATIVE LEARNING, MATH, PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS, REAL-LIFE APPLICATIONS, PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT, ROLE MODELS, FIELD TRIPS

004
National Science Foundation Chapter Four . New Dimensions in Diversity

14

Sisters in

science

004

Sis

SISTERS IN SCIENCE

SISTERS IN SCIENCE WAS AN INTERGENERATIONAL PROGRAM TO FOSTER MORE POSITIVE

ATTITUDES TOWARD STEM AMONG FOURTH-GRADE AFRICAN AMERICAN, ASIAN, AND HISPANIC

GIRLS AT TWO ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS IN PHILADELPHIA’S INNER CITY—THROUGH GREATER

COLLABORATION AMONG SCHOOLS, PARENTS, AND THE COMMUNITY. GIRLS WHO WERE

MOTIVATED TO BEGIN WITH WERE MENTORED BY ROLE MODELS AT TWO LEVELS: BY UNDERGRADUATE WOMEN AT TEMPLE UNIVERSITY AND BY RETIRED AND ACTIVELY WORKING WOMEN IN STEM.

In the project’s first stage, cooperative learning projects (centered on the urban environment) were emphasized for an hour a week in two mixedgender classrooms in two model schools. Many of the fourth grade girls also participated in a weekly after-school program, which was co-facilitated

by elementary education students at Temple University and a corps of intergenerational volunteers. The after-school program extended classroom

activities with field trips, experiential service projects, and artistic experiences that promoted environmental awareness (for example, making paper

from recycled paper). Whereas traditional curriculum tries to transfer answers from teachers to students, the SIS curriculum posed questions to the girls,

who, through a process of inquiry, became a community of learners.

In July, about 65 percent of the girls spent two weeks in a summer camp, exploring the city rivers, taking field trips to area environmental agencies,

creating model rivers, and designing plans to prevent the rivers from becoming polluted—returning often to four themes: systems, models, scale, and

constancy/change. In studying city rivers, for example, students learned about the water cycle (systems), about the three states of matter (liquid,

solid, and gas—a lesson fundamental to understanding constancy and change), and about models and scale (by creating their own model rivers).

Asking “How do city rivers get clean so that people can drink the water?” they learned lessons in problem solving, technological literacy, participatory

citizenship, and communications. Finally, they shared what they learned with their families and other elementary school students.

At first the after-school program met every other week. Changing midyear to a weekly schedule increased the girls’ enthusiasm and improved attendance

so much that the project was expanded so fifth graders could participate the next year. Although the girls had started the project with positive attitudes

toward science, they exhibited a statistically significant (.01) increase in scores on a science attitude survey, higher scores on the math attitude survey,

and higher scores on tests of math and science skills. 

As a vehicle for Temple University’s undergraduate elementary education students to become involved in schools before their student-teaching

experience, the project was formally incorporated into the College of Education’s science and math methods courses, and students got credit for

participating.

Acknowledging gender-related differences in learning style, the SIS program aimed to create a more positive learning climate for minority girls—for

example, making it possible for them to manipulate materials. It also sought to increase the knowledge base and understanding of parental influence on

female interest in science and math. It dispelled the myth that parents are unwilling to be involved in educational initiatives. Although both schools are

located in neighborhoods plagued by extreme poverty and limited education and employment opportunities, parents became more involved in their

daughters’ science and math instruction, both in school and out—and their children’s interest and enthusiasm increased as a result. Involving parents

clearly strengthened and sustained the impact of the intervention.

The project would have benefited from more intensive training of teachers (in the constructivist approach to teaching), more teacher responsibility

for implementing activities independent of the project director, and more attention to the transportation needs of older volunteers and flex-time

opportunities for working women. 

THE PROGRAM EXPANDED

The original project was expanded into a two-year intervention involving 540 girls in fourth and fifth grade in six urban schools. The objective was

still to increase the math and science literacy of fourth grade minority girls, to extend the program into fifth grade as the initial cohort advanced in

school, to strengthen teacher’s professional development, and to get volunteers and families more involved in science and math education for

Philadelphia’s children. 

Teachers participated in an intensive two-week summer workshop in professional development before project activities began and in monthly

curriculum planning meetings to familiarize themselves with gender equity issues and useful teaching strategies. Teachers appreciated a workshop in

which project directors worked and talked with them, rather than talking at them. A practicum originally developed by Sisters in Science—which later
National Science Foundation Chapter Four . New Dimensions in Diversity

142

became a collaborative effort with the NSF-funded Collaborative for Excellence in Teacher Preparation—has become a permanent feature of Temple

University’s preparation for elementary teaching. Third-year majors in elementary education work at the six project schools (and teach once a week)

under a master fourth-grade teacher who has attended the summer Sisters session. Sisters in Science has become a known factor in the Philadelphia

public school system. In honor of her work creating the program, in 2000 the Girl Scouts gave a Take the Lead Award in Science and Technology to

principal investigator Penny L. Hammrich.

Even if the girls said they wanted to become a doctor, they were often unaware that they needed to take science classes. Their attitudes did not match

their understanding of how science courses fit into their eventual career path. Year 1 results were positive; it is too early for longitudinal results (and

the project did not include a control group or random sampling). It became evident that because parental behavioral expectations have such important long-term implications for girls’ interest and achievement in math and science, and because positive female role models are also important, program interventions must make a conscious effort to provide support for collaboration among schools, parents, and the community as ideas for useful

strategies are developed, implemented, and evaluated. 

CODE: E, U, I, PD TEMPLE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF EDUCATION AND CENTER FOR INTERGENERATIONAL LEARNING

PENNY L. HAMMRICH (PHAMMRICH@TEMPLE.EDU), NANCY HENKIN

HRD 95-53426 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) AND 96-19021 (THREE-YEAR GRANT)

PARTNERS: SCHOOL DISTRICT OF PHILADELPHIA; RETIREES FROM AREA CHEMICAL COMPANIES; 21ST CENTURY MATHEMATICS CENTER FOR URBAN SCHOOLS; COLLABORATIVE FOR

EXCELLENCE IN TEACHER PREPARATION

PRODUCTS: A MARKETABLE SET OF ACTIVITIES TO BE PUBLISHED AS A BOOK

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, CAREER AWARENESS, ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE, CURRICULUM, AFTER-SCHOOL, MULTI-GENERATIONAL, INDUSTRY PARTNERS, AFRICAN-AMERICAN, ASIAN-AMERICAN, HISPANIC, ROLE MODELS, MENTORING, COOPERATIVE LEARNING, MIXED-GENDER, FIELD TRIPS, HANDS-ON, INTERVENTION, PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT, TEACHER TRAINING, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS

Mgrl MINORITY GIRLS IN THE SYSTEM

A THREE-YEAR RESEARCH AND ACTION PROJECT CALLED GIRLS IN THE SYSTEM (SUSTAINING YOUTH IN

SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING & MATHEMATICS) IS CONDUCTING FIVE SUMMER DAY CAMPS TARGETED TO

UNDERPRIVILEGED GIRLS, ESPECIALLY MEXICAN AMERICAN AND NATIVE AMERICAN GIRLS IN GRADES 3–8.

The project is a partnership between the Sahuaro Girl Scout Council

(which has significant experience working with girls and minorities) and

five departments of the University of Arizona (math, ecology and environmental biology, materials science and engineering, mining & geological engineering, and women’s studies). The idea is to get a sense of where

the girls are and what influences their decisions and at the same time to

move them forward. Each side stretched to accommodate the other’s

interests, to strengthen the crucial link (for this target population) between

informal and formal education. The project emphasizes home–community

connections, stronger links between informal and formal educators; and

links between program components:

• Girls-only (and sometimes mixed-gender) after-school programs and 

summer programs co-led by Girl Scout troop leaders (informal educators) 

and regular and student teachers (formal educators) 

• Twice-a-year academies for the professional development of informal 

and formal educators, designed to foster collaboration (by planning 

how to transform what they learn as adults into a setting with girls), 

promote mentoring, and integrate gender equity

• Workshops to make parents aware of the importance of math and science

courses to their daughters’ career decisions and earning power and to 

make them aware of resources to strengthen their daughters’ education

• Mini-grants to initiate adult study groups, events, and presentations

• Research to add to the sparse knowledge base on STEM education for 

Mexican American and Native American girls

The Girl Scout Council recruits girls, obtains all permissions, and

incorporates the informal inquiry-based curriculum into six-week afterschool scouting sessions during the year, some of them held on the

Tohono O’Odham reservation near Tucson. 

The summer camp was set up with six activity areas, each led by one or two

adults, preservice teachers and Girl Scout leaders together. Each camp centers

on a theme: solar power, rockets, water world, or solving a mystery. Throughout

the camp, the girls rotate among stations, working in small groups. Parents

came to see what they had done on Friday, but parents dropping kids off at

camp also often stayed to play math games with their children. Each camp starts

and ends with a Girl Scout team-building activity. Native American participants

quickly picked up the Girl Scout songs, games, and group exercises.

004

Minority girls 

in the system
National Science Foundation Chapter Four . New Dimensions in Diversity

14

For the solar power camp, some girls made solar ovens, some explored

solar trackers and navigation, and some explored insulation, insulating

cardboard “houses” with their choice of various materials (feathers, lard,

straw, foil, air, Styrofoam, newspaper, etc.) and testing them by placing

hot and cold water bottles inside and recording temperatures over time.

Campers were so enthusiastic about studying solar power that turnout was

heavy on Parents’ Day.

For the rockets camp, the girls built rockets using water or air propulsion.

Most dramatic were those made from bottles and launched 50 feet into the

air using an air pump. Second most dramatic were small rockets with an

engine of water and Alka-Seltzer mixed in a plastic film container—which

soared up to 15 feet. The mixed-gender water camp explored the concept

of buoyancy and other properties of water by making and testing boats.

The mystery camp explored activities detectives use in solving mysteries. 

After-school troop-based programs also dealt with themes, such as

fragrances (exploring the chemistry of perfume, lip balm, and soap) and

the senses; various kinds of engineering (for mining engineering, the

girls had to extract the yolk from a hard-boiled egg with as little damage

to the yolk and eggwhite as possible); math (reducing or enlarging

images of themselves and of a piece of furniture); communication

(designing a communication system using vibrations); and density

(which ended with analyzing the properties of root beer floats). 

As part of structural engineering, one troop experimented with adobe. To

learn what makes a strong structure, the girls broke into groups to see

who could produce the best adobe brick using such ingredients as local

soil, sand, cement, grass, and water. The next week the girls chose one

brick to copy and all worked together to produce 20 bricks each. Later

the girls and their parents used the bricks to construct a bridge in the

school cafeteria. 

The target, 40 girls per camp, was not quite reached, but there was little

attrition: those who came kept coming. Over time, the girls grew in

science and communication skills and self-confidence and were more willing

to take risks and make mistakes, to provide answers and lead activities, to

recognize and change experimental variables, to estimate, to problem-solve

in small groups and to arrive at a consensus about how to work on

problems—practicing the social skills needed for collaboration. Many girls

reported how much they enjoyed getting dirty, taking things apart, learning

to measure, using tools, and thinking about math.

Some summer camps were mixed-gender to allow educators to study

gender interactions with a view to improving their own practices. They

found that girls’ experiences were very different in mixed-gender and girlsonly settings in terms of access, visibility, leadership, and willingness to be

active. In small groups, girls tended to work better with girls only, as boys

tended to take over. When the genders did work well together, the boys may

have made things more competitive, sometimes became more aggressive

during group games, and were more likely to cause behavior problems, if

only to get more attention (albeit negative). But gender is not the only

important factor: color, ethnicity, and poverty may also affect girls’ learning. A girl exposed to robotics may want robotics for Christmas, even

though there may be no computer in her home.

The project offered academies for professional development twice a year to improve teachers’ knowledge of content. Many who attended had

missed out on hands-on learning and appreciated the experience, for themselves and their students. Taking apart and analyzing a telephone and

a computer keyboard—activities that emphasized both construction and destruction—advanced their sense of engineering. Formal and informal

educators had often never had a chance to test hypotheses, to see their designs work, or to experiment with a home technology such as a microwave

oven to increase their understanding of physics. They saw how experiential education could deepen their understanding. Building a river system really

showed water’s action in making canyons and deltas. Building a tin-can telephone, they tested the difference in performance between Styrofoam

and plastic cups and between wire, thread, and fishing line.

They also learned to hold back on “teaching” as “instruction”—and on asking girls the discouraging question, “Are you sure that will work?”—and

instead to ask probing questions, to get kids to think about what might happen and thereby to own the activity and desire to learn, to respond to

learning cues (“teachable moments”), to not answer their own questions, to be co-participants more than authority figures, and to let the children

realize that they too can possess knowledge. Teachers tend to do too much instead of letting kids experiment. Even the principal investigators

differed on how much “help” girls need to avoid frustration. Educators have trouble putting aside their educator and letting girls experience learning,

so girls get discouraged and stop participating. 

TEACHERS’ ACADEMIES: LEARNING, NOT INSTRUCTION

CODES: E, M, I, PD UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

MARTA CIVIL (CIVIL@MATH.ARIZONA.EDU), ARLENE QUIROZ, KATRINA L. MANGIN, SUPAPAN SERAPHIN, AND MARY M. POULTON

http://gistem.math.arizona.edu HRD 99-06152 (THREE-YEAR GRANT)

PARTNERS: SAHUARO GIRL SCOUTS COUNCIL (TUCSON); SOUTHWEST INSTITUTE FOR RESEARCH ON WOMEN

KEYWORDS: EDUCATION PROGRAM, AFTER-SCHOOL, SUMMER CAMP, HANDS-ON, TEACHER TRAINING, MENTORING, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS, PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT, GIRL SCOUTS, HISPANIC, MEXICAN-AMERICAN, NATIVE AMERICAN, UNDERPRIVILEGED, INFORMAL EDUCATION, MIXED-GENDER, PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, RESEARCH STUDY, INQUIRY-BASED, SELF-CONFIDENCE, COMMUNICATION SKILLS, EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING
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Enhancing

Expanding

your Horizons

004

Eyh ENHANCING “EXPANDING YOUR HORIZONS”

EVERY YEAR, AT EXPANDING YOUR HORIZONSTM (EYH) CONFERENCES HELD ACROSS THE

NATION, GIRLS PARTICIPATE IN HUNDREDS OF HANDS-ON WORKSHOPS DEMONSTRATING

HOW MATH AND SCIENCE ARE USED IN VARIOUS OCCUPATIONS, AND ENTHUSIASTIC

WOMEN VOLUNTEERS—GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS AND PROFESSIONALS—CONVEY THE MESSAGE THAT “SCIENCE IS WOMEN’S WORK.” MIDDLE-SCHOOL GIRLS

WHO ATTEND THE CONFERENCES EAT MEALWORMS, CREATE WEB PAGES, EXAMINE THE

EARS OF CATS AND DOGS, BUILD ROBOTS, AND MAKE TOWERS OUT OF STRAW. THEY

LEARN THAT LIQUID NITROGEN ICE CREAM IS “EXTREMELY COOL.” THEY CONNECT WITH

STEM PROFESSIONALS AT WORKSHOPS LIKE “IS VETERINARY SCIENCE FOR YOU?”

Designed by women scientists and educators in San Francisco’s Math/Science Network in 1974, EYH became the organization’s flagship program for

encouraging girls’ interest in STEM. Dating from 1979, the Fargo–Moorhead EYH conference, coordinated by North Dakota State University (NDSU), is

one of the oldest and largest, drawing 800 to 900 participants a year. Right after the conference, participants indicate a strong interest in math and

science but then return to environments that may not support that interest. Long-term evaluations showed that the conference influences their

attitudes about taking math and science courses in high school but—as a one-day experience with no follow-up activities—has no discernible long-term

effect on their career choices. This grant supported several follow-up programs in North Dakota.

EYH emphasizes outreach to non-European ethnic groups and to economically depressed communities. Under the NSF grant, by visiting schools on

Indian reservations NDSU increased the number of Native American participants sixfold (from 11 in 1994 to 68 in 1995 and 1996). 

The project mailed newsletters to all EYH participants, containing information about area women scientists and courses needed for various careers.

Those who expressed a strong interest in math and science were invited back the next year to an Enhanced EYH (EEYH). In 1995 and 1996, 47 students

from seventh and eighth grade participated in longer, smaller, more rigorous workshops and heard women talk about what made their work as scientists

interesting. 

Immediate evaluations of the Enhanced EYH program were positive. A longitudinal survey of EYH participants’ changing interest in math and science

shows that parental encouragement is important in maintaining high interest. As a result of this grant, EYH has a permanent home in NDSU’s Continuing

Education. 

After the conference, the project tried three ways of staying in touch with participants electronically: a listserv, a Web page discussion group, and an 

e-mail mentoring group. Only the mentoring program had any success, because most of these rural students didn’t have easy access to computers. 

EYH also conducted four-day science workshops on campus for high-school girls and supported 17 college students in campus laboratories for a

summer. These women later led EYH workshops and helped with the EEYH program.

CODES: M, H, U, I NORTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY, FARGO

RUTH H. MAKI (RUMAKI@TTU.EDU), CORRIE HAUX, PHILIP BOUDJOUK

www.expandingyourhorizons.org/ 

EYH CONFERENCE SITES: www.expandingyourhorizons.org/conferences.html

HRD 94-50017 (THREE-YEAR PROGRAM) 

PARTNERS: AMERICAN INDIAN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING SOCIETY, MATH-SCIENCE NETWORK

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, HANDS-ON, CONFERENCES, MINORITIES, UNDERPRIVILEGED, NATIVE AMERICAN, PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT, ENGAGEMENT
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Saturday 

workshops for 

middle school

girls

SAT SATURDAY WORKSHOPS FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRLS

TO LEARN WHETHER AND HOW SCIENCE, MATH, AND ENGINEERING WORKSHOPS AFFECT

MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRLS’ ATTITUDES, INTEREST LEVEL, AND KNOWLEDGE OF STEM, THIS

MODEL PROGRAM PROVIDED EIGHT HANDS-ON WORKSHOPS FOR 35 GIRLS (77 PERCENT

MINORITY) FROM THREE DENVER MIDDLE SCHOOLS WITH SIZEABLE HISPANIC,

AFRICAN AMERICAN, AND ASIAN AMERICAN POPULATIONS. THEY COMPARED

EVALUATION RESULTS FOR THOSE GIRLS WITH THOSE FOR A CONTROL GROUP OF 24

GIRLS FROM SIMILAR BACKGROUNDS WHO DID NOT PARTICIPATE IN THE WORKSHOPS.

CODES: M, U, I UNIVERSITY OF DENVER

MARGARET MORTZ (MMORTZ@WSU.EDU), MARIA T. RIVA (MRIVA@DU.EDU)

HRD95-53379 (ONE-YEAR GRANT)

PARTNERS: COLE MIDDLE SCHOOL AND SCHOOL OF THE ARTS, HILL MIDDLE SCHOOL, AND SMILEY MIDDLE SCHOOL

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, HANDS-ON, MINORITIES, WORKSHOPS, SATURDAY

PROGRAM, PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT, ROLE MODELS, CAREER AWARENESS, RESEARCH

STUDY, MENTORING

Saturday workshops held at the University of Denver over a nine-month

period included various biology and chemistry experiments as well as

robotics sessions. Parents of the girls were involved in three of the

Saturday workshops and had separate sessions on adolescent

development and educational planning, as well as some exposure to

STEM activities. Undergraduate student mentors in engineering, biology,

and chemistry helped the girls with their projects, and the girls also

talked with women mentors in STEM-related careers.

Results from the first year suggested that all of the girls, regardless of

group, were persistent in how they approached problems and had high

perceived ability and interest in math and science. Because their levels

of ability and interest started at a high level, they did not change, but

the girls who took the workshops did know more than the control group

about career options in STEM, about what courses they should take in

high school as a foundation for science, engineering, and math degrees,

and about how long it takes to complete such degrees. So the program

was effective in providing knowledge to girls who were already

interested in the subject.

One unexpected result was the positive impact mentoring middle school

girls had on the undergraduate student mentors. Another was increased

parental involvement the second year, after the project was able to

satisfy requests for more parental involvement in hands-on activities—

which made it easier for the girls to talk to their parents about their

projects. Parental enthusiasm for STEM careers increased—some

parents even began to consider STEM careers for themselves—as did the

amount of dialogue between parents. Parents also wanted to know

more about adolescent development and STEM careers.

The after-school

ASSETS project

004

AsA THE AFTER-SCHOOL ASSETS PROJECT 

PILOTED IN 1995, THE ECOLOGY-BASED RIVERGIRLS CAMP WAS ATTENDED BY 45

AFRICAN AMERICAN, NATIVE AMERICAN, AND HISPANIC GIRLS ENTERING SEVENTH AND

EIGHTH GRADE IN INNER-CITY ST. PAUL SCHOOLS. MANY OF THE GIRLS CAME FROM

LOW-INCOME SINGLE-PARENT FAMILIES. THE SCIENCE MUSEUM OF MINNESOTA

DEVELOPED AN AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAM AS AN EXTENSION OF THE FOUR-WEEK CAMP.

The ASSETS project (after-school success exploring technology and science) enabled 24 of the girls who participated in RiverGirls to engage in two

12-week after-school program sequences that gave them more hands-on experience with science, technology, and tools—and a chance to develop

positive relationships with peers and role models who reflected their own cultural identities. The girls’ parents were invited to participate in their

daughters’ museum experience, so they could learn to support their daughters’ math and science education.

CODES: M, I SCIENCE MUSEUM OF MINNESOTA

KATHLEEN WILHITE, MARY ANN STEINER, AND PATRICIA SORBER HRD 96-32321 (ONE-YEAR GRANT)

KEYWORDS; EDUCATION PROGRAM, MUSEUM, AFTER-SCHOOL, HANDS-ON, ROLE MODELS, PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT, UNDERPRIVILEGED, INFORMAL EDUCATION, ECOLOGY

004
National Science Foundation Chapter Four . New Dimensions in Diversity

146

Sweetwater 

girl power

004

SWEETWATER GIRL POWER swt

SWEETWATER UNION HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT, THE LARGEST SECONDARY DISTRICT

IN CALIFORNIA, IS LOCATED IN SOUTHERN SAN DIEGO, ALONG THE BORDER WITH

MEXICO. IN COLLABORATION WITH UNIVERSITY, BUSINESS, AND COMMUNITY

PARTNERS, SWEETWATER DEVELOPED A PROJECT TO BRING ABOUT SYSTEMIC

CHANGE THAT WOULD HELP UNDERREPRESENTED MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRLS (MOSTLY

ETHNIC MINORITIES) PREPARE FOR TECHNICALLY CHALLENGING CAREERS. 

Many of the girls come from homes in which neither parent has a high school diploma. They knew few if any STEM role models and often spoke English

as a second language. To capture their interest, Girl Power stressed high-interest, project-based learning. Girls at 11 schools participated in 48 

after-school club activities (including an archaeological dig, robot-building, a website competition, an investigation of forensics and other science

and math activities, and visits to college campuses, the zoo, and tide pools). Over two years, 85 girls attended special summer classes, and 165

students took part in nine intersession classes. BE WiSE, an organization of local women in science, put on overnight events for 11 middle school

girls at local science venues.

Girls from eight sites came to a math/science expo to compete in hands-on events (building catapults, paper towers, or hot-air balloons), a trivia

game about women in math and science, and a math/science spelling bee. Women from the local science and business community served as judges,

and the girls were given career and other information by local law enforcement agencies, Sea World, and Sky Hunters (which educated them about

raptors). 

Teachers were offered professional development workshops in up-to-date math and science content, gender equity strategies for the classroom (GESA),

hands-on science and math, and counselor training. More than 120 new teachers, 94 veteran teachers, and 12 counselors participated in professional

development. Fifteen teachers completed gender equity training, with follow-up peer coaching. A workshop on reducing math anxiety in the classroom

was popular.

Everyone benefited. Parents appreciated hearing how science and technology classes could help their daughters prepare for success in the world of

the future. The project’s strongest outreach to the community was through the San Diego Science Alliance. An Expanding Your Horizons conference

is planned for 2002.

Trying to effect systemic change in a district the size of Sweetwater with a small three-year program was highly ambitious and optimistic, especially

at a time when state, district, and media were pushing for literacy and a decreased emphasis on science. The project evaluation recommends providing

continued professional development in gender equity and effective instructional strategies; providing a more energetic push for reform at higher 

The Girl Power program stressed four general ways to encourage girls’

interest in math, science, and technology classes:

• Model equity in the academic environment. This can be done by 

hanging posters that feature as many girls as boys (and as many 

women as men), by treating girls equally, by featuring information 

on careers and colleges, and by making evident math and science’s 

real-life applications. In an equitable environment, teachers use 

more hands-on lessons, more cooperative groups, and more 

relevant examples. Teachers and counselors may need extra training. 

• Use appropriate teaching strategies. The most important strategy 

for encouraging girls is to include hands-on activities in which 

boys and girls can participate equally. Girls should get equal 

hands-on time, for example, rather than simply record information 

while the boys do all the manipulation. Teachers should call on 

students randomly, to be sure girls and boys are called on equally 

and get equally complex questions.

• Infuse gender equity into the curriculum. In providing examples, 

tell how specific women have contributed to science, at the point 

in the curriculum that is relevant to their accomplishments. 

• Make assessment equitable. Girls should see models of what is 

expected and should be allowed some options for how to 

demonstrate their competence. 

STRATEGIES FOR NURTURING GIRLS’ INTEREST IN SCIENCE
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14

(more visible) levels of authority; recruiting teams of at least two

committed change agents at each targeted school; and recognizing 

the successes those change agents achieve with ongoing rewards and 

public recognition. 

CODE: M, PD SWEETWATER UNION HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT (CHULA VISTA, CAL.)

CARMEN PLANK (CCPLANK@HOME.COM), JAIME L. LUJAN, FRANCES ROSAMOND

HRD 98-13908 (THREE-YEAR GRANT)

PARTNERS: NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY, UNIVERSITY OF

CALIFORNIA AT SAN DIEGO, QUALCOMM, PROXIMA, CISCO SYSTEMS, THE U.S. NAVY, CURRICULUM ADVANTAGE, THE TIJUANA RIVER NATIONAL ESTUARINE RESEARCH

RESERVE, SAN DIEGO COUNTY WATER AUTHORITY, THE SAN DIEGO SCIENCE

EDUCATORS ASSOCIATION, KBPO SEEK OUT SCIENCE PROGRAM, CALIFORNIA SCIENCE

PROJECT, THE MATH RENAISSANCE PROGRAM, AND THE SAN DIEGO SCIENCE ALLIANCE

KEYWORDS: EDUCATION PROGRAM, TEACHER TRAINING, MENTORING, SCIENCE CLUBS, HANDS-ON, SUMMER CAMP, PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT, AFTER-SCHOOL, INDUSTRY

PARTNERS, MINORITIES, ROLE MODELS, PROJECT-BASED, PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS, CAREER AWARENESS, WORKSHOPS, JOB SHADOW, RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

The GREEN

project

004

Grpr

THE GREEN PROJECT

IN MARCH 1998 A GROUP OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENTISTS, MIDDLE

SCHOOL CURRICULUM SPECIALISTS, MATHEMATICIANS, MIDDLE SCHOOL

TEACHERS, LANGUAGE ARTS SPECIALISTS, AND COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY

SPECIALISTS FROM TWO UNIVERSITIES, THREE MIDDLE SCHOOLS, AND AN

ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH ORGANIZATION LAUNCHED THE GREEN

PROJECT (GIRLS READY FOR ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION NOW). TO

ENCOURAGE MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRLS’ PARTICIPATION IN STEM, THE

PROJECT PROVIDED SUSTAINED ENRICHING EXPERIENCES FOR SEVENTH

AND EIGHTH GRADE GIRLS OF COLOR FROM LOW-INCOME HOMES ON LONG

ISLAND. THE SCHOOLS INVOLVED SERVED LOW-INCOME FAMILIES—

MOSTLY AFRICAN AMERICAN, SOME HISPANIC.

The project developed interdisciplinary curricula around communitybased, environmental social-justice research, with an emphasis on 

girl-friendly teaching practices and advanced technology. Ecological

problems abound in low-income areas, which tend to be close to

manufacturing sites, with minimal organized cleanups. On Long Island,

where groundwater is drinking water, water is an issue. Once the aquifer

is polluted, that water is gone. 

Girls’ summer camp. To explore stereotypes and self-images, the girls

drew what they thought scientists, doctors, engineers, mathematicians,

and social scientists might look like; described what they saw themselves

doing 20 years later; and discussed negative messages they got about

themselves from their family, the media, and society. 

They explored Long Island, with field trips to see the animals, plants, and

ecosystems in the Pine Barrens (a special fire-climax ecosystem), the

Riverhead Foundation Marine Mammal Rehabilitation Facility (a mammal

rescue center), Caumsett State Park (to see a coastal freshwater pond and
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148

to collect specimens on the beach), Jones Beach (to observe nesting

areas and protection strategies for the endangered piping plover and to

do an exercise on distilling fresh water from saline water), and to tidal

wetlands. They analyzed samples and learned to read maps. 

On day 5 they reviewed the negative messages from day 1 against their

new self-images. Girls created raps about women in science and watched

a video to heighten their awareness of socially constructed, mediainfluenced notions of beauty and appropriateness. 

After-school clubs. Some schools formed reading clubs, and girls read a

common list of books, to facilitate discussions of what they were learning

about themselves and science. One club read several environmental

mysteries and some young adult environmental novels. Sisters in Science,

an after-school science club, examined the location of traffic warning

signs near its school, where several accidents had involved pedestrians.

They plotted the placement of traffic signs, studied legal and technical

issues, and made a report to the school.

Parent/daughter technology workshops. At Saturday sessions, girls

learned basic computer and Internet skills. In four workshops parents and

daughters collaborated on projects, the idea being to break negative stereotypes. Facilitators were technically proficient women from diverse ethnic

backgrounds who demonstrated that computers are not just a “guy thing.”

Teacher training. Several workshops were devoted to making teachers

aware of how stereotypes affect their behavior toward students. In one

exercise, teachers were provided with an excerpt from a conversation in the

teachers’ lounge. Based on that paragraph, they were asked to write down

and discuss any assumptions they made about the child in question and

his ethnic and socioeconomic status, home, and school life. After that

discussion, they were given a one-page profile of the child, which proved

many of their shared assumptions false. Follow-up discussions explored how

conscious and unconscious assumptions affect teachers’ interactions with

students.

To improve teachers’ knowledge base and change the way they presented

science, the project offered two week-long training sessions a year,

introducing teachers to problem-based experiential learning, genderfriendly teaching, and interdisciplinary approaches to local

environmental themes. Making them more comfortable with technology

increased the likelihood they would use technology in class. (Some didn’t

know how to use a mouse.) The workshops improved their computer

skills; introduced them to geographic information software (GIS), digital

cameras, and global positioning systems (GPSs); showed them how to

convert GPS locations to GIS mapping software; and taught them how to

use the Internet for problem-based activities. Teachers valued most what

they learned about GIS.

Facilitators from Hofstra and the New York Institute for Technology

modeled interactive, experiential ways of reaching curricular objectives—

emphasizing the psyches of adolescent girls from minorities and low-income

neighborhoods as well as different learning styles and cognitive processes.

Every day started with a summary of the day’s schedule and time to

reflect on the process and to ask questions. The Citizens Environmental

Research Institute (CERI) showed them how to help make data relevant

to their students using GIS—for example, in tracking trends in pollution,

reinforcing visually and statistically the prevalence of pollutants locally.

CERI conducted one session on how to grow cultures, using a kitchen

microwave to disinfect lab equipment.

School teams presented projects on such topics as the consequences of

spraying for mosquitoes carrying the West Nile virus. Teachers from one

school role-played a public hearing on the placement of a petrochemical

plant in a low-income Long Island neighborhood (drawing on articles

discussing a similar real-life scenario from “Cancer Alley” in Louisiana). 

Teachers were encouraged to incorporate social and community advocacy

into project-related lessons but they varied in how fully they integrated

such activities. Some class activities were thin in both content and

requirements for higher-order thinking and some teachers resisted using

the GIS technology and making changes in the classroom. But some

teachers clearly benefited from the training, and so did their students. In

some classes students discovered, for example, that breast cancer rates

were not evenly distributed across the state by race or income and that

traffic enforcement around a school serving mainly low-income minority

children was not commensurate with enforcement around a school

serving upper-income children. As educators, said one teacher, “what we

do, how we do it, and who we do it with can and does make a difference

in environmental awareness.”

CODES: M, PD HOFSTRA UNIVERSITY

CHAROL S. SHAKESHAFT (EDACSS@HOFSTRA.EDU)

www.greenproject.org HRD 97-14775 (THREE-YEAR GRANT)

PARTNERS: NEW YORK INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, UNIONDALE UNION FREE SCHOOL

DISTRICT, HEMPSTEAD UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT, CITIZENS ENVIRONMENTAL

RESEARCH INSTITUTE (CERI)

KEYWORDS: EDUCATION PROGRAM, AFTER-SCHOOL, SATURDAY CAMP, SUMMER CAMP, UNDERPRIVILEGED, TEACHER TRAINING, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS, FIELD TRIPS, CLUBS, WORKSHOPS, COMPUTER SKILLS, EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING, AFRICAN-AMERICAN, HISPANIC, REAL-LIFE APPLICATIONS, ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE, PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT
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A training model 

for extracurricular

science

004

Xsci

CODES: E, M, H, U, I AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE

YOLANDA S. GEORGE (YGEORGE@AAAS.ORG), MARGARET E. TUNSTALL

HRD 94-50597 (ONE-YEAR GRANT)

PUBLICATIONS: STEPPING INTO THE FUTURE: AFRICAN AMERICANS IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING; IN TOUCH WITH GIRLS AND SCIENCE.

KEYWORDS; DEMONSTRATION, HANDS-ON, TRAINER TRAINING, INQUIRY-BASED, COMMUNITY-BASED, AFRICAN-AMERICAN, HISPANIC, MENTORING, BIOGRAPHIES, ROLE MODELS, CAREER AWARENESS, BILINGUAL, PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS

A TRAINING MODEL FOR EXTRACURRICULAR SCIENCE 

THE TOP PROGRAM PRIORITY OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE

(AAAS), A FEDERATION OF SCIENTIFIC AND ENGINEERING SOCIETIES, IS TO IMPROVE STEM

EDUCATION FOR YOUTH—AND TO HELP ENSURE THAT THE GREATER PUBLIC (INCLUDING WOMEN,

MINORITIES, AND PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES) SEES SCIENCE AS PART OF THEIR EVERYDAY LIVES.

THIS AAAS PROJECT DEVELOPED A PASS-THROUGH TRAINING PROGRAM FOR DELIVERING 

HANDS-ON EXTRACURRICULAR SCIENCE ACTIVITIES TO MINORITY GIRLS AGED AGE 5 TO 17.

Adapting a training model long used by organizations such as the Girl Scouts, the project targeted community leaders, undergraduate women in STEM

majors, and parents interested in encouraging their daughters to take advanced math and science. AAAS staff conducted inquiry-based science and

math activities and provided information on STEM careers to 84 staff and volunteers and to 104 parents in seven community-based organizations

serving African American and Hispanic students. They trained 120 African American and Hispanic college-age students as mentors and workshop leaders in community-based organizations.

Two products emerged from this project. The 20-page booklet “Stepping Into the Future” (1996) offers one-page profiles of 17 African Americans in

science and engineering, describing the kind of work they do and how and where they grew up, often ending with career advice for young people. In

Touch with Girls and Science (1995), available in both Spanish and English, is an activity book for use with K–12 students in both formal and informal

settings, from classrooms to community groups. It contains hands-on activities to spark girls’ interest in science and math—on topics such as

electricity and magnetism, our environment, and math in everyday life—as well as mentoring tips, suggestions for motivating girls, references, and

resource lists. Other titles in the In Touch series cover magnetism, electricity, math, preschool science, and community service learning. Nearly all of

the activities use inexpensive, easily obtainable materials.

Bringing minority

high school girls

to science

004

BRINGING MINORITY HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS TO SCIENCE HSg “IT’S NOT SO MUCH THAT GIRLS ARE NOT NECESSARILY TAUGHT DON’T DO SCIENCE, BUT

SCIENCE IS LIKE THROWN IN BOYS’ FACES LIKE, HEY, YOU WILL BE AN ENGINEER AND

MAKE LOTS OF MONEY, WHATEVER, BUT GIRLS DON’T HAVE IT THROWN AT THEM IN

THAT WAY. AS SOON AS I WAS IN THE PROGRAM, IT WAS HEY! THIS IS WHAT I WANT

TO DO. A LOT OF GIRLS WHO ARE NOT EXPOSED JUST DON’T KNOW WHAT SCIENCE AND

ENGINEERING ARE ABOUT, SO THERE IS NO REASON FOR THEM TO CHOOSE IT.”

This pioneering project from George Washington University used computer technology and cooperative learning in a university setting to motivate

minority high school girls to keep studying subjects needed for STEM careers. Each year, 25 girls from grades 9 or 10 were selected from the greater

Washington, D.C., area to take part in a 10-month program to learn computer skills. Six high school science teachers were selected as 

mentor/participants. 

Working in teams, students and teachers developed computer-aided multimedia instruction in science and technology. The idea was that interacting

with female scientists and university professors (role models for careers in science and engineering) in a university setting would raise the minority

girls’ sights toward higher education. As they developed skills and confidence in using computers to conduct research, the students also learned about
National Science Foundation Chapter Four . New Dimensions in Diversity

150

academic and career opportunities available to them and developed a peer network of other young local minority women interested in science 

and technology. 

From 1989 through 1993, 100 girls and 20 high school science teachers participated. The girls flourished in cooperative (as opposed to competitive)

environments, craving teamwork and interdependence. Exposure to role models, reliance on peer group mentoring, and living in a university setting

had a profound effect on these young women. A 1996 follow-up study comparing the girls who participated in the project with a similar population

of girls who did not found that the project did raise the participants’ confidence level and ability to deal with the chilly climate females often encounter

in the classroom and workplace.

Among other positive outcomes from this project was a two-day working conference of experts convened in 1991 to identify the characteristics

of exemplary programs for young women of color and to produce guidelines for future program planners. Project directors Rachel Heller and

Dianne Martin catalogued the essential characteristics of exemplary programs, ranked below in order of importance. 

1 follow-up

2 high expectations

3 role models

4 career counseling

5 fun

6 mentoring

7 parental involvement and training

8 partnerships

9 bridge program for pre-college to college

10 cooperative learning environment

11 strong evaluation criteria

12 replicability

13 career-oriented field visits

14 use of computers to improve skills and 

confidence

15 teacher training for middle and high 

school teachers

16 student professional development

17 effective participant recruitment efforts

18 bridge activities for grades K–12

19 focus on student interests and past experiences

20 community involvement

21 professional involvement

22 open-ended activities

23 doing “real science”

Follow-up was rated the most important characteristic of an exemplary program, regardless of program design or setting. Learning doesn’t happen

and then turn off. Participants may have thoughts a few weeks later and want to ask questions or share their thoughts. This doesn’t mean a

program must go on and on and never die, but the participants need to know they have a way of getting back to you, or getting together, at

least for a short time.

Women of color are much more likely than their male counterparts to have been victims of the “tyranny of low expectations.” An effective program

for young minority women must give special emphasis to high expectations and rigorous standards. One benefit of this kind of program is that

it fosters women’s self-confidence, mental toughness, and resiliency, preparing them for adversity.

Parental involvement differs from project to project, but this was a residential project that included many Hispanic girls. Most Hispanic parents

were not about to buy into a program that had their daughters staying overnight, so the project had to create an environment that would validate

Hispanic parents’ opinion that young girls should not stay away from home and yet would allow the girls to participate. It created a late-evening

parent pickup, to accommodate parents’ concerns.

Nothing happens in a vacuum. This project worked with minority girls who were going to be sophomores and juniors, but students don’t stay

one way forever. They grow and their needs change. Bridge programs are important for transitions, helping take students to the next level.

In an increasingly complex world, partnerships are more important than ever. Most projects need to work with a variety of local groups, because

they need help with funding, mentors, expertise, site visits, and so on. 

CHARACTERISTICS OF EXEMPLARY PROGRAMS FOR YOUNG WOMEN OF COLOR

CODES: H, U GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY

RACHELLE S. HELLER (SHELLER@SEAS.GWU.EDU), C. DIANNE MARTIN

www.student.seas.gwu.edu/~suleiman/girls HRD 91-53447 (THREE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNERS: GWU’S DEPARTMENT OF ENGINEERING AND COMPUTER SCIENCE; IBM; GWU-ITV. A VIDEOTAPE DESCRIBING THE PROJECT WAS PRODUCED IN CONJUNCTION WITH GWU-ITV.

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, COOPERATIVE LEARNING, MINORITIES, COMPUTER SKILLS, MENTORING, TEAMWORK APPROACH, SELF-CONFIDENCE, ROLE MOD- ELS, PEER GROUPS, CONFERENCE, PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT, HISPANIC, BEST PRACTICES
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GEMS:high school

girls learn 

cosmetic science 

004

Cos GEMS: HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS LEARN COSMETIC SCIENCE 

BECAUSE INNER-CITY GIRLS FROM LOW-INCOME FAMILIES ARE RARELY

EXPOSED TO WOMEN IN SCIENCE, IT’S HARD FOR THEM TO SEE STEM AS

RELEVANT TO THEIR LIVES. THE GEMS PROJECT (GIRLS IN ENGINEERING, MATH,

AND SCIENCE) TAPS INTO HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS’ NATURAL INTERESTS, USING A

MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO A HIGH-INTEREST PROBLEM: COSMETIC

DESIGN. TO HELP THEM UNDERSTAND THAT A CAREER IN STEM IS POSSIBLE FOR

THEM, THE PROJECT SHOWS THEM THAT STEM IS ALREADY IN THEIR LIVES—

THEY NEED ONLY EMBRACE IT. WORKING SIDE BY SIDE WITH COLLEGE SCIENCE

FACULTY ON REAL PROBLEMS, THE PARTICIPANTS ARE PAID WELL, COUNSELED,

AND INTRODUCED TO FINANCIALLY SUCCESSFUL FEMALE ROLE MODELS.

For four summer weeks, 40 girls come onto the Rutgers University

(Camden) campus for three and a half hours a day, to experience

anthropology and biography lectures and discussions, luncheon seminars,

and experiments in the labs of women science faculty. Participants are

from an urban, largely minority population of African Americans, Latinas,

and Vietnamese in Camden, N.J. The project recruits girls earning B grades

on the regular college-bound (but not the enriched “honors” or “tech

prep”) academic track—girls midrange in achievement but with enough

maturity, interest, and support to succeed. Grades are used because

standardized tests tend to underpredict this population’s performance.

These girls normally work during the summer—85 percent of their

families are on welfare—so they are paid a stipend of $12.50 an hour,

linking STEM work concretely with economic stability.

Lectures, discussions, workshops, and lab activities introduce girls to

STEM career options. The girls and their families learn what they have to

do to enter the higher education system. Project activities aim to boost

their self-confidence, convince them that a STEM-related identity is

compatible with their identities as women, and engage them in activities

that appeal to their cognitive styles while also introducing them to new

ways of thinking. 

Small groups meet in labs for almost two hours a day, four days a week,

working on cosmetic design projects—chosen because the topic generates

energy and comfort and is of personal interest. To combat any implicit

message of gender stereotyping, before each lab the girls meet first as a

large group for a session in “context setting”—anthropological on days 1

to 4 and biographical on days 5 to 11, to make clear science’s relevance

in their lives and to give them a broader view of themselves across time

and place. 

In the anthropology session, they learn about traditional African and Latin

American uses of body ritual and facial and body decoration—for example,

the elaborate facial designs in rites of passage for Yanamamo women in

Brazil and the red-ochred plaits that identify Masai—and learn how in

these cultures one develops one’s “paint” as a rite of passage, developing and making visible a strong personal identity. They learn about forms

of ornamentation relevant to group membership, status, and gender role.

Each girl is asked to mentally stand outside her world before she begins

assessing the possibilities available to her. The last morning, they paint

their faces to reflect what they know about themselves.

Stories are histories told in a personal way and speak directly to GEMS’

cognitive learning style by relating material in intimate, anecdotal,

nonthreatening ways. In biography sessions the girls read, view, and

discuss the lives of successful women scientists, including Elizabeth

Blackwell, Alexa Canady, Mae Jemison, Lynda Jordan, Madam C.J. Walker,

Maria Villa-Komoroff, and Chien Shiung Wu. Each student completes a

self-assessment of her personality traits to see how she might fit into a

STEM career. The girls meet minority women scientists, reflecting on their

own goals and ways to foresee and work beyond obstacles to meeting

those goals. 

Lab experiments (integrating biology, chemistry, biochemistry, and

psychophysics) allow them to see how scientists work. All experiments

revolve around cosmetics—not how to use them, but how to produce them.

In small work groups they learn through discovery about lab safety,

microbiology (bacteria), body chemistry (the body’s reaction to acids,

bases, and pH), hair composition (in relation to dyes and relaxers),

polymer chemistry (in relation to hair), and product components

(analyzing product composition through chromatography). They actually

manufacture lotions and lip balms. 

Using spectroscopy, they learn which lipsticks do and do not change

when applied to each girl’s lips. They measure their own pH, create a

solution to match their skin’s pH level, alter the pigment’s pH, and seek

the pigments that change the least for a given pH level (and are thus the

most likely to retain their appearance). They select bio-pigments from

lipsticks, change the pH, look at the ensuing change, and identify the

least reactive of the pigments. As a group, they systematically compare
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the spectra of each of the eight initial pigments with those of their eight

altered versions. In doing so, they learn some basic principles and

methodologies of biochemistry. Through discovery learning, they predict

what each analysis predicts for each class of lipstick wearer and what

action they would therefore take as designers. 

The project had planned to mentor 98 girls for two weeks but decided to

mentor fewer girls for a month, to give them time to build strong

relationships with new people. Most of the girls have never met any

women scientists when they start the project. Girls work together in

groups of 10, supervised by an undergraduate mentor and a scientist

mentor. Having mentors closer and further in age makes it easier for the

girls to see science as a life path for themselves.

At lunch seminars, they get acquainted with women at various stages of

their careers, from high school to undergraduate and graduate school to

professional level. During the school year, the emphasis is on continued

mentoring and on community activity: engaging families and other

community members in career-planning meetings, making ministers more

aware of girls’ options, hosting science fairs, providing academic and career

counseling, and sponsoring talks by professional and business women,

community leaders with charisma and high credibility.

CODE: H RUTGERS UNIVERSITY

JING LI (JINGLI@RUTCHEM.RUTGERS.EDU), BETH ADELSON, CAROL SINGLEY, GEORGIA A. ARBUCKLE-KEIL

HRD 99-06200 (THREE-YEAR GRANT)

PARTNERS: CAMDEN SCHOOLS, JOHNSON & JOHNSON

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, MINORITIES, INTERNSHIPS, UNDERPRIVILEGED, URBAN, COSMETICS, ROLE MODELS, CAREER AWARENESS, AFRICAN-AMERICAN, HISPANIC, LATINA, SELF-CONFIDENCE, MENTORING, BIOGRAPHIES, HANDS-ON

Futurebound: 

minority women 

in community 

colleges 

Fut FUTUREBOUND: MINORITY WOMEN IN COMMUNITY COLLEGES 

TO ADDRESS THE SHORTAGE OF WOMEN IN ENGINEERING, FACULTY AT THE

UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA (UA) AND PIMA COMMUNITY COLLEGE (PCC) ARE

RECRUITING STUDENTS WITH THE PROMISE OF RESEARCH INTERNSHIPS,

MENTORING, AND SEMINARS. TO START, THE FUTUREBOUND PROGRAM

GAVE 45 PCC STUDENTS ONE-ON-ONE MENTORING TO HELP THEM WITH

THEIR TRANSFER TO SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING PROGRAMS AT UA. 

Nationally, community colleges are a key entry point into higher education for women and minorities. This partnership between a university and a

community college will develop a comprehensive program to enroll, retain, and graduate more women—especially Hispanic and American Indian

women—in tracks leading to BS and graduate degrees in astronomy, biosciences, chemistry, physics, engineering, and related fields. The target group

is students underrepresented in science.

Currently only 18 percent of UA engineering students are women, and minority women make up less than 10 percent of the enrollment of most

engineering programs. Women—especially minority women—have few mentors and role models in the field and encounter discrimination, pay

inequities, childcare problems, and hostile and discouraging environments. This project will build on previous activities by 

• Extending previous collaboration between UA and PCC science departments on research internship programs, to highlight the efforts of women 

(especially minority) students

• Furthering project partnerships between departments in the College of Science and the women’s studies department (Southwest Institute for 

Research on Women)

• Integrating community college–level programs into UA’s Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) K–12 and university programs

• Attending more to differences within groups and fields

• Identifying and initiating strategies for long-term institutional change 

Futurebound will still rely on WISE for mentoring, peer advising, and career workshops for high school and college students. It will also build on an

existing NIH bridge program at Pima CC that offers PCC transfer students in the biomedical sciences a research experience the summer before their

transfer to UA.

PCC aims to recruit more female students, strengthen their preparedness and widen their knowledge of career choices, and offer them more mentoring,

academic advice, and financial support. It will better coordinate minority and support programs and will improve instructional and support programs

by providing more interactive learning, a classroom climate more conducive to learning, and better outreach to high school science teachers.

004
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CODE: U UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

MARIE E. REYES (MEREYES@EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU), KATRINA L. MANGIN

HRD 01-20878 (THREE-YEAR GRANT)

PARTNERS: PIMA COMMUNITY COLLEGE (A MULTI-CAMPUS INSTITUTION); WISE, GRADUATE COLLEGE, AND WOMEN OF COLOR CONSORTIUM AT UA 

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, SUPPORT SYSTEM, MENTORING, COMMUNITY COLLEGE, RESEARCH EXPERIENCE, HISPANIC, NATIVE AMERICAN, SEMINARS, ENGINEERING, INTERNSHIPS, RECRUITMENT, RETENTION, ROLE MODELS, CAREER AWARENESS

UA will try to improve student motivation, performance, and financial

support, and will foster the use of existing units serving minority and

women undergraduates. With the Graduate College and the Women of

Color Consortium, it will try to get more women engaged in graduate

studies. It will monitor progress by comparing the target group’s grade

point averages and progress toward BS degrees and graduate work with

those of all PCC science and engineering students. 

By addressing the needs of minority women and the many intersecting

issues that affect women and minorities, and by identifying strategies

that encourage these populations to study science and engineering,

Futurebound aims to develop a model to encourage more community

college students generally to move on to four-year academic

institutions.

Learning 

communities

004

LEARNING COMMUNITIES Leco

IN STUDYING WHY 60 PERCENT OF AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDENTS—BUT ONLY 12 PERCENT

OF CHINESE STUDENTS—AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA’S BERKELEY CAMPUS FAILED

FRESHMAN CALCULUS, MATHEMATICIAN URI TREISMAN HAD TO THROW OUT MOST

TRADITIONAL HYPOTHESES (WEAK ACADEMIC BACKGROUND, POOR MOTIVATION, LOW

INCOME, AND LITTLE FAMILY SUPPORT). TO HIS SURPRISE HE LEARNED THAT THE KEY

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AFRICAN AMERICAN AND CHINESE STUDENTS WAS THE WAY THEY

INTERACTED WITH EACH OTHER AND THE UNIVERSITY. AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDENTS DID NOT

STUDY TOGETHER; THEY WORKED HARD, BUT THEY STRICTLY SEPARATED THEIR SOCIAL AND

INTELLECTUAL LIVES. CHINESE STUDENTS FORMED STUDY GROUPS AND HAD STUDY MATES.

THEIR ABILITY TO FORM COMMUNITIES AND TO COLLABORATE WAS A KEY TO THEIR SUCCESS.

Treisman’s work at Berkeley provided the foundation from which two

initiatives emerged: the Emerging Scholars program at the University of

Texas at Austin and the freshman interest group (FIG) or learning

community. The Emerging Scholars program is usually associated with

math, and most FIGs are also discipline-oriented. The University of

Wisconsin at Stevens Point (UWSP), a regional university with an

enrollment of about 8,500, introduced the FIG initiative in 1996–97, and

its success was not universal. Among the 1,500 first-year students who

enrolled that year, the single STEM-related FIG attracted no women. There

was a need for a learning community that targeted women—hence this

UWSP project, which distills features from both the Emerging Scholars

program and the FIG. 

The students most at risk of failure at the university, and most in need of

social and academic scaffolding, are the students who arrive at the

university with the least cultural capital: those from poor or working-class

families, those who are first-generation college students, those who are

academically underprepared or have yet to establish firm career goals.

Women in Science is a women’s learning community designed to provide

scaffolding for those students and to counteract the feelings of isolation in

male-dominated introductory math and science classes that lead many

women to opt out of science.

The Women in Science learning community is interdisciplinary: All women

interested in STEM are eligible. It is culturally diverse: The urban areas of

Wisconsin and surrounding states have large African American

populations, central Wisconsin is home to various Native American

nations, and several Hmong communities have grown up in the area. It

includes both resident and commuter students, as most UWSP students

work to support their education. Those who also commute to school face

such demands on their time—and have such weak ties to the university—

that they can begin to drop out almost without realizing it is happening. 

The project enhances classroom instruction with a technology workshop

(survival training, to combat technophobia) early in the first semester,

mentor-led study groups and peer tutoring, a family open house, and 

STEM-related student employment. A cohort of first-year students takes
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154

several common courses, including a women’s studies course with a

women-in-science theme; writing and English courses, with the 

women-in-science theme reflected in reading and writing assignments;

and a second-semester environmental history course taught by a female

history instructor. Student schedules are arranged so that all participants

who enroll in a STEM course during their first semester are assigned to the

same section, to counteract feelings of isolation. The curriculum is 

rounded out with field trips, guest speakers, and career information.

Students learn about gender issues from guest speakers and are exposed

to female role models—senior educators and computing professionals

who teach them about their field of expertise. A gender issues workshop

is given for STEM faculty, with at least one well-known guest speaker

invited to draw and engage a good audience.

What did “studying math” mean for the Black and Chinese students [Uri Treisman studied at Berkeley]? For the Black students it meant this:

You wake up in the morning. You go to class. You take notes. You get your homework assignment. You go home. You do your homework

religiously and hand in every assignment on time. You put in six or eight hours a week of studying for a calculus course, just what the teacher

says, and what happens to you? You fail. An important point here is that the Black students typically worked alone. Indeed, 18 of the 20

students never studied with their classmates. The same pattern occurred among many of the blue collar Whites and rural students.

What about the Chinese students? They studied calculus for about 14 hours a week. They would put in 8 to 10 hours working alone. In the

evenings, they would get together. They might make a meal together and then sit and eat or go over the homework assignment. They would

check each others’ answers and each others’ English. If one student got an answer of “pi” and all the others got an answer of “82,” the first

student knew that he or she was probably wrong but could pick it up quickly from the others. If there was a wide variation among the answers,

or if no one could do the problem, they knew it was one of the instructor’s “killers.”

It was interesting to see how the Chinese students learned from each other. They would edit one another’s solutions. A cousin or an older

brother would come in and test them. They would regularly work problems from old exams, which are kept in a public file in the library. They

would ask each other questions like, “How many hours did you stay up last night?” They knew exactly where they stood in the class. They had

constructed something like a truly academic fraternity, not the more typical fraternity: Sigma Phi Nothing. 

The Black students, on the other hand, [were not aware of ] what other students in the class were doing. They didn’t have any idea. For

example, what grades they were going to get. The exams were like a lottery: “I got a B,” or, “I got a C.” They had no idea where they stood

relative to their classmates. Moreover, these same students were getting A’s in “Study Skills,” and F’s in the calculus class. What they were

taught in “Study Skills” [did not] help them in calculus. 

Adapted from “Studying Students Studying Calculus: A Look at the Lives of Minority Mathematics Students in College,” by Uri Treisman, The

College Mathematics Journal, Vol. 23, #5, November 1992, viewable at <www.math.rutgers.edu/~greenfie/teaching/workshops/treisman.html>

STUDYING STUDENTS STUDYING CALCULUS

CODE: U UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN, STEVENS POINT

SANDRA K. MADISON (SMADISON@UWSP.EDU), JAMES A. GIFFORD

HRD 98-10207 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

KEYWORDS: EDUCATION PROGRAM, AFRICAN-AMERICAN, NATIVE AMERICAN, HMONG, MENTORING, PEER GROUPS, STUDY GROUPS, WOMEN'S STUDIES, FIELD TRIPS, CAREER

AWARENESS, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS, ROLE MODELS, TEACHER TRAINING, CALCULUS, MATH
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CODES: E, M, I CHICAGO ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

JENNIFER A. BLITZ (JBLITZ@MCS.COM)

HRD 00-03187 (ONE-YEAR GRANT)

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, REAL-LIFE APPLICATIONS, URBAN, HANDS-ON, PARENTAL

INVOLVEMENT, FIELD TRIPS, ROLE MODELS, GIRL SCOUTS, UNDERPRIVILEGED, EXPERIENTIAL

LEARNING, CAREER AWARENESS, MUSEUM, JOB SHADOW

Science 

in the city

004

Scit

SCIENCE IN THE CITY

SCIENCE IN THE CITY, AN INNOVATIVE SCIENCE, MATH, AND TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM, TARGETS GIRL

SCOUTS 9 TO 14 WHO LIVE IN HOMELESS SHELTERS AND HOUSING DEVELOPMENTS THROUGHOUT

CHICAGO. IT GIVES GIRLS WHO LIVE IN DIFFICULT ENVIRONMENTS A STABLE PLACE TO LEARN, MEET

OTHER GIRLS, AND INTERACT WITH SUCCESSFUL WOMEN IN VARIOUS STEM CAREERS. BASED AT THE

CHICAGO ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, SCIENCE IN THE CITY IS NOW BEING EXPANDED TO GIVE MORE OF THESE

OFTEN PHYSICALLY AND SOCIALLY ISOLATED GIRLS THE MANY OPPORTUNITIES THE PROGRAM AFFORDS. 

“I was a Girl Scout myself years ago,” says principal investigator Jennifer

Blitz, of DePaul University’s chemistry department, “and although I knew

from a young age that I wanted to be a scientist, I also remember clearly

how difficult it was at the time to find a female scientist to be a role model.

While I found my models in science fiction, I think it is much more

worthwhile for girls to see actual (women) scientists and learn what they

do. If they can relate to a flesh-and-blood person, they might realistically

feel that they can become scientists, too.”

This project extends a successful collaboration between female scientist

educators and Girl Scouts, an organization that is sometimes the only

vehicle for girls in underserved neighborhoods to expand their lives. The

academy’s Nature Museum is an ideal informal learning institution in

which the girls can explore themes experientially and at their own pace.

(Science museums and other institutions that stress interactive learning

help promote discovery and critical thinking because they are 

experience-based.)

The Science in the City program offers 12 four-hour workshops on science

and environmental learning. Five badge workshops (Weather Watch,

Science Sleuth, Computer Fun, Geology, and Ecology) enable Scouts to earn

the hard-to-get Animals and Plants badge and Water Wonders badge.

Because few economically disadvantaged girls can go to Girl Scout camp,

the program will provide a five-day summer camp experience. The girls

will participate in two Science for Families Days, in which girls and adults

come together to celebrate learning in hands-on activities and

educational scavenger hunts. They will go on field trips, learn about

science careers during a shadow day with museum staff, and learn how

science affects their everyday lives.

TARGETS: 

counseling 

talented at-risk 

girls

004

TarG TARGETS: COUNSELING TALENTED AT-RISK GIRLS

THE INSPIRATION FOR ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY’S TARGETS PROJECT FOR “TALENTED AT-RISK GIRLS”

CAME FROM BARBARA KERR’S RESEARCH AND CLINICAL EXPERIENCES WHILE WRITING SMART GIRLS,

GIFTED WOMEN—THE THESIS OF WHICH IS THAT MOST GIFTED GIRLS ARE TOO WELL ADJUSTED FOR THEIR

OWN GOOD. MANY GIFTED GIRLS DO NOT ACHIEVE THEIR OWN GOALS BECAUSE THEIR RESOURCEFULNESS

AND EAGERNESS TO PLEASE CAUSES THEM TO COMPROMISE THEIR GOALS MANY TIMES IN THE COURSE OF

THEIR DEVELOPMENT. THEY SABOTAGE THEMSELVES BY TAKING LESS CHALLENGING COURSEWORK THAN

THEY NEED, BY STOPPING OUT OF EDUCATION OR CAREER PLANS, OR BY LOSING SIGHT OF THEIR GOALS

ENTIRELY—AND OFTEN NEVER ASPIRE TO GOALS COMMENSURATE WITH THEIR ABILITIES. THEIR STRONG

PRIORITIES FOR MAINTAINING RELATIONSHIPS RATHER THAN ACHIEVING THEIR OWN GOALS MAKES IT

INEVITABLE THAT GIFTED WOMEN ACHIEVE LESS THAN GIFTED MEN.

But some women do achieve their dreams and goals despite societal discouragement. For her book Kerr reviewed the biographies of 33 women judged

eminent in their fields—analyzing their lives in terms of their own dreams, not by masculine standards for their professions. As teenagers these 33

women were different from the gifted girls from intact families who are typically the subject of research studies. Few of them were raised in upper

middle class environments, and many of them had lost one or both parents or had a parent who was physically or mentally disabled. And though most

gifted girls lead placid lives with a playful childhood followed by an involved, well-adjusted adolescence, these eminent women spent an extraordinary

amount of time as girls completely alone, often reading by themselves, friendless, sometimes neglected even by their family. Many eminent women
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At the GEMS (girls into engineering, math, and science) workshop, counselors and science educators became more aware of discrimination against

women and questioned themselves more about their own attitudes and behaviors. Research articles were gathered in a binder, providing participants

with a wealth of information about developing math and science talent in girls and women and about gender-equitable interventions for math and

science education for at-risk, minority, and gifted students. Lectures on developing talent in women and on helping adolescents at risk were combined

with hands-on experiences in an industrial design studio and a mechanical engineering lab. Enrollment increased from 17 in the summer pilot to 75

in the winter.

Some of the most powerful lessons on counseling minority girls came from the girls themselves. The project investigators had assumed, for example,

that girls interested in science would want to be doctors, but rural Navajo girls felt a uniform distaste, even antipathy, toward this career—fearing

anatomy classes because of traditional Navajo concerns about seeing or touching the dead. They also assumed that being an accountant would hold

little appeal for a lively, sociable girl with math talent, who might prefer being a clinical social worker. But this was not the case for Pima, Navajo,

Hopi, and Apache girls. On the reservation, an accountant is a friendly, caring person who often makes “house calls” and who helps the family fill out

difficult tax forms resulting in much-needed refunds. A social worker, by contrast, is someone who takes your children away.

WORKSHOPS FOR GUIDANCE COUNSELORS

CODES: H, U, PD ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY

BARBARA KERR (BKERR@ASU.EDU) ESTHER RATNER, SHARON ROBINSON–KURPIS, VERONICA A. BURROWS HRD 96-19121 (THREE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNERS: NATIONAL CONSORTIUM OF SPECIALIZED SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN MATH, SCIENCE, AND TECHNOLOGY; THE AMERICAN YOUTH FOUNDATION; AND 14 ARIZONA HIGH

SCHOOLS.

PRODUCTS: GEMS RESOURCE GUIDE

KEYWORDS: PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, COUNSELOR TRAINING, INTERVENTION, MINORITIES, SELF-CONFIDENCE, CAREER AWARENESS, ROLE MODELS, NATIVE AMERICAN, HISPANIC

had traumatic experiences during their childhood or adolescence. They were often rejected by other people as teens and often experienced disastrous

romantic lives. And while most gifted girls are noted for their social skills and charm, for their excellent social adjustment and readiness to adapt to

others’ needs, eminent women—as adolescents and adults—were often sharp-tempered and sharp-tongued, stubborn in their pursuits and fierce in

the defense of their own ideas.

In short, most of the eminent women Kerr studied had been talented at-risk girls. If so, perhaps the way to identify the gifted girls most likely to achieve

their dreams was to look at the troubled brilliant girl who makes A’s only in the subjects she cares about deeply and who struggles with many frightening

and painful issues—not at the straight-A achiever on the cheerleading squad. Kerr had discovered the rationale for this project.

The TARGETS project (talented at-risk girls: encouragement and training for sophomores) was initiated in 1992 with no funding. Kerr’s team simply

contacted high schools, told them the kinds of girls the project wanted to help, and trained counselors in an all-day Friday workshop filled with

research-based career and lifestyle counseling techniques. NSF funding allowed ASU to expand the program.

Most career development interventions treat young women’s career decisions as being made in isolation from other decisions, such as whether and when

to marry or have children. To be effective, vocational planning probably has to take place within the context of life planning, including relationship

decisions. And career counseling must include specific powerful interventions aimed at enhancing girls’ self-esteem, self-efficacy, and other expectations

of success. The women with the greatest need of this kind of intervention may be those talented in nontraditional areas such as STEM but at risk because

of poverty, acting-out behaviors, low self-esteem, low self-efficacy, or lack of social support for STEM career goals. In the Southwest, many young Native

American and Hispanic girls, and girls living in communities that do not support high aspirations for women, fit this category.

The TARGET intervention included an hour of assessment in the girl’s home school, a two-day workshop at ASU, a follow-up one-hour visit at the home

school, several pre- and post-tests (e.g., of self-esteem, confidence, personality, values, and vocational interests), and at least one follow-up letter

from their career counselor four months after the workshop. The TARGETS workshop involved tests, counseling activities, a guidance laboratory, and

activities aimed to raise the girls’ sense of purpose, career aspirations, and career identity. Participants met counselors and women scientists who

discussed their own career development and encouraged the girls. In a Perfect Future Day exercise, the girls imagined themselves 10 years older,

discussed issues that emerged from the experience, and were helped to identify ways of overcoming their own at-risk behaviors as well as

environmental barriers to achieving their perfect future day.

Evening and night activities were based on the Math–Science Sleepover developed by Columbia, Mo., Public Schools to encourage girls toward STEM careers

(Schroer 1991). Girls spent the night at a residence hall lounge with counselors and with women mentors in nontraditional fields. The second day they

worked in a science, design, or computer lab solving real problems and meeting with women faculty. Changes in their self-esteem, self-efficacy, and hope

for the future were striking, given the brevity of the intervention. Said one girl, “this was the first time an adult had taken me seriously.”
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GEOS: 

encouraging 

talented at-risk 

college women

AT-r GEOS: ENCOURAGING TALENTED AT-RISK COLLEGE WOMEN

A YOUNG WOMAN TALENTED IN STEM TYPICALLY ENTERS COLLEGE WITH HIGHER GRADES THAN

A SIMILARLY GIFTED YOUNG MAN BUT MAY BE LESS WELL PREPARED, HER COURSE WORK

HAVING BEEN LESS RIGOROUS. SHE HAS HIGH ASPIRATIONS BUT HER SELF-ESTEEM HAS BEEN

DECLINING SINCE EARLY ADOLESCENCE AND IS AT ITS LOWEST POINT EVER. HAVING LOST

CONFIDENCE IN HER OWN OPINIONS, SHE TENDS TO AGREE WITH OTHERS SO SHE WILL BE

ACCEPTED, IS UNLIKELY TO ASSERT HERSELF IN CLASS, AND DOES NOT STAND UP WELL TO

CRITICISM. A C ON HER FIRST MATH OR SCIENCE TEST MAY LEAD HER TO CHANGE MAJORS

BECAUSE SHE’S NOT GOOD ENOUGH. ON VOCATIONAL PERSONALITY TESTS, SHE TENDS TO

SCORE HIGHER THAN AVERAGE ON SCALES FOR BOTH “INVESTIGATIVE” (IDEA-ORIENTED AND

INTELLECTUALLY CURIOUS) AND “CONFORMING” (CONFORMING AND CAUTIOUS).

With a precarious blend of high aspirations and low confidence, of

intellectual curiosity and desire to conform, this typical young woman

enters an environment that is indifferent, if not hostile, to her intellectual goals. The special mentors who guided her in high school have new

students to nurture and in college she is likely to receive little guidance,

encouragement, or support. She will be under relentless peer pressure to

groom herself for a relationship, find a man, and establish a commitment.

Her peers may not even know what her major is or that she was a National

Merit Scholar. If she is Navajo, Hispanic, or African American, she may

feel isolated, uprooted, and separated from the sources of her strength.

Why do some gifted young women survive the chilly climate of the coed

American campus and graduate with their dreams intact? Those who

identify with their chosen field, exhibit maturity and leadership, and have

access to mentoring and guidance seem to do well. But those qualities are

in short supply on the typical college campus.

GEOS (gender equity options in science) extends to at-risk college women

some features of Arizona State University’s TARGETS program for talented

at-risk high school girls. A research-through-service project, GEOS is

using results from TARGETS to improve and expand on the model of the

“counseling laboratory” approach. Over a three-year period, 180 freshmen

and sophomore women enrolled at ASU will participate—some as a

control group—in multiculturally sensitive career development

workshops and mentoring activities. Thirty graduate-level counselors-intraining will be trained in counseling and mentoring women talented in

math and science, and 240 STEM faculty will be trained in equity issues

and mentoring. (The faculty are members of the Wakonse Fellowship, a

consortium of research and teaching universities founded to improve 

college teaching.)

Some career development workshops and seminars will take place at ASU

and some at rural camps, where the informal atmosphere encourages

student–faculty interaction and the natural setting is ideal for hands-on

science experiences. Students will take a series of pre- and post-tests, will

get both group and individual counseling, and will be given the results

of their personal inventories and a Personal Map of the Future—

suggestions for exploring careers in STEM. 

The young women will also be invited to an overnight faculty–student

mentoring retreat at Saguaro Lake Ranch, a Forest Service facility, where

counselors and professors will share informal, woman-friendly science

activities with undergraduates. Overnight activities break down barriers to

student–faculty partnerships and help build community support for young

women. 

Students and faculty who participate in ASU’s career development

workshops and retreat will become trainers and leaders at a five-day

summer STEM faculty training seminar in Michigan, with faculty GEOS

teams from eight universities. Hands-on activities will include identifying examples of resilience in sand dune ecology, developing a

mathematical model for water quality management in a new water

treatment facility; and learning about woman-friendly technology

training at an all-night technology center in the lodge of the Miniwanca

educational center. 

CODES: U, PD ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY

BARBARA KERR (BKERR@ASU.EDU), SHARON ROBINSON-KURPIUS

HRD 00-80706 (THREE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNERS: NATIONAL WAKONSE FELLOWSHIP FOR COLLEGE TEACHING

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, SELF-CONFIDENCE, MENTORING, INTERVENTION, RESEARCH

STUDY, CAREER AWARENESS, TEACHER TRAINING, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS, HANDS-ON

004
National Science Foundation Chapter Four . New Dimensions in Diversity

158

Radio series on

Alaskan women 

in science

004

Raw RADIO SERIES ON ALASKAN WOMEN IN SCIENCE

PUBLIC RADIO STATION KCAW-FM (“RAVEN RADIO”) PRODUCED A FIVE-PART

SERIES PROFILING FIVE ALASKAN WOMEN IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY. LIKE

MANY ALASKANS, THESE WOMEN WERE TOUGH, ADVENTUROUS, AND

INDEPENDENT-MINDED. THEY WERE INVOLVED IN DESIGNING THEIR OWN

EXPERIMENTS AND DID RESEARCH IN THEIR OWN LABORATORIES OR IN THE FIELD.

Some of the women work in treacherous conditions. Harbor seal

researcher Kathy Frost studies seals from an open skiff in Prince William

Sound. Arctic biologist Lori Quakenbush studies wildlife on the Arctic

Ocean, combatting polar bears and freezing conditions. 

For some women scientists, “extreme” conditions are social rather than

natural, so their stories include how they overcame obstacles and what

kept them interested in their field. Eliza Jones, an Athabaskan linguist,

is writing a dictionary of the Koyukon language from her home in Koyuku,

a place with no running water, where many people still live traditional

subsistence lifestyles. 

Geophysicist Amanda Lynch uses the supercomputer in Fairbanks to map

climate change in the Arctic. A fit, blonde 20-something, Lynch smashes

all stereotypes of physicists and mathematicians, battling the glass

ceiling women often face in scientific fields.

Fishery biologist Tory O’Connell is figuring out new ways to estimate fish

populations. She uses a submersible to go down 800 feet below the ocean

surface to count groundfish. In the O’Connell segment, producers went

down in the submersible to demonstrate to listeners how applied science

can be both satisfying and nerve-wracking. 

Tuning in to the sounds of science, the producers create an audio

journey that conveys how interesting and possible science is for

women. Two versions of the series were prepared for state and

national distribution in 5- and 15-minute segments. The Alaska

Department of Education also distributed the series statewide,

along with a written curriculum guide. In 1996 the Alaska Press

Club awarded the series first place for Health and Science

Reporting. 

CODES: I, M, H KCAW-FM RAVEN RADIO

KEN FATE, LISA BUSCH

HRD 95-52947 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNER: ALASKA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION PRODUCT: FIVE-PART RADIO SERIES

KEYWORDS: DISSEMINATION, RADIO, ALASKAN, BIOGRAPHIES, ROLE MODELS

Out of the lab: 

an Alaskan

camp for ninth

grade girls

OUT OF THE LAB: AN ALASKAN CAMP FOR NINTH GRADE GIRLS ACg

“IF THE PUBLIC COULD BE HELPED TO UNDERSTAND HOW SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE

IS GENERATED AND COULD UNDERSTAND THAT IT IS COMPREHENSIBLE AND NO

MORE EXTRAORDINARY THAN ANY OTHER FIELD OF ENDEAVOR, THEY WOULD NOT

EXPECT MORE OF SCIENTISTS THAN THEY ARE CAPABLE OF DELIVERING, NOR

WOULD THEY FEAR SCIENTISTS AS MUCH AS THEY DO.” —JONAS SALK

In conjunction with a public radio program, Sheldon Jackson College and Pacific High school will conduct a residential science camp for ninth grade

girls, encouraging participation by girls from underserved populations, such as Alaskan native, low-income, and rural (bush) students. The camp will

be held partly on the Sheldon Jackson College campus, in downtown Sitka, near the historic Sitka National Historic Park. 

The camp will use Expeditionary Learning School (Outward Bound) techniques: guided questions and challenges posed to encourage students to

explore science, with an emphasis on service learning. The girls will learn about scientific method, scientific assumptions, scientific communication,

how science affects our culture, and how the media portray scientists. To improve teachers’ scientific literacy, scientists will meet with science

educators in a three-day pre-camp workshop to discuss how science is being taught and how science is really done.

This experimental project is the hands-on part of a national radio series on how science is really conducted. The six-hour series, to be produced by

public radio station KCAW-FM in Sitka, will examine the sociological world of scientists, from how they get ideas to how Nobel Prize winners are

selected—and how those selections affect science. Topics covered will include science and religion, evolution in the classroom, creativity and science,

004
National Science Foundation Chapter Four . New Dimensions in Diversity

15

CODES: H, I, U SHELDON JACKSON COLLEGE

JOSEPH A. MARCELLO (JMARCELLO@SJ-ALASKA.EDU)

HRD 00-86366 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNERS: PACIFIC HIGH SCHOOL, PUBLIC RADIO STATION KCAW-FM, PUBLIC RADIO INTERNATIONAL

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, ALASKAN, RURAL, UNDERPRIVILEGED, EXPLORATION-BASED, SERVICE-LEARNING, HANDS-ON, RADIO, TEACHER TRAINING

how culture may influence science, the Nobel Prize, science, and the media—and the Carl Sagan effect (why do scientists fear popularizing science

and look down on scientists who reach out to laymen?). 

Morning lectures will be followed by hands-on lab activities on campus, for the first two or three days. Later in the week, students will camp in an

isolated area on Biorka Island (owned and operated by the FAA and a major military communication installation during World War II). In a camp

setting, the girls will learn about the area’s natural history while working on projects together. On a boat owned by a marine educator, they will

explore the local marine environment—including how organisms adapt and evolve in an island environment. 

Appalachian 

girls’ voices

004

Ap APPALACHIAN GIRLS’ VOICES

THE LITERATURE ON ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT—BASED LARGELY ON STUDIES OF

ADVANTAGED, UPPER-CLASS, MAINLY CAUCASIAN GIRLS—DOCUMENTS GIRLS’ LOSS OF VOICE IN

ADOLESCENCE. THE RESEARCH IN THE VOICES PROJECT ASKED IF LOWER-CLASS APPALACHIAN

GIRLS DON’T LOSE THEIR VOICE AND SENSE OF INDIVIDUALITY WELL BEFORE ADOLESCENCE.

Voices was a three-year research and development program designed to

examine factors affecting rural and urban girls’ participation in STEM subjects and to increase that participation. The Voices project worked with

groups of ethnically diverse middle-school girls and their families,

schools, and communities, drawing from urban and rural West Virginia

middle schools in McDowell and Kanawha counties. 

In the project’s first year, Saturday workshops emphasized the math and

science in traditionally feminine activities such as food preservation,

holiday crafts, quilting, and folk medicine. Hands-on activities showed the

girls that science, math, and technology are not alien, abstract, and

“masculine,” but part of daily life. The girls learned to use the Internet

and were assigned advocates (parents or other adults who worked with

them in math and science). The second year, the girls were assigned adult

mentors from places such as Union Carbide. The third year, the girls and

their mentors designed projects to involve the girls in STEM through

community involvement with younger students and through a “virtual

scientist” experience (reading a science fiction novel and thinking about

women’s lives), the idea being to help the girls see themselves as rocket

scientists and CPAs, physicists and physicians—anything they want to be.

The project selected participants from all “tracks,” including special

needs classes, and by selecting a relatively high percentage of African

American girls challenged certain assumptions. The research literature

contains little indication that key staff might actively resist efforts to

increase opportunities for students assumed to be incapable of rigorous

academic work. The principal from one urban school chose not to refer

any students from the school for testing, so the project worked with

students a teacher recommended.

Voices explored differences between the experience and culture of rural and

urban girls, especially in terms of peer status, self-image, and attitudes

toward authority. Girls in rural communities may have experience in 

hands-on learning and craft knowledge that are useful to the practice of

science, often encounter less peer pressure against doing science, and may

enjoy stronger community support than girls in urban schools. Rural

schools track students on the basis of ability; their assumptions about

students’ ability to learn are very different, and they provide support for

low-track students. Moreover, rural teachers and coordinators live in the

community where they work; urban teachers rarely venture into the housing projects where many of their students live. But girls in rural schools

may receive less encouragement to attend college or aspire to a career, may

have fewer educational opportunities (advocates had to persuade two rural

middle schools attended by project students to introduce or reinstate algebra and pre-algebra), may encounter fewer and less diverse role models,

and may receive powerful social messages that limit their aspirations.

The project expected to find resistance in rural communities to a program

that challenges gender norms, but rural communities provided remarkably

high levels of support for the program. Parental participation in the
National Science Foundation Chapter Four . New Dimensions in Diversity

160

workshops was especially high in rural areas. The project learned the

unexpected advantages of working in a poor rural school district: The

enthusiasm and support these communities bring to a project may more

than compensate for a lack of in-kind contributions from school districts.

Unfortunately, the Voices program awakened an interest in and enthusiasm

for science and math that was not easily transferred to the girls’ formal

classwork. The program did not anticipate the severe disjunction between

the hands-on approach to learning in Voices workshops and the worksheetand text-based instruction common in the girls’ classrooms.

Parents, teachers, and principals (especially at the rural sites)

reported positive changes in girls’ attitudes, behavior, interest, 

self-esteem, and (less often) grades—but the self-confidence and

grades of special education students showed the most dramatic

improvement. Parents and teachers looked favorably on the program,

an attitude that was sometimes misused: Parents and school

personnel sometimes denied girls access to Voices activities as a

form of punishment.

CODES: M, I APPALACHIA EDUCATIONAL LABORATORY

PATRICIA S. KUSIMO (KUSIMOP@AEL.ORG), ROBERT G. SEYMOUR, CAROLYN S. CARTER, PAMELA B. LUTZ, MARIAN C. KEYES

www.ael.org/nsf/voices/index.htm HRD 94-53110 (THREE-YEAR GRANT) AND HRD 98-15117 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNERS: EISENHOWER REGIONAL CONSORTIUM FOR MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE EDUCATION; APPALACHIAN RURAL SYSTEMIC INITIATIVE (ARSI); BLACK DIAMOND GIRL SCOUT

COUNCIL; EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CLEARINGHOUSE/CENTER FOR RURAL EDUCATION AND SMALL SCHOOLS (ERIC/CRESS).

PRODUCTS: DOCUMENTARY FILM, VIDEOTAPES, VOICES CURRICULUM PROJECTS. USEFUL READING: THE PROJECT BOOK BY DOUGLAS FLEMING.

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, INTERVENTION, RURAL, URBAN, SUPPORT SYSTEM, RESEARCH STUDY, CULTURAL BARRIERS, GIRL SCOUTS, APPALACHIANS, WORKSHOPS, MENTORING, PROJECT-BASED, PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT, HANDS-ON, SELF-CONFIDENCE, ACHIEVEMENT

Action-WISE in

Zanesville, Ohio

004

AW ACTION-WISE IN ZANESVILLE, OHIO

WITHIN MUSKINGUM COUNTY, OHIO—WHICH IS PART OF THE FEDERALLY DESIGNATED

APPALACHIAN REGION—THE ZANESVILLE CITY PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT SERVES A

COMMUNITY OF 27,000, MANY OF WHOM LIVE IN POVERTY, OFTEN IN ONE-PARENT HOUSEHOLDS. FEWER THAN A THIRD OF ZANESVILLE STUDENTS COME FROM COLLEGE-EDUCATED

FAMILIES, AND FEWER THAN 45 PERCENT OF THEM PASS THEIR PROFICIENCY TESTS ON THE

FIRST TRY. IN 1995 FIVE TEACHERS FROM GROVER CLEVELAND MIDDLE SCHOOL,

CONCERNED THAT BRIGHT AND CAPABLE GIRLS WERE LOSING INTEREST IN MATH AND

SCIENCE, BANDED TOGETHER IN A PILOT PROJECT TO IMPROVE GIRLS’ ATTITUDES TOWARD

SCIENCE. AFTER 54 GIRLS (A THIRD OF THEM STUDENTS OF COLOR) HAD A CHANCE TO VISIT

LOCAL WOMEN SCIENTISTS AT THEIR WORKSITES AND INTERACT WITH THEM AT MONTHLY

SEMINARS, THE GIRLS STOPPED THINKING SCIENTISTS WERE ALL “GEEKY GUYS.” THE OHIO

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION NOMINATED THE PROJECT FOR A “BEST PRACTICES” AWARD.

In a four-partner collaboration between the Zanesville schools, a two-year technical college (Muskingum Area Technical College, or MATC), a four-year

private college (Muskingum College), and an international wildlife research and conservation center (The Wilds), this Action-WISE project expanded

the number and grades of students involved in that project, strengthened the curriculum, and expanded the project calendar. Roughly 700 elementary

students, 240 middle students, 100 high school students, and 56 educators (who took a graduate course in gender equity) benefited.

Students benefited from monthly seminars and informal discussions with women in STEM-related careers, took field trips, and engaged in hands-on

activities. In summer science camps, students learned math, biology, chemistry, physics, and geology in the course of solving environmental problems.

Science, math, and computer labs at both colleges, regional field sites, and the diverse habitats at The Wilds gave students ample opportunity to

explore. Undergraduate women served as lab assistants and mentors for the middle and high school girls. Few of the girls had been exposed to college,

so most field trips were tied to a college visit.
National Science Foundation Chapter Four . New Dimensions in Diversity

16

Students enjoyed math activities and the Equate math game; conservation medicine and disease transmission activities; studies of the human skin;

a tour of the Texas Longhorn Cattle Ranch and a discussion of food and food distribution; donning and doffing MATC’s hazardous materials suits and

self-contained breathing apparatus; tree identification and a nature scavenger hunt; testing water quality and seining for fish in local state parks;

identifying plants, including medicinal plants; learning about animal behavior and doing field observations at the Wilds; learning about microbiology

(culturing organisms and analyzing results) at Muskingum College; following a nature trail for the handicapped at Flint Ridge State Memorial; and

doing electrical engineering lab activities at MATC.

K–12 teachers who served and supported the project benefited as if they were co-participants with the school-age girls. Having never scaled trees or studied

astronomy themselves, for example, they said they grew with every experience they offered their students. Their enthusiasm for the project drew more

teachers to it. Teachers valued working outside their grade levels, working with outside organizations, having access to sophisticated laboratories, and

networking and exploring possibilities for further development. There was true collaboration among the partners. And sixth grade teachers were able to

acquire science equipment they could not get with district funds.

CODES: E, M, H, I MUSKINGUM AREA TECHNICAL COLLEGE

JOHN R. MARKS (JMARKS@MATC.TEC.OH.US), SUSAN GRUBBS, EVAN BLUMER, JACK KOVACH

www.zanesville.k12.oh.us/grover/wise/index.html HRD 97-14792 (THREE-YEAR PROJECT)

PARTNERS: ZANESVILLE CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT, MUSKINGUM COLLEGE, AND THE WILDS (AN INTERNATIONAL WILDLIFE RESEARCH AND CONSERVATION CENTER)

SCIENCE LINKS: www.zanesville.k12.oh.us/html/ScienceLink.html

KEYWORDS: EDUCATION PROGRAM, UNDERPRIVILEGED, FIELD TRIPS, ROLE MODELS, TEACHER TRAINING, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS, HANDS-ON, CAREER AWARENESS, SUMMER CAMP, MENTORING

Hands-on science 

in rural Virginia 

middle schools

004

HOs HANDS-ON SCIENCE IN RURAL VIRGINIA MIDDLE SCHOOLS

GIRLS ARE OFTEN DISCOURAGED IN SUBTLE WAYS FROM PURSUING AN INTEREST IN SCIENCE.

OVERCOMING SUCH BARRIERS WAS THE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRLS—AND

THEIR MATH AND SCIENCE TEACHERS—IN RURAL AND ECONOMICALLY DEPRESSED COUNTIES OF FAR

WESTERN VIRGINIA. FIFTEEN MIDDLE SCHOOL TEACHERS FROM SIX SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA COUNTIES

SPENT A WEEK LEARNING ABOUT GENDER EQUITY AND PREPARING FOR HANDS-ON ACTIVITIES AT

A GIRLS’ SUMMER DAY CAMP. MEMBERS OF A TEACHERS’ WORKING GROUP HAD MET BEFOREHAND

BY PHONE, FAX, E-MAIL, AND ELECTRONIC CHAT ROOM TO REVIEW HANDS-ON SCIENCE MODULES. 

Part of the idea of SAGE-VA (the science and gender equity program of

western Virginia) was to establish a collaborative network among middle

school teachers, university professors, and community organizations interested

in getting middle school girls to pursue STEM education and careers. It

helped solidify collaboration between classroom teachers in isolated parts

of Virginia and scientists and science educators at Virginia Tech.

Teachers got hands-on experience with teacher-tested approaches to

“discovering” math and science as well as a chance to exchange ideas and

experiences with teachers from other schools. “We can compare what we

do and how we do it, and that can make our teaching more relevant,”

said one teacher. “And best of all, these are real activities. The kids are

really going to love it.”

CODES: M, I, PD VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE AND STATE UNIVERSITY (VIRGINIA TECH)

RUTH G. ALSCHER (RALSCHER@VT.EDU) LORI S. MARSH, JULIE GRADY, SUSAN C. ERIKSSON, KATHERINE CENNAMO, CAROL J. BURGER

www.chre.vt.edu/rebecca/sage-va/mission.html HRD 97-10645 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNERS: GILES, MONTGOMERY, ROANOKE, WASHINGTON, WISE, AND WYTHE COUNTIES; VIRGINIA SPACE GRANT CONSORTIUM

KEYWORDS: EDUCATION PROGRAM, ENGAGEMENT, HANDS-ON, REAL-LIFE APPLICATIONS, TEACHER TRAINING, RURAL, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS, ROLE MODELS, SUPPORT SYSTEM

The following week, those teachers helped 22 middle school girls engage

in hands-on math and science activities. The camp gave the girls a

chance to conduct simple experiments and to use math and physics to

solve real-life problems. At companies in the Blacksburg area, including

a biotechnology firm, they talked with female scientists. They were up to

their knees in a creek, collecting and identifying creatures to assess the

health of the stream.

Each afternoon the teachers discussed group dynamics, gender equity, and

plans for the next day. Each day a different woman from the Virginia Tech

faculty ate lunch with the girls and teachers, to help put a human face on

becoming a scientist and to give teachers a chance to interact with role models

they could invite to give talks or science demonstrations at their schools.
National Science Foundation Chapter Four . New Dimensions in Diversity

162

Science 

connections

004

Sc’s

SCIENCE CONNECTIONS

THE PLUS CENTER (PROMOTING LEARNING AMONG THE UNDERREPRESENTED IN SCIENCE) AT THE COLLEGE OF 

ST. SCHOLASTICA OFFERS WEEKLONG AND MONTHLONG SUMMER SCIENCE PROGRAMS FOR GIRLS THAT EMPHASIZE

GENDER EQUITY AND REGULAR INTERACTION WITH FEMALE ROLE MODELS IN SCIENCE. BUT THE ENTHUSIASM GIRLS

DEVELOP DURING SHORT-TERM ENRICHMENT PROGRAMS IS RARELY SUSTAINED IN THEIR HOME AND SCHOOL

ENVIRONMENTS. THIS IS ESPECIALLY TRUE IN RURAL COMMUNITIES, WHERE GIRLS HAVE LITTLE EXPOSURE TO

FEMALE ROLE MODELS AND ARE UNLIKELY TO RECEIVE STRONG PARENTAL SUPPORT FOR SCIENTIFIC PURSUITS—AND

WHERE TEACHERS ARE RARELY FAMILIAR WITH COOPERATIVE ACTIVITY-BASED LEARNING AND LACK EVEN THE RUDIMENTARY SUPPLIES AND EQUIPMENT NEEDED FOR HANDS-ON ACTIVITIES. ONE PURPOSE OF THE PLUS PROGRAMS

IS TO OVERCOME TWO STEREOTYPES: THAT WOMEN CAN’T DO SCIENCE OR, IF THEY DO, THEY MUST BE NERDS.

Students and parents had rated FAST Camp (a weeklong summer

enrichment camp for sixth and seventh grade girls) highly, and the girls

appeared to be highly motivated to continue math and science studies

after camp. But despite strong encouragement, only eight of 122 FAST

camp graduates actually participated in a follow-up summer enrichment

experience when they reached eighth, ninth, or tenth grade. The single

follow-up session the PLUS Center provided was not enough to counter

the peer pressure and lack of support these students experienced after

their initial summer experience was over. 

To prevent these leaks from the science and math pipeline, St. Scholastica

involved teachers, families, and scientists in Science Connections, a

model program designed to give girls enrichment opportunities that

would sustain their interest in science during the impressionable middle

school years. The two-year program let sixth graders from the summer

camp continue to be involved with a peer group and with role model

scientists and activities until they entered the eighth grade (when the

PLUS Center has programs geared to eighth grade students). Each year,

25 participants—sixth and seventh grade girls (from predominantly 

low- and middle-income rural or minority families) who had already

participated in the weeklong science enrichment program—participated

in a monthly series of Saturday Science workshops during the school year

and a Summer Science Weekend.

Activities at the Saturday Science workshops featured, in turn,

“MacGyver” problem-solving, a FAST Camp reunion, careers, kitchen

science, computers, snow science, chemistry, and ecology. In the

“kitchen science” workshop, students and parents made ice cream in

ziplock bags, using milk, which launched a discussion of what the salt

does and how recipes might freeze differently, depending on the

ingredients (variables). In a milk chemistry experiment, they added food

coloring and dish detergent to whole milk at room temperature, creating

a reaction that surprised and baffled both students and parents. In the

ensuing discussion of variables, they discussed what might happen if the

experiment were repeated with skim milk or buttermilk—and were sent

home with an assignment to repeat the experiment comparing different

kinds of milk products at different temperatures. 

At the end of each workshop, the girls received a science or math puzzle

(from Marilyn Burns’s books and the EQUALS book Math for Girls) to work

on over the month; there was a drawing for a small prize from among

those with correct responses. Families received two AAAS publications

(“Science Books and Films” and “Sharing Science with Children”) that

suggest home activities. Teacher and parental involvement were

emphasized as a vital link in the support network for each girl. 

The Summer Science Weekend began with a chemistry magic show that

included experiments with dry ice, helium, indicator solutions, and so on.

Saturday morning problem-solving activities were followed by “What’s My

Line?” featuring eight female scientists who brought along one piece of

equipment they use regularly. Saturday afternoon water activities

included the “Lake Superior Game,” in which a bucket of water

representing Lake Superior gradually becomes polluted and depleted as

the game progresses, with game cues such as this: 

I am a sixth grader.... I go fishing with my friend. When we clean our 

fish we dump the guts in the lake instead of wrapping them up and 

throwing them away. We think this is okay because they are 

biodegradable. [Add one unit of color.]

The PLUS Center has developed a consortium of local educational institutions and community partners to expand and maintain a pipeline of youth

and family programming for grades 4 through 12 (while improving teacher

training) and to produce systemic reform in STEM education. Many PLUS

programs serve primarily students of color and low-income youth, many from

rural communities. Survey results indicate that 76 percent of Plus Center

alums have graduated from high school, 63 percent of those graduates have

gone on to postsecondary education, and of those who have declared a

major, 68 percent have selected majors in math and science-related fields.

CODES: M, I THE COLLEGE OF ST. SCHOLASTICA

ANN SIGFORD (IASTAFF@STFO.CSS.EDU)

www.css.edu/PLUS HRD-95-54497 (ONE-YEAR GRANT)

THE “LAKE SUPERIOR GAME,” AVAILABLE FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA SEA

GRANT EXTENSION PROGRAM, COULD PROBABLY BE ADAPTED TO OTHER BODIES OF

WATER.

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, SUPPORT SYSTEM, WORKSHOP, SUMMER CAMP, HANDS-ON, PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT, ROLE MODELS, RURAL, ACTIVITY-BASED, COOPERATIVE LEARNING, TEACHER TRAINING, UNDERPRIVILEGED
National Science Foundation Chapter Four . New Dimensions in Diversity

16

Master It: 

a program for 

rural middleschool girls

Mit MASTER IT: A PROGRAM FOR RURAL MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRLS

MASTER IT (MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE TO EXPLORE CAREERS INVESTIGATING TOGETHER) IS

A PROJECT TARGETED AT RURAL KANSAS MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRLS WHO HAVE COMPLETED

GRADES 7 AND 8. EACH YEAR 48 GIRLS (HALF FROM EACH GRADE) ARE SELECTED TO

PARTICIPATE IN A ONE-WEEK SUMMER RESIDENTIAL PROGRAM FOLLOWED BY FOUR SATURDAY

ACTIVITIES DURING THE SCHOOL YEAR. ACTIVITIES INCLUDE HANDS-ON INVESTIGATIONS OF

MATHEMATICAL AND SCIENTIFIC CONCEPTS LED BY WOMEN PROFESSIONALS IN INDUSTRY OR

ON THE UNIVERSITY FACULTY. THE PROJECT ALSO PROVIDES FOR CAREER DISCUSSIONS, FIELD

TRIPS TO CORPORATE PARTNERS, AND ASSERTIVENESS AND SELF-ESTEEM TRAINING.

The point is to make rural girls aware of how math and science are applied

in everyday life and in various workplaces, to acquaint them with female

role models in nontraditional careers, to show them the importance of

continuing to take advanced math and science classes in high school, and

to set up a support network among peers and professionals. The girls

maintain an ongoing dialogue with each other, the project staff, and

women in industry through a group e-mail that is distributed to all

participants. The project hopes that as the girls become more confident

about their math and science knowledge, while networking with

successful professional women, they will lean increasingly toward

pursuing careers nontraditional to women, such as physics, engineering,

and computer science.

Designed collaboratively by faculty at Emporia State University and by

representatives from private and public Kansas institutions to keep young

women in the math and science pipeline, Master It provides a framework

for developing programs for rural girls that other universities or community

organizations can use in rural settings, where corporate partners might not

be nearby. 

Training trainers 

in rural youth

groups

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Tt

TRAINING TRAINERS IN RURAL YOUTH GROUPS

GIRLS IN RURAL AREAS ARE AT A DISADVANTAGE IN ACQUIRING SCIENTIFIC LITERACY AND POSITIVE

ATTITUDES TOWARD MATH AND SCIENCE; THEIR GEOGRAPHIC ISOLATION AND HARSH ECONOMIC

REALITIES LIMIT THEIR EXPOSURE TO FEMALE ROLE MODELS IN STEM FIELDS AND TO THE KINDS OF

HANDS-ON EXTRACURRICULAR SCIENCE ACTIVITIES THAT HELP YOUTHS BECOME COMFORTABLE WITH

MATH AND SCIENCE. THIS “GET SET, GO!” PROJECT GAVE RURAL GIRLS IN IOWA GREATER EXPOSURE TO

ROLE MODELS AND TO OUT-OF-SCHOOL LEARNING ACTIVITIES IN A COOPERATIVE, HANDS-ON FORMAT.

The project used a pass-through train-the-trainer model developed for Girl Scouts by the AAAS, adapting it to comply with national 4-H guidelines

and incorporating a gender equity training component. The 4-H organization and program, one of the most gender-equitable delivery mechanisms for

informal education, emphasizes experiential learning for rural youth aged 9 to 19. There are roughly 5.5 million 4-H members nationwide, 

52 percent of whom are girls. By providing mixed-gender activities that expose both girls and boys to female role models in STEM, the project hoped

to reduce STEM gender stereotypes.

The project trained trainers from adult youth group leaders and university students (all women), who in turn trained other volunteer Girl Scout and

4-H youth leaders: high school volunteers were trained to lead activities for (and train trainers from among) middle-school youth; and middle school

girls were trained to lead hands-on sessions for groups of elementary school children. 

CODE: I, PD, E, M, H, U IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY (ISU)

KRISHNA S. ATHREYA (KSATHREY@IASTATE.EDU), MARY A. EVANS HRD 94-53140 (THREE-YEAR GRANT)

PARTNERS: ISU PROGRAM FOR WOMEN AND SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING; WESTERN TRIAD SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS ALLIANCE (WTSAMA); ISU EXTENSION SCIENCE, ENGINEERING, AND TECHNOLOGY YOUTH INITIATIVE; MOINGONA GIRL SCOUT COUNCIL; SELZER-BODDY, INC.; ISU RESEARCH INSTITUTE FOR STUDIES IN EDUCATION (RISE)

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, TRAINER TRAINING, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS, RESOURCE CENTER, PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT, SUPPORT SYSTEM, EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING, GIRL SCOUTS, 4-H, RURAL, INDUSTRY PARTNERS, COMMUNITY COLLEGE, ROLE MODELS, HANDS-ON, CAREER AWARENESS, COOPERATIVE LEARNING

CODES: M, H, PD EMPORIA STATE UNIVERSITY

MARVIN HARRELL (HARRELLM@EMPORIA.EDU), ELIZABETH G. YANIK

HRD99-08757 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

KEYWORDS: EDUCATION PROGRAM, HANDS-ON, SELF-CONFIDENCE, ROLE MODELS, CAREER AWARENESS, REAL-LIFE APPLICATIONS, SUPPORT SYSTEM, FIELD TRIPS, INDUSTRY PARTNERS, RURAL

004
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OPENING THE HORIZON: SCIENCE EDUCATION IN RURAL OZARKS MIDDLE SCHOOLS

SCIENCE IS NOT HIGHLY VALUED IN SOUTHWEST MISSOURI, WHERE EDUCATING WOMEN IN THE

SCIENCES IS A LOW PRIORITY. AS A CULTURAL REGION, THE OZARKS TEND TO UNDERVALUE

WOMEN’S CONTRIBUTION TO SOCIETY, AND THERE IS AN UNSPOKEN BUT OBVIOUS BIAS AGAINST

WOMEN WORKING OUTSIDE THE HOME, ESPECIALLY IN WHAT ARE TYPICALLY PERCEIVED TO BE

MALE OCCUPATIONS. ENCOURAGING GIRLS IN THE OZARKS TO CONSIDER SCIENCE OR MATH AS

CAREER OPTIONS CHALLENGES REGIONAL STEREOTYPES ABOUT WOMEN’S ROLE IN SOCIETY. THIS

PROJECT AIMS TO INOCULATE MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRLS WITH THE SCIENCE BUG AND IMMUNIZE

THEM AGAINST PEER PRESSURE THAT MIGHT DISSUADE THEM FROM PURSUING THEIR INTEREST

IN SCIENCE. IT AIMS TO GIVE TEACHERS THE SUPPORT AND RESOURCES THEY NEED TO PRESENT

SCIENCE AND MATH IN A WAY THAT WILL GET STUDENTS HOOKED FOR LIFE.

Opening the Horizon (OTH) is a significant outreach effort to keep

rural middle school girls in the region interested in math and science.

Combining hands-on science for students with distance learning and

professional development for teachers, this three-year project will

engage up to 200 middle school girls and 30 science teachers from 26

Ozarks counties—as well as the girls’ parents, school administrators,

and local and regional communities—in an active, positive, and 

self-sustaining program to encourage scientific literacy, curiosity, and

opportunity.

OTH was launched after an existing program, Expanding Your Horizons

(EYH), had for six years successfully drawn 200 middle school students

(mostly girls) from southwest Missouri to a one-day hands-on science

experience. But whereas EYH targeted mainly girls from urban schools,

OTH targets students in rural schools and their teachers, who may have

neither the time nor the resources to teach science in such a way that

students are likely to be drawn to careers in science. 

Project components include kickoff and closing conferences each year

at Southwest Missouri State University (SMSU) and Drury University

(both in Springfield) for girls, their parents, and teachers; three

Saturday workshops run simultaneously at five college sites closer to

Opening the 

horizon: science 

education in rural 

Ozarks middle schools

004

Oh
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the girls’ homes; college student mentors for the girls; and distance

learning course for middle school teachers. Women on the faculty at

SMSU and Drury will run the program, with site directors at the other

college sites.

Teachers will be recruited for a three-credit-hour graduate course

(through SMSU, which will waive all tuition) on women in STEM.

Among other things, they will work through exercises in the book

Women Life Scientists: Past, Present, and Future (Matyas and HaleyOliphant 1997) to see how female role models can be incorporated

into classroom curricula. After researching women scientists, they will

develop lessons for their classroom. Meeting at the site closest to

them, they will take advantage of the distance education network

already in place.

At a workshop featuring hands-on exhibits of curricular models and

materials provided by about 25 vendors, teachers will have access

to curricular materials, supplies, and equipment that many rural

school districts cannot afford. They will be asked to inventory the

basic science equipment and library resources in their schools,

complete an equipment checklist, and indicate the equipment they

need most urgently. In small groups they will discuss such topics as

barriers for girls interested in science and how to tie workshop

objectives to the Missouri state science standards. During the year

they will remain in touch with other science teachers in the region

and with faculty women in the sciences at participating colleges

and universities. 

Participating teachers will help recruit four students from sixth grade,

two from seventh, and two from eighth. Students who receive letters

of acceptance will also get a bracelet of “UV beads,” which appear

white under indoor lighting but reflect visible colors under ultraviolet

light. An activity sheet will suggest ways for them to experiment with

the beads—for example, placing them under a piece of plastic wrap on

which various types of sunscreen are smeared to test the sunscreen’s

effectiveness. This will give parents a chance to see the kinds of

activities their daughters will experience in the OTH workshops—as well

as science’s relevance to their everyday life.

Undergraduate math and science students will serve as facilitators for

group activities and as mentors to a team of five to eight girls,

maintaining close contact by phone and by e-mail throughout the

year. The OTH experience will give student teachers and undergraduate education majors some student exposure to group

facilitation of hands-on science activities.

The kickoff conference will provide a chance to get acquainted and a

nurturing environment in which to experience the beauty, wonder,

and excitement of science and math. Interdisciplinary hands-on

activities at the conference and school-year workshops will emphasize

the environment as a global system of interdependent parts. The

subtheme the first year is pollution. 

Students and teachers will work with thematic kits and other

resources typically not funded in these rural areas and will engage in

activities from the book Whizbangers and Wonderments: Science

Activities for Young People. They will get basic instruction in report

writing and in the use of computers and the library. During the school

year, participants will keep in touch through distance learning

workshops (for teachers), student–mentor e-mail, and postings on the

project website.

CODES: M, U, PD SOUTHWEST MISSOURI STATE UNIVERSITY (SMSU)

PAULA KEMP (PAK170F@SMSU.EDU), BARBARA D. WING, ANNETTE W. GORDON

www.smsu.edu/horizon

HRD 00-02129 (THREE-YEAR GRANT)

PARTNERS: DRURY UNIVERSITY, COLLEGE OF THE OZARKS, CROWDER COLLEGE, SOUTHWEST BAPTIST UNIVERSITY, THE WEST PLAINS AND MOUNTAIN GROVE

CAMPUSES OF SMSU, AND WALNUT GROVE JUNIOR/SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

(AMONG OTHERS).

KEYWORDS: EDUCATION PROGRAM, RURAL, HANDS-ON, DISTANCE LEARNING, TEACHER TRAINING, CONFERENCES, WORKSHOPS, MENTORING, ROLE MODELS, PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT
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THE SCIENCE OF LIVING SPACES

THE SCIENCE OF LIVING SPACES PROJECT GREW OUT OF CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT

UNIVERSITY’S INTEREST IN BOTH K–12 SCIENCE EDUCATION AND WOMEN IN MATH

AND SCIENCE. THE PROJECT’S CORE COMPONENT WAS AN INTENSIVE THREE-WEEK

SUMMER SCIENCE CAMP IN WHICH 24 RURAL MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRLS, LIVING IN

CNU’S DORM ROOMS DURING THE WEEK, WERE IMMERSED IN A TREMENDOUS VARIETY

OF HANDS-ON SCIENCE AND MATH TOPICS. THERE WAS ALSO A YEARLONG FOLLOW-UP PROJECT, TEACHER INVOLVEMENT, UNDERGRADUATE MENTORS, AND

TRAINING FOR ALL STAFF AND PARENTS INVOLVED WITH THE PROJECT. 

The girls’ days were packed with participatory sessions led by female

scientists, including a veterinarian, a NASA chemist, two physicists from

a Department of Energy accelerator research lab, and members of the

Society of Women Engineers. For a session on greenhouse gases, for

example, the girls measured methane and toured a greenhouse; for

chemistry and food they created baking powder and ice cream; for

dinosaurs and speed they measured leg length, stride length, and speed;

for computers and ethics, they discussed medicine, privacy, artificial

intelligence, and the future; for statistics and ethics, they learned about

descriptive statistics and its misuses; for digital signals they learned

about electronic circuits and logic testing. 

In more intensive technology sessions, the girls made a working lamp,

built a working Lego robot arm, and learned about the then-new World

Wide Web. The summer schedule included science across the curriculum

(in physical education, linguistics, and art), careers, ethics, and 

self-esteem building—and was rounded out with field trips to NASA

Langley, CEBAF (now Jefferson Labs), the Virginia Living Museum (a plant

and animal museum), Richmond Science and Math Center (role playing as

scientists in a simulated control lab and as astronauts in simulated

space), Busch Gardens (to examine the physics of amusement park rides),

and Colonial Williamsburg (to examine women’s early roles). 

By all measures, the program succeeded: 94.5 percent of the parents

reported greater awareness of the factors that influence their daughters’

selection of careers in STEM, and 96 percent of the girls said they liked

science more because of the project and were very to extremely interested

in taking more science and math courses. 

CODES: M, U, I CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT UNIVERSITY

LYNN LAMBERT (LAMBERT@PCS.CNU.EDU)

www.pcs.cnu.edu/~lambert/SLS/sls.html HRD 94-53678 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNERS: SCHOOL SYSTEMS IN ISLE OF WIGHT AND CHARLES CITY COUNTIES, VIRGINIA

PUBLICATION: THE SCIENCE OF LIVING SPACES: WOMEN IN THE ENVIRONMENT OF THE 21ST CENTURY, AN EVALUATION AND GUIDE BOOK (ERIC DOCUMENT ED417929). 

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, RURAL, LIVING SPACES, FIELD TRIPS, HANDS-ON, PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS, TEACHER TRAINING, PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT, BARRIERS, SELF-CONFIDENCE, SUMMER PROGRAM

The science of 

living spaces

004

sls
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LABORATORY SCIENCE CAMP FOR DISSEMINATION TRAINING

FROM ITS BEGINNINGS A DECADE AGO AS A SIX-DAY SUMMER PROGRAM SERVING 60

ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED GIRLS FROM RURAL MAINE, THE KIEVE SCIENCE CAMP

FOR GIRLS HAS TRANSFORMED THE LIFELESS STUFF OF SCIENCE TEXTBOOKS INTO

CHALLENGING ADVENTURE. THE PROGRAM HAS GROWN INTO A 10-WEEK SUMMER

PROGRAM SERVING MORE THAN 250 GIRLS AND WOMEN A YEAR, FROM ALL OVER THE

COUNTRY, IN BOTH THE RESIDENTIAL PROGRAM AND VARIOUS WILDERNESS SETTINGS. 

When this information-dissemination project began, the camp provided fourth, fifth, and sixth grade girls from six resource-poor Maine communities

with a residential experience in experiential science education and other activities requiring cooperation and risk taking. The camp hoped to have a

ripple effect on science education in those six districts. 

The camp’s collaborative learning environment also provided professional development for teachers and a model for staff from other camps. By providing

training, skills, materials, and professional development incentives, the science camp project also prepared parent–teacher “dissemination leadership

teams” from rural Maine districts to be advocates and agents of change in local education—to help dispel the notion that science is a male pursuit.

In this project, 24 adults (parents, teachers, and leaders from other science camps) observed and participated in the camp and attended four seminars

to prepare them to return to their communities as advocates for gender equity and experiential science education. Observing underprivileged girls from

upper elementary and middle school get a hands-on STEM experience in a supportive atmosphere—and engage in authentic relationships with adult role

HANDS-ON, MINDS-ON CAMP ACTIVITIES

For many girls, the residential experience is a first time away from home—

a challenge in itself—a chance to live, learn, and have fun with girls and

women who are serious about science. At an age when peer pressure often

deters girls from developing or acknowledging a serious interest in science,

becoming part of such a community can be a turning point.

Camp activities emphasize group work, problem-solving, exploration,

discovery, and healthy risk taking—in five core activities: the ropes

course, engineering, rocketry, Lake Day, and the Otter Island adventure.

For this project, pre- and post-assessments of relevant science

concepts and skills measured what participants learned from the camp

experience—and whether what they thought they could do was close

to what they actually did. The results were generally very positive: The

girls gained in skills, knowledge, and confidence.

In the ropes course, the girls learn that they can accomplish physical

challenges that at first seemed beyond reach. The ropes course becomes

a metaphor for any learning that at first seems difficult, or even

impossible. Girls and teachers learn that—given skills, techniques, tools,

support, encouragement, time, and the chance to try, fail, and try

again—they can succeed in the classroom, on the water, or crossing a

high wire. They do more than they think they can do. They learn why goal

setting is important, learn to cheer themselves on and to be good team

members, and leave with higher aspirations. 

In engineering, the girls design and build a machine or a structure that

incorporates motion using gears, a pulley, or a belt drive. They learn

that there are no right answers, only good solutions. For girls and

teachers who rarely use tools and materials to solve a problem, this is

an entirely new kind of educational experience, but 98 percent of the

girls learned to name and identify all three mechanical systems.

On Lake Day, girls and teachers learn about the water cycle process,

why fresh water is limited, and how human actions affect the quantity

and quality of the water in Damariscotta Lake. They learn how to

identify a watershed area using a topographical map and explore the

lake habitat, taking a hands-on approach to learn about the lake’s

plants and animals. Before the camp, few girls knew what a watershed

was; after two weeks they could tell you.

In rocketry, girls and teachers who typically have little direct

experience with physical science explore gravity, friction, and air

pressure before building rockets. Their initial anxiety gives way to

confidence in their ability to discover and understand—in this case,

what forces allow flight to occur, how each part of a rocket is related

to flight and aerodynamics, and what everyday items can serve as

rocket components. They learned both the names of rocket parts and

the principles underlying rocket flight.

Many of these girls had never been on a boat or a coastal island and

had never hiked, carried equipment, or taken a detailed look at the

world at their feet. On an overnight camping trip, 30 girls explored the

marine environment of Otter Island and learned about how various types

of marine organisms adapt to island life.

Laboratory 

science camp 

for dissemination

training

Lab

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models who encouraged them to take risks and undertake challenges—was

far more persuasive than reading about theories of change. Gender equity

training has a greater impact on teachers and parents when course work is

integrated with observations of equitable teaching and learning. Seeing a

successful science camp in action is a pivotal experience for those trying to

replicate the experience. 

Actively involving parents and school board members in the dissemination

of support for hands-on science and gender equity helped broaden support

for science education locally and helped create a shared sense of vision and

purpose. The science camp was to be a catalyst for reshaping the local

school district’s elementary science program. The connection forged

between teachers and girls, the project hoped, would help keep the girls

from losing the confidence they’d gained in camp. A mentoring project

was developed to support camp alumnae as they moved to middle or high

school, where social and peer values often inhibit their participation in

math and science.

The camp activities are replicable. Engineering and rocket-building

activities require only inexpensive, easily available materials. Many

group-building and trust activities are not site-dependent and can easily

be replicated elsewhere. Doctors, foresters, farmers, oceanographers, and

midwives (to use examples from Kieve) can visit any camp or classroom,

bringing along the tools of their trade and answering questions, just as

they did at Kieve. Two new science camps for underprivileged Maine

children—Tanglewood (4-H) and Camp Susan Curtis (community-based,

tuition-free)—opened their doors modeled on Kieve. Twenty-five Maine

women who work in science, math, or technology were trained and have

mentored 50 camp alumnae. Other camps, many out of state, have shown

an interest in a similar program.

CODES: E, I, PD KIEVE AFFECTIVE EDUCATION

SALLY CRISSMAN (SCIENCE@KIEVE.ORG)

www.kieve.org HRD 94-50531 (ONE-YEAR GRANT)

PRODUCTS: GIRLS AND WOMEN SEIZING SCIENCE TOGETHER: A KIEVE SCIENCE CAMP

FOR GIRLS TRAINING MANUAL AND GUIDE, A 10-MINUTE VIDEO.

KEYWORDS: DISSEMINATION, SEMINARS, SELF-CONFIDENCE, TEACHER TRAINING, PARENTAL

INVOLVEMENT, UNDERPRIVILEGED, RURAL, PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, MENTORING, SUMMER CAMP, HANDS-ON, ROLE MODELS

SCIENCE FOR ALL: OPENING THE DOOR FOR RURAL WOMEN

MONTANA STATE UNIVERSITY (BOZEMAN) DEVELOPED THIS PROJECT TO INCREASE THE NUMBER

OF RURAL AND NATIVE AMERICAN HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS WHO PURSUE OR BECOME MORE

INVOLVED WITH SCIENCE OR ENGINEERING. THE PROJECT PROVIDED INTENSIVE EDUCATIONAL

EXPERIENCES FOR TEACHERS AND FACULTY AND SUPPORTIVE ACTIVITIES FOR STUDENTS AT

MSU AND IN BOZEMAN, ESPECIALLY AT RURAL AND RESERVATION MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOLS.

TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES INCLUDED A SUMMER SHORT COURSE, A

FACULTY INSTITUTE, A FRESHMAN SEMINAR, SCHOLARSHIPS AND FELLOWSHIPS, MINI-GRANTS

TO IMPLEMENT IDEAS GENERATED IN THE SHORT COURSE AND FACULTY INSTITUTE, AND

ONLINE COUNSELING AND MENTORING FOR TEACHERS, COUNSELORS, AND TRIBAL FACULTY. 

Summer short course. Each year the project staff presented a weeklong summer course on “female friendly” science teaching. From 1997 through

1999, 53 teachers, 31 counselors, and 17 administrators from reservations and other Montana rural schools studied why women are underrepresented

in science and what they could do to help reverse that trend. They also interacted with national experts on science and gender issues and spent time

learning about computers.

Faculty institute. In conjunction with the short course, 51 faculty members from MSU-Bozeman and 21 from three tribal colleges attended a 

three-day faculty institute on gender, science, and engineering. Several joint sessions allowed middle and high school teachers and counselors to

interact with the college faculty. Moving the institute from MSU to one of the tribal colleges opened fresh dialogues between faculty at the MSU and

tribal college campuses. 

Follow-up surveys suggested that participants in the short course and faculty institute changed their mentoring and teaching strategies, becoming 

more sensitive to strategies to help women and minorities succeed. Using female and minority role models was found to be especially effective, but

participants were also receptive to changes in assessment, content, lab activities, approaches to problem solving, small group work, and other 

classroom discussions.

Science for all:

opening the door

for rural women

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rurW
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CODES: M, H, U, PD MONTANA STATE UNIVERSITY

ADELE S. PITTENDRIGH (ADELE@MONTANA.EDU) ROBERT J. MARLEY, SARA YOUNG, SHARON J. HAPNER

HRD 96-18855 (THREE-YEAR GRANT)

PARTNERS: BLACKFEET COMMUNITY COLLEGE, DULL KNIFE MEMORIAL COLLEGE, LITTLE BIG HORN COLLEGE

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, SUMMER PROGRAM, TEACHER TRAINING, GENDER EQUITY

AWARENESS, ELECTRONIC MENTORING, SCHOLARSHIPS, RURAL, NATIVE AMERICAN, SELF-CONFIDENCE, FELLOWSHIPS, MENTORING, MINI-GRANTS, OPRAH WINFREY, INDUSTRY PARTNERS

Freshman seminar. Two cross-disciplinary seminars on science, technology,

and society for students entering MSU-Bozeman provided “survival

training” for women and minorities going into the sciences, showed

women’s place in the science majors, and provided nonmajors with better

tools for understanding science and engineering. Aided by students

awarded fellowships for their research assistance, a faculty team designed

the seminar to show that science is interesting, socially valuable, relevant

to women’s lives, and an enterprise to which women and minorities can

and do contribute. 

Mini-grant program. Participants in the short course and faculty

institute were awarded 48 mini-grants ($5,000) to develop, test, and

implement activities to get more female participation in math and

science in their departments or schools. Grants were awarded to support

one or more of seven goals: 

• To balance gender/cultural content in the curriculum 

• To improve communication styles 

• To promote collaborative learning styles

• To recognize the value of diversity for scientific progress and 

problem solving

• To present scientific instruction in a real-world context

• To assess student learning in a way that encompasses students’ 

individual experience

• To provide support for girls, young women, and minority students in 

science, math, and engineering 

Final reports on the mini-grants were full of success stories, and two of

the projects had a noticeable impact on teaching strategies in science

and engineering courses at MSU-Bozeman. First, physics faculty used

external experts to assess gender equity in collaborative small-group

learning activities in a large lecture class. They found that the group’s

gender composition significantly affected women’s, but not men’s,

participation. Women’s participation was best in single-sex or genderbalanced groups.

Second, a chemical engineering professor and an education professor

investigated how new instructional methods affected an introductory

chemical engineering course. Their finding that changes in teaching

strategies made the class a more positive experience for students, especially

young women, was shared with other engineering faculty. A mini-grant

also helped create the first lab-based chemistry course at a tribal college. 

Many of the mini-grant activities were designed to reach beyond the

isolation of the rural and reservation classroom to the community, to

research facilities, and to local women professionals. Such projects helped

educate the community and get them involved in support for women’s

participation in STEM careers. For example, 600 trees were planted to help

reestablish vegetation and reduce erosion in the Teton River watershed

(with support for a follow-up count). Many projects resulted in more

positive attitudes toward computers and computer research and more

parents wanting their children to attend college.

Changes in teaching made MSU women studying science or engineering

more confident and involved in their course work and more enthusiastic

about pursuing STEM careers. Women involved as scholars, mentors, and

fellows were particularly affected by the project. The availability of the

mini-grants led to many activities outside the classroom in rural and

reservation middle and high schools and had a direct impact on course

content and teaching approaches. It is too soon to tell how big a

difference the project will have in the long run on young women’s

expectations, their preparations for college-level science and

engineering, and their retention rates once on campus. MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRLS WIN AWARD, APPEAR ON ‘OPRAH’

On February 11, 2002, a team of Native American middle

school girls from the Crow Agency appeared on the Oprah

Winfrey show. Concerned about the severe housing shortage

on their reservation, Montana-Lucretia Birdinground, Kimberly

Duputee, Omney Sees the Ground, Brenett Stewart, and their

coach, science teacher Jack Joyce, had found a way to build

low-cost houses out of straw and stucco concrete. They had

tested the straw with thermometers, blowtorches, and hoses

to determine its energy efficiency and its resistance to fire

and water. For their efforts, they won the Bayer/NSF Award’s

Columbus Foundation Community Grant. With community

volunteers, the team planned to build a straw-bale

community center on the Crow Reservation.

The girls did their science project as part of their science

class, but for two years they had been enthusiastic

participants in the NSF mini-grant-funded science club for

girls at Pretty Eagle School—a rural K–8 school with only 140

students, all of whom are bused to the school, some as far as

55 miles. The science club brought in monthly speakers

(Native American and female role models), and the girls made

two campus visits to MSU-Bozeman, four hours from their

school, to observe labs and interact with women undergraduates and science and engineering faculty. At a clubhosted technology evening to which the girls could bring

their mother, grandmother, or aunt, the women surfed the

Web—the first time many of them had touched a computer.
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INTERNET EXPLORERS

DO YOU KNOW WHY THE TITANIC SUNK? IF YOU’RE NOT SURE, CHECK THE

ANSWER ON ONE OF THE STUDENT-CREATED PAGES OF THE INTERNET

EXPLORATIONS WEBSITE. UNDER THE INTERNET EXPLORERS PROJECT,

HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS WHO HAD COMPLETED THEIR JUNIOR YEAR SPENT

EIGHT SUMMER WEEKS ON THE IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY CAMPUS

RESEARCHING PROGRAMMING METHODS AND DEVELOPING HANDS-ON

MATH, SCIENCE, AND ENGINEERING ACTIVITIES FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL

GIRLS. DIRECTED BY FIVE WOMEN IN GRADUATE SCHOOL, 20 HIGH SCHOOL

GIRLS FROM RURAL AND MINORITY BACKGROUNDS COMPLETED A

SOPHISTICATED COMPUTER PROJECT ADDRESSING THE NEED TO INTEREST

RURAL GIRLS IN MATH AND SCIENCE BY ENGAGING THEM IN INFORMAL

MATH AND SCIENCE ACTIVITIES IN A SELF-PACED, NONCOMPETITIVE

ENVIRONMENT. 

After grant funding ended, the program continued providing summer

internships for high school seniors. Every summer, interns design web

pages on dozens of science-related topics—from spiders and rainbows to

tsunamis and jet engines—to interest girls of middle school age in

science and engineering. Web pages of interest to students and teachers

alike answer such questions as why things glow in the dark, what lupus

is, how airplanes fly, how boats float, how a camera works, how plastics

are made, what microwaves are, how caves form, how shampoo gets to

the store, how eggs are formed, how we predict weather, how the

dinosaurs died, and why the great ship Titanic went under. If there’s not

enough to keep you fascinated on this website, check out its links to

other science websites.

JUMP FOR THE SUN

“A MAMA ALWAYS EXHORTS HER CHILDREN, AT EVERY OPPORTUNITY, TO

JUMP FOR THE SUN.

THEY MAY NEVER REACH THE SUN, BUT AT LEAST THAT WAY THEY GET THEIR

FEET OFF THE GROUND.” — ZORA NEALE HURSTON

The comprehensive Jump for the Sun project was a collaboration between

a university, a large public school district, and a museum in a heavily

rural area that was suddenly becoming a major tourist attraction. One

part of the project changed the way Coastal Carolina University (CCU)

taught science to early childhood and elementary education students—

which is important because teachers’ attitudes about math and science

profoundly affect how they teach and whether their students become

interested in math and science. Another part of the project, targeted at

middle school girls and teachers, demonstrated that middle school girls

engaged in inquiry-based science can get very excited about it. 

Changes for undergraduates. The project changed the way CCU teaches

biology and physics survey courses to preservice teachers. Physics 102,

for example, is an introductory physical science course required of all CCU

elementary science majors. Traditionally taught in a standard lecturelaboratory format, this course romped quickly through the physical

sciences (physics, chemistry, geology, and astronomy) to prepare

students to teach these subjects in grade school. Most students came to

the course fearful of physics and science in general and left knowing only

a series of loosely connected facts, despite ample research documenting

the inadequacy of such an approach for teacher training. New standards

emphasize that students learn both content and process skills.

The project redesigned Physics 102 and Biology 211, introducing hands-on,

inquiry-based teaching techniques—with minimal lecturing and maximum

group work and small group discussions—so student teachers would be

better prepared to teach to the new science standards and to improve

student attitudes toward science. Separate lectures and laboratories were

replaced by block scheduling, with the class meeting three times a week

for two hours. During this two-hour block, students worked in groups on

curricular materials (Powerful Ideas in Physical Science and Physics by

Inquiry) designed by physics education researchers and adapted for use

at CCU. These materials led students to explore concepts (through

CODE: H, M, I IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY

LAWRENCE J. GENALO (GENALO@IASTATE.EDU), KRISHNA S. ATHREYA

HRD 96-31837 (ONE-YEAR GRANT)

www.eng.iastate.edu/explorer

KEYWORDS: EDUCATION PROGRAM, WEBSITE, SUMMER PROGRAM, RESEARCH

EXPERIENCE, HANDS-ON, RURAL, MINORITIES, INTERNSHIPS

Internet explorers

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Jump for the sun

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experimentation, theory building, analysis, and conclusion drawing) and to master process skills (such as graphing, math, and equation building),

emphasizing the computer as a learning tool. 

Meanwhile, the course instructor learned about using interactive techniques, establishing a learning community in the classroom, and acknowledging

women’s ways of knowing: viewing the teacher as midwife rather than banker (drawing knowledge out rather than depositing it).

Students’ initially responded negatively, feeling there was too little lecture and review time and no feeling of closure on the subject; because the

learning was self-directed, students weren’t sure they were learning what they were supposed to learn. The second time the course was offered, class

goals were posted at the beginning of each session, students were asked to come to a consensus about their ideas before starting a unit, and, as a class,

they later summarized their findings. Student attitudes toward the class improved dramatically. 

Education majors did just as well on the post-course content exam in biology as a control group of 111 students, which was encouraging since Bios 211

(the experimental course) covered less content because of the techniques used: active learning, inquiry, and discussion. Students said the biggest benefit

of group work was that if someone didn’t understand how the teacher explained a subject, someone in the group would be able to explain 

it—so they had a chance to teach one another. Group work allowed quiet students to participate and helped material “stick” better than it did with

lectures—although it also allowed the group to get off-task. 

The students—who were largely unaware of differences in male and female pay or biases in books, movies, and the classroom—were overwhelmingly

positive about gender equity assignments such as analyzing a textbook, looking at toys geared to girls/boys, and observing other teachers in the

classroom. 

Changes at the middle school. Some of the CCU education majors observed Jump for the Sun at the local middle school, where a problem-solving

approach to learning made girls more mature, confident, and positive about math and science. Field trips and hands-on experiences were integrated

with the content, providing opportunities to talk not only about content but also about issues of everyday life. In a unit on pollution, for example,

the girls interviewed the faculty to see who drove cars to school and who carpooled, with whom. They made pragmatic recommendations about who

could carpool, recognizing that teachers who didn’t have the same schedules couldn’t carpool. In another lesson, a trip to the cemetery led them to

discover that yellow fever had killed many children during a certain period in the 1800s, when even cemeteries in North Carolina were segregated by

race. This led to a discussion about race as a social construct, not a scientific concept—all from visiting a cemetery and being touched by the babies

buried there.

An inquiry-based life science room was built in the Children’s Museum of South Carolina and outfitted with microscopes, posters, hands-on specimens,

tables, and live creatures. NSF funds were used to train and pay 15 middle school children to work at the museum on Saturdays, helping younger

children and parents fully use the resources and equipment. Grant funds were used to run a science club for the participants who worked at the

museum, who learned about such things as hurricanes, volcanoes, and extracting DNA from an onion using everyday kitchen utensils. These middle

school students learned about science and math, encountered female role models, and had opportunities to connect, build community, construct their

own learning, and help protect the environment.

Parents attending special workshops on raising daughters read Raising Daughters by Jean and Don Illium and The Heart of Parenting by John Gottman

and learned to become better listeners—less reactive and confrontational with their daughters, more understanding, and more likely to ask questions

in ways that spark discussion instead of yes/no responses.

CODES: M, U, I, PD COASTAL CAROLINA UNIVERSITY

SALLY Z. HARE (SALLY@COASTAL.EDU), JIM ROGERS, MARY CROWE, VIRGINIA KINTZ, ELIZABETH PUSKAR

HRD 95-53411 (ONE-YEAR GRANT), 96-19217 (THREE-YEAR GRANT)

PARTNERS: CHILDREN’S MUSEUM OF SOUTH CAROLINA, HORRY COUNTY SCHOOLS

KEYWORDS: EDUCATION PROGRAM, MUSEUM, RURAL, HANDS-ON, ROLE MODELS, INQUIRY-BASED, CURRICULUM, COLLABORATIVE LEARNING, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS, TEACHER

TRAINING, SELF-CONFIDENCE, PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT
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SUMMER CAMP FOR RURAL HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS 

THE NORTHWEST CENTER FOR RESEARCH ON WOMEN (UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON)

PUT TOGETHER THIS COMPREHENSIVE PROGRAM TO ENCOURAGE RURAL HIGH

SCHOOL GIRLS’ MATH AND SCIENCE ACHIEVEMENT. THE GIRLS ATTENDED A TWO-WEEK

RESIDENTIAL SUMMER CAMP; THE TEACHERS, A ONE-WEEK SUMMER INSTITUTE; AND

COUNSELORS AND PRINCIPALS, A THREE-DAY WORKSHOP FOR COUNSELORS. EACH

SCHOOL-BASED GROUP PARTICIPATED IN ACTIVITIES DURING THE SCHOOL YEAR,

INCLUDING A LONG-TERM RESEARCH PROJECT AND AN INTERNET SCIENCE CLUB. THE

PROJECT SERVED 73 GIRLS FROM 16 RURAL WASHINGTON HIGH SCHOOLS, 35 HIGH

SCHOOL MATH AND SCIENCE TEACHERS, AND 19 COUNSELORS AND PRINCIPALS.

Summer camp on ecosystems. At camp, the girls learned about aquatic (lake and river) and terrestrial (forest, wetland, and grassland) ecosystems

and became more knowledgeable about their local watershed. They conducted hands-on experiments in science laboratories and in the field, led by

female scientists, researchers, and high school teachers. They engaged in trust-building and challenge exercises, including a knot-tying activity to

practice how to give and receive feedback within a mentoring relationship.

They were matched with graduate scientists in a field in which they showed interest and were in touch with their scientist mentors throughout the

year, as they worked on long-term research projects with their school team. Their long-term research projects were on topics such as deer behavior,

the health of lakes and rivers, rain, runoff, tree growth, and whaling rights. (Their research notes are posted on the project website.) Working on the

project taught them about forming plans, doing fieldwork, and putting information together and presenting it to others. Students on the deer project, for example, took pictures, videotaped, and interviewed hunters, conservationists, and residents about deer behavior, gathering material for their

presentations as they worked. A cyberspace science club (“Soaring”) helped them develop communication and science research skills. They also got

pre-college counseling and a workshop on writing résumés. 

Summer institute for teachers. Teachers participated in a weeklong summer institute taught by university faculty in biology, chemistry, and physics.

Master teachers designed model lessons that integrated physics, chemistry, and biology through the question “What is necessary for life?” The 

open-ended, experiential lessons emphasized the scientific process and modeled various methods of measuring and recording data. Teachers could

take home write-ups of the lessons and had time to adapt a lesson or unit of their own. They also got six hours of Internet training, fall and spring

follow-up meetings, and at least one site visit.

The workshop for counselors and principals gave participants a concrete, realistic framework for understanding how careers are chosen and how girls

might be helped to succeed in STEM fields. Counselors learned about group process so they could facilitate a support group for girls in the project. 

Two curricula are available from the program: an inquiry-based curriculum in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems from the girls camp and a curriculum

the university faculty created for the teachers, integrating chemistry, biology, and physics. 

CODES: H, I, PD THE NORTHWEST CENTER FOR RESEARCH ON WOMEN, UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON

ANGELA GINORIO (GINORIO@U.WASHINGTON.EDU) PROJECT DIRECTORS: JANE BIERMAN AND KATIE FREVERT

http://depts.washington.edu/rural/RURAL OR CONTACT (NWCROW@U.WASHINGTON.EDU) OR RURAL@U.WASHINGTON.EDU HRD 94-50053 (THREE-YEAR GRANT)

PARTNERS: ZYMOGENETICS, NORCLIFFE FOUJNDATION, HAAS FOUNDATION. SCIENCE AT HOME (ACTIVITIES INVOLVING PHOTOGRAMS, NATURAL FRAGRANCES) AND SCIENCE IN THE LAB

(MASTER TEACHERS’ LESSON PLANS ON RADISHES, TEMPERATURE, AND BRINE SHRIMP) ARE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT

http://depts.washington.edu/rural/RURAL/resources/resources.html

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, RURAL, SUMMER PROGRAM, TEACHER TRAINING, HANDS-ON, MENTORING, ROLE MODELS, SCIENCE CLUB, CAREER AWARENESS, INQUIRY-BASED

Summer camp 

for rural

high school girls 

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COLLEGE STUDIES FOR WOMEN ON PUBLIC ASSISTANCE

“WOMEN’S VENTURES” HELPED WOMEN ON PUBLIC ASSISTANCE PURSUE CAREERS IN

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY. A COLLABORATION BETWEEN TWO- AND FOUR-YEAR COLLEGES

AND UNIVERSITIES IN THE CINCINNATI AREA AND THE MAIN ORGANIZATIONS OFFERING

WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS FOR WOMEN ON PUBLIC ASSISTANCE, THIS

DEMONSTRATION PROJECT SET OUT TO PROVE THAT THIS SEGMENT OF THE POPULATION—

HISTORICALLY VIEWED AS UNABLE TO COMPETE IN MAINSTREAM SOCIETY—COULD COMPETE

AND BE INTEGRATED INTO STEM CAREERS. ITS GOAL WAS TO RECRUIT, PREPARE, AND ENROLL

50 MINORITY/LOW-INCOME WOMEN INTO A TWO- OR FOUR-YEAR COLLEGE PROGRAM.

To prepare the women for college, the program offered special classes to

strengthen their math, science, and reading skills and to help them

develop good study habits, time management skills, and personal support

systems. (They especially wanted help with math.) Employers provided

co-op work experiences and insights into the types of careers available

to the women and the training necessary for them. Professional women

provided mentoring on multicultural and gender issues. Case managers

provided counseling, follow-up, and help with career plans, childcare, and

support services. Participating schools provided on-campus contact

people to help with admissions, registration, and class scheduling.

The project was 70 percent successful in meeting its objectives. Of the

50 women it recruited—80 percent black and 17 percent white—7 out

of 10 were receiving some form of public assistance. Median income was

$420 a month, often from Aid to Families with Dependent Children. 

Of the 42 women who enrolled in a college program, 72 percent enrolled

in science, 24 percent in engineering, and 2 percent in math. At project

evaluation, 48 percent of the participants had grade point averages

between 2.5 and 3.5—and 31 of the 42 women who had enrolled were still

in college. Financial concerns were the main reason for not completing

course work. 

CODE: U CINCINNATI INSTITUTE FOR CAREER ALTERNATIVES

BETTY J. WARREN

HRD 94-53725 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNER: CONSORTIUM FOR ADULT EDUCATION, 

PRODUCTS: OMI COLLEGE OF APPLIED SCIENCE, UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI COLLEGE

OF EVENING AND CONTINUING EDUCATION, COLLEGE OF MOUNT ST. JOSEPH, CINCINNATI STATE TECHNICAL AND COMMUNITY COLLEGE, XAVIER UNIVERSITY

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, COMMUNITY COLLEGE, RECRUITMENT, UNDERPRIVILEGED, WELFARE, SCIENCE SKILLS, SUPPORT SYSTEM, WORK EXPERIENCE, CAREER AWARENESS

RE-ENTERING THE WORKFORCE

LITTLE ATTENTION HAS BEEN PAID TO ENCOURAGING WOMEN WHO HAVE DROPPED

OUT OF THE WORKFORCE—FOR CHILDCARE AND OTHER REASONS—TO RE-ENTER

ALONG CAREER PATHS IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY. IN OCTOBER 1994 THE

WOMEN IN SCIENCE SECTION OF THE NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES HELD A

ONE-DAY WORKSHOP ON THE SUBJECT. THE PARTICIPANTS DISCUSSED SURVIVAL

TACTICS, TIME MANAGEMENT, TARGETING YOUR CAREER SEARCH, AND FINANCING

COLLEGE EDUCATION, WITH MANY PERSONAL STORIES ABOUT “HOW I DID IT.”

Women who re-enter, retrain, and change fields several times during their career learn that re-entry is a process of self-development, self-growth, education,

and re-education. It helps to see re-entry as a stepwise process, a series of tasks that can be managed, not a formidable group of problems. Cognitive

psychologist and re-entry specialist Pamela E. Kramer advised participants that women who feel traumatized by getting back into the classroom in science and technology need to factor into the equation what research tells us: Men tend to overestimate their abilities and women tend to underestimate

theirs. Acting as self-confident as you would like to feel will stand you in good stead and most women will very shortly discover that they are academically stronger than many of the men in their classes. Know that women tend to be more easily discouraged by an average grade (a C, for example) than

men are, re-entering women were told. If you get a D on that first exam, don’t quit—you may learn that a particular teacher gives an average grade

of D on that first exam. 

College studies 

for women on 

public assistance

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workforce

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The women learned that if they had majored originally in history and now

wanted to be electronic engineers, they might have to redo a good deal

of their undergraduate degree, but for most fields it was unnecessary to

redo a whole degree—and they should not do so if they didn’t have to. 

They were advised to go back to school as consumers, asking the schools

what support systems they offered: Childcare? Special networking?

Counseling? Job counseling and job placement? Peer support groups? It

was particularly critical to find a group to study with, and not to sit

struggling alone with calculus or differential equations on the kitchen

table late at night. If a school didn’t offer study or support groups, they

should form their own. They should find a mentor, and find friends. They

should not let what might seem a chilly classroom climate—especially for

women and minority students, especially in engineering and the physical

sciences—deter them. Dig deeper, use their social skills, and they could

negotiate this environment. They should also consider attending

institutions that offer work internships through cooperative education

programs, so they could earn money and get job-related experiences

while attending college. 

CODES: U, PD NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

ANN COLLINS, ALICE DEUTSCH, PAMELA E. KRAMER, NANCY M. TOONEY, LINDA H. MANTEL

www.nyas.org HRD 93-53679 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNERS: AWIS, METROWOMEN CHEMISTS

KEYWORDS: DISSEMINATION, WORKSHOP, CAREER AWARENESS, SELF-CONFIDENCE, RE-ENTRY, SUPPORT SYSTEM, PEER GROUPS, STUDY GROUPS, MENTORING, INTERNSHIPS

PROJECT GOLD: GIRLS WITH DISABILITIES ONLINE

GIRLS WITH DISABILITIES ENCOUNTER MORE NEGATIVE ATTITUDES FROM THEIR PEERS THAN DO

BOYS WITH DISABILITIES AND TEND TO BE VICTIMIZED BY OVERT AND SUBTLE FORMS OF 

“EDUCATION TOWARD PASSIVITY.” BARRIERS OF GENDER AND DISABILITY BLOCK THEM FROM

PURSUING STUDY AND CAREERS IN STEM IF THEY ASSUME THEIR OWN PASSIVITY AND

INCOMPETENCE AND POSTPONE IMPORTANT ACADEMIC DECISIONS. STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES

CAN PERFORM WELL IN A RIGOROUS SCIENCE CURRICULUM IF SIMPLE MODIFICATIONS ARE

MADE AND IF THEY HAVE LEARNED TO BE AUTONOMOUS AND ADVOCATES FOR THEMSELVES. 

The University of Minnesota General College, the Minnesota State Department of Education, the Minneapolis Public Schools, the St. Paul Public Schools,

and the Parents Advocacy Coalition for Equal Rights collaborated on this experimental project to identify key age-appropriate skills, processes, and

activities through which to remove barriers to girls with disabilities (grades K–8) participating in STEM classes, activities, and careers. Removing those

barriers requires building their self-confidence, providing experiences to strengthen their understanding of concepts, and developing appropriate

curriculum and individualized education plans.

The project targeted girls in elementary and junior high school, when girls must make so many decisions—including whether to take advanced math—

that enable them (or not) to pursue rigorous secondary and postsecondary courses of study. It stressed computer-based technologies that support

the development of self-determination (including assertiveness, creativity, self-advocacy, and the ability to make decisions), so that even severely

disabled girls could undertake demanding courses of study leading to career options in STEM, making them more autonomous in their education, social

lives, and decision-making. 

The project emphasized

• Aggressive training in state-of-the-art and emerging adaptive computer technologies (15 student–adult pairs were helped to attend the annual 

Closing the Gap Conference) 

• Peer training and interaction with mentors and role models

• Immersion in opportunities to interact through telecommunications with mentors, school personnel, and other girls with disabilities

• Training for school-based personnel to accommodate students with disabilities early on in STEM courses and co-curricular activities

• Aggressive dissemination of more positive images of the futures of girls with disabilities

Workshops helped build the 30 participants’ self-confidence and improve their understanding of concepts. A component was added to encourage

parents to help the girls become self-advocates. A two-day summer camp was added to allow the girls to spend a day at the Minnesota Zoo, speaking behind the scenes with women naturalists, including a physically disabled zoo intern. The second day, a geometry scavenger hunt doubled as a

tour of the University of Minnesota campus, with the girls photographing art and architecture that used various forms of geometry. 

Project GOLD: 

girls with 

disabilities online

gold

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CODES: H, I, U ROCHESTER INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (NATIONAL TECHNICAL INSTITUTE FOR THE DEAF)

DIANNE BROOKS (DKBNCA@RIT.EDU), ROBERT MENCHEL HRD 00-86345 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNER: MT. HOLYOKE COLLEGE KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, HEARING-IMPAIRED, DEAF, SUMMER PROGRAM, SELF-CONFIDENCE, PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS, ROLE MODELS

The project was unable to overcome one important problem: Most of the

girls did not own computers or adaptive equipment and had only limited

access to such equipment in the schools. Without home computers they

were often unable to communicate with the other girls or with mentors

in the ways the project expected them to.

Project GOLD opened the girls’ eyes to options they hadn’t realized were

available to them. One parent reported that her daughter, who had always

expected to live with her parents for life, was now talking about living

outside of home after high school. Teachers reported that the project

changed the transition from school to work for many girls, broadening the

range of vocational opportunities they were considering. The adults and

undergraduates who worked on the project spoke differently now—both

about students and to students. They did not assume that a person is not

disabled because there are no visible signs of disability. They consider

multiple approaches in their teaching. Most of the girls involved in the

project had been told not to pursue math or science because of their

disabilities, but the project found that many of the girls, given appropriate

accommodations and environment, could become competitive with

students who did not share their disabilities.

HOW CHALLENGED SCIENTISTS SUCCEED

In The Challenged Scientists: Disabilities and the Triumph of

Excellence (1991), R.A. Weisgerber identified certain common

patterns found in many children with disabilities who later

become scientists. These children tend to have been 

• Encouraged by a parent or teacher to pursue science, 

engineering, or mathematics

• Exposed to key mathematical and scientific ideas in an 

exciting hands-on context

• Mentored by a practitioner

• Helped by special programming (e.g., clubs or summer 

programs) that addressed their needs in a positive way; 

allowed to take risks in learning skills

• Knowledgeable about their real limits, without imagining 

barriers that didn’t exist

• Around key adults who looked beyond stereotypes of 

passive incompetence

• Introduced to computers and given needed equipment

• Given support for persistence.

CODES: E, M, U, I UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA, TWIN CITIES

LAURA C. KOCH (KOCHX001@TC.UMN.EDU) LYNDA PRICE, KIMERLY J. WILCOX

http://cap.umn.edu HRD 94-53092 (THREE-YEAR GRANT)

PARTNERS: THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA GENERAL COLLEGE, THE MINNESOTA STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, THE MINNEAPOLIS PUBLIC SCHOOLS, THE ST. PAUL PUBLIC

SCHOOLS, AND THE PARENTS ADVOCACY COALITION FOR EQUAL RIGHTS. THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA’S COMPUTER ACCOMMODATIONS PROGRAM, A PARTNERSHIP OF ACADEMIC

& DISTRIBUTED COMPUTING SERVICES AND DISABILITY SERVICES, HELPS UNIVERSITY STUDENTS, STAFF, AND FACULTY WITH DISABILITIES ACCESS COMPUTERS AND

INFORMATION BY USING ADAPTIVE TECHNOLOGY.

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, DISABLED, SELF-CONFIDENCE, BARRIERS, COMPUTER SKILLS, MENTORING, ROLE MODELS, STAFF TRAINING, PEER GROUPS, CO-CURRICULAR, WORKSHOPS, SUMMER CAMP

MATH CAMP FOR DEAF HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS

GIRLS WHO ARE DEAF RARELY PURSUE CAREERS IN STEM BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT ENCOURAGED

TO DO SO. TYPICALLY THEY ARE NOT EVEN ENCOURAGED TO TAKE MATH AND SCIENCE COURSES IN

HIGH SCHOOL BUT ARE URGED TO TAKE VOCATIONAL EDUCATION INSTEAD. THIS PROJECT WILL

FOR THE FIRST TIME INTEGRATE DEAF HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS INTO A SUCCESSFUL, WELLESTABLISHED SUMMER MATH PROGRAM AT A UNIVERSITY. SUMMER MATH PROGRAMS OFFERED

TO HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS AT U.S. COLLEGES HAVE PREVIOUSLY BEEN CLOSED TO DEAF STUDENTS. 

The National Technical Institute for the Deaf—a college of the Rochester

Institute of Technology—will train Mt. Holyoke’s faculty and staff in

strategies for deaf education to, and will provide support services

(including sign-language interpreters) for, the deaf students. In Mt.

Holyoke’s successful four-week Summermath program, students take

three 90-minute classes a day in basic math and computer (SuperLogo)

concepts and skills. They work in pairs and small groups, applying math

concepts to practical problems. The teacher serves as facilitator and

guide, rather than as lecturer and expert.

The project aims to improve the deaf students’ confidence and problemsolving abilities and better prepare them for postsecondary programs in

STEM. The eight initial students are expected to become role models for

other deaf high school girls. The project should also change adult

perspectives on career opportunities for young deaf women. 

Math camp for 

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FORWARD (AND DEAF ACCESS)

ADVANCED DEGREES ARE OFTEN THE KEY TO PROFESSIONAL SUCCESS AND CAREER

FLEXIBILITY, BUT FEW COLLEGE GRADUATES ARE AWARE OF THE DOORS SUCH

DEGREES OPEN OR ARE PREPARED FOR THE CHALLENGES OF GRADUATE SCHOOL.

RELATIVELY FEW WOMEN—AND EVEN FEWER DEAF AND HARD-OF-HEARING

WOMEN—GO ON TO GRADUATE SCHOOL IN STEM DISCIPLINES. FOR STUDENTS

FROM GALLAUDET UNIVERSITY (THE ONLY LIBERAL ARTS UNIVERSITY FOR DEAF

AND HEARING-IMPAIRED STUDENTS) AND THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR THE

DEAF, THE CHALLENGES OF GOING ON TO GRADUATE SCHOOL ARE CONSIDERABLE.

To begin with, for someone whose primary language is signing, the

Graduate Record Exam is a test written in a non-native language. Asked

why they were not applying for graduate school, Gallaudet students

expressed three main concerns: finding a graduate school with a sizeable

community of deaf students (so they wouldn’t be socially isolated), fear

of being rejected by the graduate school, and fear of not being good (or

prepared) enough for research and work in a hearing environment,

especially when there is little access to sign-language interpreters to help

with day-to-day lab routines. The rapid development of computer and

communication technologies could enable more equitable access to STEM

fields, but these technologies are not yet fully integrated with modes of

communications currently used by students with hearing problems.

A collaboration between several institutions, FORWARD aimed to improve

instruction, increase enrollments, promote teamwork through computer

networks, and bridge the gap between undergraduate and advanced

degrees in STEM fields. It was targeted especially to deaf and hard-ofhearing women (and their teachers and counselors), women at women’s

colleges or traditionally black universities, and nontraditional students

(those returning to school after several years). The various components

could be viewed as steps leading to a STEM career.

FORWARD graduate-planning workshop. Targeted to male and female

juniors and seniors considering graduate school, this spring workshop

drew 32 students the second year, more than double the attendance the

first year. Half the students learned about it through e-mail. The simple,

intense 24-hour training helped students re-evaluate their personal and

career objectives. Highlight of the Friday evening program was a

presentation on learning styles. Participants were given a workshop binder

containing information they don’t normally have as undergraduates, on

choosing and applying to a graduate program, getting financial support,

gaining workplace and research experience, writing résumés and

proposals, and mentoring, plus URLs of useful websites and material about

deaf role models and women in STEM fields. The workshop made the

daunting task of applying for graduate school seem more approachable,

unveiling the mysteries of the process and helping them see their options.

It helped to hear about people’s personal experiences in grad school.

Forward research competition. This summer research opportunity

challenged nine first-year woman graduate students early in their

graduate career with developing, implementing, and documenting a

research activity. It was easier to attract industrial support if they called

the research internships “apprenticeships,” which industry felt more

comfortable with. 

Forward seminar. This yearlong, project-centered, multi-institutional,

interdisciplinary science and engineering seminar (“A Walk on the Moon”)

gave participants direct experience solving interdisciplinary problems,

collaborating electronically in workgroups, implementing and evaluating

strategies in the research environment, and building confidence in their

ability to manage a successful career in STEM. Electronic networks linked

students, faculty, and mentors on issue-focused collaborative projects.

Research methods were blended with technical project activities so

students could experience doing STEM as it is actually practiced, actively

conferring with distant team members. Participants were engaged in

reporting on both broad and narrow issues, both professional and

personal concerns, and both technical and human details of implementation.

Planning for the seminar took place at the Oshkosh Curriculum Institute.

One of the best project outcomes was the collaboration and network

developed among the principal investigators at various institutions.

Mirroring today’s multidisciplinary, team-centered workplace, the seminar

used open-ended case studies to engage student teams in seeing new

solutions and applying technical knowledge to create new products—in

emulating the work needed for preproduct development. The textbooks

used were Consider a Spherical Cow by John Harte and Environmental

Problem Solving by Isobel Heathcote. The case-study-leading-to-aproposal format led students through the steps needed for creating

technical proposals, a key ingredient in technical communication and

FORWARD 

(and deaf access)

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professional development. Students were to analyze the case study,

determine the problem in need of a solution, evaluate the community

response, write a proposal, determine the proposal’s technical viability,

model, determine the human resources needed, develop teamwork

strategies, conduct an assessment, and write a report. 

DEAF ACCESS 

Several initiatives were developed to provide support services for

interpreters and deaf students and to make STEM activities more

accessible to deaf students. Every five years Gallaudet Research Institute

surveys institutions of higher learning to evaluate how accessible they

are to deaf students and students with other disabilities. Steps were

taken to simplify access to information about STEM academic

departments, financial aid services, and offices and programs for students

with disabilities. The project also developed brochures highlighting the

personal, academic, and professional stories of deaf people successful in

various STEM fields.

Technical interpreting. Access to classroom instruction most often

happens through a sign-language interpreter, and STEM classes are

challenging for even the best-trained interpreters. They are exhausting

for the student trying to follow both what the teacher is demonstrating

and what the interpreter is trying to sign. Inadequate interpreting

services in advanced STEM classrooms severely limit deaf students’ access

to advanced learning. To disseminate a common sign language

vocabulary between interpreter and deaf students, the idea was to

develop Web pages summarizing strategies for technical interpreting,

providing an overview of engineering specialties, explaining important

vocabulary, and providing short videos with signs for common advanced

technical terms. Technical interpreting workshops would help interpreters

improve their technical signing skills and techniques.

Videoconferencing relay service. With relay services for personal

videoconferencing, sign-language interpreters could be available

anywhere. This part of the project was to use videoconferencing stations

to facilitate interactions between researchers and deaf students. Readily

available low-cost systems such as CU-SeeMe could be used to convey

technical advice or to conduct job interviews with foreign applicants. It

is important to develop more “deaf friendly” software tools for

collaboration—more visual software, with more signing content—and to

investigate ways to capture faster/real-time signing speeds with video. 

FORWARD mentoring network. Considerable time was spent developing

a network of scientists and alumni with disabilities to mentor participating students, and mentoring was one aspect of the project the students

appreciated most. The workshop helped them evaluate who their current

mentors are (they learned they should already have about 15 mentors),

explore what areas of support were lacking in their lives, and understand

how to interact with a mentor. By highlighting the importance of

interactive video teleconferencing, videos, and online communications

generally, the project opened up new possibilities for linking professors,

students, and mentors across time and space. 

CODE: U GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY

RACHELLE S. HELLER (GWU) (SHELLER@SEAS.GWU.EDU), CATHERINE A. MAVRIPLIS

HRD 97-14729 (THREE-YEAR GRANT)

PARTNERS: GALLAUDET UNIVERSITY (H. DAVID SNYDER, CHARLENE SORENSEN, DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS), SMITH UNIVERSITY (ILEANA STREINU, COMPUTER

SCIENCE), NATIONAL TECHNICAL INSTITUTE FOR THE DEAF (HARRY LANG), HOOD COLLEGE (ELIZABETH CHANG, MATHEMATICS), HAMPTON UNIVERSITY (JALE AKYURTLU, CHEMICAL

ENGINEERING), MENTORNET (CAROL B. MULLER), DUKE UNIVERSITY (MARTHA ABSHER), AND TUSKORARA INTERMEDIATE UNIT (CAROL O’CONNER)

USEFUL LINKS: www.student.seas.gwu.edu/~forward www.agnesscott.edu/lriddle/women/alpha.htm 

KEYWORDS: EDUCATION PROGRAM, TEACHER TRAINING, MENTORING, RESEARCH EXPERIENCE, DEAF, HEARING-IMPAIRED, AFRICAN-AMERICAN, SCHOLARSHIPS, WORKSHOP, INDUSTRY

PARTNERS, INTERNSHIPS, APPRENTICESHIPS, SEMINARS, COLLABORATIVE NETWORK, VIDEOCONFERENCE, BROCHURES, ROLE MODELS, SELF-CONFIDENCE
Changing the 

Learning 

Environment

005

Ch

”THE WORLD CANNOT AFFORD THE LOSS OF THE TALENTS OF HALF ITS PEOPLE IF WE ARE TO SOLVE THE MANY PROBLEMS 

WHICH BESET US.” —ROSALYN YALOW, NOBEL LAUREATE 1977

TO ACHIEVE LASTING CHANGE, A LIMITED PROJECT MUST REACH ALL ”PARTS OF THE SYSTEM”—THE PEOPLE (STUDENTS,

TEACHERS, PARENTS, COUNSELORS, ADMINISTRATORS, FACULTY, MENTORS AND INDUSTRY ROLE MODELS), THE PEDAGOGY (HOW

MATERIAL IS TAUGHT), THE COURSE CONTENT (WHAT IS TAUGHT, WHEN), AND ORGANIZED SOCIAL SUPPORT NETWORKS. MANY

PROJECTS REACHED FOR THIS IMPACT WITHIN THREE YEARS AT THE MAXIMUM AWARD LEVEL ($900,000).

ALSO INCLUDED HERE ARE WORKSHOPS OR CONFERENCES LOOKING AT SYSTEMIC AND SOCIETAL ISSUES, OR CONDUCTING

STUDIES ACROSS INSTITUTIONS, OR INITIATING A PROGRAM ACROSS INSTITUTIONS IN ORDER TO EXAMINE ITS IMPACT WITHIN

VARIED ENVIRONMENTS. SOME EFFORTS SOUGHT TO AFFECT POPULATIONS WITHIN A STATE (FOR EXAMPLE, PRE-SERVICE

TEACHERS IN SCHOOLS OF EDUCATION), OR TEACHERS FROM MANY STATES WHO SPECIALIZE IN ONE DISCIPLINE (FOR EXAMPLE,

TEACHERS OF COMPUTER SCIENCE IN HIGH SCHOOL), OR A COMMON GRADE LEVEL (FOR EXAMPLE, AN ONLINE COURSE FOR

MIDDLE SCHOOL TEACHERS). NSF ALSO FUNDED STUDENT SUPPORT SYSTEMS THAT TRANSCEND ONE SETTING AND ONE

GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION—FOR EXAMPLE, MENTORING PROGRAMS USING THE INTERNET.

CHAPTER FIVE . CHANGING THE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

SOME REFERENCES

Burger, Carol J., and Mary Sandy. A Guide to Gender Fair Counseling for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.

Virginia Space Grant Consortium, 2002.

Davis, Cinda-Sue, Angela Ginorio, Carol Hollenshead, Barbara Lazarus, Paula Rayman, et al. The Equity Equation: Fostering the

Advancement of Women in the Sciences, Mathematics, and Engineering. Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1996.

Kahle, Jane Butler, "Measuring Progress Toward Equity in Science and Mathematics Education," National Institute for Science

Education Brief, vol. 2, no. 3, August 1998

Kekelis, Linda, and Etta Heber. Girls First: a Guide to Starting Science Clubs for Girls. Chabot Space and Science Center, 2001.

Sanders, Jo. Lifting the Barriers: 600 Strategies That Really Work to Increase Girls’ Participation in Science, Mathematics, and

Computers. 1994

Sanders, Jo. Fairness at the Source: Assessing Gender Equity in Teacher Education for Colleges and Universities. Washington

Research Institute, 2000.
1

WHAT WORKS IN PROGRAMS FOR GIRLS

PARTICIPANTS AT A TWO-DAY WORKSHOP AT SANTA CLARA UNIVERSITY

SHARED WHAT THEY’D LEARNED ABOUT WHAT WORKS—OR DOESN’T—IN

PROGRAMS TO MOTIVATE HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS TO PERSIST IN SCIENCE,

MATH, AND TECHNOLOGY. WORKSHOPS LIKE THIS HELP EDUCATORS

REALIZE THEY ARE NOT ALONE AND GIVE THEM A CHANCE TO SHARE

EXPERIENCES, PROJECT IDEAS, AND ADVICE ABOUT SETTING UP

APPROPRIATE LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS.

Best practices for such programs, the participants found, include

• Setting up a safe, comfortable, yet challenging environment for 

problem solving

• Including a project with tangible results that the girls can take away 

with them (something physical, like a bridge, or virtual, like a website 

they can connect to from home to show parents and friends their 

accomplishments)

• Finding ways to bolster girls’ self-efficacy, a key to persistence in STEM 

• Helping girls envision technologically related careers as part of their 

”possible selves”

To address the difficult problem of assessing programs, participants

developed draft assessment tools aimed at tracking girls’ participation in

STEM and began work on assessing self-efficacy. Any program to

encourage girls’ persistence can use the project’s online survey

capabilities. Local programs register through the website and are issued

a program ID and password that participants in the program can use to

complete the online surveys. The project hopes to follow up with each

participant for several years, tracking their persistence in STEM and

providing data on the nationwide impact of such programs. The project

website also provides useful links to STEM programs for girls. 

CONNECTIONS: CURRICULUM, CAREER, AND PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

A PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY (NEU) AND THE

BOSTON-AREA PATRIOTS’ TRAIL GIRL SCOUT COUNCIL, CONNECTIONS

ENCOURAGES YOUNG WOMEN FROM MIDDLE SCHOOL THROUGH COLLEGE

TO PURSUE TECHNICAL MAJORS AND CAREERS. THE SCOUTS BRING TO THE

PROJECT THEIR EXPERTISE IN ALL-GIRL PROGRAMS AND GENDER

SENSITIVITY. NEU, WITH ITS SIGNATURE COOPERATIVE EDUCATION

PROGRAM, BRINGS EXPERTISE IN CAREER TRAINING AND STEM

EDUCATION. THE PROJECT WILL REACH OUT TO IMMIGRANTS AND OTHER

GIRLS WHO HAVE NOT PARTICIPATED IN SCOUTING OR BENEFITED FROM

ALL-GIRL PROGRAMS.

Connections come through contact with one or more mentors, use of a

structured e-mail communication and support network, and participation

in regularly scheduled after-school and summer activities that connect

curriculum, career, and personal goals. Middle school girls learn how

important what they are learning is for high school; high school girls

learn what STEM careers involve through their interactions with college

women, faculty, and professionals in the field; and college women

become career-ready and have a clearer understanding of their

professional opportunities. 

NUE faculty, staff, and students team with girls in Boston Girl Scout

troops, their troop leaders, and their teachers in after-school activities

and summer day camp programs at Computer Clubhouses at NEU and at

the Patriots’ Trail Scout site. 

College participants are housed together on one floor of a residential hall,

surrounded by peers with similar interests, and benefit from study groups

and priority access to the Connections computer lab. They can also

participate in Math Excel, a program for NEU freshmen with demonstrated

math ability. Twice weekly for a quarter, Math Excel students work in groups

on challenging math problems related to their calculus course—a process

that more closely resembles how most scientists and engineers work than

the classroom usually does. This is a substantial time commitment but most

students find the intense group work productive and enjoyable, and the

challenge helps them do better in all their courses. Participants can also

CODES: H, PD SANTA CLARA UNIVERSITY

RUTH E. DAVIS (RDAVIS@SCU.EDU)

http://www.scu.edu/SCU/Projects/NSFWorkshop99/

HRD 98-77037 (ONE-YEAR GRANT)

KEYWORDS: DISSEMINATION, RESEARCH STUDY, PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, WORK- SHOPS, BEST PRACTICES, ONLINE SURVEY, WEBSITE

What works in 

programs 

for girls

005

wrks Connections: 

curriculum, career,

and personal 

development

c+c

005
180

THE ATHENA PROJECT

THIS COLLABORATION—WOMEN HELPING WOMEN AT DIFFERENT STAGES OF THEIR EDUCATIONAL

AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT—HELPED MORE THAN 100 GIRLS FROM FIVE MIDDLE

SCHOOLS IN CALIFORNIA’S RIVERSIDE AND SAN BERNARDINO COUNTIES. THE ATHENA PROJECT

PROVIDED AN EDUCATIONAL SUPPORT STRUCTURE FOR GIRLS IN MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL,

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR MATH AND SCIENCE MAJORS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF

CALIFORNIA AT RIVERSIDE (UCR), AND MENTORSHIP AND OUTREACH PROGRAMS. AS PART OF

WOMEN-TO-WOMEN COUNSELING, COLLEGE UNDERGRADUATES MENTORED MIDDLE SCHOOL

GIRLS, WHILE STAFF TEACHERS AND UNIVERSITY FACULTY MENTORED THE UNDERGRADUATES. 

The project provided financial, academic, and mentoring support for math and science majors considering a teaching career. Data on factors that turn

girls away from math and science were collected on both participants and members of a control group. University student affairs officers and

department chairs in math, chemistry, physics, and biology helped recruit undergraduate women who might pursue careers in teaching, aiming to

help them earn a California teaching credential or an advanced degree in STEM fields. These ”Athena leaders” were advised to take certain math and

science education courses and were steered into campus math and science clubs. 

The Inland Area Math and Science Projects—to which roughly 3500 math and science teachers belong—hosted a four-week summer institute that

brought together Athena leaders, professors, public school teachers, and county educators, strengthening participants’ teaching skills and mastery of

content (in the context of equity, diversity, and content standards). As a result of the project, UCR added two classes to its undergraduate curriculum:

mathematics education and liberal studies mathematics. 

Teamed with project teacher–mentors from the school sites to which they were assigned, the Athena leaders were paid a stipend for participating.

They were also given eight college credits, professional books and videos, access to UCR’s professional math and science resource center, an e-mail

account, videos, and several professional books: 

find work as a computer lab assistant or work weekly with middle and high school students. And Connections provides workshops on such issues as

career and time management, interviewing, and negotiation.

E-mentoring allows women of high school age and older to be in touch by e-mail with one or more professional mentors (whom they can question

about careers). Undergraduates also share their knowledge of college life and majors in STEM with Boston-area high school girls. Everyone is welcome

at Connection social activities, which give participants a chance to meet face to face, but registering with Connections is required to participate in

e-mentoring.

Activities for senior Scouts (grades 9–12) emphasize after-school troop activities, summer camp at NEU, mentoring, and summer co-op work. High

school participants can participate in an e-mentor group, have access to a computer lab with state-of-the-art computer software, and visit NEU for

Connections-sponsored events.

Activities for middle school Scouts (grades 5–8) emphasize after-school troop activities, summer camp, and Connections tutoring and mentoring. Girls

in this age group play with cool computer software and engineering toys at the Connections computer clubhouse; learn how to program a robot using

Lego’s Mindstorms software; explore bugs, plants, and the like with a microscope that shows the objects on a computer screen; can learn hands-on

about engineering and science in the Connections Build It! series; and can attend special events at NEU.

CODES: M, H, U NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY

SARA WADIA-FASCETTI (SWF@NEU.EDU), LAURA WATKINS, ELLEN DUWART, PAULA G. LEVENTMAN, AND MAURICE E. GILMORE

www.mcs.csuhayward.edu/~mega/mc2001/mc2001.html HRD 98-13896 (ONE-YEAR GRANT)

PARTNERS: PATRIOTS TRAIL GIRL SCOUT COUNCIL, GIRL SCOUTS OF THE USA, BOSTON COMPUTER MUSEUM, NEU’S COLLEGES OF ENGINEERING AND ARTS AND SCIENCES, DEPARTMENT OF COOPERATIVE EDUCATION, AND OFFICE OF RESIDENCE LIFE.

KEYWORDS: EDUCATION PROGRAM, GIRL SCOUTS, CAREER AWARENESS, COOPERATIVE LEARNING, MENTORING, SUPPORT SYSTEM, PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS, ELECTRONIC MENTORING, SUMMER CAMP, AFTER-SCHOOL, HANDS-ON

The Athena 

project

005

A
1

• Biographies of Women Mathematicians and Related Activities by Teri Perl. 1978.

• By Nature’s Design by Diane Ackerman, Neill Williams, and Path Murphy. 1993.

• Classifying Fingerprints: Real World Mathematics Through Science by Nancy Cook. 1995. 

• Complete Origami by Eric Kenneway. 1987.

• Get It Together: Math Problems for Groups Grades 4–12 by Tim Erickson. 1989. 

• Great Ideas I Stole from Other People by Pam Clute. 1997.

• The History of the Cross in Religious and Political Symbolism by Lynda J. Gettig. 1989.

• Measuring Earthquakes by Nancy Cook. 1995.

• Multiculturalism in Mathematics, Science, and Technology: Readings and Activities by Claudette Bradley and Julia Hernandez. 1993.

• Plotting Pictures: Coordinate Graphing and Number Skills by Paula Rozell. 1995.

• She Does Math: Real Life Problems from Women on the Job by Marla Parker. 1995.

After the summer institute, the Athena leaders practiced their newly acquired ideas and skills teaching, tutoring (there was more demand than the

project could satisfy), and mentoring seventh and eighth grade girls at nine sites through Expanding Horizons, a U.C. extension program. They helped

the girls improve their computer skills, arranged field trips to places like the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Los Angeles Museum of Technology

(partly to see female role models on the job), talked with parents, and generally took charge of presenting math and science positively to the middle

school girls. Influenced by the enthusiasm of Athena participants, the entire class at one school set a goal of trying to qualify for NASA’s summer

space camp in Alabama. Several career awareness activities were provided for the middle school girls and their parents, including math and science

parent nights (attended by more than 2,000) and occasional radio programs. 

This ambitious project encountered scheduling conflicts on overlapping summer projects and a delay in second-year implementation because of a

state mandate requiring anyone having contact with students to pass a

Justice Department background check and a TB test (with unclear instructions about who was to receive the information). The project also learned

that it takes substantial effort to develop true collaboration between

institutions, with the school districts playing an active collaborative role.

WHAT WORKS IN AFTER-SCHOOL SCIENCE

AFTER-SCHOOL LEARNING—AS OPPOSED TO CHILD-MINDING OR PURE RECREATION—IS

A NEW AND GROWING EDUCATIONAL FIELD. AFTER-SCHOOL EDUCATION CAN PROMOTE

POSITIVE BEHAVIORS THAT FACILITATE ACADEMIC, VOCATIONAL, AND SOCIAL SUCCESS,

AND INCREASING NUMBERS OF INFORMAL, OUT-OF-SCHOOL PROGRAMS TRY TO ENGAGE

AND SUSTAIN GIRLS’ INTEREST IN STEM. AFTER-SCHOOL EDUCATION IS THE SUBJECT OF

MUCH CURRENT RESEARCH BUT NONE OF IT HAS PROBED THE SPECIFIC NEEDS OF GIRLS,

ESPECIALLY NOT IN TERMS OF ENGAGING AND SUPPORTING THEIR INTEREST IN STEM.

WE DO NOT KNOW WHICH PROGRAMS SUCCEED IN DOING SO AND WHICH DO NOT. 

We are moving toward a technology-based economy in which women

are an increasing part of the workforce. In this project, three national

nonprofit organizations experienced in bias-free after-school

programs are organizing a working conference to create a research/

action agenda to inform the development of STEM programs free of

biases (against gender, race, ethnicity, and disability) that have

contributed to educational inequality. Roughly 40 researchers,

practitioners, and policymakers were to attend a multidisciplinary

conference to be held at AAAS headquarters in Washington, D.C., on

CODE: M, H, I, U, PD UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, RIVERSIDE

PAMELA S. CLUTE (PAMELA.CLUTE@UCR.EDU)

HRD 96-19060 (THREE-YEAR GRANT) 

KEYWORDS: EDUCATION PROGRAM, PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, MENTORING, ROLE

MODELS, TEACHER TRAINING, CAREER AWARENESS, SUPPORT SYSTEM

September 23–24, 2002. Results will be disseminated through

journals and other publications, websites, listservs, and conferences

of professional associations. 

CODE: I, E, M, PD EDUCATIONAL EQUITY CONCEPTS, INC.

MERLE FROSCHL (INFO@EDEQUITY,ORG), BARBARA SPRUNG

HRD 01-14741 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNERS: AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, ACADEMY

FOR EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

KEYWORDS: DISSEMINATION, AFTER-SCHOOL, INFORMAL EDUCATION, ENGAGEMENT, BEST PRACTICES, CONFERENCE, ACTION PLAN, POLICY, RESOURCE CENTER

What works in 

after-school 

science

005

after
182

BUGS: OUTDOOR LEARNING LABS

BUGS (BRINGING UP GIRLS IN SCIENCE) HOPES TO ENGAGE FOURTH

AND FIFTH GRADE GIRLS IN DENTON, TEX., IN SCIENCE THROUGH A

HIGH-INTEREST CURRICULUM OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES STUDIED

IN AN OUTDOOR LEARNING LAB. WITH SUPPORT FROM PARENTS AND

MENTORS, 30 GIRLS ARE PARTICIPATING IN A YEARLONG AFTERSCHOOL SCIENCE LAB AT SAM HOUSTON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. 

This University of North Texas (UNT), project is using Passow and Frasier’s

culturally fair matrix to identify gifted students among Denton’s culturally

diverse and often economically disadvantaged population. (Busing was

one of the first problems the project had to address.) It has identified

both participants and a contrast group for purposes of evaluation and has

planned a series of educationally sound field trips to encourage the

contrast group’s participation. 

The program will use six units (animal studies, land and water,

microworlds, ecosystems, experiments with plants, and floating and

sinking) from the Science, Technology, and Children curriculum. The STC

curriculum is designed to make science relevant, interesting, and

challenging and to foster the development of scientific reasoning and

scientific attitudes such as curiosity, flexibility, respect for evidence, and

sensitivity to living things. 

Each learning/mentoring/support team will include a fourth or fifth

grader, a female high school student from the Texas Academy of

Mathematics and Science (who will be paid a stipend), and a woman from

the University of North Texas faculty. Parents can participate in

workshops about educational and career opportunities. 

Participants in the BUGS after-school program will later attend a twoweek summer program at the Elm Fork Environmental Education Center

(the public education branch of UNT’s environmental programs), where

they will explore water in its journey from a waterfall through a river to

a pond; native plants and animals in their natural habitat, a wetland; and

the stories contained in rocks, minerals, and soils. Elm Fork will develop

environmental science learning kits for the project, with technological

assistance from the Texas Center for Educational Technology, for eventual

dissemination nationwide in English and Spanish. 

The girls will team with a computer pen pal at a distant site, to work

together on science experiments using two-way audiovisual desktop

conferencing tools, electronic chat rooms, and a project website. This will

allow students with special needs at distant sites to be mentored and to

participate in the outdoor lab by way of a virtual field trip. These distant

students—students with emotional and behavioral problems from a

school in Wichita Falls, Tex.; students from a school district in Bernalillo,

N.M., that serves many Hispanic and Native American students; and students from a rural school district in Decatur, Tex.—will be able to take

electronic “field trips” developed from activities videotaped during the

first year of the BUGS project. 

CODES: E, I, U UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS

TANDRA L. TYLER-WOOD (WOOD@TAC.COE.UNT.EDU), JANE PEMBERTON, MARK MORTENSEN

HRD 01-14917 (THREE-YEAR GRANT)

PARTNERS: SAM HOUSTON ELEMENTARY (DENTON INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT),

TEXAS ACADEMY OF MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE, AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF

UNIVERSITY WOMEN, ELM FORK ENVIORNMENTAL EDUCATIONAL CENTER, AND TEXAS

CENTER FOR EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY.

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, OUTDOORS, MENTORING, DISTANCE LEARNING, PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT, ACHIEVEMENT, AFTER-SCHOOL, ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE, UNDERPRIVILEGED, WORKSHOPS, CAREER AWARENESS, SUMMER PROGRAM, VIDEOCONFERENCE, WEBSITE, FIELD TRIPS

BUGS: outdoor 

learning labs

005

Bug
1

GENDER EQUITY TRAINING IN TEACHER EDUCATION

THIS THREE-YEAR PROJECT MADE TEACHER EDUCATORS AND TEACHER EDUCATION

INSTITUTIONS NATIONWIDE MORE ATTENTIVE TO GENDER EQUITY ISSUES IN

PRESERVICE (STUDENT) TEACHER EDUCATION. AT A FIVE-DAY SEMINAR, EIGHT

NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED INSTRUCTORS OFFERED SESSIONS ON VARIOUS ASPECTS OF

GENDER EQUITY IN STEM COURSES, PROVIDING PARTICIPANTS WITH MATERIALS,

RESOURCES, AND TEACHING ACTIVITIES. THE 61 PARTICIPATING TEACHER EDUCATORS

COULD NOW INCORPORATE GENDER EQUITY INTO THE MATH, SCIENCE, AND TECHNOLOGY

METHODS COURSES THEY TAUGHT AT 40 COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES IN 28 STATES. 

Teacher educators learned, for example, that at the elementary level,

where many teachers are not comfortable with math and science, it is

important to help teachers understand their dislike of math and science so

they don’t transfer it to the girls in their classes. At the secondary level,

where teachers like a subject and want to teach it, it is harder to get them

to consider gender. It helps to convey that a ”math and science for all”

mentality—cultivating students instead of weeding them out—and

instructional strategies that emphasize cooperation and integration over

competition, help all children, not just girls and minorities.

All participants received a grant of $750 for a gender equity project.

Whether they worked on their action research projects alone or in small

teams seemed to make no difference in the results. Participants posted

their activities weekly on an active listserv and shared with their peers

what they had learned and achieved, in bimonthly newsletters, frequent

personal communications, and a three-day follow-up meeting. 

Evaluation showed that 85 percent of the educators became more

equitable in their teaching behavior (men changing more than women).

The percentage of course syllabi containing gender equity nearly tripled.

The group collectively taught gender equity to about 5,000 preservice

teachers and 5,000 others during the project period (1993–96), wrote

about 40 publications on gender equity, and made about 250

presentations.

WASHINGTON STATE GENDER EQUITY PROJECT

AFTER DECADES OF WORK IN GENDER EQUITY, WE KNOW WHAT CAUSES THE GENDER GAP IN STEM

EDUCATION, AND WE KNOW STRATEGIES TO CLOSE IT. BUT EDUCATORS ARE NOT SUFFICIENTLY AWARE OF

THE NEED FOR ACTION OR KNOWLEDGEABLE ENOUGH ABOUT STRATEGIES THAT WORK. THE WASHINGTON

STATE GENDER EQUITY PROJECT WAS UNDERTAKEN TO HELP TEACHER EDUCATORS AND OTHERS ACHIEVE

SUSTAINED STATEWIDE CHANGE IN GENDER EQUITY EDUCATION FOR PRESERVICE (STUDENT) TEACHERS. 

The project goal was to transform the state’s teacher education establishment—colleges and universities that certify new teachers, the state education

agency, and state professional associations in math, science, and teacher education—by incorporating gender equity into existing instruction, policy,

and procedures. 

A collaboration among 11 organizations (including seven colleges and universities that collectively certify nearly 80 percent of the state’s new

teachers), the project is run by a steering committee that meets twice a year in person and twice by videoconference. A team formed at each

organization to undertake a gender equity needs assessment. 

CODE: U, PD CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK GRADUATE SCHOOL

JO SANDERS (JSANDERS@WRI-EDU.ORG) www.wri-edu.org/equity

HRD 92-53182 (THREE-YEAR GRANT)

PARTNER: THE CENTER FOR ADVANCED STUDY IN EDUCATION (CUNY)

PUBLICATION: GENDER EQUITY RIGHT FROM THE START BY JO SANDERS, JANICE KOCH, AND JOSEPHINE URSO (LAWRENCE ERLBAUM ASSOCIATES, 1997). EASY-TO-USE

TEACHING ACTIVITIES AND MANY SUGGESTIONS FOR RESEARCH PROJECTS.

KEYWORDS: TEACHER TRAINING, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS, SEMINAR, RESEARCH PROJECT, EVALUATION, RESOURCE GUIDE

Gender equity 

training in 

teacher education

eq

Washington State

gender equity 

project

005

WS

005
A five-day seminar taught by national leaders was held in Port Ludlow in July 2000, with expenses paid for three members from each team. Participants

valued networking, discussions, and interactive sessions, finding the material on networking, women’s ways of knowing, and relevant gender issues

most helpful. They viewed time and overloaded work schedules as the biggest obstacle to quickly implementing gender equity strategies. A second

workshop was held at Central Washington University in 2001. 

The project expects to reach nearly 6,000 student teachers—two thirds of those in the state. The test will be whether significant statewide increases

in the number of girls taking regular and advanced electives in math, science, and technology are noticeable within five to ten years.

184

EQUITY INITIATIVES IN HOUSTON

WITH TEACHERS’ NEEDS AND GENDER EQUITY IN MIND, THIS COLLABORATIVE

DEMONSTRATION PROJECT SET THREE MAJOR GOALS: IMPROVING THE CLASSROOM

CLIMATE FOR GRADES K–12 SO GIRLS HAVE THE SAME OPPORTUNITIES TO SUCCEED IN

MATH AND SCIENCE AS BOYS; CHANGING AND IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF

INSTRUCTION IN ELEMENTARY MATH AND SCIENCE CLASSES TO SUSTAIN GIRLS’

INTEREST; AND PROVIDING MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS WITH MEANINGFUL

MENTORING RELATIONSHIPS AND ACADEMIC AND CAREER INFORMATION. TO CREATE A

MORE POSITIVE SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT, THE PROJECT TRIED TO STRENGTHEN TEACHERS’

KNOWLEDGE OF STEM SUBJECTS, PROMOTE EQUITABLE CLASSROOM PRACTICES, AND

GIVE GIRLS ACCESS TO ROLE MODELS WITH WHOM THEY COULD READILY IDENTIFY.

Equitable classroom practices institute for K–12 teachers and administrators. Although K–12 teachers were responsive to this institute, the project

learned that teachers were more receptive to institutes that emphasize a particular content area into which are incorporated topics such as equitable

classroom practices, classroom management, and curriculum modifications for diverse learners. Participants were more confident about their ability to

effect change in their own classrooms—by paying attention to seating arrangements and the gender composition of work groups, for example, by

emphasizing cooperative learning and small group activities, and by incorporating material about women and minorities in science—than in their

ability to reach their colleagues. It was important to give them a safe environment in which to discuss what can be controversial issues.

Science and math institute for elementary school teachers. Teachers showed significant gains in math knowledge both years the science and math

training for elementary school teachers was offered, and the institute produced several leaders from among the participants. One key to the institute’s

success was the emphasis on integrating math with science and children’s literature (to teach measurement, estimation, and judging whether something

is reasonable). This approach sat well with participants, who were typically K–5 teachers who have to teach multiple subjects, so that integrating

math and science content was a palatable approach to teaching subjects they often don’t feel comfortable teaching. (The first day of the institute some

participants were clearly upset about taking a math test, while others had no problem with it. One participant said that the institute was fun, except

for the tests, but even the tests reminded them how much children internalize grades and use them to judge their own worth.)

CODE: U, PD WASHINGTON RESEARCH INSTITUTION

JO SANDERS (JSANDERS@WRI-EDU.ORG)

http://www.wri-edu.org/equity/wash HRD 98-14070 (THREE-YEAR GRANT)

PARTNERS: STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION, WASHINGTON EDUCATION ASSOCIATION, WASHINGTON ASSOCIATION OF

COLLEGES FOR TEACHER EDUCATION, WASHINGTON SCIENCE TEACHERS ASSOCIATION, AND WASHINGTON STATE COUNCIL OF MATHEMATICS [(AGENCIES AND ASSOCIATIONS)]. CENTRAL WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, EASTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, HERITAGE COLLEGE, ST. MARTIN’S COLLEGE, SEATTLE PACIFIC UNIVERSITY, SEATTLE UNIVERSITY, UNIVERSITY

OF PUGET SOUND, UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON, WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY, AND WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY.

KEYWORDS: EDUCATION PROGRAM, TEACHER TRAINING, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS, SEMINAR, POLICY, BEST PRACTICES, WORKSHOPS

Equity initiatives 

in Houston

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Curriculum specialists responsible for K–12 math and science explained that district elementary students had the skills to perform rote measurement

routines, but not the conceptual framework needed to succeed at estimating and judging the reasonableness of answers based on measurements. The

topic of measurement is often taught as paper-and-pencil exercises, which do not give a student the manipulative experiences and analytical

challenges needed to perform at higher cognitive levels. The staff decided to direct teacher development activities at improving the math and teaching

skills needed to teach measurement and estimation to elementary students. Student-centered inquiries (for example, using manipulatives) were

modeled throughout the institute. The teachers were treated as a community of learners responsible for their own learning, with a wealth of experience

to contribute. Participants in one institute had more difficulty adapting activities for lower or higher grade levels, so the institute brought K–5 teachers

from the year before to answer questions, share classroom management strategies, and explain how they had created and adapted activities in 

their classrooms. 

In 2000 the project began emphasizing the use of new technologies to support instruction and, because some participants were unsure even how to

use a computer mouse, offered both high-tech and low-tech presentations to minimize intimidation. Participants helped take the material into 

new areas.

Mentoring for girls in secondary schools. Teachers sponsored girls’ science clubs at secondary schools. More than 700 girls participated over three

years—double what the project expected. Club sponsors were given a handbook suggesting how to work with professional mentors and suggesting

appropriate resources and activities for club meetings that mentors did not attend. Club sponsors earned a stipend and field trips were subsidized.

The sponsors engaged club members in mentoring relationships with women in professional STEM fields. Finding and recruiting adult mentors from

academia and local industry was time-consuming, but once they were found, they usually agreed readily to participate—partly because their

commitment was limited to meeting with girls six times a year. Most participants said the best thing about the science clubs was meeting with the

mentors. The mentors were surprised at how responsive the girls were. 

Reassessing district needs. As an outgrowth of collaboration on this project, representatives from eight colleges and universities in the Houston area

worked together with project staff for four months assessing critical district needs in Houston’s middle school science and math education. In 1998–99,

the new Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) became the mandated formula for K–12 instruction in Texas’s public schools. Previously, science was

taught ”pancake style,” layering ninth grade physical science on top of eighth grade earth science on top of seventh grade life science. Under the new

guidelines, concepts from life, earth, and physical science were to be integrated at all levels under more unifying themes, such as ”systems” and 

”patterns of change.” Novice and veteran alike were being asked to integrate concepts and subject matter that many teachers were not prepared to teach

or even interested in teaching.

District middle school teachers needed help figuring out how to provide inclusive, effective instruction that met the diverse needs of English-as-asecond-language students and academically gifted students and how to include special education students in a science lesson. The teachers wanted

to know more about project-based learning and how to design projects that meet the TEKS standards, encourage higher-level thinking, integrate

technology, and use alternative methods of assessment.

CODES: E, M, H, U, PD WILLIAM MARSH RICE UNIVERSITY

FREDERICK B. RUDOLPH (FBR@BIOC.RICE.EDU), NANDA KIRKPATRICK, ANNE J. PAPAKONSTANTINOU

www.bioc.rice.edu/precollege HRD 96-19163 (THREE-YEAR GRANT)

PARTNERS: HOUSTON INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT, TEXAS HIGHER EDUCATION COORDINATING BOARD, HOWARD HUGHES MEDICAL INSTITUTE, AND MANY HOUSTON AREA

EMPLOYERS WHO GRANTED RELEASE TIME FOR MENTORS TO WORK WITH STUDENTS.

PRODUCTS: HANDBOOK FOR MENTORS, HANDBOOK FOR CLUB SPONSORS.

KEYWORDS: EDUCATION PROGRAM, TEACHER TRAINING, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS, ROLE MODELS, MENTORING, SUPPORT SYSTEM, PROJECT-BASED, CAREER AWARENESS, COOPERATIVE

LEARNING, PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, CURRICULUM, SCIENCE CLUBS, FIELD TRIPS
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WISE WOMEN AT STONY BROOK 

THE INTELLECTUAL AND SOCIAL CLIMATE IN WHICH GIRLS AND WOMEN WORK HAS A STRONG

INFLUENCE ON THEIR EDUCATIONAL AND CAREER DECISIONS. ESTABLISHED IN 1993 WITH NSF

SUPPORT, WISE (WOMEN IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING) IS A COMPREHENSIVE PROGRAM TO

ENCOURAGE WOMEN WITH A TALENT FOR, OR INTEREST IN, MATH, SCIENCE, OR ENGINEERING.

Faculty women from many disciplines have initiated several projects under

the WISE umbrella. Instead of dwelling on what is wrong with girls who do

not pursue math and science, the WISE projects have encouraged systemic

change—to make what educators teach more interesting and equitable. The

WISE projects have strengthened the pipeline of women going into STEM

studies and careers by holding their interest through the crucial junior

high to early college years and beyond. Most WISE projects at the State

University of New York at Stony Brook emphasize small-group activities and

a team approach to research because women tend to learn and perform

better where there is frequent interaction and socialization and often avoid

careers in math and science because they view them as solitary.

Pre-college projects. The first WISE Stony Brook projects focused on the

transition from middle school and high school to the first year of college,

reaching out to challenge girls who showed academic promise or interest in

math or science, to support them in a positive women-to-women climate,

and to sustain their interest, curiosity, and achievement in STEM studies. 

Edith Steinfeld’s model project targeted middle school girls in three

Suffolk County school districts. It provided campus-based, communitybased, and school-based activities year round for 100 girls a year, as well

as teacher training for 16 advisers at eight middle schools. Parents were

fully involved in program design and activities. 

Girls participated in weekly or biweekly after-school science clubs at their

local schools and science and career fairs and special summer programs

at the university. The sixth and seventh graders also participated in a

tenth grade symposium, so they could hear about the older students’

research. School-year activities took them to Stony Brook’s Marine

Sciences Research Center, its Center for High Pressure Research, and

Brookhaven National Laboratory. 

In Wendy Katkin’s project, each year 90 high school students and 18

teachers were bused to Stony Brook, the Brookhaven National Laboratory,

or the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, where they met women working in

various scientific fields. After participating in various hands-on activities,

they were gradually engaged in research on topics ranging from

recombinant DNA, material science, and superconductivity to radiation

health and physics. Students learned what science is by working in labs with

scientists and with equipment they would normally not have had access to. 

The tenth graders learned how to use the Internet and to make scientific

presentations. Eleventh graders worked on semester-long activities.

Seniors had the option of doing lab research under a scientist’s supervision, taking an introductory math or science course at the university, or

participating in a study of gender issues in science. The summer between

their sophomore and junior years, the students lived on campus two

weeks, doing more fieldwork and visiting the New York Botanical Gardens,

the Museum of Natural History, and Stony Brook’s marine sciences research

vessel. Their social time together helped them become a cohesive group.

Graduates of the WISE high school program have gone on to prestigious

colleges and universities, often earning scholarships and entrance into

special programs based on their achievements in the WISE program.

Almost 40 percent of WISE graduates are studying the physical sciences,

engineering, computer science, or math in college. Another 40 percent

are studying the biological sciences, intending to do scientific research

and go on to professional or graduate school. 

WISE college projects. The WISE college program started as a mentoring

program, each year pairing senior college students with 15 (later 35)

freshmen women talented in math and science, chosen at random from

entering students who scored 600 or better on their math SATs. The belief

was that with older students as mentors and role models, younger

students would be less likely to drop out of a field or switch to other

majors because of rigorous programs or the pressure of surviving in a

male-dominated field. The project hoped to engage undergraduate

women in the excitement and challenge of math, physics, or engineering

before they made decisions that would shape their subsequent

educational and professional careers.

To supplement the students’ regular academic program, the project began

(with NSF funding) to offer participants small study groups, close

academic advising by faculty, a strong mentoring system, social support

among WISE participants, an orientation to the university’s science research

milieu, and scholarships for their first year at Stony Brook. It created

courses to teach them critical skills and expose them to a range of scientific

disciplines. It offered them individual and group research opportunities. By

supporting young female students and making them ”feel more like a

person than like a number,” the program hoped to help students who chose

science or engineering to stay the course—not to fall through the cracks,

as female math and science students in large colleges so often do.

WISE women at

Stony Brook 

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The young women took coed classes, and the program reviewed their academic records and tried to place them at the right level in their courses. Girls

routinely underestimate their ability in such subjects as math and physics, subjects traditionally viewed as men’s turf. Every single one of the first 15

women in the program placed herself in math classes one or two levels lower than she could handle, despite having had four years of high school math

and science and a 90+ GPA. The 13 students who were persuaded to take higher level math courses earned A’s and B’s. The two who decided to stay two

levels behind made a C and a D—probably more out of boredom and laziness than for lack of ability. ”Women sell themselves short,” says principal

investigator Wendy Katkin. ”The program recognizes their potential and tries to develop it.”

The program continued when the grant ended. Only 50 students a year are accepted, so WISE gives students all the benefits of both a small community

and a major university. Participants are part of a diverse, close-knit community, mingling with women from many different cultures. Most WISE women

dorm together in Whitman College Residence Hall (where WISE students have priority), making study sessions and hanging out together that much

easier. WISE’s smallness makes connections easier. 

WISE women do research earlier, get better grades, and earn more academic honors than other undergraduates. Networking within WISE has led many of our

students to summer internships, scholarships, and employment. The point of entry into research is often a summer internship at Brookhaven National Laboratory.

The first WISE college program attended to first-year students. The next emphasized helping participants in years two through four further

develop their quantitative and leadership skills and develop a sense of identity as members of a college of women scientists. Overall, the

WISE student is expected to take the following courses: 

Year one. Fall and spring semesters of freshman year, WISE students are grouped together in classes emphasizing research opportunities

on campus and introducing students to research in different scientific fields:

• Becoming a Scientist, an introduction to Stony Brook with a special WISE section emphasizing research and other opportunities in STEM. 

• Introduction to Research, in which students do hands-on research in a physical, social, and life science and in engineering, working in 

small groups with other WISE women—on projects ranging from ”Long Island Vowels” (linguistics) to ”Let’s Make Diamonds” (geology, 

high-pressure research). Experiencing this highly rated course causes one in seven women to change her intended major after discovering 

an interest in a subject or methodology. 

• Two semesters of math and two semesters of science.

Years two to four. After freshman year WISE undergraduates take the following courses:

• The Social Dimensions of Science, a course (developed with NSF support) that examines how social, cultural, political, and economic 

factors such as gender shape the way science is carried out. Students develop case studies, working with women researchers from

Brookhaven National Laboratory

• Either Mathematics Problems and Games or Connections in Science, which emphasizes physics’ importance to all the sciences. 

• Professional Development Seminar, a course designed to bridge the gap between college and beyond, to explore the range of options in 

a field and how best to present oneself, in person and on paper, to graduate programs, fellowship committees, and prospective 

employers. Guest experts discuss résumé preparation, interviewing skills, business etiquette, and salary negotiation. 

• An advanced math or computer science course, because women in science tend to meet only the minimum math and computer science 

requirements.

• Senior honors thesis/design project, satisfied through successful completion of a yearlong independent research project culminating in 

a substantial research paper or project design. 

Students are also expected to attend three or more monthly evening programs a year and to play an increasing role in planning sessions

and leading discussion groups.

THE FOUR-YEAR WISE WOMEN PROGRAM

CODES: M, H, U, PD STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK, STONY BROOK

EDITH STEINFELD (EDITH.STEINFELD@SUNYSB.EDU), K. WENDY TANG, WENDY KATKIN (WKATKIN@CCMAIL.SUNYSB.EDU)

www.wise.sunysb.edu HRD 94-50018, HRD 98-10258 (ONE-YEAR GRANTS); HRD 94-50023 (THREE-YEAR GRANT)

PARTNERS: SUNY’S WISE PROGRAM, MARINE SCIENCES RESEARCH CENTER, AND CENTER FOR HIGH PRESSURE RESEARCH (DEPARTMENT OF EARTH AND SPACE SCIENCE);

BROOKHAVEN NATIONAL LABORATORY (A DOE FACILITY); COLD SPRING HARBOR LABORATORY; BRENTWOOD, LONGWOOD, THREE VILLAGE, AND RIVERHEAD SCHOOL DISTRICTS; THE BOARD OF COOPERATIVE EDUCATIONAL SERVICES (BOCES); THE NEW YORK HALL OF SCIENCE. 

KEYWORDS:EDUCATION PROGRAM, TEAMWORK APPROACH, AFTER-SCHOOL, SCIENCE CLUBS, RESEARCH EXPERIENCE, HANDS-ON, FIELD TRIPS, MENTORING, ROLE MODELS, STUDY GROUPS, INTERNSHIPS, SCHOLARSHIPS, CAREER AWARENESS
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GET SET, GO!

WORKING WITH TEACHERS, PARENTS, AND COMMUNITY SCIENCE MUSEUMS AND

CENTERS, GET SET, GO! ENCOURAGED MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRLS’ ACTIVE PARTICIPATION

IN SCIENCE. THE WESTERN TRIAD SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS ALLIANCE

(WTSAMA) AT WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY COLLABORATED ON THIS PROJECT WITH

OTHER ORGANIZATIONS, INCLUDING 12 NORTH CAROLINA MIDDLE SCHOOLS. 

Summer teachers institute. Forty-two experienced teachers committed

themselves to activities designed to change awareness, expectations, and

everyday practice among teachers, parents, and school administrators:

gender equity training (GESA and Equals), EDC’s ”Equitable School Walk”

and other awareness-raising activities, hands-on activities, and a mock

Parent Night. They saw, and were given lab time to test and develop,

family math and science activities. They shared strategies for recruiting

and involving students in after-school science clubs. Veterans of earlier

institutes returned to share their experiences—and to remain engaged. 

Support personnel—including media center specialists—were

encouraged to attend part of the institute, because of their instrumental

role in developing unbiased school resources. Teachers and media

specialists were encouraged to work together to evaluate science texts

and other library resources for gender bias and stereotyping.

Teachers provided feedback about the training as ”a plus and a wish”—

balancing praise with criticism. A video gave them a clearer idea of what

gender bias looks like, and time in the library gave them a rare, welcome

opportunity to learn about hands-on activities. They wished for less

initial paperwork, a copy of everyone’s activities, and more time in 

the library. 

Saturday science symposia. Students learned about academic

opportunities at monthly Saturday symposia held at various colleges and

universities. Women who apply science in their everyday work, often in

untraditional occupations, sent the message to students that science is

for everyone and can be found everywhere. After a presentation,

participants broke into ”role alike” breakout groups for students, parents,

and teachers. Topics ranged from meteorology to forensic science, with

special sessions on the science of Christmas trees; the physiology and

nutritional needs of horses, sheep, skunks, and opossums; and how to

grow and water gardens in a space station. 

Undergraduate and graduate students facilitated hands-on activities for

students. Parents learned about gender equity and inquiry-based science,

enjoyed hands-on activities (sometimes from WonderScience), and took

some activities home to do with their children. Teachers acquired

activities, strategies, and tools to use in their science classes. 

Provide time for teachers to research resources. Teachers need

experience with, information about, and materials for hands-on

activities and typically have little time to search for them. It is

important to designate time during an institute for teachers to

research curricula and hands-on activities for their classrooms. It’s

worthwhile having project staff do the legwork of finding resources

that teachers at the institute can review and order. 

Explicitly communicate underlying principles and strategies, as

those participating may not easily make connections. It is

important in a hands-on session to make one or two key scientific

concepts or processes explicit enough for deep understanding and

not just do activities for activities’ sake. Whether practicing strategies

to accommodate diverse learning styles, modeling a parent night

program, or conducting a hands-on activity, three steps will make

principles more accessible to teachers: (1) Do the activity, (2) tell

teachers what you did (this step is often skipped) and (3) have them

reflect on how they can apply that in their own classes or schools.

Similarly, on parent nights: (1) Do the activity, (2) explain to parents

what concept or skill is being developed, and (3) explain why that is

important for the education of their children (especially girls).

Coach role models. Scientists unaccustomed to speaking to middle

school students must be told in advance that the science content is

less important than how a scientist’s experiences prepared her for her

career in science. In connection with guest lectures, explicitly discuss

gender equity issues, what courses students should take (starting in

middle school), how girls can pursue viable careers in science, and

how math and science are important to informed citizens.

Anticipate transportation problems. Attendance was lower when

students and teachers left at noon and teachers remained for

afternoon sessions. When teachers were adjourned at noon along

with parents and students, attendance improved. Teachers were the

driving force in getting students to and from events.

Give both teachers and students incentives to participate in

Saturday activities.

LESSONS LEARNED

Get set, go!

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Fall teachers’ conference. Most of the 123 teachers who attended this

conference were still active at the end of the school year. It succeeded

partly because it was planned by teachers for teachers, who valued the

ideas generated and shared, the free handouts and door prizes they could

use in their classes (not novelty materials that don’t fit in the curriculum),

and the new contacts and resources. The conference strengthened their

knowledge of content and helped them devise activities to make science

less intimidating for girls—with the unexpected consequence of making the

teachers feel more professional. 

Parent nights. Parent nights worked best when held in conjunction with

other parent events, such as PTA/PTO meetings and holiday concerts and

festivals. 

Women’s studies in after-school science clubs. One school kicked

off its after-school club by having girls examine gender bias in their

textbooks, using a checklist provided at the institute. Many teachers

used Operation SMART program strategies and activities learned at

the institute. The clubs that succeeded covered a wide range of topics

and provided a variety of activities, including field trips and

workplace visits. Women scientists (recruited by a women scientists

advisory team) were partnered with each school, and teachers were

encouraged to regularly involve various scientists with their 

after-school group. 

Encourage sustainable use of dissemination funds. One way to

get community support for science clubs is to have Parent–Teachers

Associations give a ”science shower,” encouraging parents and

others in the community to provide as science gifts items on the

science teachers’ list of needed equipment and supplies. 

Incorporate an explicit and continuing emphasis on gender

equity. Information and research about gender equity issues should

be systematically disseminated to participating schools. Teachers

could meet for a swap-and-share session at the end of each

academic year to share what classroom practices work. 

Improve science displays. Classroom science displays seldom

represent people, much less a diversity of people, and schools rarely

have science displays in the hallways. 

CODES: M, U, PD WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY

ANGELA G. KING (KINGAG@WFU.EDU), NANCY N. CROUCH, JACQUELINE M. HUNDT, BETH LEVINE

HRD 94-53136 (THREE-YEAR GRANT)

PARTNER: NORTH CAROLINA STATE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION

PRODUCTS: RESOURCE BIBLIOGRAPHY AND A TO Z LISTS FOR PARENTS NIGHTS AND

AFTER-SCHOOL CLUBS. 

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, TEACHER TRAINING, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS, HANDS-ON, PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT, AFTER-SCHOOL, SCIENCE CLUBS, ENGAGEMENT, SATURDAY SYMPOSIAS, INQUIRY-BASED, ROLE MODELS, CONFERENCE, SMART

TRIAD ALLIANCE SCIENCE CLUBS

A SAN FRANCISCO PROJECT BROUGHT MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRLS, TEACHERS, AND

SCIENTISTS (HENCE TRIAD ALLIANCE) TOGETHER IN A NETWORK OF SCHOOL-BASED GIRLS’

SCIENCE CLUBS. THE AIM OF THE TRIAD PROGRAM WAS TO INTEGRATE PROFESSIONAL

DEVELOPMENT AND ACADEMIC ENRICHMENT THROUGH THE LENS OF GENDER EQUITY. 

The project built on a process of science education reform initiated at the

University of California at San Francisco in 1987 by Bruce Alberts, a

professor of biochemistry and biophysics and president of the National

Academy of Sciences. The mission at the core of the volunteer program

was to improve science instruction for all students in San Francisco’s

K–12 public schools. Most programs involve an integrated community of

scientists and educators. A districtwide partnership (between UCSF and

the San Francisco Unified School District) produced both the Triad project

and City Science, another NSF-supported effort at systemic change in

teaching. 

Triad developed and sustained science clubs in four middle schools the

first year, eight the next, and twelve the third and fourth years. Overall,

32 teachers and 49 scientists conducted enrichment activities with more

than a thousand girls, with 12 to 45 girls (30 average) attending each

club meeting. Indeed, more schools, girls, teachers, and scientists

wanted to participate than the program could support. 

To increase girls’ self-confidence, assertiveness, and commitment to

science, the project aimed to strengthen girls’ skills in specific areas:

persistence through frustration, resilience in the face of failure, familiarity

with tools, the confidence to explore, and the ability to defend their

position with evidence. Activity-based science clubs were held twice a

month at sponsoring teachers’ schools for one academic year, cosponsored by two scientists and one or two science teachers. Guided by

the adults, at these meetings girls explored natural phenomena, asked

questions, used tools, and conducted scientific investigations. 

For the first three years, all participants in the Triad science clubs were

girls. In 1997–98, three schools piloted mixed-gender clubs with both

male and female sponsors. With the support of parents and the principal,

Triad Alliance 

science clubs

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at one school a Triad teacher and a humanities teacher placed about 60

students in single-sex science/math and language arts/social studies

courses. In the single-sex groups it appears that students are more willing

to talk with teachers about sexual harassment and other sensitive issues,

boys are more on task, and girls participate more. 

The program was well received at schools with many at-risk students,

including one school with many low-income Asian newcomers and

another with many low-income African American and Hispanic students.

At one school 90 girls showed up for the first meeting. When NSF funding

ended, adult participants accepted a two-thirds reduction in stipend, the

program and training were streamlined, and with support from the school

system the clubs kept going in several schools. 

The Triad project required a substantial time commitment and had the

most clearly integrated goals for students, teachers, and scientists.

Through an equitable framework for science teaching, the project set

these goals for teachers: to learn to encourage all student voices, to

maintain high expectations, to delegate responsibility, and to be explicit

about equity. Teachers and scientists were selected through a competitive

application process, received a stipend for sponsoring a club, and had a

budget for supplies. Scientists attended a scientist orientation series.

Teachers and scientists attended fall and spring retreats and five 

two-hour after-school professional development seminars. 

Everybody benefited. Parents were happy about the Triad project, which

improved public relations for both schools and science departments. Triad

funds made it possible for science departments to buy up-to-date

materials, which encouraged teachers to do more hands-on science

activities. In the all-girls environment, girls became more confident and

developed stronger leadership and more interest in science. Girls and

scientists developed a strong rapport, and the girls became more skilled

in setting up and doing experiments. Preliminary evidence suggests that

their attitudinal changes persisted in mixed-gender settings.

Women teachers became better at communicating, mentoring, and

problem-solving and came to understand more deeply the nature of

science and scientific research and how science research contributes to

society. Teachers uncredentialed in science experienced an even more

pronounced gain in skills and teaching methods. With the luxury of access

to scientific expertise and input from three competent adults in preparing

club lessons, teachers could adapt hands-on lessons for their regular

classrooms. Working with female scientists demystified the scientific world

for teachers, allowing teachers to imagine themselves as scientists, which

motivated them to encourage more girls to become scientists.

Participation in Triad revitalized teachers’ work, making them more aware

of new ways of teaching science. They began making more consistent use

of gender-equity techniques already familiar to them and also learned

new strategies—such as grouping students by gender, allowing wait time

with a slow responder before asking someone else to answer a question,

alternating calling on girls and boys, and asking girls more open-ended,

higher-order questions. They wanted to develop tools to analyze their own

teaching practices and to evaluate how those practices affected girls’

achievements in science. To move student thinking from questions about

the mechanics of physical activities to the underlying concepts, for

example, they had to develop questioning skills or rethink the structure

of the activity.

Women scientists came into the program to mentor girls and to gain

teaching experience, which required developing new skills and problemsolving strategies. Classroom management was a challenge for them, both

frustrating and rewarding. More than half said Triad made them more

confident and better prepared to handle group situations and more than

three quarters returned for multiple years. Many reported that the

training Triad had provided was highly regarded by new employers and

was instrumental in landing them academic positions in universities.

They felt Triad had improved their teaching skills, confidence, teamwork,

and comfort with leadership. 

CODES: M, I, PD UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT SAN FRANCISCO

ELIZABETH S. (LIESL) CHATMAN (LIESL@ITSA.EDU), MARGARET R. CLARK, MARIA SANTOS

HRD 93-55871 AND HRD 98-13926 (THREE-YEAR GRANTS)

PARTNER: SAN FRANCISCO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

PRODUCT: TEXTBOOK FOR A METHODS COURSE ON EQUITABLE SCIENCE TEACHING

KEYWORDS: EDUCATION PROGRAM, TEACHER TRAINING, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS, SELF-CONFIDENCE, PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, SCIENCE CLUBS, MIXED-GENDER, HANDS- ON, PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS, SCHOOL-BASED, ACTIVITY-BASED, PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT
1

AN EDUCATION COALITION IN CONNECTICUT

UNITED CONNECTICUT FOR WOMEN IN SCIENCE, MATHEMATICS,

AND ENGINEERING WAS A COALITION TO UNITE CONNECTICUT’S

EDUCATION PROGRAMS (K–16), COMMUNITY GROUPS, AND

BUSINESSES IN WORKING TOWARD ATTRACTING AND KEEPING

GIRLS AND WOMEN IN STEM STUDIES AND CAREERS.

The project established a clearinghouse of information on Connecticut’s gender equity programs, increased public awareness of gender equity issues,

informed some of Connecticut’s urban middle school girls about STEM careers, and increased their confidence about pursuing them. Professional women

networked in a newly created chapter of Association for Women in Science. The project also provided training in gender-equitable teaching strategies

for Connecticut math and science teachers and student teachers, K–16. 

The project felt more sustained impact through its mentoring activities and information dissemination, which continued after the grant ended, than

through its in-class programs, which did not. It published a resource guide on gender equity in Connecticut as well as tip sheets for parents (in Spanish

and English) and for teachers and mentors on how to encourage girls in STEM.

CODES: E, M, H, U, PD CONNECTICUT PRE-ENGINEERING PROGRAM, INC.

CARMEN R. CID (CID@EASTERNCT.EDU), ANN POLLINA, GLENN A. CASSIS, ROBERT A. ROSENBAUM

HRD 94-50026 (THREE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNERS: AWIS, ST. JOSEPH COLLEGE, WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY WOMEN IN SCIENCE, WESTOVER SCHOOL, CONNECTICUT DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION, FAIRFIELD COUNTY

COMMUNITY FOUNDATION, INC., GREATER BRIDGEPORT AREA FOUNDATION, PHOENIX LIFE, AND MANY CONNECTICUT PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 

KEYWORDS: DISSEMINATION, RECRUITMENT, RETENTION, RESOURCE CENTER, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS, TEACHER TRAINING, MENTORING, RESOURCE GUIDE, BILINGUAL, PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT

INGEAR: BLENDING GENDER EQUITY AND INSTITUTIONAL REFORM

BY CHANGING THE WAYS TEACHERS K–12 LEARN TO TEACH MATH AND SCIENCE, THIS

THREE-YEAR PROJECT AIMED TO CHANGE THE WAYS GIRLS LEARN MATH AND SCIENCE.

PERMANENT CHANGES WERE NEEDED IN GEORGIA’S MATH, SCIENCE, ENGINEERING, AND

EDUCATION DEPARTMENTS TO GIVE GEORGIA GIRLS AND BOYS EQUAL ACCESS TO GOOD

STEM EDUCATION AND EQUAL ENCOURAGEMENT TO EXPLORE STEM-RELATED CAREERS. 

Teacher preparation programs—including instruction in science,

engineering, and math—needed to be reformed and redesigned so that

teachers entering K–12 classrooms knew how to interest girls in STEM.

The project emphasized integrating gender equity and reform (hence

InGEAR)—equipping faculty and teaching assistants with positive

intervention strategies to support gender equity.

Georgia Tech led the project, working in collaboration with four

universities: Clark Atlanta University, Georgia Southern University,

Georgia State University, and the University of Georgia. The University of

Georgia took the lead in developing a toolkit of materials for the five

institutions, with website links to profiles of women in STEM.

InGEAR was not primarily a research project, but each partner undertook

an institutional self-study. According to the Report on the Status of

Women at Georgia Tech, for example, GT had increased the number of

female students and faculty and had improved the ”campus climate” for

women, but much remained to be done. Many improvements in gender

equity had come about through deliberate, systemic efforts: changing the

makeup of Student Services personnel (and hiring a director of diversity

programs), establishing a women’s resource center, offering a series of

gender equity workshops, and holding a women’s leadership conference.

Such institution-wide efforts attested to GT’s commitment to diversifying

its student body to meet future workforce demands. GT compared

favorably with its benchmark institutions in the number of women hired

as assistant professor but lagged behind them in the number of women

who became associate and full professors. 

Several factors kept female faculty’s retention and promotion rates low. The

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tenure and promotion process did not recognize different career trajectories

and rates of advancement, and both men and women viewed institutional

practices and processes as unnecessarily political and arbitrary. Moreover,

inattention to family-friendly policies (especially about maternity leave and

onsite daycare) significantly affected all faculty who hoped to balance

family and career. And despite important improvements, women at GT still

faced specific institutional barriers and difficulties, there was no

institutional mechanism for tracking and responding to their concerns across

constituencies, and there were no procedures for dealing with sexual

harassment or the subtler, more pervasive forms of gender harassment: casual

(and deliberate) sexist comments, personality-based performance evaluations, differential workloads, or male-focused performance expectations.

Although teacher preparation programs did not undergo the full redesign

the project had hoped for, professional development activities at Georgia

Southern University, Georgia State University, and the University of Georgia

led many teachers to modify the content of their courses and created a

critical mass of faculty who consider gender equity a priority. At Georgia

State, graduate research assistants (most of them doctoral students in the

school counseling program) took David and Myra Sadker’s training in how

to use INTERSECT, an instrument for observing classroom interactions.

Instructors who were observed and debriefed (by their choice) about their

classroom interactions showed more gender-equitable behavior afterward.

Those who were observed but not debriefed did not show a change in

behavior. Conducting the observations and debriefings profoundly changed

the graduate assistants, who became acutely aware of subtle but pervasive

gender discrimination in the classroom and in themselves and others.

CODES: PD, U GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (GEORGIA TECH) RESEARCH CORPORATION

CAROLYN C. THORSEN (CAROLYN.THORSEN@CEISMC.GATECH.EDU), DENISE MEWBORN, DONNA C. LLEWELLYN, CAROLYN W. MEYERS, ROBERT A. PIEROTTI

HRD 94-53106 (THREE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNERS: CLARK ATLANTA UNIVERSITY, GEORGIA SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY, GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY, UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA, GEORGIA INITIATIVE IN MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE

(GIMS), AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY WOMEN

www.coe.uga.edu/ingear (INGEAR TOOLKIT OF CURRICULUM MATERIALS AND RESOURCES) www.academic.gatech.edu/study/report.htm (REPORT ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN AT GEORGIA TECH)

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, TEACHER TRAINING, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS, INTERVENTION, RESEARCH STUDY, RESOURCE CENTER, RETENTION, ADVANCEMENT, ACHIEVEMENT, BARRIERS

GEMS: LEARNING GENDER EQUITY ONLINE

THIS COLLABORATIVE PROJECT IS RESEARCHING HOW TO DESIGN EFFECTIVE

ONLINE DELIVERY OF GENDER EQUITY TRAINING IN MATH AND SCIENCE TEACHING

AND HOW THIS LEARNING AFFECTS PARTICIPANTS’ ATTITUDES AND PRACTICE.

MAKING A DISTINCTION BETWEEN AN EQUITABLE COURSE AND A COURSE THAT

TEACHES ABOUT EQUITY, GEMS (GENDER EQUITY IN MATH AND SCIENCE) ASKS:

HOW MUCH CAN TEACHERS LEARN ABOUT EQUITY ONLINE? CAN THEY LEARN

MATERIAL WITH A HIGH AFFECTIVE CONTENT ONLINE? WHAT ROLE DOES

FACILITATION PLAY? DO MEN AND WOMEN BEHAVE DIFFERENTLY IN AN E-COURSE? 

Working in collaboration with several partners, Education Development Center (EDC) will identify factors of course design and delivery that help

improve attitudes and practices. The research centers on ”Engaging Middle School Girls in Math and Science,” a nine-week online course developed

by EDC’s WEEA Equity Research Center. Because learning styles could affect the design of software and how participants interacted with the material

and each other, they added the capacity to take the Myers–Briggs test online, offering online feedback to those who take the test. Each partner agreed

to recruit a cohort of participants (mostly middle school teachers), offer them the course, and participate in listserv discussions with GEMS staff and

advisers. The project hopes to build a community of math and science teachers trained in gender equity who support each other as they translate a

critical framework into strategies and activities for classroom change. It also hopes to develop leaders, build on current networks, and encourage

sharing and community building—linking professionals in math and science, gender equity, and educational technology.

Moving the courses from the Web Board system originally used onto a Blackboard platform resolved students’ problems navigating the system but

required presenting the course content in different ways. Participants adapted easily and were soon communicating more actively than they had in

earlier sessions, but they remained uncomfortable with the technology and often preferred hand-holding—someone walking them through the process

over the phone—to receiving (and taking time to read) instructions by e-mail or in a chat room. 

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A number of teachers had trouble accessing and using the course technology, sometimes because low-end computers cannot open PDF documents and 

sometimes because America Online did not allow them to. Technology challenges both in schools and at home raised concerns that technologies used to

present online courses may inadvertently lock out certain groups or individuals. Some people dropped the course out of frustration with slow technology. 

At home or at school, participants often had trouble finding time to participate. At school, most of them do not have personal computers for their

use alone, often have to compete with students for use of computers, and rarely have release time for the course, which they must fit into an already

full schedule. At home, their computers may pose technical challenges, or they may have trouble finding time. Women tend to use the Internet late

in the evening, after they’ve put their children to bed. Such a gender-related trend could affect how heavily women might participate. 

Training in both facilitation and the use of technology is critical, and a separate online course was developed for facilitators, but some of them had

problems with such tasks as registering the participants. And skill at onsite facilitation did not necessarily travel well to the online environment, which

requires that facilitators be more directive. 

CODES: PD, M EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT CENTER (EDC)

KATHERINE HANSON (KHANSON@EDC.ORG), JOYCE KASER

www.edc.org/GDI/gems/aboutgems.htm HRD 00-02126 (THREE-YEAR GRANT)

RESEARCH PARTNERS: TERC INC. (CAMBRIDGE), WESTED (OAKLAND), EISENHOWER NATIONAL CLEARINGHOUSE (OHIO STATE), INTERCULTURAL DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH ASSOCIATION

(SAN ANTONIO, TEX.), AND WEEA EQUITY RESOURCE CENTER (EDC, GENDER AND DIVERSITIES INSTITUTE).

PRODUCTS: CREATING THE GENDER AND SCIENCE DIGITAL LIBRARY (HOUSING THE LEARNING MATRIX), AN INTERACTIVE, SELF-GUIDED PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SYSTEM AND ONLINE

COMMUNITY TO IMPROVE STUDENT OUTCOMES IN SCIENCE.

KEYWORDS: RESEARCH STUDY, ONLINE COURSE, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS, TEACHER TRAINING, COLLABORATIVE NETWORK, EDC; TERC INC.

COUNSELING FOR GENDER EQUITY 

AAUW’S 1992 REPORT HOW SCHOOLS SHORTCHANGE GIRLS INCREASED INTEREST IN

PROGRAMS TO ENGAGE GIRLS AND WOMEN IN MATH AND SCIENCE—FOR EXAMPLE, IN

SUMMER CAMPS FOR GIRLS, TEACHER WORKSHOPS ON EQUITABLE EDUCATION, AND

ACTIVITIES FOR GIRLS AND THEIR PARENTS. BUT SCHOOL COUNSELORS HAVE NOT BEEN

INCLUDED TO ANY GREAT EXTENT IN THESE ACTIVITIES, ALTHOUGH THEY SERVE AS

GATEKEEPERS FOR STUDENT PARTICIPATION IN ELEMENTARY SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

ACTIVITIES AND IN UPPER-LEVEL ADVANCED COURSES. COUNSELORS ARE AN IMPORTANT

SOURCE OF INFORMATION ABOUT CAREERS, SCHOLARSHIPS, AND INTERNSHIPS BUT,

LIKE THE REST OF US, THEY SOMETIMES MISS OPPORTUNITIES TO MOTIVATE GIRLS AND

OTHER UNDERREPRESENTED STUDENTS IN AREAS WHERE THEY ARE NEEDED THE MOST.

This three-year project to provide training in gender-balanced education

to Virginia school counselors featured an annual summer institute for 50

Virginia school counselors, mini-grants for school-based equity projects

for girls, and in-service programs in Virginia school systems. The project

also supported production of a resource-rich website and six video

programs on gender-fair counseling and learning for a PBS series

broadcast as part of a distance learning program through PBS’s Adult

Learning Service and the Virginia Department of Education Hour. 

Developed for K–12 counselors by the Virginia Space Grant Consortium in

collaboration with Virginia Tech, the project was selected for inclusion in the

Annenberg/CPB Math and Science Project’s Guide to Math and Science Reform.

At summer institutes on gender equity, counselors learned strategies for

gender-fair counseling and learning, working with national figures such

as David Sadker (co-author of Failing at Fairness: How Our Schools Cheat

Girls (and Boys), Roberta Furger (Does Jane Compute? Preserving Our

Daughters’ Place in the Cyber Revolution), and Christine Darden (Females

and Engineering). They learned about cultural and sex-role biases and

stereotypes and classroom diversity, the decoding of classroom

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CODES: PD OLD DOMINION RESEARCH FOUNDATION

MARY L. SANDY (MSANDY@ODU.EDU), CAROL J. BURGER http://genderequity.vsgc.odu.edu HRD 97-14637 (THREE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNERS: VIRGINIA SPACE GRANT CONSORTIUM, VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE AND STATE UNIVERSITY (VIRGINIA TECH), EISENHOWER REGIONAL MATH & SCIENCE CONSORTIUM, PUBLIC BROADCASTING SERVICE, VIRGINIA TECH CONTINUING EDUCATION DEPARTMENT, VIRGINIA TECH CENTER FOR ORGANIZATIONAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL ACHIEVEMENT, AND 16

VIRGINIA SCHOOL SYSTEMS, AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY WOMEN (AAUW), EISENHOWER NATIONAL CLEARINGHOUSE.

PUBLICATIONS: ”COUNSELING OUR FUTURE WORKFORCE,” AND A GUIDE TO GENDER FAIR EDUCATION AND SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS BY MARY SANDY AND CAROL BURGER. VIDEOS INCLUDE LEADERSHIP STRATEGIES FOR GENDER FAIR COUNSELING AND LEARNING: CONVERSATIONS WITH DRS. DAVID SADKER AND SUE ROSSER (1999), GUIDANCE

COUNSELORS SHARE STRATEGIES FOR ENCOURAGING GIRLS IN SCIENCE, MATH, ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY IN THEIR SCHOOLS (2000), AND COUNSELING GIRLS TO BRIDGE THE

TECHNOLOGY GAP (2001). 

RESOURCES FOR COUNSELORS: http://genderequity.vsgc.odu.edu/1links.html

KEYWORDS: PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, RETENTION, COUNSELOR TRAINING, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS, CAREER AWARENESS, SCHOLARSHIPS, INTERNSHIPS, WEBSITE, VIDEO, DISTANCE

LEARNING, SCHOOL-BASED

interactions, gender-biased issues in career information and exploration, why girls avoid technology courses, and how to guide them to opportunities

in technology.

The project opened counselors’ eyes and gave them the tools to provide leadership for girls in their schools. ”The subtle gender bias was overwhelming

to me,” said one participant. ”As I began to analyze my own behaviors, I was shocked to find how my perspective may have been a limiting factor

to female students. I really feel an obligation to bring more awareness to my faculty as well as a commitment to stress the importance of science and

math to students and parents.” Mini-grants for school-based equity projects allowed them to act on what they learned. 

TRAINING TRAINERS TO ENCOURAGE NONTRADITIONAL JOBS 

ROUGHLY HALF OF YOUNG WOMEN WORK IN JOBS PAYING AN AVERAGE $338 WEEKLY, WHILE

60 PERCENT OF YOUNG MEN WORK IN JOBS PAYING AN AVERAGE $448. THIS $110 WAGE

DIFFERENTIAL REFLECTS THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF WORK MEN AND WOMEN DO. YOUNG

WOMEN WORK IN A NARROW RANGE OF OCCUPATIONS—REPRESENTING ONLY 1 PERCENT OF

YOUNG PEOPLE EMPLOYED AS AUTOMOBILE MECHANICS, FOR EXAMPLE, 4 PERCENT OF

AIRLINE PILOTS AND NAVIGATORS, AND 10 PERCENT OF ELECTRONIC TECHNICIANS. THE

SCHOOL-TO-WORK OPPORTUNITIES ACT REQUIRES ALL STATES TO SET GOALS FOR PREPARING

WOMEN FOR NONTRADITIONAL EMPLOYMENT. WOMEN IN NONTRADITIONAL JOBS—DEFINED

AS ”OCCUPATIONS IN WHICH FEWER THAN 25 PERCENT OF THE WORKERS ARE WOMEN”—EARN

HIGHER WAGES THAN WOMEN EMPLOYED IN TRADITIONALLY FEMALE OCCUPATIONS.

The strategy of this school-to-work project was to saturate North

Carolina’s education system with school-to-work and gender equity

workshops through a train-the-trainer model. The project’s emphasis was

on training teachers and counselors how to prepare girls for such

nontraditional careers as electrician, computer network engineer, and

automotive technician. In July 1998 the Institute for Women in Trades,

Technology & Science (IWITTS) held a demonstration train-the-trainer

workshop in Greensboro for 32 teachers (of math, science, technology,

and vocational education), guidance counselors, and school-to-work

coordinators. 

To infuse gender equity into its train-the-trainers program, IWITTS

developed a training video, “Futures: Preparing Young Women for High

Skilled, High Wage Careers,” related printed material, and Internet

support strategies (especially a listserv) to be used with trainees and to

disseminate the project’s products and methods. Participants found the

video particularly helpful. The video combines acted vignettes and

interviews with real-life teachers, students, and parents to communicate

practical strategies for getting female students interested in traditionally

male-dominated classes and school-to-work activities, keeping them

involved, and easing their integration into the workplace through 

work-based learning experiences such as internships, job shadowing,

cooperative education, apprenticeships, and school-based enterprises.

After the train-the-trainer workshop the participants felt well equipped

to train their peers and to work with students. They developed leadership

teams and training plans. The strategies they found most useful: showing

videos of women in nontraditional jobs; touring technical colleges,

technical training programs, and labs/technology classes; presenting career

information; providing girls with female mentors and role models; engaging

girls’ interest through hands-on activities; eliminating harassment in the

classroom and giving boys and girls equal attention in class; and preparing

girls with realistic expectations and coping strategies. The most important

thing they took away from the training was awareness: Even if they were

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CODES: PD, H INSTITUTE FOR WOMEN IN TRADES, TECHNOLOGY & SCIENCE

DONNA MILGRAM (DONNAM@IWITTS.COM) www.iwitts.com/html/wt.html HRD 97-10975 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNERS: NORTH CAROLINA’S SCHOOL-TO-WORK OFFICE; NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION GENDER EQUITY COORDINATOR

PRODUCTS: THE VIDEO FUTURES: PREPARING YOUNG WOMEN FOR HIGH SKILLED, HIGH WAGE CAREERS, A FACILITATOR’S GUIDE, AND RELATED PRINT MATERIALS. FACT SHEET ON SCHOOL-TO-WORK AND NONTRADITIONAL EMPLOYMENT: http`://www.iwitts.com/html/stw_fact_sheet.htm 

KEYWORDS: TEACHER DEVELOPMENT, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS, TRAINER TRAINING, SCHOOL-TO-WORK, VIDEO, INTERNSHIPS, JOB SHADOW, COOPERATIVE LEARNING, APPRENTICESHIPS, CAREER AWARENESS, FIELD TRIPS, MENTORING, ROLE MODELS, HANDS-ON

doing the right things, they learned that other teachers weren’t

necessarily doing the same things, so they needed to intervene back 

at school. 

In some cases the participants’ training plans were put on hold because

of time (and scheduling) barriers, changes in school priorities, and lack

of administrative support. Most of the participants who responded to

follow-up questions reported that they had shared resources with their

peers and had provided informal training at their schools. Some had also

presented at conferences and in distance learning opportunities. Only

three participants made formal presentations to parent groups, but most

of them discussed the project and its impact on their daughters

informally with parents, who were highly supportive.

The low response rate to a post-project questionnaire makes it difficult

to draw conclusions, but the participants who responded had positive

things to report: 

• The number of girls who selected traditionally male career majors 

increased dramatically—from 20.4 percent in 1998 to 49.6 percent 

in 1999.

• Counselors and coordinators who responded reported more girls 

enrolling in work-based learning activities—an increase from 18.8 

percent of enrollment to 41.8 percent over one year. Responding 

vocational/technology teachers reported work-based activities 

increasing from 0 to 50 percent of enrollment for the same period. 

• Responding vocational/technology teachers reported an increase in 

female students enrolled in nontraditional career courses—from 14.5 

percent to 26.1 percent over a year.

Overall, it seemed that counselors/coordinators and vocational/technology

teachers were able to make more effective use of the project materials and

strategies than math and science teachers were. Math and science teachers

had little previous experience with work-based learning activities for

students, and with the current stress on end-of-year testing it was very

difficult for them to deviate from ”just teaching the basics” in their

classrooms. In future projects of this type, it might be wise to give math

and science teachers extra administrative support so they feel freer to make

changes in their classrooms, such as bringing in female role models to

speak about their nontraditional careers. 

WOMENTECH AT COMMUNITY COLLEGES

THIS DEMONSTRATION PROJECT BY THE NONPROFIT INSTITUTE FOR WOMEN IN TRADES,

TECHNOLOGY & SCIENCE (IWITTS) WAS A COLLABORATIVE EFFORT TO RECRUIT AND RETAIN MORE

WOMEN IN STEM COURSES AT THREE COMMUNITY COLLEGES: COMMUNITY COLLEGE OF RHODE

ISLAND (CCRI), NORTH HARRIS MONTGOMERY COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT (NHC, IN

HOUSTON, TEX.), AND COLLEGE OF ALAMEDA (COA, IN ALAMEDA, CAL.). EACH COLLEGE TARGETED

SIX TO TWELVE TECHNOLOGY PROGRAMS IN WHICH WOMEN WERE UNDERREPRESENTED.

For these colleges, the idea of recruiting women into tech courses would

require more than a change in the schools’ meagre marketing budgets. It

would require a change in the institutional culture. Only one of the colleges

actively marketed its school to prospective students and it was difficult to

tell from its marketing materials how long it would take a student to

complete a tech program, what the course prerequisites were, and how best

to meet them. 

The project developed publicity materials, a prototype ”community

college WomenTech page” for all three colleges, and additional marketing

collateral. CCRI and NHC developed colorful brochures and full-color

WomenTech posters and flyers for distribution on or near campus. CCRI

developed a WomenTech page for its course catalog as well as Womentech

buttons and a flyer for its Career Expo. Each college incorporated a

WomenTech Career Expo into its annual recruiting efforts and sometimes

lesser versions elsewhere—such as a WomenTech registration table

during registration week and a WomenTech booth at a shopping mall

Career Expo. 

CCRI and NHC’s college websites provided links to special WomenTech

sites, giving the WomenTech project more visibility. Each WomanTech

website has about 30 pages of content, with such features as biographies

of women who are graduates of the technology programs, user-friendly

information about the programs, answers to frequently asked questions

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(FAQs such as ”Am I too old to start a tech career?”), links to support services and to relevant websites about women or minorities, and e-mail lists

developed to recruit women. 

Two years and four months into the project, CCRI had increased female enrollment in its technology programs by 92 percent—from 39 women to 76—

in the year and a half of project implementation. Women enrolled in programs ranging from electronics to telecommunications, computer, and

networking technology. Data on the other two colleges were hard to come by. Indeed, gender-disaggregated data collection quickly became part of the

project strategy. Only one of the three colleges collected data by gender and by program area, none collected data on who finished college, and there

was little tracking of how graduates were placed and at what average wage—figures that would help them sell their tech courses.

Many women don’t come to college with the wiring, tool, and computer experience men have. CCRI developed an experimental six-week Tech Readiness

class (for men and women), a bridge for students new to computing, which is now part of its regular offerings. Because poor math skills are a problem

for many students, CCRI offered a math for technology course for the first time in 2002, the result of an unprecedented dialogue between the math

and engineering/technology departments. 

In February 2002 IWITTS launched WomenTechWorld.org, an on-line community for women technicians and students in technology, which got up to

11,500 hits a week. On its interactive website are biographies, news stories, a bulletin board, and FAQs. E-mentoring has been delayed by software

problems. WomenTechTalk is a new national e-mail discussion group for ”techie” women. 

Women in technology websites www.womentechworld.org/links.htm#wtw

Women in technology listservs www.womentechworld.org/links.htm#wtl

Minorities in technology websites www.womentechworld.org/links.htm#mtw

Girls in technology websites www.womentechworld.org/links.htm#gtw

SPECIALTY SITES FOR TECHIE WOMEN 

Association for Women in Aviation Maintenance www.awam.org/

BinaryGirl.com www.binarygirl.com/home.shtml

Construction Construction tradeswomen hometown.aol.com/catstep16/myhomepage14profile.html

Female role models www.genderequity.org/index.html

Greasergrrls (women motor enthusiasts) www.greasergrrls.com/

Lady Auto Mechanics Club www.ladyautomechanics.com/

National Association of Women in Construction www.nawic.org

National Electrical Contractors, Women’s Page www.necanet.org/about/members/women.htm

Society of Women Engineers www.swe.org

TechDivas www.techdivas.com

Webgrrls www.webgrrls.com/explorer.htm 

Women Chemists Committee membership.acs.org/W/WCC/

Women in Animation women.animation.org/

Women's Automotive Association International www.waai.com/

Women in Aviation Resource Center www.women-in-aviation.com/

Women in Cable & Telecommunications www.wict.org/

Women in the Construction Trades www.expage.com/page/firewomen

Women in Engineering Programs and Advocates Network www.wepan.org

Women in Technology International witi.com/

Work4Women www.work4women.org/

SELECTED LINKS FOR ‘TECHIE’ WOMEN

CODE: U INSTITUTE FOR WOMEN IN TRADES, TECHNOLOGY & SCIENCE

DONNA MILGRAM (DONNAM@IWITTS.COM), JUAN VASQUEZ, MARY F. BURNETT, PETER WOODBURY, LUCILLE JORDAN, NOCKIE ZIZELMAN, KATHERINE MASSEY, CHRISTAL ALBRECHT

www.womentechworld.org www.ccri.cc.ri.us/WomenTech/index.shtml www.northharriscollege.com/womentech HRD 99-06114 (THREE-YEAR GRANT)

PARTNERS: COMMUNITY COLLEGE OF RHODE ISLAND; NORTH HARRIS MONTGOMERY COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT (HOUSTON, TEX.); COLLEGE OF ALAMEDA (CAL.); TECH CORPS

(A NATIONAL PROGRAM TO BRING TECHNOLOGY INTO SECONDARY SCHOOLS). 

MAKING MATH AND TECHNOLOGY COURSES USER FRIENDLY TO WOMEN AND MINORITIES, AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY AND LINKS, CAN BE DOWNLOADED FROM

(www.iwitts.com/biblio.pdf)

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, COMMUNITY COLLEGE, RECRUITMENT, RETENTION, WEBSITE, BIOGRAPHIES, TECHNOLOGY
1

MENTORING TEAMS OF TEACHER TRAINERS 

UNDER THE TEACHER EDUCATION MENTOR PROJECT, SIX EDUCATION PROFESSORS AND THE PROJECT DIRECTOR SERVED AS MENTORS FOR TEAMS FROM SEVEN

UNIVERSITIES NATIONWIDE. THE GOAL WAS TO PROMOTE CHANGE IN EDUCATION

PROFESSORS AND IN THE CULTURE OF COLLEGES OF EDUCATION, ESPECIALLY IN

PROGRAMS TRAINING STUDENT TEACHERS IN MATH, SCIENCE, AND TECHNOLOGY

EDUCATION—TO EXPAND THE POOL OF INSTRUCTORS QUALIFIED TO HELP K–12

TEACHERS NURTURE FEMALE TALENT AND PERSISTENCE IN SCIENCE. 

The change agents were part of the institution because each of the seven

institutions formed an internal team: the education dean and/or

department chair, professors, students, university administrators, and/or

cooperating school teachers. Each team assessed the need to improve or

integrate material on gender bias in STEM methods and other education

courses into their university’s teacher education program. ”What I think

was most surprising to me was the subtle and deeply entrenched bias that

seems to occur in a small rural community,” said a principal. ”Cultural and

racial biases are easy to distinguish and articulate. Many people who are

born, raised, and work within a very traditional sex-role context have

difficulty recognizing subtle sex-role biases.”

Special expertise and experience were transferred on the job. An external

mentor—expert in math, science, or technology education and gender

issues—worked with each team. The external mentors formed their own

team, guided by the project director. To become effective advocates for

change in their departments, colleges, and field placement schools, team

leaders attended a seminar about institutional change, gender issues, and

leadership. Empowered in content and process, they developed a mutual

support group. 

Just-in-time learning and ad hoc problem-solving were available at all

times from a wide network. All team members exchanged messages

about progress on an electronic listserv, sharing ideas, resources,

opportunities, feedback, and support. Mentors had a separate listserv. In

the first two years the pyramid-style network reached dozens of faculty

members, hundreds of student teachers, and, indirectly, dozens of K–12

schools and thousands of K–12 girls and boys—numbers that will

increase with time.

The project has been a catalyst for change. Six colleges and universities

reported changing the curriculum across courses to include gender

equity in more coordinated ways. Three institutions reported greater

consideration of gender equity in hiring, promotion, and tenure. Most

(79 percent) of those involved reported major positive changes in how

they themselves addressed gender equity in their classes. ”At the

beginning of this project,” said one teacher on an equity team, ”we felt

we were pretty much aware of gender equity issues. Wow, were we

wrong! We became more aware of gender equity issues in our teaching

methods, our instructional materials, our terminology, and our classroom

management.” 

CODES: U, PD WASHINGTON RESEARCH INSTITUTE

JO SANDERS (JSANDERS@WRI-EDU.ORG) HRD 95-55665 (THREE-YEAR GRANT) 

PUBLICATION: FAIRNESS AT THE SOURCE: ASSESSING GENDER EQUITY IN TEACHER

EDUCATION FOR COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES, BY JO SANDERS. WASHINGTON

RESEARCH INSTITUTE, 2000.

KEYWORDS: PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, MENTORING, TEACHER TRAINING, RETENTION, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS, SUPPORT SYSTEM, CURRICULUM

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CODING STUDENT TEACHERS’ CLASSROOM INTERACTIONS 

GENDER EQUITY HAS BEEN DIFFICULT TO INCORPORATE EFFECTIVELY INTO TEACHER

TRAINING PROGRAMS. TOO STRONG AN EMPHASIS ON IT AND PARTICIPANTS SEE THE

ISSUE AS A JOKE IN POLITICAL CORRECTNESS; TOO SUBTLE AN EMPHASIS (EMBEDDING

EQUITY ISSUES IN CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT OR CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT, FOR

EXAMPLE) AND ALL BUT THE MOST INTUITIVE PARTICIPANTS CAN MISS ITS PRESENCE

AND IMPLICATIONS. IN THIS THREE-YEAR PROJECT, THE UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE

(UD) STUDIED THE IMPACT ON HIGH SCHOOL SCIENCE TEACHING PRACTICES OF

INCORPORATING GENDER EQUITY TRAINING INTO SECONDARY SCIENCE EDUCATION. 

Experienced teachers involved with the project acted as ”cooperating”

(supervising) teachers for 20 of the student teachers (”grant teachers”).

A contrast group of 39 ”nongrant” student teachers was supervised by

experienced but ”nongrant” teachers, not associated with the project.

Over three years, researchers observed and coded the classroom

interactions of all 59 student teachers. Grant student teachers were also

coded by their cooperating teachers, who sat and talked with them about

what they saw. 

The lessons were coded for the type and number of teacher interactions

with students, questions asked by the teachers and by the students, type

of teaching activity and time spent in that activity, and types of materials

used. Observers noted the number and type of questions and the sex of

the students answering the questions. (The study collected data on

teacher-student interactions and on patterns of teacher questioning and

student–teacher interactions.) Questions were coded as knowledge-level

questions (for example, ”What is a hermaphrodite?” or ”What is the

atomic weight of carbon?”), as upper-level (higher order) questions

(”explain in terms of chemical bonding why ice, the solid, is less dense

than water, the liquid”), as procedural questions (”Is this right?” ”Will

this be on the test?”) and as nonacademic questions or instructions

(”Please open your book” or ”Are you still on the debate team?”).

One goal of gender-sensitive teacher education programs is graduates who

ask students of both genders both knowledge questions and upper-level

questions. This is what the project found, on average:

• There were significant differences in how teachers in the two groups 

interacted with their students.

• For both grant and nongrant student teachers, the majority of student–

teacher interactions were knowledge-level questions (61 percent for grant, 

82 percent for nongrant student teachers). Girls were asked 63 percent of those 

questions in the grant classes and only 43 percent in the nongrant classes. 

• In more than 75 hours of classroom observations, girls received no 

upper-level questions from nongrant student teachers—but in more 

than 50 hours of observations in nongrant classrooms, observers recorded 

only five upper-level questions of any students. (It is a major concern 

that nearly the ONLY questions coded were knowledge-level questions and 

these were asked of only a small group of students.) In grant classes, 

girls and boys answered the same number of upper-level questions—which 

accounted for 26 percent of teacher–student interactions. (This is atypical.) 

• There was a significant difference between the two groups in terms of 

student teachers asking knowledge-level and higher-level questions. In 

the grant classes, 31 percent of the student teachers’ questions to 

students were coded upper level, compared with only 1 percent of 

questions in the nongrant classes. There was no significant difference 

in procedural interactions.

• Before coding the student teachers’ lessons, the cooperating teachers 

believed that their student teachers were gender-sensitive and that they 

were asking a balanced mixture of procedural, knowledge, and upper-level 

questions of both boys and girls. After less than 30 minutes of coding, 

they realized how inaccurate their initial perceptions were. Their student 

teachers were asking mostly knowledge-level questions, were using target 

students, and were not, overall, gender-sensitive. 

• The cooperating teachers needed to document these interactions. 

Teachers rarely recognize inequitable teaching practices. These cooperating 

teachers’ initial perceptions were that the student teachers’ performance 

was satisfactory. This perception changed only after they became 

engaged in data collection. 

• By discussing the pattern of classroom interactions with the student 

teachers, the cooperating teachers in the grant classrooms were able to 

begin to influence their questioning patterns.

• For student teachers in the nongrant classes, whose interactions were 

observed and coded by researchers from the university, getting only 

quantitative data from university observers was not compelling enough 

for student teachers to revise their questioning patterns.

Preservice and beginning teachers initially define good teaching in terms of

classroom management and disciplinary procedures, and often rely on

cde

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teachers’ classroom interactions
1

teaching activities that keep their classes orderly and on task. Student

teachers may focus on male target students to increase order and control

in their classes and may be reluctant to use cooperative learning groups,

lab activities, and discussions, or to wait longer for student answers, as

those practices may produce less order in their practicum classes. After a

while, they enter a stage of focusing on their teaching. Finally, their

attention moves away from themselves toward their students’ learning.

What their peers and their students say about their teaching influences

neophyte teachers as they move through these stages. ”Cooperating” or

supervising teachers strongly influence the next generation of teachers

because they interact daily with student teachers. The cooperating teachers

who coded and discussed the student teachers’ interactions with their

students strengthened the neophyte teachers’ gender-equitable teaching. 

Interviewed the summer after student teaching, the student teachers who

had had constant quantitative feedback about their interaction patterns

said they had been surprised by many of their patterns. One of them had

sensed that three boys were dominating his class but didn’t realize that

one boy (M) dominated as much as he did. After the UD supervisor and

cooperating teacher both noted the same thing, he realized that M got

attention for comments and behavior designed to ”get the teacher off

track.” All three boys took advantage of the student teacher’s ”global

questioning” strategy by calling out answers to get attention. After this

was pointed out to him, the student teacher ignored the group’s off-task

behavior and called-out comments and the boys gave up the behavior

because it no longer got them the attention they wanted. The interacting

code gave him a good frame of reference for improving.

Another grant teacher said that every two weeks or so her cooperating

teacher coded her and then discussed what she saw. She would say, ”Ok,

you didn’t really seem to call on Paul today. . . . You need to work on

that.” Discussing this kind of detail helped the student internalize the

ideas of gender equity. 

There is a balancing act between the real and perceived needs of the

student teachers and cooperating teachers. Student teachers see the

methods class and student teaching as critical (perhaps too critical) to

their teaching career. They fear that a bad relationship with, and a poor

recommendation from, their cooperating/supervising teacher will be

devastating to their career, destroying their chances for a good teaching

job. Many student teachers seem to perceive student teaching more as a

final exam than as a learning experience. Cooperating teachers, on the

other hand, want students to see the big picture and profit from their own

experiences. They see student teaching not as a test but as a period of

challenge and growth. This difference in perception between the two led to

considerable anxiety, which was not allayed by knowing each other 

ahead of time.

Currently, preservice students and cooperating teachers do not perceive

each other as colleagues but as the expert doling out good advice and the

novice asking for quick answers. Students want time away from the

cooperating teachers to vent their frustrations without fear of reprisals

(perceived or real). At no time during focus groups did the student

teachers discuss continuing to learn or improve their teaching skills after

the student teaching experience; they just wanted to get through it with

top marks. Teacher training should find ways to put preservice students and

cooperating teachers on a learning curve together—helping model for

students the importance of lifelong learning. It should find ways to

acknowledge that they will not be fully trained when they leave student

teaching, and that the methods course and seminar merely give them

exposure to critical methods and skills.

Most teachers who supervise student teachers have several

years’ teaching experience and may have completed their

studies before gender equity was incorporated into teacher

education. So it is important to observe and code classroom

interactions of both experienced and new teachers. One

cooperating teacher wrote in her diary, after being observed: 

I had a real awakening. . . . I was showing a film, stopped,

turned the projector off, and answered [a student’s] question,

and when the whole thing was over, [the observer] said to

me, ‘Did you realize that you never called on the right hand

side of the room?’ And I would have sworn that I had called

on the right hand side of the room, but I hadn’t. And then

when the next class came in, I really became aware of the fact

that I was standing by the projector and the projector was

cutting that side of the room off. They might as well have

gone on home. . . .I don’t know how many years I did that

without knowing. . . .I’ll bet it was a long, long time. As a

teacher, I learned a lot about my attitudes, who I call on, why

I call on them. [I think] it was more than a gender equity

thing. It’s an overall equity thing. . . .the realization that you

categorize students. . . .that you put them in little boxes. 

CODING EXPERIENCED TEACHERS, TOO

CODES: U, PD, H UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE

KATHRYN SCANTLEBURY (KSCANTLE@UDEL.EDU)

www.udel.edu/kscantle/kcs.html HRD 94-50022 (THREE-YEAR GRANT) 

ARTICLES INCLUDE: JOHNSON, ELLEN, BORLESKE, BARBARA., GLEASON, SUSAN, BAILEY, BAMBI, & SCANTLEBURY, KATHRYN. 1998. STRUCTURED OBSERVATION—A TOOL FOR

INCREASING EQUITY. A GUIDE TO CODING CLASSROOM INTERACTIONS. THE SCIENCE

TEACHER, 65 (3), 46-49. BAILEY, BAMBI, SCANTLEBURY, KATHRYN, & JOHNSON, ELLEN. 1999. ENCOURAGING THE BEGINNING OF EQUITABLE SCIENCE TEACHING

PRACTICE: COLLABORATION IS THE KEY. JOURNAL OF SCIENCE TEACHER EDUCATION, 10 (3), 1-14.

KEYWORDS: PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, RESEARCH STUDY, TEACHER TRAINING, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS
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NEW COURSES TO DRAW WOMEN INTO SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

TO MAKE SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING MORE WELCOMING TO WOMEN AND MINORITIES,

TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY HAS BEEN WORKING ON SYSTEMIC CHANGE IN ENGINEERING

EDUCATION. ITS MAIN EFFORT IN THE FIRST AND SECOND YEAR OF THE CURRICULUM

HAS BEEN TO CREATE INCLUSIVE LEARNING COMMUNITIES—COMMUNITIES OF STUDENTS,

FACULTY, AND INDUSTRY WITH COMMON INTERESTS WHO WORK AS PARTNERS TO

IMPROVE THE EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE. TO MAKE WOMEN MORE COMFORTABLE IN THE

STEM ENVIRONMENT, THIS PROJECT DEVELOPED NEW CURRICULA AND IS CONDUCTING

A SURVEY OF THE CAMPUS CLIMATE FOR WOMEN IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING. 

Introduction to Women’s Studies: The History of Women in Science and Engineering, which fulfills a three-hours humanities requirement, was

introduced in 1995. Team-taught by seven people, it combines history and hands-on lab experiences designed to give first-year students—male and

female, working in teams—more sense of belonging, comfort, and confidence. 

A new junior-year course, Women in Organizations, covers the social structure of gender and knowledge, access and opportunities, the law, politics,

and unwritten policies—fulfilling a three-hour social science requirement. Two new graduate seminars were offered on university teaching and research

in STEM fields. One emphasizes career strategies and choices; the other,

networking, personal interactions, and teaching and presentation 

techniques. A faculty workshop was given to heighten awareness about

gender issues and to improve classroom instruction and personal 

interactions with students. 

CODES: U, PD TEXAS A& M UNIVERSITY, TEXAS ENGINEERING EXPERIMENT STATION

KARAN L. WATSON (WATSON@TAMU.EDU), SARA ALPERN, PAMELA R. MATTHEWS, RAMONA L. PAETZOLD

HRD 94-53680 (ONE-YEAR GRANT)

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, LEARNING COMMUNITIES, SURVEY, WOMEN'S STUDIES, HANDS-ON, SELF-CONFIDENCE, CURRICULUM, CAREER AWARENESS, TEACHER TRAINING, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS

WOMEN’S STUDIES AND SCIENCE: CAN WE TALK?

ALTHOUGH AMERICA PRODUCES MANY OF THE WORLD’S GREAT SCIENTISTS, MOST OF AMERICA’S

POPULATION IS NOT HIGHLY LITERATE IN SCIENCE. WOMEN, ESPECIALLY, ”CHECK OUT” OF SCIENCE

MUCH TOO SOON. THE PROJECT WOMEN AND SCIENTIFIC LITERACY ARGUED THAT IT WAS TIME TO

MAKE SCIENCE MORE ATTRACTIVE TO WOMEN BY EXPANDING AND TRANSFORMING THE CONTENT

AND TEACHING METHODS OF THE SCIENCE CURRICULUM IN HIGHER EDUCATION, WITHIN

HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCE COURSES AS WELL AS TRADITIONAL SCIENCE DEPARTMENTS. 

The project’s main goal was to bridge the gulf between science and women’s studies by incorporating feminist science studies into science and 

nonscience courses, thereby setting up an interdisciplinary vocabulary among students, whether science majors or not. Feminist science studies have

made us aware of the costs of excluding women and other marginalized groups from full participation in science, of the historical uses of science to

justify inequalities, and of which areas of scientific research are studied and which are not. But while feminist science lies at the heart of this project,

its main thrust is to improve scientific literacy. It takes up the challenge posed by biologist Anne Fausto-Sterling, to break the cycle of reproducing a

world ”in which science seems an illegitimate place for women and gender studies seems an inappropriate enterprise for scientists.” 

With leadership from AAC&U’s Program on the Status and Education of Women, this initiative brought together 10 competitively chosen colleges and

universities in a three-year curriculum and faculty development project. These schools were to make science more central to women’s studies courses,

to create two-way streets between undergraduate science departments and women’s studies programs, and to foster systemic curriculum changes to

improve the quality and scope of science teaching and learning. 

Faculty development was important at all 10 sites, but models for faculty development differed greatly. At the University of Arizona (Tucson), for

example, more than 100 faculty and hundreds of students participated in seminars, colloquia, and conferences. At Greenfield Community College,

faculty attended teaching and assessment workshops and talked about what good teaching was and whether reaching female students was different

New courses to 

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from reaching male students. At Bates College, faculty participated in

seminars and retreats, presenting changes in their syllabi at one and

discussing assessment at another. Combining summer reading groups

with curriculum development was effective at the University of Rhode

Island, where about 200 people attended a spring conference on

”Diversifying the Culture and Curriculum of Science, Engineering, and

Women’s Studies.”

Curriculum development, to change both content and pedagagy, often

emphasized connecting the subject matter to students’ personal lives,

developing practical applications of what students were learning, offering

student-led discussions in which the student (not the teacher) was the

classroom authority, building a caring and respectful community of learners,

and developing classroom practices that featured hands-on science, problem

solving relevant to students’ lives, collaborative learning groups, journal

keeping, and a more constructivist approach to teaching and learning. 

At the University of California at Long Beach, for example, two new

education courses were introduced (Women in Science and Science and

Society) and a third (Issues in Women’s Health) was heavily revised. A

Gender and Science course being offered at St. Lawrence University is

being team-taught by women from the science faculty and from women’s

studies. Courses developed or revised at Portland State University were

Experimentation: Texts and Test Tubes; The Politics of Gender; and

Science, Gender, and Social Context. Portland State’s course Biopolitics

analyzes how gender relations affect the policy and politics of research

and technology that affect women’s reproductive health. At Rowan

University, the new course Physics of Everyday Life emphasizes active

learning and power shared between students and faculty. Digital

Computer Design, which was previously standard lectures and labs, now

includes computer simulations and each student is required to design,

build, and test digital circuits. The University of Illinois at Chicago

planned a multidisciplinary masters program in Women’s Health Studies

and is turning a lab program, Working with Chemistry, into a lab manual

with an emphasis on action, reflection, and collaboration. The University

of Rhode Island’s new course, Women and the Natural Sciences, asks, How

has science studied women? Who are the women scientists? And how is

science socially constructed?

The project supported the development of various resources—including

bibliographies, sample syllabi, and research on the effects of

curricular change on all students, with particular attention to women.

As completed, they will be made available on AACU’s website.

Selected syllabi for feminist science studies can be found at

<www.aacu-edu.org/womenscilit/syllabi.cfm>.

Assessment. The feminist model for assessment focuses on improving

learning and teaching by being student-centered, using multiple

quantitative and qualitative methods of assessment, viewing

achievement from many perspectives. Feminist assessment asks such hard

questions as ”Who has the power to determine the questions? What

methods are most appropriate to embrace the many voices and ways of

speaking? What methods help reveal the unspoken?” Because assessment

can be used politically and may injure those taking part, participants

expect to be part of the assessment process from the beginning to the

end of the project. Each site was committed to developing its own

assessment design to demonstrate that they take the task of refoming

curriculum seriously. 

Changing the way courses are conducted is a slow, complex task, but

evidence is building that many faculty members are interested in

collaborating on teaching and research in science and gender and that

busy faculty can find time to work with each other to develop

interdisciplinary courses—and enjoy the process. 

Most sites tried to get student assessments of new courses and modules.

At Bates College, four focus groups were conducted to learn more about

student experiences in introductory science courses. Both male and

female students said they didn’t get enough feedback on exams, women

felt more intimidated than men did in large classes, women were more

interested than men in having courses demonstrate practical applications

of science in their lives, and more women than men failed to see the

connection between labs and class content. 

To help faculty in their work, the project developed a national advisory

board, two national conferences on curriculum and pedagogical

development, a newsletter filled with curricular examples and resources,

a moderated e-mail discussion list, and annotated bibliographies. As

follow-up to an initial conference, participants communicated with each

other through the project listserv (SCI-LIT), problem solving and sharing

resources. Each of the 10 participating institutions was encouraged to set

up a campus-based listserv.

CODES: U, PD ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN COLLEGES (AAC&U)

CARYN MCTIGHE MUSIL (MUSIL@AACU.NW.DC.US), DEBRA HUMPHREYS

www.aacu-edu.org/womenscilit AND www.aacu-edu.org/publications/index.cfm HRD 95-55808 (THREE-YEAR GRANT)

PARTNERS: ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES (AAC&U); PARTICIPATING INSTITUTIONS (BARNARD COLLEGE, BATES COLLEGES, CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY AT

LONG BEACH, GREENFIELD COMMUNITY COLLEGE, PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY, ROWAN COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY, ST. LAWRENCE UNIVERSITY, UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA, UNIVERSITY

OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO, AND THE UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND); PROJECT KALEIDOSCOPE; NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR RESEARCH ON WOMEN; ASSOCIATION FOR WOMEN IN SCIENCE; AND NATIONAL WOMEN’S STUDY ASSOCIATION (SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY TASK FORCE). 

PRODUCTS: CARYN MCTIGUE MUSIL, ED., GENDER, SCIENCE, AND THE UNDERGRADUATE CURRICULUM: BUILDING TWO-WAY STREETS (WASHINGTON, D.C.: AACU, 2001). 

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT FEMINIST SCIENCE STUDIES, THE FALL 1999 ISSUE OF ON CAMPUS WITH WOMEN, WAS DEVOTED TO THE PROJECT. 

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, RECRUITMENT, RETENTION, WOMEN'S STUDIES, FEMINISM, PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, CURRICULUM, SEMINARS, CONFERENCES, HANDS-ON, COLLABORATIVE LEARNING, CONSTRUCTIVISM, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS, TEACHER TRAINING
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CHANGING FACULTY THROUGH LEARNING COMMUNITIES

THE DWIGHT LOOK COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND THE COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AT TEXAS

A&M ARE USING LEARNING COMMUNITIES TO CHANGE EACH FACULTY MEMBER’S

KNOWLEDGE, PERSONAL VISION, COMMITMENT, AND INTERACTIONS WITH STUDENTS.

THE FACULTY IS THE MOST CRITICAL INGREDIENT IN LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS ON

UNIVERSITY CAMPUSES, AND DEVELOPING MORE LEARNER-CENTERED EDUCATIONAL

ENVIRONMENTS REQUIRES HELPING FACULTY DEVELOP THE FRAMES OF MIND AND

INTERPERSONAL SKILLS ESSENTIAL TO A GOOD LEARNING ENVIRONMENT. 

Changing how women are treated, how the classroom is managed, how

classes are taught, and how graduate students are mentored depends on

the cumulative efforts of many faculty members. 

To create more inviting and welcoming learning environments, it is not

enough to bombard faculty members with messages such as ”Be

inviting!” or ”Be welcoming!” Instead, it is important to identify how the

faculty needs to change, to nurture those changes in all faculty members,

and to convince all faculty members that they must practice new ways of

teaching to create a welcoming learning environment.

As faculty members develop a stronger personal vision, work to realize

that vision, invite students’ intellectual development, and articulate the

mental models they want students to master, the project should observe

changes in attitudes about learning, teaching, and the role of women and

minorities in STEM. The project should also see more faculty participating

in project-sponsored workshops and faculty learning communities and

should see more women enrolled and retained in both undergraduate and

graduate studies in physical sciences and engineering. 

CODES: PD, U TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY (TEXAS ENGINEERING EXPERIMENT STATION)

KARAN L. WATSON (WATSON@TAMU.EDU), JEFFREY E. FROYD, H. JOSEPH NEWTON

HRD 01-20825 (THREE-YEAR GRANT)

PARTNERS: DWIGHT LOOK COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING; TEXAS A&M COLLEGE OF

SCIENCE

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, LEARNING COMMUNITIES, SURVEY, WOMEN'S STUDIES, HANDS-ON, SELF-CONFIDENCE, CURRICULUM, CAREER AWARENESS, TEACHER TRAINING, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS

MAKING ENGINEERING MORE ATTRACTIVE AS A CAREER

THE ENGINEERING INDUSTRY MUST RECOGNIZE DIVERSITY AS A PRODUCTIVITY ISSUE, CONCLUDED A

CONFERENCE HELD IN 1998—NOT JUST FOR EQUITY’S SAKE, BUT TO IMPROVE PRODUCTIVITY AND

PROFITABILITY AND TO BETTER REFLECT IDEAS AND PERSPECTIVES IN THE MARKETPLACE.

CONFERENCE PARTICIPANTS GENERALLY AGREED THAT WOMEN’S COMPETENCE AS ENGINEERS IS NO

LONGER BEING QUESTIONED—THAT IT IS TIME TO ADDRESS WHY ENGINEERING-RELATED LEARNINGAND WORKPLACES ARE NOT ATTRACTIVE TO WOMEN AS THEY ARE CURRENTLY ORGANIZED AND

MANAGED. CONFERENCE FINDINGS WERE SUMMARIZED IN TERMS OF ROOT CAUSES AND BEST PRACTICES.

Low expectations for women. Culturally based values and understandings that affect men and women from infancy on perpetuate certain beliefs: that

men are smarter, more committed, and harder workers, and ”belong” more in the workplace, and that mathematical talent—the basis for all science and

technical fields—is more innate than learned and is gendered (a belief common in the United States but not everywhere). Cultural values shape and can

inhibit girls’ and women’s beliefs in their own ability and their behaviors when confronted with discriminatory practices and with sexual harassment. Even

when women themselves do not recognize discrimination’s presence, it marginalizes and demoralizes them. 

Except for Howard University, universities lag behind industry in mandating diversity as a goal. Best practices: Organizational leaders must value—not

just tolerate—inclusive practices and a diverse labor force. Leaders must see themselves as teachers and active participants in change. Management

must understand and address the gender inequity embedded in standard institutional practices and must act on that understanding with rigorous

evaluation, discussion, and action plans.

Unreconciled demands of the workplace and family life. The inability to balance work, family life, and community services causes many women to

leave engineering, but growing demands in the workplace and at home are also a problem for men. Industry has taken the lead on developing policies

and procedures to address these issues. Universities lag behind. Best practices—such as telecommuting, flex time, rewards for time spent in community

Changing faculty

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service, and clock stoppage (stopping the ”tenure” clock for family and other responsibilities and extending the probationary period)—should be

incorporated into university practices.

A disjointed pipeline. The academy and industry have not coordinated efforts to attract girls into the engineering curriculum and women into the

profession. Many excellent programs have not yet been exported. Industry looks to academe to provide solutions, especially in pre-college areas. Best

practices: Develop a shared, holistic understanding of how education and work reinforce each other and how both must be reformulated to develop the

skills and attitudes needed to succeed in school and work.

A silent profession. The public does not understand, and the media misrepresent, engineering as a profession and the role engineers play in society.

Many young people don’t know what scientists, engineers, and other technical workers really do, the problems they address, or the creativity and

uncertainty involved in their work.

Best practices: Develop and promote the image of engineering as a broadly applicable, socially conscious, people oriented, and high paying career—through

pre-college programming, public relations efforts, and day-to-day interactions with people outside the profession. Educate editors, publishers, producers,

reporters, and media researchers about engineering’s role in the world and the distinctions between engineering and science disciplines.

A communication gap between sectors. Many universities have developed strong theoretical and research-based models of root causes for failure to

recruit and retain women in engineering, and strong support programs, but much of this information has not breached the walls of industry or is

considered irrelevant. At the same time, academics typically don’t share the pragmatic mentality of their colleagues in industry. 

At the conference, industry participants were amazed at how much time it takes to make a change in academia, while university participants were

surprised at industry’s lack of access to the ”standard literature” and to common knowledge about gender socialization, education, and work bias.

Both groups were unaware of how each approaches the problems of underrepresentation. Best practices. Form alliances between industry and academia

and develop a common language and set of assumptions among engineering employers, educators, and researchers. Lack of a common language means

that mutual problems are too often left unexplored and transferable solutions are left unexploited. 

CODES: PD, U, I PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY, UNIVERSITY PARK

BARBARA BOGUE (BBOGUE@ENGR.PSU.EDU), PRISCILLA GUTHRIE, STEVE HADDEN, AND BARBARA B. LAZARUS

www.engfnd.org/pastconf/8azpre.html (CONFERENCE PROGRAM) HRD 98-05158 (ONE-YEAR GRANT)

PARTNERS: INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR OPTICAL ENGINEERING (SPIE), TEXACO AND TEXACO FOUNDATION, TRW AND TRW FOUNDATION, WOMEN IN ENGINEERING PROGRAM

ADVOCATES NETWORK (WEPAN), SOCIETY OF WOMEN ENGINEERS (SWE).

PUBLICATION: PROCEEDINGS: TACKLING THE ENGINEERING RESOURCES SHORTAGE: CREATING NEW PARADIGMS FOR DEVELOPING AND RETAINING WOMEN ENGINEERS

(THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR OPTICAL ENGINEERING, 1999).

KEYWORDS: DISSEMINATION, ENGINEERING, CONFERENCE, ADVANCEMENT, BEST PRACTICES, POLICY, PUBLICATION

IMPROVING THE CLIMATE IN PHYSICS DEPARTMENTS

TEAMS OF WELL-RECOGNIZED WOMEN PHYSICISTS CARRIED OUT SITE VISITS TO

PHYSICS DEPARTMENTS IN 12 PUBLIC AND PRIVATE RESEARCH UNIVERSITIES TO

IDENTIFY PROBLEMS COMMONLY EXPERIENCED BY WOMEN FACULTY AND STUDENTS,

TO RECOMMEND INTERVENTIONS FOR COMMON PROBLEMS, AND TO ADDRESS OR

SUGGEST SOLUTIONS TO PROBLEMS SPECIFIC TO THE DEPARTMENTS VISITED.

The visits showed that the climate for women in physics departments—

ranging from welcoming to hostile, but often ”chilly”— varies greatly from

one institution to another. The study found that as the proportion 

of female physics faculty and students increases, the climate 

generally improves.

Female faculty and students faced a number of hurdles. In a few

departments, teams learned about cases of sexual harassment; in others,

senior women on the faculty had become isolated from important

decision-making. But the most common problems came from an

accumulation of ”small indignities” (such as demeaning comments,

requests to take on secretarial duties, and exclusion from departmental

social activities) that erode self-confidence and self-esteem.

Since most of the departments visited had one or at most two women on

the faculty, female students lacked role models, so teams often

recommended hiring additional women faculty. Other team suggestions

included better communication between women and the department

chair, efforts to develop a stronger sense of community within the

department (one more welcoming to women), and including more women

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as colloquium speakers—to serve as role models and give students advice

on such issues as how to combine family and career.

Some issues related to the department climate were not gender-specific:

poor teaching, poor mentoring, the autocratic attitudes of departmental

chairs and senior professors, and the faculty’s inattention to and lack of

respect for physics students. Many students felt their faculty mentors were

neither well informed nor sufficiently helpful about their own students’

career development.

Each team provided a written report to the physics department visited

with specific suggestions. Six-month follow-up reports from the

departments showed that many of the suggestions had been adopted. A

later poll showed that many departments had hired new female faculty

members and made other major reforms. In most cases, the climate for

women had improved considerably.

The principal investigators concluded in 1994 that to improve the climate

in physics departments, the faculty must be genuinely concerned about

providing a welcoming and supportive environment for their colleagues and

students. Constructive attitudes, a caring approach, open communication

channels, and goodwill can go a long way toward creating successful

students and faculty members—both male and female. 

In another part of the project, the American Institute of Physics (AIP)

conducted a national survey of undergraduate and graduate physics

students to learn how male and female students rated the environment

of their physics departments. AIP’s 1993 report concluded that there were

very few gender differences in the responses from undergraduates. At the

graduate level, only a third of the graduate students rated their department

as encouraging self-confidence. More males than females reported good

collegial relationships with their advisers. Compared with U.S. males,

proportionately fewer non-U.S. males and U.S. females reported that their

advisers treated them like colleagues.

The site-visit program is still active. Visits have been made to 24 colleges

and universities, with one return visit after a 10-year interval. As more

women enter the field of physics, the climate for women should continue

to improve.

CODES: PD, U AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF PHYSICS TEACHERS

JUDY FRANZ (FRANZ@APS.ORG) AND MILDRED S. DRESSELHAUS

( MILLIE@MGM.MIT.EDU)

HRD 92-55387 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNER: AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY

PRODUCTS: TWO REPORTS ON THE CLIMATE IN PHYSICS DEPARTMENTS. FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT SUE OTWELL (OTWELL@APS.ORG)

KEYWORDS: RESEARCH STUDY, SITE VISITS, PHYSICS, INTERVENTION, BARRIERS, SELF-CONFIDENCE, ROLE MODELS, MENTORING, DEPARTMENTAL CLIMATE, SURVEY, GENDER DIFFERENCES, PUBLICATION

WHY DO SOME PHYSICS DEPARTMENTS HAVE MORE WOMEN MAJORS? 

IN 1998, WOMEN EARNED MORE THAN HALF THE BACHELOR’S DEGREES AWARDED

IN THE LIFE SCIENCES, 40 PERCENT OF THOSE GRANTED IN MATHEMATICS, BUT

ONLY 19 PERCENT OF THOSE AWARDED IN PHYSICS. THAT 19 PERCENT IS DOUBLE

WHAT IT WAS 25 YEARS AGO, BUT PHYSICS STILL LAGS BEHIND THE OTHER

SCIENCES IN ATTRACTING WOMEN TO THE FIELD AND KEEPING THEM THERE. 

Despite several national initiatives and many informal and formal departmental efforts to draw more women and other underrepresented groups into

physics, in some schools as many as 40 percent of the physics majors are

women and in others the proportion is well below the national average. 

To learn what works in attracting and retaining women as undergraduate

majors in physics, a team at Colorado College is studying 10

undergraduate physics departments with average to heavy participation

by women. The schools selected—both public and private—offer a

bachelor’s degree in physics but no graduate degrees. At least two of

them are historically black. 

The project’s goals are to 

• Study some of what the physics community has tried, to learn what 

works to get more women majoring in physics

• Investigate the unusual success some primarily undergraduate 

institutions have had in cultivating women physics majors

• Identify common errors in programs and practices that could be 

corrected if they were recognized and understood

• See whether and how innovations in physics teaching have improved 

the climate for women

• Communicate project results back to the physics community

Why do some 

physics departments have more 

women majors?

phy

005
2

The study team—two physics professors, one social science professor, and one student assistant—are collecting demographic information about the

faculty and students in each department. In a two-day site visit to each department they will visit classes and labs and interview students, faculty,

and administrators. They will investigate the departmental climate, the quality of teaching and advising, the style of classes, and other factors that

have been said to make some physics departments more comfortable for women. Departments in which women’s participation is high will be compared

with those in which it is average, to determine what works to keep

participation high. Results of the study will be published in a 

peer-reviewed journal and publicized in talks, journal articles, and on the

Web, in hopes that the physics community will evaluate and improve its

efforts to draw women into the field.

CODES: U, PD COLORADO COLLEGE

BARBARA L. WHITTEN (BWHITTEN@COLORADOCOLLEGE.EDU)

HRD 01-20450 (ONE-YEAR GRANT)

KEYWORDS: RESEARCH STUDY, BEST PRACTICES, PHYSICS, ACADEMIC ENVIRONMENT, RECRUITMENT, RETENTION, SYSTEMIC REFORM, PUBLICATION, SITE VISITS

GENDER AND PERSISTENCE 

THIS STUDY EXAMINED THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GENDER AND PERSISTENCE,

WITH ATTENTION TO STUDENTS’ IMAGES OF SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS, THEIR

ATTITUDES TOWARD GENDER EQUITY, AND THEIR PERCEPTIONS OF THE CLASSROOM

CLIMATE FOR DIVERSITY. IT LOOKED AT THREE DIFFERENT MEASURES OF STUDENTS’

PERSISTENCE: STUDENTS’ INTENTION TO STAY IN THEIR MAJOR, TO GO ON FOR A

GRADUATE DEGREE, AND TO HAVE A LONG-TERM CAREER IN SCIENCE OR ENGINEERING.

Athough there is a significant relationship between gender and persistence—with women being less likely to say they intend to persist—the reasons

for this are unclear and depend on the kind of persistence being measured. The relationship disappeared when the study considered the students’

images of scientists and engineers. Those who had positive images of scientists and engineers were more likely to say they would persist, whether they

were men or women. Positive attitudes toward gender and racial equality as well as positive classroom experiences also improved the odds of students

having high degree aspirations.

And when they controlled for field of study, gender was no longer related to any of the three measures of persistence. Students’ intentions to stay in their

major were related to their attitudes toward gender equity and to their field (biology or engineering, in this study), but not to their gender. Students’

intentions to get a graduate degree were related to their images of scientists and engineers and their field, but not to gender. In other words, for students

in this study, several components of persistence were statistically significant beyond a simple relationship between gender and persistence. 

Knowing this fruitfully complicates our understanding of why women are underrepresented in science and engineering and points toward more specific

ways of promoting women’s participation. Intervention programs may need to differ depending on both the targeted field and the level (majors,

graduate study, careers). 

Programs to increase the percentage of women among tenure-track engineering faculty may differ significantly from programs to increase the percentage

of women among tenure-track biology faculty. Engineering majors can get well-paying jobs in the private sector with only an undergraduate degree, but

in biology graduate and postdoctoral study are needed to get well-paying jobs in the private sector. Many contemporary programs—and research

projects—are not designed to consider how different fields of study require differing length of training and career structures for professional practice.

CODE: U NORTH CAROLINE STATE UNIVERSITY

LAURA R. SEVERIN (LAURA_SEVERIN@NCSU.EDU), MARY WYER (GM5717@MINDSPRING.COM)

HRD 98-10454 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNERS: WOMEN’S AND GENDER STUDIES PROGRAM, WOMEN IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING PROJECT

PUBLICATION: WOMEN, SCIENCE, AND TECHNOLOGY BY MARY WYER, MARY BARBERCHECK, DONNA GIESMAN, MARTA WAYNE, AND HATICE ORUN OZTURK. NEW YORK: ROUTLEDGE, 2001.

KEYWORDS: EDUCATION PROGRAM, RESEARCH STUDY, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS, RETENTION, GENDER DIFFERENCES, BIOLOGY, ENGINEERING

Gender and 

persistence

005

pers
206

TUTORIALS FOR CHANGE

THIS PROJECT WILL PRODUCE ONLINE TUTORIALS DIGESTING RESEARCH ON GENDER’S ROLE

IN STEM CAREERS. SUCH TUTORIALS DO NOT CURRENTLY EXIST. SCIENCE-BASED INFORMATION

ABOUT INADVERTENT BIAS IN EVALUATIONS OF MEN AND WOMEN IS AVAILABLE IN

TECHNICAL SOURCES BUT IS UNKNOWN TO MOST STUDENTS AND EDUCATORS. THIS PROJECT

WILL PRODUCE A SUITE OF 15-MINUTE TUTORIALS THAT CAN BE INCORPORATED INTO

WORKSHOPS, BRIEFINGS, CLASSROOM DISCUSSIONS, WEBSITES, AND ONLINE COURSES AIMED

AT THOSE STUDYING WOMEN’S UNDERREPRESENTATION IN STEM. THE CONTENT, DRAWING ON

MANY RESEARCH FINDINGS AND RESULTS, WILL REPRESENT A SUBSTANTIAL (AND ACCESSIBLE)

COMPLEMENT TO THE MANY BRIEFINGS AND REPORTS THAT SUMMARIZE MAINLY STATISTICS.

Virginia Valian is uniquely qualified to prepare the tutorials, as the

author of Why So Slow?, a thoroughly researched and persuasive

explanation of women’s slow advancement in the professions. 

A cognitive psychologist who has developed new courses on gender,

Valian is a popular presenter on the topic. She has already developed a

website for prospective graduate students in Hunter College’s master’s

program in psychology. 

The tutorials will be developed as PowerPoint slides with voiceover

narration and annotated bibliographies. They will be mounted on Hunter’s

server, available to anyone with access to the Web. Each will include a

questionnaire for site visitors to fill out (voluntarily), an opportunity to

e-mail Valian queries and comments, and questions and answers drawn

from those e-mailed messages.

CODE: U, PD HUNTER COLLEGE, CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK (CUNY)

VIRGINIA V. VALIAN (VVVHC@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU)

HRD 01-20465 (ONE-YEAR GRANT)

KEYWORDS: DISSEMINATION, ONLINE TUTORIALS, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS, BIBLIOGRAPHY, RESEARCH FINDINGS, CAREER AWARENESS, QUESTIONNAIRE

PREPARING AT-RISK UNDERGRADUATES FOR GRADUATE SCHOOL

IN 1989 BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE CREATED SMART, A 10-WEEK SUMMER MEDICAL

AND RESEARCH TRAINING PROGRAM THAT, EVERY YEAR SINCE, HAS GIVEN ASPIRING

SCIENTISTS FIRSTHAND EXPERIENCE IN LAB SETTINGS AND OPPORTUNITIES TO ATTEND

RESEARCH SEMINARS AND OTHER EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES. THROUGH BAYLOR’S

GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES, UNDERGRADUATES FROM ALL OVER THE

COUNTRY—MANY OF THEM WOMEN AND MINORITIES—GET A CHANCE TO LEARN ABOUT

SUCH SUBJECTS AS BIOENGINEERING, BIOPHYSICS, AND COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGY. 

In 1996, an NSF grant funded this add-on to SMART, a model project providing additional experiences and opportunities for eleven women (seven

from minorities). The participants were all undergraduates in Houston colleges, candidates for doctoral studies who were considered at risk—earning

C’s in science courses or taking fewer science courses than normal. Participants did lab research (10 of them with female mentors) on projects that

ranged from analyzing mouse embryos to measuring stress on muscle fibers. They could attend a daily seminar series and talks on such basics as how

to apply to graduate school. During the school year they could keep working in a lab and could attend the national AAAS meeting. 

The project also developed a SMART prep course for the Graduate Record Exam (GRE). The study section had decided to eliminate funding to send the

women to a commercial prep course, so the project leaders developed a course themselves. They analyzed commercial materials, selected the most

effective parts from different resources, and created skills workshops targeted at different areas of the GRE. After investing 40 to 60 hours in the pilot

prep course, 10 women raised their scores from 30 to 50 percentile points. The mean increase was 371 points, with a median of 420. Seven of the 10,

some with scores as low as the 20th percentile, raised their analytical scores to above the 90th percentile. Five participants got official GRE scores

consistent with or better than their scores on their final practice exam. 

Tutorials for 

change

005

tutor

Preparing at-risk

undergraduates 

for graduate 

school

005

@risk
2

The most important effect of the SMART GRE Prep Course was to increase

the participants’ confidence. Two of the women have entered graduate

programs and two have entered law school. The Prep Course has been

continued through funding from an NIH Initiative for Minority Student

Development. And now that Baylor College of Medicine realizes that the

skills tested on the GRE can be taught, it places less weight on GRE scores

in admissions decisions.

CODES: U, PD BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE

GAYLE SLAUGHTER (GAYLES@BCM.TMC.EDU)

www.bcm.tmc.edu/smart HRD 96-31519 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNERS: RICE UNIVERSITY, TEXAS SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY, UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON

PRODUCT: SMART GRE PREP COURSE

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, RESEARCH EXPERIENCE, SEMINARS, GRE PREP COURSE, CONFERENCES, SELF-CONFIDENCE

CODE: U, PD BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE

GAYLE SLAUGHTER (GAYLES@BCM.TMC.EDU)

HRD 00-80662 (THREE-YEAR GRANT) AND 99-06394 (PLANNING GRANT) 

PARTNERS: MOUNT ST. MARY’S COLLEGE, SPELMAN COLLEGE, TEXAS WOMAN’S

UNIVERSITY, WELLESLEY COLLEGE, AND WESLEYAN COLLEGE

PRODUCT: DRAFT 175-PAGE GUIDEBOOK FOR DEVELOPING AND CONDUCTING GRE PREP COURSES

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, GRE PREP COURSE, EVALUATION, MANUAL , RESEARCH STUDY

TESTING CAMPUS-BASED MODELS OF GRE PREP COURSES

BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE, WHICH DEVELOPED THE SMART GRE PREP COURSE UNDER

A PREVIOUS NSF GRANT, IS LEADING THIS EFFORT TO IMPROVE, TEST, AND EVALUATE

COURSES TO PREPARE STEM MAJORS AT FIVE WOMEN’S COLLEGES FOR THE GRADUATE

RECORD EXAM. USING MATERIAL FROM THE SMART COURSE, THE FIVE SITES WILL PROVIDE

NEW MATERIALS AND APPROACHES TO TESTING THE COURSE IN VARIOUS CONTEXTS. 

All partner institutions have a copy of the draft guidebook for the

SMART GRE prep course. The project is analyzing the skills tested on

each GRE question answered by the students, to develop tools for

analyzing their strengths and weaknesses and preparing individualized

study plans for the GRE exam. It is developing verbal exercises for

students with scores below 400 on the verbal section of the GRE, and

female-friendly logic problems, portraying women and minorities in

leadership roles.

Data from preliminary regression analysis suggest a strong positive

correlation between a student’s undergraduate grade point average (GPA)

and her GRE score on both an initial and final diagnostic exam.

Regression analysis revealed no correlation after the prep course, which

suggests that the course will help all students, regardless of incoming GPA,

improve their GRE scores. 

RETAINING GRADUATE STUDENTS AND JUNIOR FACULTY

FEW INTERVENTIONS TO SUPPORT AND RETAIN WOMEN IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING HAVE

TARGETED GRADUATE STUDENTS AND JUNIOR FACULTY, DESPITE SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER

ATTRITION RATES FOR FEMALE DOCTORAL STUDENTS THAN FOR MALE CANDIDATES AND DESPITE

THE PERSISTENTLY LOW NUMBER OF WOMEN ON STEM FACULTIES. MOREOVER, NO INTERVENTIONS

AIMED AT SUPPORTING WOMEN GRADUATE STUDENTS IN STEM FIELDS HAVE BEEN DESIGNED

BY WOMEN WITH DOCTORATES—AN IMPORTANT FLAW, AS MIT’S 1999 STUDY FOUND THAT

DISCRIMINATION ”DID NOT LOOK LIKE WHAT WE THOUGHT DISCRIMINATION LOOKED LIKE.” 

The women’s studies program at Iowa State University hosted a conference on The Retention of Women Graduate Students and Early Career Academics

in Science, Mathematics, Engineering, and Technology in October 2002. This regional conference brought together scientists and women’s studies scholars—two groups that seldom interact yet have much to learn from each other. The conference explored feminist science studies (the interaction

between women’s studies and science fields), feminist critiques of science, and the experiences of women graduate students and faculty in science

fields. 

Testing campusbased models of

GRE prep courses

GRE

Retaining 

graduate students

and junior faculty

005

Jr.

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208

Papers were invited on

• Rethinking strategies for retention of women graduate students and junior faculty in science and engineering

• Re-evaluating the work done in scientific fields (publishing, negotiating the workload, classroom climate, grants, fellowships, postdoctorates, 

salaries, promotions, and support)

• Transforming the culture and organization of science

• Understanding and changing the structure of higher education 

• Issues for underrepresented groups of graduate students and faculty women in science (especially women of color, international women, and women 

with disabilities)

Five to seven people from about 20 Midwestern land-grant colleges and universities were invited to participate—women’s studies faculty, women

doing research on women in STEM fields, and faculty and graduate students in science and engineering. These teams exchanged relevant research

findings on the barriers to graduate and faculty women’s full participation in science and engineering and collaborated on developing potential retention strategies for their universities. Each team was expected to construct a plan of action for its own institution, to implement it in the

months after the conference, and to report on it at a follow-up forum a

year later. Conference proceedings and follow-up activity are being

disseminated on the Web and in print.

CODE: PD IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY

JILL BYSTYDZIENSKI (BYSTYDJ@IASTATE.EDU) http://www.iastate.edu/~wsprogram/smet/homepage.htm

HRD 00-94556 (ONE-YEAR GRANT)

KEYWORDS: DISSEMINATION, RETENTION, ADVANCEMENT, INTERVENTION, FEMINISM, BEST PRACTICES, RESEARCH FINDINGS, BARRIERS, ACTION PLAN, PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

BREAKING THE SILENCES

SCIENCE OFTEN OPERATES UNDER UNACKNOWLEDGED RULES, NORMS, AND

EXPECTATIONS. AND THE INTENSE POWER IN FACULTY–STUDENT RELATIONS CAN LAST

WELL BEYOND GRADUATE SCHOOL. MANY GRADUATE WOMEN ARE KEENLY AWARE OF, AND

ARTICULATE ABOUT, THE CULTURE AND INSTITUTIONAL PRACTICES OF SCIENCE BUT ARE

RELUCTANT TO SPEAK UP ABOUT THEM. THIS FACULTY–STUDENT RESEARCH AND ACTION

PROJECT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA WAS DESIGNED TO BREAK THOSE SILENCES. 

One of their first discoveries was that graduate education is structured less

around the classroom than around a protégé–master model. In this 

one-to-one model, interpersonal communication and relationships are

central, and social markers of gender, class, ethnicity, and sexuality are

ubiquitous—but talking about interpersonal communication,

relationships, and social markers is forbidden.

They came to realize that graduate education is unique, with a ”student”

clearly subordinate to the faculty and in search of training from them,

yet leaving school as a ”colleague” to the very same faculty.

Undergraduates learn about science and might even learn how to do

experiments and interpret data, but graduate students learn how to ”be”

a ”scientist.” For this, they must learn to present themselves as credible

professionals—network, design and carry out research projects, choose

interesting and productive research topics, give talks, discuss science

with colleagues, procure grants, publish results, recruit and motivate

good students. So what began as a study of women’s experiences in

graduate education became a look at scientists as knowledge-makers, who

value not talking about and not recognizing the social world they create,

maintain, and reproduce. How does this culture function? How does it

reinscribe particular notions of gender, race, and class with the next

generation of aspiring scientists?

Phase I, an institutional analysis, used questionnaires and interviews to

determine how gender dynamics are ”operationalized” in graduate

education and what roles are played by male and female graduate

students, post-docs, faculty, and department heads. Who determines the

shaping of everyday science? The running of labs? The research questions

asked? The methodologies employed? How do the power dynamics shape

the participation of the different groups and in what ways? 

Phase II featured a facilitated conversation between 20 faculty and 20

female graduate students about the strengths and limitations of graduate

education for women, with an emphasis on gender issues. Four

departments (math, chemistry, molecular and cellular biology, and

005

shh!

Breaking 

the silences
2

ecology and evolutionary biology) were chosen because they had supportive chairs and represented different forms of research. It was important to

the success of this part of the project—especially to student frankness—that students and faculty communicated through the facilitators and that

participants’ identities remained anonymous to the other group. In a framework developed by Mary Wyer at Duke, two facilitators met separately with

two faculty groups and two student groups in 20 two-hour sessions. 

Student experiences varied somewhat (often shaped by lab groups and departments) but students were astonished at how similar some experiences

were across departments. Persistent student issues were the lack of, and the need for, greater communication between faculty and students. There was

departmental variation but on the whole students felt there were not enough occasions for faculty–student interactions. Overall, they did not believe

faculty cared. 

Faculty viewed their relationships with their students as particular and idiosyncratic. Anecdotes students offered as symptomatic of larger currents in

graduate education were usually said by faculty to reflect problems of individuals. Students tended to view becoming a scientist or mathematician as

a particular, constructed, and sometimes arbitrary process. They were interested in challenging and reinterpreting who could be a good scientist.

Faculty tended to see the process as natural, involving the growth and maturation of something already inside the students in incipient form—a

growth on which they had only limited influence. Their understanding of what happens often left little room for criticism in the sense that it

emphasized a ”stay if you fit in, leave if you don’t” perspective. To faculty, a student should be able to tell that s/he is ”cut out to be a scientist” if

graduate education seemed to come easy, be reasonable and rational. If not, the student was not meant to be a scientist. 

Powerful insights came from an exercise in which each group was invited to name the unwritten rules governing graduate education. Students developed

an extensive set of rules that demonstrated their commitment to being ”good” and competent scientists—for example, don’t complain, even about

real problems; don’t have a personal life; pretend to be like your adviser; being a woman is a liability; you don’t have input, even on decisions that

affect graduate school (even when asked); don’t exhibit ”feminine” behaviors. 

Students questioned the necessity and efficacy of many of these rules. Why must you work all the time? Why are research positions seen as a more

”valuable” career track than teaching positions? Why are certain behaviors not allowed? Why is scientific culture silent on issues of gender? Why can

you not have a personal life? Students consistently challenged the lists of rules and through that critiqued the scientific culture’s prototype of the

ideal ”scientist.” The students were willing to follow rules to do science; what they challenged was whether all of the rules defined by contemporary

scientific culture produced good science—or, more important, whether not following those rules always produced bad science. They saw phase III as a

place to envision a different scientific culture, one not hostile to their identities as women, one structured to create imaginative, empowered, and

productive graduate student experiences.

In phase III, a subset of the faculty and students came together for an extremely successful open dialogue, aimed at re-envisioning graduate

education, which highlighted the importance of communication as a way of clearing each group’s misperceptions of the other. Demonstrating that

faculty and students could develop an open, honest, and constructive dialogue, this group developed constructive recommendations for change, posted

at <http://w3.arizona.edu/~ws/science/nsf>. 

This project personally transformed many of the participants, but translating the recommendations into institutional change and transforming others

within their departments proved difficult—because not all members of each department participated in the whole experience. A one-hour seminar or

forum that brings faculty and students together does not recreate the process. To transform a department is extremely difficult because it requires

breaking silences that have developed historically within the culture of science. Change requires concentrated work within a few departments, involving

a significant number of faculty and graduate students, and in some cases all faculty. 

CODE: PD UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

BANU SUBRAMANIAM ( BANU@WOST.UMASS.EDU)

HRD 95-53439 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNERS: WOMEN IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING PROGRAM OF THE SOUTHWEST INSTITUTE FOR RESEARCH ON WOMEN (SIROW, A REGIONAL RESEARCH AND RESOURCE CENTER)

PROJECT SUMMARIES AND RECOMMENDATIONS: http://w3.arizona.edu/~ws/science/nsf

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, RESEARCH STUDY, QUESTIONNAIRES, GENDER DYNAMICS, SYSTEMIC REFORM, CULTURE OF SCIENCE
210

CREEPING TOWARD INCLUSIVITY

A NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES CONFERENCE ON WOMEN IN SCIENCE HELD IN 1972 SET

FORTH GOALS FOR ACCELERATING WOMEN’S SUCCESS IN SCIENCE. A FOLLOW-UP CONFERENCE

IN 1998 ASSESSED PROGRESS MADE AND RECOMMENDED WAYS TO ACCELERATE IT BASED

ON RESEARCH AND ”BEST PRACTICES” FOUND IN CORPORATE, GOVERNMENT, AND ACADEMIC

INSTITUTIONS. FOR ALL THEIR DIVERSITY, THE PARTICIPANTS AGREED THAT PROGRESS HAD

BEEN MADE BUT HAD NOT GONE FAR OR FAST ENOUGH. AS NOBEL LAUREATE DUDLEY

HERSHBACH PUT IT, ”WE ARE CREEPING TOWARD INCLUSIVITY IN SCIENCE.”

More women are enrolling in science and engineering studies, for example, but they drop out at proportionately higher rates than men do. Self-interest,

civil rights legislation, and competition for talented women have compelled measurable progress in government and the private sector but the elite

colleges and research universities have proven virtually impervious to change. Science and society require the broad talent and wisdom that can be

ensured only by increasing diversity in the workforce and workplace. And the shared perspective of the conference was that diversity doesn’t just

happen; it must be abetted by substantive changes in the attitudes, policies, and practices that inform how we educate the workforce and how the science

workplace is managed.

Some problems and solutions might lie in the institution of science itself. Aggressive, competitive behavior may be an asset in academia, but in

industries that require increasingly complex teams seeing long-term projects through to fruition there will be more need to form collaborative relationships

between departments and disciplines. Can the scientific community nurture and develop a sense of cooperation and collaboration in a culture of

competition? 

The workplace needs more women scientists and technologists but many women drop out because they find the workplace incompatible with their needs

and priorities—the work itself based on male ways of doing science, with other styles denigrated as unscientific. If higher salaries, increased prestige,

elevated status, and more challenge are not what women value most, organizations hoping to attract women may have to design incentives women

find rewarding, such as collaborative effort, a supportive workplace, quality of life, and a better ”fit” between their professional and personal life.

Harvard University’s Project Access reported differences between what men and women mean by ”good science”—not so much in ways of thinking or

methods of inquiry as in ways of behaving and of organizing scientific work. Science is a social system, and understanding these differences in social

modes or styles is important in understanding the participation and performance of women and other underrepresented groups in science.

Inclusion has to do with economics, said Roberta Gutman (Motorola). The number of women vice presidents at Motorola had risen from two in 1989

to 43 in 1998, while Harvard’s chemistry department had only one tenured woman on its faculty—and only 7 percent of the professionals in the 

25 top-ranked university chemistry departments in the country were women. 

Recruiting women is not enough, said Mary Mattis (Catalyst)—it’s what you do with them when you get them. Representing the government, Beverly

Hartline said it was little steps that would drive women’s opportunities to higher levels. To retain women and minority professionals, what makes a

difference is collegiality, credit for contributions, supportive mentoring and recognition by peers and senior colleagues (regardless of gender), opportunities

for advancement, visibility, and leadership, and a balance between career, family, and personal life. 

Women often delay publishing their research until they have the ”whole picture,” said Cynthia Friend, a Harvard chemistry professor, so they tend to

publish less often than men do, which reduces their chances for promotion and tenure. She urged women to publish data that is ”interesting” and provokes

questions instead of waiting until they have all the answers.

Countering academic resistance to change are such support systems for early-career women scientists as the Clare Boothe Luce Program, which funds

about 60 tenure-track positions at colleges and universities around the country. Another tactic for fostering change, said Lilian Shiao-Yen Wu (from

IBM’s Thomas J. Watson Research Center), could be to devise a system for ranking and rating academic institutions and departments for climate and

policies on promoting women’s retention and advancement.

That progress for women scientists and engineers is slowest in academia is a critical issue for the future of science, as many participants noted. Women

are opting out of a university system that they find oppressive, with ethics, values, styles, and behaviors incongruent with theirs, with funding and job

constraints that prolong the time it takes to complete a doctorate or that relegate young scientists to underpaid and powerless postdoctoral positions.

Creeping 

towards 

inclusivity

crep

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2

Women more than men are choosing to work outside the academy. It’s no

longer a matter of figuring out how women (and others who have been

excluded) can be made to ”adjust” to an alien environment. Participants

at the conference envisioned a scientific enterprise inviting to everyone

with the talent and desire to participate. This is not a woman problem but

a problem for science and engineering. So long as women’s talents and

abilities are not fully used, our scientific and technical enterprises lose

and our economy is diminished.

CODE: PD NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

CECILY SELBY (SELBYC@AOL.COM), RASHID A. SHAIKH (RSHAIKH@NYAS.ORG)

HRD 97-29416 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) www.nyas.org

PARTNERS: AVON PRODUCTS, THE RADCLIFFE PUBLIC POLICY INSTITUTE, CATALYST, INC., CLAIRE BOOTHE LUCE PROGRAM OF HENRY LUCE FOUNDATION

THE FULL PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONFERENCE (WOMEN IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING: CHOICES FOR SUCCESS, EDITED BY CECILY CANNAN SELBY) CAN BE ORDERED AT

(www.nyas.org/books/vols/toc869.html).

KEYWORDS: DISSEMINATION, CONFERENCE, ADVANCEMENT, BEST PRACTICES, POLICY, SYSTEMIC REFORM, RETENTION, SUPPORT SYSTEM, PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, PUBLICATION, ACTION PLAN

Equity, science

careers, and the

changing 

economy

= EQUITY, SCIENCE CAREERS, AND THE CHANGING ECONOMY 

ACHIEVING EQUITY FOR WOMEN WILL REQUIRE FUNDAMENTAL CHANGE IN

THE ORGANIZATION OF THE SCIENTIFIC WORKPLACE, CONCLUDED SPEAKERS

AT A SYMPOSIUM RADCLIFFE’S PUBLIC POLICY INSTITUTE HELD IN 1995 ON

SCIENCE CAREERS, GENDER EQUITY, AND THE CHANGING ECONOMY. 

Even though women represented an increasing percentage of the American workforce, they remained underrepresented in the sciences. Scientific

careers remained synchronized to traditional work patterns, making it difficult for women responsible for childcare or eldercare to pursue careers in

science. And for girls and women (especially women of color), there were far too few female models of success in science.

Meanwhile, although the annual number of science engineering doctorates had increased about 40 percent over 20 years, the likelihood of pursuing

traditional research careers at major universities had been declining. Science and engineering students who wanted academic positions, faced with

reduced prospects for careers in research universities, were frustrated and disappointed, especially in the field of physics. Clearly graduate education

should be reshaped to reflect the reduced likelihood of finding positions in university research.

CODE: PD RADCLIFFE COLLEGE

PAULA RAYMAN (RAYMAN@RADCLIFFE.EDU), CATHERINE D. GADDY HRD 95-52991 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNERS: RADCLIFFE’S PUBLIC POLICY INSTITUTE; THE COMMISSION ON PROFESSIONALS IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY; AAAS. 

SCIENCE CAREERS, GENDER EQUITY, AND THE CHANGING ECONOMY, REPORT OF CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS (RADCLIFFE PUBLIC POLICY INSTITUTE, 1999). 

KEYWORDS: DISSEMINATION, POLICY, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS, ROLE MODELS, PUBLICATION, ADVANCEMENT, CAREER AWARENESS, CONFERENCE

Balancing the 

equation

005

bal BALANCING THE EQUATION

ALTHOUGH WOMEN HAVE MADE SIGNIFICANT HEADWAY IN SUCH DISCIPLINES AS

LAW AND MEDICINE, THEIR ADVANCES IN MORE TECHNICAL FIELDS HAVE STAGNATED—

EVEN ERODED—IN RECENT YEARS, ACCORDING TO “BALANCING THE EQUATION:

WHERE ARE WOMEN AND GIRLS IN SCIENCE, ENGINEERING, AND TECHNOLOGY?” 

This publication from the National Council for Research on Women (NCRW) reports, for example, that there has been a marked decline in women’s

participation in college-level computer sciences—from 37 percent of undergraduate degrees in 1984 to fewer than 20 percent in 1999. And while

women made up 46 percent of the workforce in 1996, they held only 12 percent of the science and engineering jobs in the nation’s businesses. 

There would be no shortage of scientists and engineers in this country if women and minorities were encouraged to move into this part of the

workforce. Change is possible, but complex. NCRW’s report recommends that colleges and universities design curricula that take an interdisciplinary

approach to learning and demonstrate the real-world relevance of coursework, since both approaches have been shown to boost female enrollment and

005
212

retention. It recommends that institutions do away with ”gatekeeping” courses intended to weed students out of computing, physics, and engineering

and replace them with courses that invite students into those disciplines. Programs shown to improve women’s enrollment and retention, notes the report,

also generally benefit their male counterparts. What’s good for women and girls is good for men and boys, and does not help one gender at the expense

of the other. 

NCRW is a working coalition of 77 U.S. research centers with connections

to more than 1,500 organizations and networks worldwide concerned

with improving the status of women and girls. This report was initially

to be a special edition of Issues Quarterly (IQ), a publication NCRW

launched in 1994. 

CODES: U, PD NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR RESEARCH ON WOMEN

LINDA G. BASCH (LBASCH@NCRW.ORG), CAROL S. HOLLENSHEAD

www.ncrw.org HRD 97-32530 (ONE-YEAR GRANT)

PUBLICATION: BALANCING THE EQUATION: WHERE ARE WOMEN AND GIRLS IN SCIENCE, ENGINEERING, AND TECHNOLOGY? 

KEYWORDS: DISSEMINATION, POLICY, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS, ROLE MODELS, PUBLICATION, ADVANCEMENT, CAREER AWARENESS, CONFERENCE

A guide for 

recruiting and 

advancing women 

in academia

guid

A GUIDE FOR RECRUITING AND ADVANCING WOMEN IN ACADEMIA

THE COMMITTEE ON WOMEN IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING (CWSE),

NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL, OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF

SCIENCES, HAS RESEARCHED THE BEST POLICIES AND PROGRAMS

ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS HAVE IMPLEMENTED TO RECRUIT, RETAIN,

AND ADVANCE WOMEN IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING IN ACADEMIA.

THE GUIDE IS A PRACTICAL TOOL FOR REPLICATING SUCCESSFUL

PROGRAMS AT OTHER ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS.

CWSE used formal and informal networks to identify the most successful programs for each level: recruiting undergraduates; reducing attrition during

freshman and sophomore years; recruiting, retaining, and advancing graduate students; and encouraging the transition to postdoctoral fellowships.

The guide was prepared for college and university presidents, deans, provosts, and other administration officials, department chairs, faculty, and others

who want to draw more women into science and engineering. 

The committee got in touch with granting organizations, disciplinary societies, academic administration societies, faculty groups, and nonprofit

advocacy organizations. It reviewed programs from public and private organizations of all sizes. 

Programs were asked to provide data on how much women’s participation increased as a result of their programs. Once it identified the most successful

programs, the committee made site visits to interview students, faculty, and administrators involved in those programs—to learn what they did and

how they did it. In describing effective practices, the guide identifies no institution by name. 

The Academy has disseminated tens of thousands of previous NAS guides worldwide. On Being a Scientist (a guide to science ethics) has been reprinted

in several languages. The committee’ guide was modeled on the NAS guide to mentoring (Advisor, Teacher, Role Model, Friend: On Being a Mentor to

Students in Science and Engineering), on which many faculty mentoring programs are based.

CODES: U, PD NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

JONG-ON HAHM (JHAHM@NAS.EDU), LINDA SKIDMORE

www.nationalacademies.org AND www.nap.edu HRD 93-54094 (THREE-YEAR GRANT) AND 01-20774 (ONE-YEAR GRANT)

A GUIDE FOR RECRUITING AND ADVANCING WOMEN SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS IN ACADEMIA WAS SCHEDULED FOR PUBLICATION IN LATE 2002. ALL ACADEMY PUBLICATIONS CAN

BE ORDERED OR READ FREE ON THE NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS WEBSITE (www.nap.edu).

KEYWORDS: DISSEMINATION, RECRUITMENT, ADVANCEMENT, RESOURCE GUIDE, RETENTION, SITE VISITS, BEST PRACTICES, MENTORING, ROLE MODELS

005
2

Achieving 

success 

in academia

005

ACHIEVING SUCCESS IN ACADEMIA

HOW MANY WOMEN TEACH ENGINEERING COURSES? HOW MANY

ach

TEACHING ASSISTANTS ARE WOMEN? VERY FEW, AND IN SOME

MAJORS AND INSTITUTIONS, NONE. YET RESEARCH INDICATES

THAT UNDERGRADUATES BENEFIT SIGNIFICANTLY FROM FEMALE

MENTORS. TO BEGIN TO ADDRESS THIS PROBLEM, THE WOMEN IN

ENGINEERING PROGRAMS & ADVOCATES NETWORK (WEPAN) HELD

AN ENERGIZING, THOUGHT-PROVOKING THREE-DAY SEMINAR AND

E-MAIL DISCUSSION GROUP ON ”ACHIEVING SUCCESS IN

ACADEMIA,” WITH A FOCUS ON NAVIGATING THE TENURE TRACK. 

In June 1997, 34 nontenured tenure-track faculty and 28 graduate students pursuing careers in academia—nearly a quarter of them women of color—

came to the Crystal City Marriott in Arlington, Va., from 29 U.S. institutions to learn how to succeed in academia from deans, tenured faculty, and

other experts. Participants valued the rare opportunity to interact and form networks with other women—colleagues or mentors. ”What an incredible

experience it is to be in a room with 62 other female engineering faculty and Ph.D. students” said one of them. 

Difficulties women face in pursuing a graduate degree or tenure include being accepted and mentored by senior male colleagues and balancing work

and family. Conference participants concurred that to succeed, it is imperative to develop relationships with effective mentors, advisers, and colleagues,

to become knowledgeable about the politics of your institution, to have a support system, and to work hard. Do all that and you can overcome the

challenges of being a woman in a traditionally male field and have a rewarding and diverse career. But to increase technical women’s clout in academia,

it is important to get more women on the faculties of engineering departments. 

On a scale of 1 to 5, participants rated the conference 4.6 overall (very effective). Most highly rated were talks on navigating the tenure track,

strengthening research grant proposals (private and federal), and dealing with tough times. (Some said more specifics on negotiating start-up

packages, balancing teaching and research, managing graduate students and teaching assistants, and handling problems with students—such as

slacking and cheating—would have been helpful.) 

Judging from evaluation responses, participants valued speakers who frankly shared their personal experiences, speakers who reaffirmed that the road

may be hard but is drivable, and speakers who believe women can write the book rather than read the old one. They welcomed the shift in tone

halfway through from a rather negative picture of the field to a much

more positive tone. They liked a balance between networking

opportunities and professional/personal presentations. They liked

getting some perspective on their careers, hearing new tips and

strategies for achieving success, learning what to ask for and how to

maneuver the system effectively. They wanted to know what issues their

peers were facing. And they wanted clear handouts.

CODE: PD STEVENS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

SUSAN STAFFIN METZ (SMETZ@STEVENS-TECH.EDU), SUZANNE GAGE BRAINARD

HRD 95-54196 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNER: WOMEN IN ENGINEERING PROGRAMS & ADVOCATES NETWORK (WEPAN)

KEYWORDS: DISSEMINATION, ENGINEERING, ADVANCEMENT, MENTORING, CONFERENCE, SUPPORT SYSTEM, POLICY, ROLE MODELS, CAREER AWARENESS, BEST PRACTICES, PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
214

CODES: U, PD UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS, URBANA-CHAMPAIGN

JEAN GIRVES (JGIRVES@COLUMBUS.RR.COM), JANE DANIELS, CATHERINE OLMER, CINDA-SUE G. DAVIS, BEVERLY MARSHALL-GOODELL, AND NANCY C. RICH

www.cic.uiuc.edu/third_level/diversity_wise.html HRD 95-55812 (THREE-YEAR GRANT)

PUBLICATIONS: BEST PRACTICES GUIDEBOOKS (EDITED BY JANE Z. DANIELS) ON THE CLASSROOM, ON UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH AND LIVING/LEARNING PROGRAMS, AND ON

MENTORING PROGRAMS; DEGREES EARNED BY CIC WOMEN IN SCIENCE, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS: BASELINE DATA 1966–1995 BY JESSE L. M. WILKINS AND

JEAN E. GIRVES; AND EVALUATION OF THE OUTCOMES BY DIANNE BOWCOCK AND OTHERS.

KEYWORDS: DEMONSTRATION, GENDER EQUITY AWARENESS, RECRUITMENT, RETENTION, WORKSHOP, PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, RESOURCE CENTER, LEADERSHIP SKILLS, SELF-CONFIDENCE, BEST PRACTICES, ADVANCEMENT, SCHOLARSHIPS, ROLE MODELS

Collaborating 

across campuses

005

coll

COLLABORATING ACROSS CAMPUSES 

THE COMMITTEE ON INSTITUTIONAL COOPERATION’S WOMEN IN SCIENCE AND

ENGINEERING (CIC WISE) INITIATIVE ADDRESSED THE GOAL OF ACHIEVING GENDER EQUITY IN STEM ON 15 PARTICIPATING CAMPUSES BY ENLARGING THE POOL OF UNDERGRADUATE WOMEN PURSUING GRADUATE STUDIES IN STEM (PARTLY BY PROVIDING THEM WITH

STRONG ROLE MODELS), BY INCREASING THE NUMBER OF WOMEN WHO PURSUE FACULTY

CAREERS AND WHO ADVANCE THROUGH THE FACULTY RANKS, AND BY IMPROVING THE

EDUCATIONAL CLIMATE FOR ALL WOMEN IN SCIENCE, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS. 

Over three years, 553 STEM women and men participated in three student leadership conferences designed to help women develop the leadership and

survival skills needed to succeed in academic environments. Participants reported gaining confidence, a sense of community, useful strategies, and

the motivation to pursue their academic goals. 

More than 200 faculty members and professional administrators attended ”Best Practices” professional development workshops designed to help

participants identify, adapt, and institutionalize best practices for recruiting, retaining, and advancing women in STEM. The emphasis was on how to

transfer a successful project to a new institution and on how to provide the sustained support needed to fully implement the project on a new campus.

Information about program content, climate, management, infrastructure, finances, and assessment was provided in enough detail so that attendees

could adapt these programs on their own campuses. Workshops addressed classroom climate, undergraduate research and living/learning programs,

mentoring, and staff development in WISE offices and provided vital networking opportunities across campuses. Most survey respondents reported

taking action on return to campus by communicating ideas, initiating new programs, or expanding old ones. Some lacked authority to do so, and

many reported that WISE-related work was just beginning on their campuses.

Travel grants of $250 from the CIC (matched by the institutions) were awarded to 412 students (20 percent of applicants) to help them present research

findings at scientific conferences. Presenting posters and papers at professional conferences is important to professional socialization in STEM disciplines

but the cost of attending such meetings often prevents students from participating. Travel grant recipients reported gaining confidence, exposure, and

expanded networks. For some, it led to publication or to postdoctorate or faculty positions. Women need to be visible at all major scientific conferences,

both to benefit individually and to help erode stereotypes, said many grant recipients.

There is strong evidence that all three activities of the CIC WISE initiative benefit both individuals and (most) institutions. How much the initiative

affects a campus depends on the extent to which participants return to implement programs (the multiplier effect) and the institution’s capacity to

support the growth of WISE activities. Even low levels of participation can reap big returns in a ”fertile” institution, whereas individuals returning to

”arid” institutions rarely increase campus capacity. Progress toward institutionalizing WISE differs at various CIC institutions. Four participating

campuses seem to be operating on a stable footing, and most are working toward institutionalization. Three have shown only minimal progress. 

The CIC WISE panel coordinated activities across the CIC and promoted efforts on individual campuses. Conducting these activities through a

consortium of similar institutions made them more effective, visible, credible, and accountable in ways not possible if the campuses had acted

independently. The advantages of a consortium appear to have been achieved: to bring new partners up to speed, to make WISE issues more visible, to

leverage success through combined institutional support, and to achieve cooperation in a competitive environment. The consortium and its activities

have strong support from provosts and deans, who recognize how important it is to address the shortage of women in science.
2

The team 

approach to 

mentoring junior

eaconomists

THE TEAM APPROACH TO MENTORING JUNIOR ECONOMISTS ecn

ESTABLISHING MENTOR RELATIONSHIPS IS MORE DIFFICULT FOR FEMALE THAN FOR MALE

ECONOMISTS, PARTLY BECAUSE OF THE LIMITED POOL OF SENIOR WOMEN IN THE FIELD

WITH TIME TO SPARE FOR MENTORING. A ONE-ON-ONE MALE–FEMALE MENTORING

RELATIONSHIP CAN BE MORE DIFFICULT THAN A SAME-SEX RELATIONSHIP, PARTLY

BECAUSE WOMEN HESITATE TO APPROACH MEN ABOUT GENDER-RELATED CONCERNS;

BOTH FEMALE REQUESTS AND MALE RESPONSES MAY BE MISCONSTRUED. MOREOVER,

TRADITIONAL MENTOR RELATIONSHIPS ARE HIERARCHICAL, AND THERE IS SOME

EVIDENCE THAT WOMEN—ESPECIALLY WOMEN OF COLOR—LEARN BETTER FROM THEIR

PEERS. THIS PROJECT TESTED THE RELATIVE EFFECTIVENESS OF A TEAM APPROACH TO

MENTORING (COMPARED WITH A ONE-ON-ONE APPROACH) TO HELP 40 NONTENURED

FACULTY WOMEN MOVE TOWARD TENURED POSITIONS IN ECONOMICS.

At a two-day workshop designed to jumpstart the development of

mentoring relationships, eight teams of nontenured faculty were matched

with eight senior economists—tenured faculty women. The senior

economists would not be overburdened with the attention the eight

women needed because the other team members would help provide it.

The aim of the team mentoring was to help junior economists reach the

rank of associate professor by teaching them the tricks of the trade about

writing grant proposals, conducting publishable research, and earning the

credentials needed for promotion into the upper ranks of major Ph.D.-

granting institutions. 

During the workshop (held at a 1998 meeting of the Allied Social Science

Association), the teams rotated from small-group sessions to large-group

sessions and back again. In the small-group sessions, one junior woman

would summarize the work of another and the whole team would 

discuss it. The senior woman listened and provided more political than 

technical advice. 

In the larger group sessions, two teams met to discuss the tricks of the

trade. The four ”CCOFFE klatches,” as they were called (creating career

opportunities for female economists), discussed doing research and

publishing the results, grant writing, networking, and balancing personal

and professional lives. By the end of the two-day period, each junior

economist had heard valuable career information and guidance from all

of the senior economists and with the help of their teams had developed

short- and long-term action plans for gaining tenure. 

The corporate world has successfully used teams to improve productivity,

and schools have used cooperative learning groups to improve classroom

performance. Cooperative learning groups share their resources and

expertise to achieve a common goal that each member is equally

responsible for. Did the team approach to mentoring work? 

Project evaluators compared the progress of participants in the team

approach with that of ”matched pairs” in a control group of junior

economists similarly situated in the profession, at similar points in the

tenure process, with similar levels of achievement. Participants in the

CCOFFE workshop made significantly more progress, publishing almost twice

as many articles as women in the control group, making presentations at

almost twice as many conferences, and being awarded more grants. The

test will be whether the CCOFFE participants will be disproportionately

awarded tenure in the coming years. 

CODE: PD DENISON UNIVERSITY

ROBIN L. BARTLETT (BARTLETT@DENISON.EDU), ANDREA ZIEGERT

HRD 97-10136 (ONE-YEAR GRANT) 

PARTNERS: THE AMERICAN ECONOMIC ASSOCIATION’S COMMITTEE ON THE STATUS OF

WOMEN IN THE ECONOMICS PROFESSION (CSWEP), ALLIED SOCIAL SCIENCE

ASSOCIATION`

KEYWORDS: DISSEMINATION, TEAMWORK APPROACH, MENTORING, ECONOMICS, WORKSHOP, ADVANCEMENT, COOPERATIVE LEARNING, PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

005
APPENDIX

AAAS American Association for the Advancement of Science

AAC Association of American Colleges

AACU Association of American Colleges and Universities

AAUW American Association of University Women

ADVANCE NSF pgoram: Increasing the Participation and Advancement of Academic Science and Engineering Careers

AIP American Institute of Physics

APS American Physiological Society

APS American Physical Society

AWIS Association for Women in Science

AYF American Youth Foundation

CAD/CAM computer aided design/computer aided manufacture

CAWMSET Commission on the Advancement of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering Technology (1999–2000)

CSWEP The American Economic Association's Committee on the Status of Women in the Economics Profession

CWSE Committee on Women in Science an Engineering

DNA deoxyribonucleic acid

DOE Department of Energy

DOT Department of Transportation

EHR NSF's Directorate for Education and Human Resources

ESL English as a Second Language

ETS Education Testing Service

FAA Federal Aviation Administration

FIPSE Department of Education, Fund for the Improvement of Post Secondary Education

GDSE NSF program Gender Diversity in STEM Education (2003–present)

GIS geographic information systems

GPS global positioning systems

GRE Graduate Record Exam

HHMI Howard Hughes Medical Institute

HRD Division for Human Resource Development in NSF's Directorate for Education and Human Resources

HOV high occupancy vehicle lane

HTML HyperText Markup Language

ISP Internet service provider

IT information technology

LEF limited English Proficiency

MWIS Minority Women in Science

NAP National Academic Press

NAS National Academy of Sciences

NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration

NCRW National Council for Research on Women

NCSSMST National Consortium of Specialized Secondary Schools in Math, Science, and Technology

NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

NRC National Research Council at the National Academy of Sciences

NSF National Science Foundation

OERL Online Evaluation Resource Library sponsored by NSF

PDF Publication data format

PGE NSF program for Gender Equity in Science, Mathematics, Engineering and Technology (1999–2002)

PI Principle Investigator

POWRE NSF program Professional Opportunities for Women in Research and Education

PTA/PTO Parent Teacher Association/Organization

PWG NSF Program for Women and Girls (1993–1999)

SACNAS Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science

SAT Scholastic Achievement Test

S&E Science and engineering

SECME, Inc. Southeastern Consortium for Minorities in Engineering

SEM Science, engineering, and mathematics

SPIE International Society for Optical Engineering

STEM Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math

SWE Society of Women Engineers

TIGR The Institute for Genomic Research

TWOWS Third World Organization of Women in Science

URL uniform resource locator

WEPAN, Inc. Women in Engineering Program Advocates Network, Incorporated

WIE Women in Engineering 

WISE Women in Science and Engineering

WISH Women in Science and History
A

A. A. Kingston Middle School, 82

AAAS. See American Association for the Advancement of Science

AAC&U. See Association of American Colleges and Universities

Abel, Jean A., 86

Abington College, 53

Absher, Martha, 177

abstract phenomena, 10

academic environment, Why Do Some Physics Departments Have More Women Majors?, 205

Academy for Educational Development, 181

Accelerating Women's Success in Science (conference), 210

ACES, 120

achievement

Appalachian Girls' Voices and, 160

BUGS and, 182

Developing Hands-On Museum Exhibits and, 79

FEMME Continuum and, 19

Hispanic Girls Learn Computer-Assisted Design—And English and, 135

InGEAR and, 192

Math Mega Camp and, 61

Project EFFECT and, 36

Summerscape and, 31

Teaching SMART and, 7

Achieving Success in Academia, 213

ACTF. See Australian Children's Television Foundation

action plan

Creeping Toward Inclusivity, 211

Retaining Graduate Students and Junior Faculty, 208

What Works in After-School Science, 181

Action-WISE in Zanesville, Ohio, 160–161

activity-based learning

in Nosebag Science, 12

in Science Connections, 20, 162

in Splash, 124

in Triad Alliance Science Clubs, 189, 190

Acton Discovery Museum, 79

ADA. See Americans with Disabilities Act

Adams, James B., 39

Adelson, Beth, 152

advanced placement, Retooling High School Teachers of Computer Science, 106

advancement

Achieving Success in Academia and, 213

Balancing the Equation and, 211–212

Collaborating Across Campuses and, 214

Creeping Toward Inclusivity and, 210–211

Equity, Science Careers, and the Changing Economy and, 211

Guide for Recruiting and Advancing Women in Academia and, 212

InGEAR and, 192

Making Engineering More Attractive as a Career and, 202–203

Retaining Graduate Students and Junior Faculty and, 207–208

Team Approach to Mentoring Junior Economists and, 215

ADVANCE program, 75–76

adventure game, Adventures of Josie True, 40

Adventures in Computers, Engineering, and Space. See ACES

Adventures of Josie True, 40

advocates for women in science, engineering and mathematics. See AWSEM

African American girls

After-School ASSETS Project for, 145

Appalachian Girls' Voices for, 159

FORWARD for, 177

GEMS for, 151, 152

Girls Dig it Online for, 118

Girls RISE for, 83–84

GREEN Project for, 147, 148

Improving Science in a Dayton Magnet School for, 137

Learning Communities for, 154

REALM for, 117

Saturday Workshops for Middle School Girls for, 145

Sisters in Science for, 141, 142

Student-Peer Teaching in Birmingham, Alabama for, 136

studying math, 153, 154

Training Model for Extracurricular Science for, 149

Turnage Scholars Program for, 138

After-School ASSETS Project, 145

after-school programs

After-School ASSETS Project, 145

After-School Science PLUS, 11

Agents for Change, 112, 113

AWSEM, 55, 56

Biographical Storytelling Empowers Latinas in Math, 132

BUGS, 182

Connections, 179, 180

Experiment-Based Physics for Girls, 95

Eyes to the Future, 45, 46

Family Tools and Technology, 3, 5

Get Set, Go!, 188, 189

Girls First, 21, 23

Girls in Science, 26

GO Team!, 101

GREEN Project, 148

Minority Girls in the System, 142, 143

Mountaineering After-School and Summer Camps, 16

OPTIONS, 48, 49

Partners in Engineering, 82

Science Is for Us, 33

Selling Girls on Physical Sciences, 96–97

Sisters in Science, 141, 142

Sisters in Sport Science, 16, 17

Student-Peer Teaching in Birmingham, Alabama, 136

Sweetwater Girl Power, 146, 147

Teaching SMART, 7

Techbridge, 23

Traveling Science Program, 14

Turnage Scholars Program, 138

What Works in After-School Science, 181

WISE Women at Stony Brook, 186, 187

Women in Astronomy, 26, 27

After-School Science PLUS, 11

Agents for Change, 111–113

AIP. See American Institute of Physics

AISES. See American Indian Science and Engineering Society

Akyurtlu, Jale, 177

Alabama School of Fine Arts (ASFA), 136

Alaska Department of Education, 158

Alaskan girls

Feed the Mind, Nourish the Spirit for, 139

Out of the Lab for, 158–159

Radio Series on Alaskan Women in Science for, 158

INDEX
Alberts, Bruce, 189

Albrecht, Christal, 196

Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. See Sloan Foundation

algebraic concepts, 68

Aliaga, Martha, 140

Alliance for Education, 131

Allied Signal, 42

Allied Social Science Association, 215

Alp, Neslihan, 120

Alpern, Sara, 200

Alscher, Ruth G., 161

Altoona College, 108

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), 149, 163, 181, 211

American Association of Physics Teachers, 204

American Association of University Women, 33, 78, 82, 182, 192, 194

American Association of Women in Community Colleges, 52

American Economic Association's Committee on the Status of Women in the Economics Profession

(CSWEP), 215

American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES), 139, 140

American Institute of Physics (AIP), 204

American Physical Society, 204

American Physiological Society (APS), 122, 123

American Society of Civil Engineers, 98

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 80

American University (AU), 123

American Youth Foundation, 156

Ames Research Center, 61

Amos, Thomasennia, 113

analytical skills, 28

Anderson, Kathy, 10

Anderson Consulting, 86

Anderson-Rowland, Mary R., 39, 86, 93

androgyny, 92

AnimalWatch, 65–66

Animal World, 67

animation

Calculus Research, 71–72

Engineering Lessons in Animated Cartoons, 85

anthropology, 151

Appalachia Educational Laboratory, 160

Appalachian Girls' Voices, 159–160

Appalachian Rural Systemic Initiative (ARSI), 160

Appalachians, 159–160

apprenticeships

Apprenticeships in Science Policy, 123

FORWARD, 177

Training Trainers to Encourage Nontraditional Jobs, 195

Apprenticeships in Science Policy, 123

APS. See American Physiological Society

Arbuckle-Keil, Georgia A., 152

archaeology, Girls Dig it Online, 118

ArcView, 135

ArcVoyager, 135

Arizona Science Center, 78, 125

Arizona State Public Information Network (ASPIN), 86

Arizona State University (ASU), 39, 78, 86, 92, 93, 125, 155, 156, 157

ARSI. See Appalachian Rural Systemic Initiative

Arthur D. Little Foundation, 45, 46

Aschbacher, Pamela R., 103

ASFA. See Alabama School of Fine Arts

Ash, Doris, 23, 27

Asian American girls

Saturday Workshops for Middle School Girls for, 145

Sisters in Science for, 141, 142

ASPIN. See Arizona State Public Information Network

ASPIRA, 84, 133

Assessing Women in Engineering Programs, 89

assessment tools, 89

ASSETS Project, 145

Association for Women in Science (AWIS), 23, 49, 50, 98, 133, 174, 191, 201

Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), 201

astronomy, Women in Astronomy, 26–27

ASU. See Arizona State University

Athena Project, 180–181

athletics. See also sports-based learning

Calculate the Possibilities, 33

FEMME Continuum, 19

Athreya, Krishna S., 163, 170

Atlanta Public Schools, 31

AT&T Foundation, 34

AU. See American University

Auchincloss, Priscilla S., 100

Austin, Suzanne S., 71

Australian Children's Television Foundation (ACTF), 77

Avon Products, 211

AWIS. See Association for Women in Science

AWS, 14

AWSEM, 55–56

B

backstory, 40

Badner, Judith, 41

Baker, Dale R., 86

Baker, Sara J., 122–123

Balancing the Equation, 211–212

Baldwin, Patricia, 12

Ball, Dorothy, 80

Ballester, Adelaida, 71

Ball State University, 33

Barnard College, 201

barriers

On the Air with Gender Equity, 39

Appalachian Girls' Voices, 160

Improving the Climate in Physics Departments, 204

InGEAR, 192

Project GOLD, 175

Retaining Graduate Students and Junior Faculty, 208

RISE, 51

Science of Living Spaces, 166

Barrow, Lloyd H., 97

Bartle-Schulweis, Kathleen, 42

Bartlett, Robin L., 215

Basch, Linda G., 212

Bates College, 201

Batra, Prem P., 137

Battino, Rubin, 137

Baxter, H. James, 82

Bay City Public School, 7
Baylor College of Medicine, 206–207

Beal, Carole R., 66, 67

Beere, Carole, 50

before-school program, 23

Bell Atlantic-New Jersey, 34

Benally, Suzanne, 139

benchmarks, Assessing Women in Engineering Programs, 89

Bendet, Bess, 6

Bennett, Dorothy T., 47, 77

Berenson, Sarah B., 69

Berkovits, Annette R., 27, 121

Berle-Carman, Mary, 62, 63

Bernoulli, Daniel, 85

Bernstein, Bianca, 93

Bertozzi, Andrea L., 76

BEST Inc., 87

best practices

Achieving Success in Academia, 213

Bringing Minority High School Girls to Science, 150

Collaborating Across Campuses, 214

Creeping Toward Inclusivity, 211

Girls and Technology, 28

Guide for Recruiting and Advancing Women in Academia, 212

Making Engineering More Attractive as a Career, 203

Retaining Graduate Students and Junior Faculty, 208

Washington State Gender Equity Project, 184

What Works in After-School Science, 181

What Works in Programs for Girls, 179

Why Do Some Physics Departments Have More Women Majors?, 205

Betts, Phyllis G., 99

Betzer, Peter R., 115

bibliography, Tutorials for Change, 206

Biemer, Linda B., 81

Bierman, Jane, 172

bilingual programs

After-School Science PLUS, 11

Biographical Storytelling Empowers Latinas in Math, 131, 132

Education Coalition in Connecticut, 191

Hispanic Girls Learn Computer-Assisted Design—And English, 134, 135

Integrating Math and Science with Lego Logo, 133

Latinas En Ciencia, 128

Making Connections, 9

Techgirl, 39

Training Model for Extracurricular Science, 149

Una Mano al Futuro, 133

Binghamton University, 81

Biographical Storytelling Empowers Latinas in Math, 131–132

biographies

of African American women in science, 136, 149

in After-School Science PLUS, 11

of Alaskan women in science, 158

in Biographical Storytelling Empowers Latinas in Math, 132

in GEMS, 152

in Life Science Biographies, 123

of men in science, 11

in Profiles of Women in Science and Engineering, 41

in Putting a Human Face on Science, 42

in Radio Series on Alaskan Women in Science, 158

of successful Latinas, 131–132

in Training Model for Extracurricular Science, 149

of women in science, 11, 39, 41, 42, 122–123, 140, 151, 155–156

in WomenTech at Community Colleges, 196

bioinformatics, 122

Bioinformatics for High School, 122

biology

Bioinformatics for High School, 122

Gender and Persistence, 205

Improving Science in a Dayton Magnet School, 137

Jump for the Sun, 170

Life Science Biographies, 122–123

Saturday Workshops for Middle School Girls, 145

Black Diamond Girl Scout Council, 160

Blackfeet Community College, 169

Black Women in Sports Foundation, 17

Blaisdell, Stephanie, 86, 93

Blake, Patricia K., 12

Blecksmith, Richard, 74

Blitz, Jennifer A., 101, 155

Blumer, Evan, 161

Blumstein, Sheila E., 58

Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES), 43, 187

Board of Regents, 31

Boeing Helicopters, 86

Boerger, Eileen, 56

Bogue, Barbara, 89, 203

book series, Interconnections, 10

Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC), 71–72

Borough of Manhattan Community College Corporate and Cable Communications Department, 72

Borough of Manhattan Community College Mathematics and Computer Information Systems

Department, 72

Boston Computer Museum, 180

Boudjouk, Philip, 144

bouncing balls, making, 96

Bowling Green University, 109

Bowman, Keith J., 88

Bowyer, Jane, 23

Boyd, Erica, 81

Boys and Girls Clubs of America, 27

Boys and Girls Clubs of Miami, 84

Brainard, Suzanne G., 45, 213

Breaking the Silences, 208–209

Brentwood School District, 43, 187

Bres, Mimi, 116

Bridge Program, 36

Brilliant Design, 110

Bringing Minority High School Girls to Science, 149–150

Bringing Up Girls in Science. See BUGS

Bring Your Mother to (Engineering) School, 93–94

Bristol-Myers Squibb, 34

broadcasting, Tech Trek, 15

brochures, FORWARD, 177

Bronx Zoo, 27, 121

Brookdale Community College, 92

Brookhaven National Laboratory, 187

Brooks, Anita, 134, 135

Brooks, Dianne, 175

Brown, Ann, 27

Brown, Judy A., 84, 102
Brown, Susan J., 130

Brown University, 57, 58

Brunner, Cornelia, 77

Bryan, Virginia R., 125

Buckley-Holland, Susan, 71

Buettner, Helen M., 90

BUGS, 182

Building BRIDGES for Community College Students, 51–52

Buncick, Milan C., 99

Burger, Carol J., 113, 161, 194

Burnett, Mary F., 196

Burrows, Veronica A., 156

Busch, Lisa, 158

Bush Foundation, 7

Button, Elizabeth, 18

Bystydzienski, Jill, 208

C

CAD. See computer-assisted drafting

Cadette Girl Scouts, 15

Calculate the Possibilities, 33

calculus

Calculus Research and, 71–72

Changing How Introductory Physics is Taught and, 99

E-WOMS and, 73–75

Learning Communities, 154

Pathways through Calculus and, 73

Calculus Research, 71–72

California Institute of Technology, 103

California Postsecondary Education Commission, 73

California School for the Blind, 22, 23

California Science Project, 147

California's SSI Math Renaissance Project, 63

California State University at Fullerton, 73

California State University at Hayward (CSUH), 25, 61

California State University at Long Beach, 201

California State University at Los Angeles (CSULA), 93–94

Caltech Precollege Science Initiative, 102–103

Camden Schools, 152

Campbell, Patricia, 4

Camp REACH, 79–80

Capital Area School Development Association, 39

Carberry, Mary S., 105

Carbondale Science Center, 37

career awareness

ACES and, 120

Achieving Success in Academia and, 213

Action-WISE in Zanesville, Ohio and, 161

Athena Project and, 181

AWSEM and, 55, 56

Balancing the Equation and, 212

Bringing Minority High School Girls to Science and, 150

Bring Your Mother to (Engineering) School and, 93–94

BUGS and, 182

Building BRIDGES for Community College Students and, 52

Calculate the Possibilities and, 33

Careers in Wildlife Science and, 121

Changing Faculty Through Learning Communities and, 202

College Studies for Women on Public Assistance and, 173

Community-Based Mentoring and, 49, 50

Connections and, 180

Counseling for Gender Equity and, 194

Douglass Projects Pre-College Program and, 34

Engineering GOES to Middle School and, 80

Equity, Science Careers, and the Changing Economy and, 211

Equity Initiatives in Houston and, 184, 185

Exploring Engineering and, 78

Eyes to the Future and, 46

FEMME Continuum and, 19

Futurebound and, 152, 153

GEMS and, 151, 152

GEOS and, 157

Get Set, Go! and, 188

Girls and Technology and, 28, 29

Girls First and, 23

Girls for Planet Earth and, 27

Girls RISE and, 84

Hands-On Engineering Projects for Middle School Girls and, 81

Hispanic Girls Learn Computer-Assisted Design—And English and, 134

How to Be a Mentor and, 45

Improving Science in a Dayton Magnet School and, 137

Jump Start and, 115, 116

Learning Communities and, 154

Master It and, 163

Math Camp for Deaf High School Girls and, 175

Mentoring Through Crossage Research Terms and, 50

MentorNet and, 48

New Courses to Draw Women into Science and Engineering and, 200

Oceanography Camp for Girls and, 114, 115

Opening the Horizon and, 164

OPTIONS and, 49

Pathways through Calculus and, 73

PipeLINK and, 111

Pre-College Engineering Workshops and, 86

Profiles of Women in Science and Engineering and, 41

Project EDGE and, 44

Project PRISM and, 139

Recruiting Engineers in Kentucky, K-12 and, 87

Recruiting Women into Computer Science and, 109

Re-Entering the Workforce and, 173, 174

Research in Computer Science and, 103

Role Models Change Hispanic Girls' Job Aspirations and, 130–131

Saturday Workshops for Middle School Girls and, 145

Science in the City and, 155

Science Is for Us and, 33

Science of Living Spaces and, 166

Self-Authorship and Pivotal Transitions toward Information Technology and, 113

Selling Girls on Physical Sciences and, 97

Sisters in Science and, 142

Sisters in Sport Science and, 17

Southern Illinois Support Network and, 37

Summer Camp for Rural High School Girls and, 172

Summer Research Projects in Computer Science and, 108, 109

Sweetwater Girl Power and, 146, 147

TARGETS and, 156

Teaching SMART and, 8

Team Approach to Mentoring Junior Economists and, 215

Techgirl and, 39
Tech Trek and, 15

Telementoring Teens and, 47

Training Model for Extracurricular Science and, 149

Training Trainers in Rural Youth Groups and, 163

Training Trainers to Encourage Nontraditional Jobs and, 194, 195

Turnage Scholars Program and, 138

Tutorials for Change and, 206

Una Mano al Futuro and, 133

WISE Investments and, 86

WISE Women at Stony Brook and, 186, 187

Women Who Walk Through Time and, 119

Careers in Wildlife Science, 121

Carlson, David, 10

Carnegie Mellon University, 41, 45, 106, 110

Carnegie Technology Education, 110

Carr, Martha, 61

Carson City GIS Department, 135

Carson City School District, 135

Carter, Carolyn S., 160

cartoons. See also animation

Engineering Lessons in Animated Cartoons, 85

Cassis, Glenn A., 191

Catalyst, Inc., 211

Cavin, Susan, 92

CCOFFE workshop, 215

CCRI. See Community College of Rhode Island

CCT. See Colville Confederated Tribes

CCU. See Coastal Carolina University

CD-ROM, AnimalWatch, 66

Cennamo, Katherine, 161

Center for Advanced Study in Education, 183

Center for Children and Technology (CCT), 47, 77, 102

Center for Family Involvement in Schools, Consortium for Educational Equity, 5

Center for Gifted Studies, 87

Center for High Pressure Research, 187

Center for Ocean Technology, 115

Center for Research in Mathematics and Science Education, 69

Center for Research on Education, Diversity, and Excellence, 63

Center for Research on Women, 99

Center for Science and Industry (COSI), 15

Center for Workforce Development, 45

Central Michigan Science/Mathematics/Technology Center, 50

Central Michigan University (CMU), 7, 50

Central Michigan University College of Graduate Studies, 50

Central Washington University, 184

CERI. See Citizens Environmental Research Institute

Chabot Space and Science Center, 23, 24, 25, 27

Challenged Scientists: Disabilities and the Triumph of Excellence (Weisgerber), 175

Chan, Marjorie A., 119

Chandler-Gilbert Community College, 86, 125

Chandrasekhar, Meera, 95, 96, 97

Chang, Elizabeth, 177

Changing Faculty Through Learning Communities, 202

Changing How Introductory Physics is Taught, 99

Charles City County School System, 166

Chasek, Arlene S., 5

Chatman, Elizabeth S., 190

Cheney, Danielle T., 90

Chicago Academy of Sciences, 101, 155

Children's Aid Society, 27

Children's Museum of South Carolina, 171

Chilson, David W., 109

Chinese Americans, studying math, 153, 154

Christopher Newport University, 166

Chromozone, 110

CIC WISE. See Committee on Institutional Cooperation's Women in Science and Engineering

Cid, Carmen R., 191

Ciletti, Barbara, 10

Cincinnati Institute for Career Alternatives, 173

Cisco Systems, 147

Citizens Environmental Research Institute (CERI), 148

City of Columbia Water & Light Division, 97

City University of New York, 72, 109, 206

City University of New York Graduate School, 183

Civil, Marta, 143

Claire Boothe Luce Program, 210, 211

Clark, Margaret R., 190

Clark Atlanta University, 191, 192

Clarke, Margaret J., 98

Clarkson University, 82, 139

Claud, Elizabeth, 14

Clayton County School System, 31

clubs. See also science clubs

in AWSEM, 56

in Eyes to the Future, 46

in GREEN Project, 148

in Hispanic Girls Learn Computer-Assisted Design—And English, 135

Clute, Pamela S., 181

CMU. See Central Michigan University

COA. See College of Alameda

Coastal Carolina University (CCU), 170–171

Cobb, Jewel Plummer, 41

Coble, Paula G., 115

Coconut Grove Youth and Family Intervention Center, 84

co-curricular program, Project GOLD, 175

Coding Student Teachers' Classroom Interactions, 198–199

coed groups. See mixed-gender groups

Cohen, Elizabeth, 27

Cohen, Paul R., 66

Cohen, Sara, 9

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, 187

Cole Middle School, 145

Colgate-Palmolive Company, 34

Collaborating Across Campuses, 214

Collaborative for Excellence in Teacher Preparation, 142

collaborative learning

in AnimalWatch, 65

in Calculate the Possibilities, 33

in Calculus Research, 72

in Changing How Introductory Physics is Taught, 99

in Computer Camp for Teachers, 105

in Earth Systems, 118

in E-WOMS, 73, 74, 75

in Family Tools and Technology, 3, 5

in FORWARD, 176, 177

in GEMS, 193

in Girls and Technology, 28

in Girls Dig it Online, 117, 118
in Girls RISE, 83

in Imagination Place, 77

in Improving Science in a Dayton Magnet School, 137

in Integrating Math and Science with Lego Logo, 133

in Jump for the Sun, 171

in Laboratory Science Camp for Dissemination Training, 167

in Learning Communities, 153, 154

in Minority Girls in the System, 143

in Nosebag Science, 12

in Pre-College Engineering Workshops, 86

in Project EFFECT, 36

in Project PRISM, 138

in Realistic Modeling Activities in Small Technical Teams, 88

in REALM, 117

in Science for All, 169

in Summerscape, 30, 31

in Tech Trek, 15

in Training Graduate Students to Develop Undergraduate Research Projects, 54–55

in What's in the Box?, 107, 108

in WISE Beginnings, 57–58

in WISE Investments, 86

in Women's Studies and Science, 201

College of Alameda (COA), 195, 196

College of Ozarks, 165

College of Science at Texas A&M, 202

College of St. Scholastica, 20, 98, 162

College of Staten Island (CSI), 108–109

College Studies for Women on Public Assistance, 173

Collins, Ann, 174

Colorado College, 204, 205

Colorado School of Mines (CSM), 90

Columbia Public Schools, 97

Colville Confederated Tribes (CCT), 139

Commission on Professionals in Science and Technology, 211

Committee on Institutional Cooperation's Women in Science and Engineering (CIC WISE), 214

Committee on the Status of Women in the Economics Profession (CSWEP), 215

Committee on Women in Science and Engineering (CWSE), 212

communication skills

Improving the Climate in Physics Departments and, 203

Minority Girls in the System and, 143

community-based activities

After-School Science PLUS, 11

Appalachian Girls' Voices, 159

AWSEM, 55

Community-Based Mentoring, 50

GREEN Project, 147

Training Model for Extracurricular Science, 149

Traveling Science Program, 14

WISE Women at Stony Brook, 186

Community-Based Mentoring, 49–50

Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI), 195, 196

community colleges

Building BRIDGES for Community College Students at, 52

Calculus Research at, 71–72

College Studies for Women on Public Assistance at, 173

Futurebound at, 152–153

Jump Start at, 115, 116

Sissies, Tomboys, and Gender Identity at, 91

Training Trainers in Rural Youth Groups at, 163

WISE Investments at, 86

Women's Images of Science and Engineering at, 125

WomenTech at Community Colleges at, 195–196

Womenwin at, 70–71

community problems, applying math to, 68–69

Community Resources for Science, 25

community service learning. See service learning

computer-assisted drafting (CAD), 134–135

computer-based tutoring

AnimalWatch, 65–66

Animal World, 67

Computer Camp for Teachers, 105

computer games

for both sexes, 106

for girls, 40

girls' lack of interest in, 10

for mathematical empowerment, 64–65

Techgirl, 39

Computer Games for Mathematical Empowerment, 64–65

computer hardware, What's in the Box?, 108

computer programming

Retooling High School Teachers of Computer Science, 106

Techbridge, 25

computers, recycled, 107–108

computer science, 101–113

ACES, 120

Computer Camp for Teachers, 105

Designing with Virtual Reality Technology, 101–102

GO Team!, 101

Making Computer Science Cool for Girls, 104–105

Ole Miss Computer Camp, 104

PipeLINK, 110–111

Recruiting Women in the Quantitative Sciences, 76

Recruiting Women into Computer Science, 109

Research in Computer Science, 103

Retooling High School Teachers of Computer Science, 106

Summer Research Projects in Computer Science, 108–109

What's in the Box?, 107–108

computer skills

ACES and, 120

Apprenticeships in Science Policy and, 123

Bringing Minority High School Girls to Science and, 149, 150

Calculate the Possibilities and, 33

Computer Camp for Teachers and, 105

Designing with Virtual Reality Technology and, 101–102

GEMS and, 69

Girls and Technology and, 28, 29

Girls on Track and, 68, 69

Girls RISE and, 83, 84

GO Team! and, 101

GREEN Project and, 148

Hispanic Girls Learn Computer-Assisted Design—And English and, 134–135

Imagination Place and, 77

Ole Miss Computer Camp and, 104

Project EFFECT and, 36

Project GOLD and, 174, 175

Research in Computer Science and, 103

Techbridge and, 24, 25

conferences
Achieving Success in Academia, 213

Balancing the Equation, 212

Bringing Minority High School Girls to Science, 150

Collaborating Across Campuses, 214

Community-Based Mentoring, 49, 50

Creeping Toward Inclusivity, 210–211

Enhancing "Expanding Your Horizons," 144

Equity, Science Careers, and the Changing Economy, 211

Expanding Your Horizons, 37, 56, 130, 144, 146, 164

Exploring Engineering, 78

Genderwise, 64

Get Set, Go!, 189

Girls for Planet Earth, 27

Making Engineering More Attractive as a Career, 202–203

Opening the Horizon, 164–165

Preparing At-Risk Undergraduates for Graduate School, 207

Retaining Graduate Students and Junior Faculty, 207–208

Role Models Change Hispanic Girls' Job Aspirations, 130, 131

Southern Illinois Support Network, 37

Sweetwater Girl Power, 146

What Works in After-School Science, 181

Women's Studies and Science, 201

confidence. See self-confidence

Connecticut Department of Higher Education, 191

Connecticut Pre-Engineering Program, Inc., 191

Connections, 179–180

connections, Interconnections, 10

Consortium for Adult Education, 173

Consortium for Educational Equity, 5

constructivism

MAXIMA, 130

Turnage Scholars Program, 138

Women's Studies and Science, 201

Continental Elementary District, 7

Cook, Susan B., 116

Cooper, Sandra C., 36, 139

cooperative learning

in Bringing Minority High School Girls to Science, 149–150

in Connections, 179, 180

in Earth Systems, 118, 119

in Equity Initiatives in Houston, 185

in Feed the Mind, Nourish the Spirit, 139

in FEMME Continuum, 19

in Girls RISE, 83, 84

in Laboratory Science Camp for Dissemination Training, 167

in Math Enrichment for Native American Girls, 140

in Project Parity, 3

in Recruiting Women into Computer Science, 109

in Role Models Change Hispanic Girls' Job Aspirations, 131

in Science Connections, 20, 162

in Sisters in Science, 141, 142

in Summer Research Projects in Computer Science, 109

in Teaching SMART, 8

in Team Approach to Mentoring Junior Economists, 215

in Training Trainers in Rural Youth Groups, 163

in Training Trainers to Encourage Nontraditional Jobs, 195

in Traveling Science Program, 14

in WISE Beginnings, 57, 58

Coppersmith, Susan N., 42

COSI. See Center for Science and Industry

cosmetics, GEMS, 152

cosmetic science, 151–152

counseling

in Athena Project, 180

in College Studies for Women on Public Assistance, 173

in GEOS, 157

in Science for All, 168

in TARGETS, 155–156

Counseling for Gender Equity, 193–194

counselor training

Counseling for Gender Equity, 193–194

GEOS, 157

Summer Camp for Rural High School Girls, 172

TARGETS, 156

Training Trainers to Encourage Nontraditional Jobs, 194–195

Cranbrook Institute of Science, 26

Crateau, Sally P., 14

Creamer, Elizabeth, 113

Creating Tomorrow's Scientists: Models of Community Mentoring, 133

Creeping Toward Inclusivity, 210–211

Creighton School District, 86

Creighton University, 14

Cresswell, Joyce, 56

Crissman, Sally, 168

criterion-referenced grading, 99

Cronin, Susan J., 122

Crouch, Nancy N., 189

Crowder College, 165

Crowe, Mary, 171

CSI. See College of Staten Island

CSM. See Colorado School of Mines

CSUH. See California State University at Hayward

CSULA. See California State University at Los Angeles

CSWEP. See Committee on the Status of Women in the Economics Profession

cultural barriers. See barriers

culture of science, 208–209

curriculum

Building BRIDGES for Community College Students, 52

Changing Faculty Through Learning Communities, 202

Changing How Introductory Physics is Taught, 99

Equity Initiatives in Houston, 185

GEMS, 69

Improving Diversity in the Software Development Community, 110

Improving Science in a Dayton Magnet School, 137

Jump for the Sun, 171

Life Science Biographies, 123

Mentoring Teams of Teacher Trainers, 197

New Courses to Draw Women into Science and Engineering, 200

Project GOLD, 175

Project PRISM, 139

Realistic Modeling Activities in Small Technical Teams, 88

Recruiting Women in the Quantitative Sciences, 76

Single-Gender Math Clubs, 62

Sisters in Science, 142

SMART, 6

Weaving Gender Equity into Math Reform, 63

Women's Studies and Science, 201

Curriculum Advantage, 147
CWSE. See Committee on Women in Science and Engineering

D

Daniels, Jane, 214

Darcy, Mary, 39

Dartmouth College, 14, 48, 52–53, 58–59

data collection, Assessing Women in Engineering Programs, 89

Davis, Cinda-Sue G., 214

Davis, Pamela, 42

Davis, Ruth E., 179

Dayton Public School System, 137

deaf girls

FORWARD for, 176–177

Math Camp for Deaf High School Girls for, 175

DeBuse, Marjorie, 56

decision-making, 90

Defrancis, Gregory F., 14

DeKalb County School System, 31

Demetry, Chrysanthe, 80

demonstration

ACES, 120

Adventures of Josie True, 40

AnimalWatch, 66

Appalachian Girls' Voices, 160

Apprenticeships in Science Policy, 123

Bioinformatics for High School, 122

Breaking the Silences, 209

Bringing Minority High School Girls to Science, 150

Bring Your Mother to (Engineering) School, 94

BUGS, 182

Building BRIDGES for Community College Students, 52

Calculate the Possibilities, 33

Camp REACH, 80

Careers in Wildlife Science, 121

Changing Faculty Through Learning Communities, 202

Changing How Introductory Physics is Taught, 99

Collaborating Across Campuses, 214

College Studies for Women on Public Assistance, 173

Community-Based Mentoring, 50

Computer Camp for Teachers, 105

Designing with Virtual Reality Technology, 102

Developing Hands-On Museum Exhibits, 79

Developing Visualization Skills, 91

Douglass Projects Pre-College Program, 34

Earth Systems, 119

Engaged Learning, 125

Engineering GOES to Middle School, 80

Engineering Lessons in Animated Cartoons, 85

Enhancing "Expanding Your Horizons," 144

E-WOMS, 75

Experiment-Based Physics for Girls, 95

Exploring Engineering, 78

Feed the Mind, Nourish the Spirit, 139

FEMME Continuum, 19

Futurebound, 153

GEMS, 69, 152

Genderwise, 64

GEOS, 157

Get Set, Go!, 189

Girls Dig it Online, 118

Girls First, 23

Girls for Planet Earth, 27

Girls in Science, 26

Girls On Track, 69

Girls RISE, 84

GO Team!, 101

Hispanic Girls Learn Computer-Assisted Design—And English, 135

How to Be a Mentor, 45

Imagination Place, 77

Improving Diversity in the Software Development Community, 110

Improving Science in a Dayton Magnet School, 137

InGEAR, 192

Integrating Math and Science with Lego Logo, 133

Interconnections, 10

Latinas En Ciencia, 128

Life Science Biographies, 123

Making Computer Science Cool for Girls, 105

Marine and Aquatic Mini-Camp, 116

Math Camp for Deaf High School Girls, 175

Math Enrichment for Native American Girls, 140

Math Mega Camp, 61

MAXIMA, 130

Mentoring Through Crossage Research Terms, 50

MentorNet, 48

Mountaineering After-School and Summer Camps, 16

New Courses to Draw Women into Science and Engineering, 200

Nosebag Science, 12

Oceanography Camp for Girls, 115

OPTIONS, 49

Out of the Lab, 159

Partners in Engineering, 82

Pathways through Calculus, 73

PipeLINK, 111

Plugged In!, 107

Pre-College Engineering Workshops, 86

Preparing At-Risk Undergraduates for Graduate School, 207

Profiles of Women in Science and Engineering, 41

Project EDGE, 44

Project EFFECT, 36

Project GOLD, 175

Project Parity, 3

Project PRISM, 139

Realistic Modeling Activities in Small Technical Teams, 88

REALM, 117

Recruiting Engineers in Kentucky, K-12, 87

Recruiting Women in the Quantitative Sciences, 76

Recruiting Women into Computer Science, 109

Research in Computer Science, 103

RISE, 51

Role Models Change Hispanic Girls' Job Aspirations, 131

Saturday Workshops for Middle School Girls, 145

Science-Based Service Learning, 13

Science Connections, 20, 162

Science for All, 169

Science Horizons for Girl Scouts, 14

Science in the City, 155

Science Is for Us, 33

Science of Living Spaces, 166
Single-Gender Math Clubs, 62

Sisters in Science, 142

SMART, 6

Southern Illinois Support Network, 37

Splash, 124

Summer Camp for Rural High School Girls, 172

Summer Research Projects in Computer Science, 109

Summerscape, 31

Supporting Women in Geoscience, 53

Teaching Internships in Physics for Undergraduates, 100

Teaching SMART, 7

Techbridge, 25

Techgirl, 39

Tech Trek, 15

Telementoring Teens, 47

Testing Campus-Based Models of GRE Prep Courses, 207

TNT Girls Go to Physics Camp, 98

Training Graduate Students to Develop Undergraduate Research Projects, 55

Training Model for Extracurricular Science, 149

Training Trainers in Rural Youth Groups, 163

Turnage Scholars Program, 138

Undergraduate Research Fellowships, 54

What's in the Box?, 108

Why Girls Go to Whyville.net, 103

WISE Beginnings, 58

WISE Investments, 86

WISE Scholars Do Engineering Research, 93

WISP, 59

Women for Women, 43

Women in Astronomy, 27

Women's Images of Science and Engineering, 125

Women's Studies and Science, 201

WomenTech at Community Colleges, 196

Womenwin, 71

Denison University, 215

Denton Independent School District, 182

departmental climate, Improving the Climate in Physics Departments, 204

Department of Energy's Office of Scientific Computing, 47

design-based learning, Imagination Place, 77

Designing with Virtual Reality Technology, 101–102

Design Research Associates, Inc., 10

Detroit's School of the Americas, 131, 132

Deutsch, Alice, 174

Deutschman, Harold, 19

Developing Hands-On Museum Exhibits, 79

Developing Visualization Skills, 91

Developmental Studies Center's Number Power Project, 63

Devon, Richard F., 53, 107, 108

DeWaters, Jan E., 82

Didion, Catherine J., 48, 50, 133

Diefes-Dux, Heidi, 88

Dillehay, Jane, 41

disabled girls

Making Connections for, 9

Project GOLD for, 174–175

Research in Computer Science for, 103

disabled women, as scientists, 41

Discovery Place, Inc., 12

dissemination

Achieving Success in Academia, 213

On the Air with Gender Equity, 39

Balancing the Equation, 212

Creeping Toward Inclusivity, 211

Education Coalition in Connecticut, 191

Equity, Science Careers, and the Changing Economy, 211

Girls and Technology, 28

Guide for Recruiting and Advancing Women in Academia, 212

Laboratory Science Camp for Dissemination Training, 168

Making Engineering More Attractive as a Career, 203

Putting a Human Face on Science, 42

Radio Series on Alaskan Women in Science, 158

Re-Entering the Workforce, 174

Retaining Graduate Students and Junior Faculty, 208

Team Approach to Mentoring Junior Economists, 215

Tutorials for Change, 206

Una Mano al Futuro, 133

What Works in After-School Science, 181

What Works in Programs for Girls, 179

Women Who Walk Through Time, 119

distance learning

in BUGS, 182

in Counseling for Gender Equity, 194

in Opening the Horizon, 164–165

in Project EDGE, 44

diversity, 126–177

Dobbin, Patricia, 138

Dockery, Valerie, 135

Dorosz, Inga, 41

Douglass, Claudia B., 50

Douglass College, 34, 89, 90

Douglass Projects Pre-College Program, 34–35

Drayton, Brian, 46

Dresselhaus, Mildred S., 204

Dresser, Betsy, 122

Drexel University, 80

Drexel University College of Engineering, 80

Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream, 61

drill-and-practice systems, 66

Drury University, 164, 165

Duke University, 75, 76, 177

Dull Knife Memorial College, 169

Dunbar Magnet High School, 137

Duwart, Ellen, 180

Dwight, Barbara C., 9

Dwight Look College of Engineering, 202

Dynes, Robert C., 42

E

Early Influences on Gender Differences in Math Achievement, 61

earth sciences. See also geosciences

Women Who Walk Through Time, 119

Earth Systems, 118–119

Eastern Michigan University, 131, 132

Eastern Washington University, 184

Eaton, Virginia, 103

Eckerd College, 114, 115

ecology

After-School ASSETS Project, 145
Girls for Planet Earth, 27

Splash, 124

economics, Team Approach to Mentoring Junior Economists, 215

ecosystems, 172

ECSU. See Elizabeth City State University

Educational Equity Concepts (EEC), 11, 181

educational games, Imagination Place, 77

Educational Resources Information Clearinghouse/Center for Rural Education and Small Schools

(ERIC/CRESS), 160

Education Coalition in Connecticut, 191

Education Development Center (EDC), 47, 63, 77, 192, 193

education programs

Action-WISE in Zanesville, Ohio, 161

After-School ASSETS Project, 145

After-School Science PLUS, 11

Agents for Change, 113

Athena Project, 181

AWSEM, 56

Biographical Storytelling Empowers Latinas in Math, 132

Calculus Research, 72

Connections, 180

Equity Initiatives in Houston, 185

Eyes to the Future, 46

Family Tools and Technology, 5

FORWARD, 177

Gender and Persistence, 205

GREEN Project, 148

Hands-On Engineering Projects for Middle School Girls, 81

Hands-On Science in Rural Virginia Middle Schools, 161

Internet Explorers, 170

Jump for the Sun, 171

Jump Start, 116

Learning Communities, 154

Making Connections, 9

Master It, 163

Minority Girls in the System, 143

Ole Miss Computer Camp, 104

Opening the Horizon, 165

Selling Girls on Physical Sciences, 97

Shampoos Etc!, 18

Sisters in Sport Science, 17

Student-Peer Teaching in Birmingham, Alabama, 136

Sweetwater Girl Power, 147

Teaching Inclusive Science and Engineering, 90

Traveling Science Program, 14

Triad Alliance Science Clubs, 190

Washington State Gender Equity Project, 184

WISER Lab Research for First-Year Undergraduates, 53

WISE Women at Stony Brook, 187

Edwards, Laurie D., 133

EEC. See Educational Equity Concepts

EEYH. See Enhancing "Expanding Your Horizons"

Eisenhower National Clearinghouse, 63, 193, 194

Eisenhower Regional Alliance for Mathematics and Science Education Reform, 63

Eisenhower Regional Consortium for Mathematics and Science Education, 160

Eisenhower Regional Math & Science Consortium, 194

E.J. Grassman Trust, 34

Elders, Joycelyn, 41

electronic mentoring

in Connections, 180

in Eyes to the Future, 45–46

in MentorNet, 48

in Ole Miss Computer Camp, 104

in PipeLINK, 111

in Science for All, 169

in Telementoring Teens, 47

in WISER Lab Research for First-Year Undergraduates, 52, 53

in WISP, 58–59

Elizabeth City State University (ECSU), 138

ELLIS, 135

Elm Fork Environmental Educational Center, 182

El Valor and James Ward Elementary School, 101

e-mail, 47, 48, 59

Emerging Scholars program, 153

Emporia State University, 163

Ems-Wilson, Janice, 52

endangered species, 65–66

Engaged Learning, 124–125

engagement

Agents for Change, 113

On the Air with Gender Equity, 39

Engaged Learning, 125

Enhancing "Expanding Your Horizons," 144

Exploring Engineering, 78

Get Set, Go!, 189

Girls and Technology, 28

Girls Dig it Online, 118

Girls On Track, 69

Hands-On Science in Rural Virginia Middle Schools, 161

Imagination Place, 77

Latinas En Ciencia, 128

Nosebag Science, 12

Project Parity, 3

Single-Gender Math Clubs, 62

What Works in After-School Science, 181

Why Girls Go to Whyville.net, 103

engineering, 77–94

ACES, 120

Achieving Success in Academia, 213

Assessing Women in Engineering Programs, 89

Bring Your Mother to (Engineering) School, 93–94

Camp REACH, 79, 80

Developing Hands-On Museum Exhibits, 79

Developing Visualization Skills, 91

Engaged Learning, 125

Engineering GOES to Middle School, 80

Engineering Lessons in Animated Cartoons, 85

Exploring Engineering, 78

Feed the Mind, Nourish the Spirit, 139

Futurebound, 152–153

Gender and Persistence, 205

Gender and Team Decision-Making, 90

Girls RISE, 83–84

Hands-On Engineering Projects for Middle School Girls, 81

Imagination Place, 77

Laboratory Science Camp for Dissemination Training, 167

Making Engineering More Attractive as a Career, 202–203

MentorNet, 48
New Courses to Draw Women into Science and Engineering, 200

Partners in Engineering, 82

Pre-College Engineering Workshops, 85–86

Realistic Modeling Activities in Small Technical Teams, 88

Recruiting Engineers in Kentucky, K-12, 87

Sissies, Tomboys, and Gender Identity, 91–92

Summerscape, 31

Teaching Inclusive Science and Engineering, 89–90

Techgirl, 39

WISE Investments, 86

WISER Lab Research for First-Year Undergraduates, 52, 53

WISE Scholars Do Engineering Research, 92–93

Women's Images of Science and Engineering, 125

Engineering Encounters (game), 39

Engineering GOES to Middle School, 80

Engineering Lessons in Animated Cartoons, 85

Engineering Practices and Introductory Course Sequence (EPICS), 90

English

Hispanic Girls Learn Computer-Assisted Design—And English, 134, 135

Womenwin, 70–71

English, Lydia, 58

Enhancing "Expanding Your Horizons," 144

environmental factors, Self-Authorship and Pivotal Transitions toward Information Technology, 113

environmental science

Action-WISE in Zanesville, Ohio, 160

AnimalWatch, 65–66

BUGS, 182

Girls for Planet Earth, 27

GREEN Project, 147–148

Sisters in Science, 141, 142

EPICS. See Engineering Practices and Introductory Course Sequence

Equity, Science Careers, and the Changing Economy, 211

equity awareness, Project Parity, 3

Equity Initiatives in Houston, 184–185

ERIC/CRESS, 160

Eriksson, Susan C., 161

Ethington, Corinna A., 99

evaluation

in Assessing Women in Engineering Programs, 89

in Changing How Introductory Physics is Taught, 99

in Computer Games for Mathematical Empowerment, 65

in Gender Equity Training in Teacher Education, 183

in Testing Campus-Based Models of GRE Prep Courses, 207

Evans, Mary A., 163

evolutionary biology, 76

E-WOMS, 73–75

expanding women's opportunities through mathematical science. See E-WOMS

Expanding Your Horizons (EYH) conferences, 37, 56, 130, 144, 146, 164

expectations

girls facing, 8, 28

low, 202

experiential learning

in GREEN Project, 148

in Laboratory Science Camp for Dissemination Training, 167

in Making Connections, 9

in Minority Girls in the System, 142–143

in Mountaineering After-School and Summer Camps, 16

in Science in the City, 155

in SMART, 6

in Training Trainers in Rural Youth Groups, 163

experiment-based learning

in Engineering GOES to Middle School, 80

in Experiment-Based Physics for Girls, 95

in GEMS, 151

in Jump for the Sun, 171

in Oceanography Camp for Girls, 114

in Saturday Workshops for Middle School Girls, 145

in Science Connections, 21

in SMART, 5

in Summer Camp for Rural High School Girls, 172

Experiment-Based Physics for Girls, 95

exploration-based learning

in AnimalWatch, 65

in Girls Dig it Online, 118

in Girls On Track, 69

in Marine and Aquatic Mini-Camp, 116

in Out of the Lab, 158, 159

in Pathways through Calculus, 73

in Recruiting Women into Computer Science, 109

in SMART, 5, 6

in Teaching SMART, 7

in WISE Beginnings, 57, 58

Exploring Engineering, 78

Eyes to the Future, 45–46

EYH conferences, 37, 130, 144, 146, 164

F

Fabris, Neda, 93–94

facilitated conversation, 208–209

faculty development. See professional development; teacher training

Failing at Fairness: How America's Schools Cheat Girls (Sadker and Sadker), 44

Fairfield County Community Foundation, Inc., 191

Falk, Joni, 46

families exploring science and technology. See FEST

Family Tools and Technology, 3–5

FAST Camp, 20–21, 162

Fate, Ken, 158

fault-tolerant teaching (FTT), 69

Fausto-Sterling, Anne, 200

feedback, 65, 74, 100

Feed the Mind, Nourish the Spirit, 139

Feisel, Lyle D., 81

fellowships

Calculus Research and, 72

Science for All and, 168, 169

femininity, 91–92

feminism

Earth Systems, 119

Retaining Graduate Students and Junior Faculty, 208

Sissies, Tomboys, and Gender Identity, 92

Women's Studies and Science, 201

FEMME Continuum, 19

Fentiman, Audeen W., 91

FEST, 97

field trips

in ACES, 120

in Action-WISE in Zanesville, Ohio, 160, 161

in AWSEM, 56
in Bioinformatics for High School, 122

in BUGS, 182

in Calculate the Possibilities, 33

in Careers in Wildlife Science, 121

in Douglass Projects Pre-College Program, 34

in Earth Systems, 119

in Equity Initiatives in Houston, 185

in E-WOMS, 75

in Exploring Engineering, 78

in Feed the Mind, Nourish the Spirit, 139

in FEMME Continuum, 19

in Girls First, 22, 23

in Girls for Planet Earth, 27

in Girls RISE, 83, 84

in GREEN Project, 147, 148

in Hands-On Engineering Projects for Middle School Girls, 81

in Hispanic Girls Learn Computer-Assisted Design—And English, 134, 135

in Improving Science in a Dayton Magnet School, 137

in Integrating Math and Science with Lego Logo, 133

in Jump for the Sun, 171

in Latinas En Ciencia, 127, 128

in Learning Communities, 154

in Making Computer Science Cool for Girls, 105

in Master It, 163

in Math Enrichment for Native American Girls, 140

in Math Mega Camp, 61

in Mentoring Through Crossage Research Terms, 50

in Mountaineering After-School and Summer Camps, 16

in Oceanography Camp for Girls, 114, 115

in Partners in Engineering, 82

in Project PRISM, 139

in Recruiting Women into Computer Science, 109

in Research in Computer Science, 103

in Role Models Change Hispanic Girls' Job Aspirations, 131

in Science in the City, 155

in Science Is for Us, 33

in Science of Living Spaces, 166

in Selling Girls on Physical Sciences, 97

in Shampoos Etc!, 18

in Sisters in Science, 141, 142

in Southern Illinois Support Network, 37

in Supporting Women in Geoscience, 53

in Techbridge, 24, 25

in TNT Girls Go to Physics Camp, 98

in Training Trainers to Encourage Nontraditional Jobs, 195

in Turnage Scholars Program, 138

in WISE Investments, 86

in WISE Women at Stony Brook, 187

in Women's Images of Science and Engineering, 125

"51 Percent" (radio program), 39

FIPSE. See Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education

Fisher, Allan L., 106, 110

Fisher, Melissa, 56

Fisher, Pamela, 9

Flanagan, Mary D., 40

Flatt, Melanie, 7

Florida Marine Research Institute, 115

Florida State University (FSU), 117

Fochs, Betsy, 98

focused interest group (FIG), 73–74

FORWARD, 176–177

4-H

Girls for Planet Earth, 27

Training Trainers in Rural Youth Groups, 163

Frank, Martin, 123

Franz, Judy, 204

freshman interest group (FIG), 153

Frevert, Katie, 172

Friend, Cynthia, 210

Frierson, Frances A., 52

Froning, Michael J., 136

Froschl, Merle, 11, 181

Frost, Kathy, 158

Froyd, Jeffrey E., 202

Fruitvale, 23

FSU. See Florida State University

FTT. See fault-tolerant teaching

Fulton County School System, 31

Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), 13, 45, 72

Futurebound, 152–153

G

Gaddy, Catherine D., 211

Gadsden Independent Public School District, 130

gaining options: girls investigate real life. See GO GIRL

Gallard, Alejandro J., 117

Gallaudet University, 176, 177

gateways workshops, 37

GEMS, 69, 151–152, 192–193

Genalo, Lawrence J., 170

Gender and Persistence, 205

Gender and Team Decision-Making, 90

gender differences

Agents for Change, 113

AnimalWatch, 66

Animal World, 67

in attitudes toward math, 65

children aware of, 130

in computer games, 10, 65

Computer Games for Mathematical Empowerment, 65

in decision-making, 90

Early Influences on Gender Differences in Math Achievement, 61

Gender and Persistence, 205

Gender and Team Decision-Making, 90

Improving the Climate in Physics Departments, 204

in Internet concepts, 77

Jump Start, 116

in learning styles, 65–66, 67, 74

in literacy, 70, 71

in math achievement, 61, 67

MAXIMA, 130

in persistence, 205

in problem solving, 116

Realistic Modeling Activities in Small Technical Teams, 88

and single-sex groups vs. mixed-sex groups, 32

Sissies, Tomboys, and Gender Identity, 92

Summerscape, 31

in understanding IT systems, 112–113
WISE Scholars Do Engineering Research, 93

Womenwin, 71

gender dynamics, Breaking the Silences, 208, 209

gender equity awareness

Action-WISE in Zanesville, Ohio and, 161

After-School Science PLUS and, 11

Agents for Change and, 112

On the Air with Gender Equity and, 39

AWSEM and, 56

Balancing the Equation and, 212

Careers in Wildlife Science and, 121

Changing Faculty Through Learning Communities and, 202

Coding Student Teachers' Classroom Interactions and, 198–199

Collaborating Across Campuses and, 214

Computer Camp for Teachers and, 105

Counseling for Gender Equity and, 193–194

Education Coalition in Connecticut and, 191

Equity, Science Careers, and the Changing Economy and, 211

Equity Initiatives in Houston and, 184, 185

Exploring Engineering and, 78

Family Tools and Technology and, 3–5

GEMS and, 193

Gender and Persistence and, 205

Gender Equity Training in Teacher Education and, 183

Genderwise and, 64

GEOS and, 157

Get Set, Go! and, 188, 189

Girls First and, 22–23

Girls in Science and, 26

Girls RISE and, 84

GREEN Project and, 148

Hands-On Science in Rural Virginia Middle Schools and, 161

How to Be a Mentor and, 45

Improving Diversity in the Software Development Community and, 110

InGEAR and, 191, 192

Jump for the Sun and, 171

Laboratory Science Camp for Dissemination Training and, 167, 168

Learning Communities and, 154

Making Connections and, 9

MAXIMA and, 129, 130

Mentoring Teams of Teacher Trainers and, 197

Mentoring Through Crossage Research Terms and, 50

Minority Girls in the System and, 142, 143

New Courses to Draw Women into Science and Engineering and, 200

Ole Miss Computer Camp and, 104

OPTIONS and, 48–49

Pre-College Engineering Workshops and, 85, 86

Project EDGE and, 44

Project EFFECT and, 36

Project Parity and, 3

Project PRISM and, 138, 139

Recruiting Engineers in Kentucky, K-12 and, 87

Recruiting Women into Computer Science and, 109

Retooling High School Teachers of Computer Science and, 106

Science Connections and, 20

Science for All and, 168, 169

Science Horizons for Girl Scouts and, 14

Science Is for Us and, 33

Single-Gender Math Clubs and, 62

Sisters in Science and, 141, 142

SMART and, 5, 6

Summerscape and, 30–32

Sweetwater Girl Power and, 146, 147

Teaching Inclusive Science and Engineering and, 90

Teaching Internships in Physics for Undergraduates and, 100

Teaching SMART and, 7

Techbridge and, 24–25

Training Trainers in Rural Youth Groups and, 163

Training Trainers to Encourage Nontraditional Jobs and, 194, 195

Traveling Science Program and, 14

Triad Alliance Science Clubs and, 189, 190

Turnage Scholars Program and, 138

Tutorials for Change and, 206

Washington State Gender Equity Project and, 183–184

Weaving Gender Equity into Math Reform and, 63

WISE Investments and, 86

Women's Studies and Science and, 200–201

"Gender Equity in the Classroom" (Sadker and Sadker), 84

Gender Equity Training in Teacher Education, 183

gender identity, Sissies, Tomboys, and Gender Identity, 91–92

Genderwise, 64

General Robotics and Active Sensory Perception (GRASP), 111

geographic information systems (GIS), 134–135, 148

geology

Earth Systems, 118, 119

Women Who Walk Through Time, 119

George, Yolanda S., 149

George Washington University, 149, 150, 177

Georgia Initiative in Mathematics and Science (GIMS), 192

Georgia Institute of Technology, 30, 31, 89, 191

Georgia Institute of Technology Research Corporation, 192

Georgia Southern University, 191, 192

Georgia State University, 191, 192

GEOS, 157

geosciences

Supporting Women in Geoscience, 53

Training Graduate Students to Develop Undergraduate Research Projects, 54, 55

Women Who Walk Through Time, 119

Get Set, Go!, 163, 188–189

Gibb, Lydia H., 3

Gifford, James A., 154

Gilbert Linkous Elementary School and Blacksburg Middle School, 10

Giles County, 161

Gilmore, Maurice E., 180

GIMS. See Georgia Initiative in Mathematics and Science

Ginorio, Angela, 172

Girls, Inc.

ACES, 120

Girls Dig it Online, 117, 118

Girls for Planet Earth, 27

SMART, 5–6

Student-Peer Teaching in Birmingham, Alabama, 136

Teaching SMART, 7–8

Girls and Technology, 28–29

Girl Scout Council of Greater New York, 121

Girl Scouts

and Appalachian Girls' Voices, 160

and Careers in Wildlife Science, 121
and Connections, 179, 180

and Girls for Planet Earth, 27

and Minority Girls in the System, 142, 143

and Nosebag Science, 12

and Plugged In!, 106–107

and Science Horizons for Girl Scouts, 14

and Science in the City, 155

and Tech Trek, 15

and Training Trainers in Rural Youth Groups, 163

Girls Dig it Online, 117–118

girls explore mathematics through social science. See GEMS

Girls First, 21–23

Girls for Planet Earth, 27

Girls in Science, 26

Girls Middle School, 10

Girls On Track, 68–69

Girls Ready for Environmental Education Now. See GREEN Project

girls really enjoy advanced technical skills. See GREATS

Girls RISE, 83–84

Girves, Jean, 214

GIS. See geographic information systems

Glass, Julie S., 61

Glendale Community College, 86

Glendale Union High School District, 78

Gnad, Christeen, 18

GO GIRL, 69

Gordon, Annette W., 165

GO Team!, 101

Grace, Hattie, 107

grading, 99

Grady, Julie, 161

Graham, Rhea L., 41

Granat, Susan, 18

Grandin, Temple, 41

Grant, Cathy M., 63

graphing calculators

Calculate the Possibilities, 33

Calculus Research, 72

Girls RISE, 84

Math Enrichment for Native American Girls, 140

Pathways through Calculus, 73

GRASP. See General Robotics and Active Sensory Perception

Grassman Trust, 34

Gray, Mary W., 123

Greater Bridgeport Area Foundation, 191

Great Lakes Aquarium, 98

GREATS, 134

Greely, Teresa M., 115

Green, Chris, 131

Green, Tina S., 17

Greenfield Community College, 200–201

GREEN Project, 147–148

GRE prep courses

Preparing At-Risk Undergraduates for Graduate School, 207

Testing Campus-Based Models of GRE Prep Courses, 207

Grosvenor Neighborhood House, 11

groupwork. See teamwork

Grubbs, Susan, 161

guidance counselors

in GEOS, 157

in TARGETS, 156

Guide for Recruiting and Advancing Women in Academia, 212

Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, 116

Guthrie, Priscilla, 203

Gutman, Roberta, 210

GWU-ITV, 150

H

Haas Foundation, 172

Hackett, Gail, 93

Hadden, Steve, 203

Hahm, Jong-On, 212

Halgedahl, Susan L., 119

Hallock-Muller, Pamela, 115

Hammrich, Penny L., 17, 142

Hampton University, 177

Hands-On Engineering Projects for Middle School Girls, 81

hands-on learning

in ACES, 120

in Action-WISE in Zanesville, Ohio, 160, 161

in Adventures of Josie True, 40

in After-School ASSETS Project, 145

in After-School Science PLUS, 11

in Appalachian Girls' Voices, 159, 160

in AWSEM, 55–56

in Bring Your Mother to (Engineering) School, 94

in Calculate the Possibilities, 33

in Camp REACH, 79

in Careers in Wildlife Science, 121

in Changing Faculty Through Learning Communities, 202

in Connections, 180

in Designing with Virtual Reality Technology, 101, 102

in Developing Hands-On Museum Exhibits, 79

in Developing Visualization Skills, 91

in Douglass Projects Pre-College Program, 34

in Engineering GOES to Middle School, 80

in Enhancing "Expanding Your Horizons," 144

in Experiment-Based Physics for Girls, 95

in Exploring Engineering, 78

in Family Tools and Technology, 3, 4, 5

in Feed the Mind, Nourish the Spirit, 139

in FEMME Continuum, 19

in GEMS, 69, 152

in Genderwise, 64

in GEOS, 157

in Get Set, Go!, 188, 189

in Girls and Technology, 28, 29

in Girls First, 22, 23

in Girls in Science, 26

in Girls On Track, 69

in Girls RISE, 83, 84

in GO Team!, 101

in Hands-On Engineering Projects for Middle School Girls, 81

in Hands-On Science in Rural Virginia Middle Schools, 161

in Integrating Math and Science with Lego Logo, 133

in Interconnections, 10

in Internet Explorers, 170

in Jump for the Sun, 170, 171
in Jump Start, 115, 116

in Laboratory Science Camp for Dissemination Training, 168

in Latinas En Ciencia, 127, 128

in Life Science Biographies, 123

in Making Connections, 9

in Marine and Aquatic Mini-Camp, 116

in Master It, 163

in MAXIMA, 129, 130

in Minority Girls in the System, 143

in New Courses to Draw Women into Science and Engineering, 200

in Nosebag Science, 12

in Oceanography Camp for Girls, 114, 115

in Ole Miss Computer Camp, 104

in Opening the Horizon, 164, 165

in OPTIONS, 48

in Out of the Lab, 158, 159

in Plugged In!, 107

in Pre-College Engineering Workshops, 85, 86

in Project Parity, 3

in Project PRISM, 139

in Putting a Human Face on Science, 42

in Recruiting Engineers in Kentucky, K-12, 87

in RISE, 51

in Role Models Change Hispanic Girls' Job Aspirations, 130, 131

in Saturday Workshops for Middle School Girls, 145

in Science-Based Service Learning, 13

in Science Connections, 20, 162

in Science Horizons for Girl Scouts, 14

in Science in the City, 155

in Science of Living Spaces, 166

in Selling Girls on Physical Sciences, 96–97

in Sisters in Science, 142

in SMART, 5, 6

in Southern Illinois Support Network, 37

in Splash, 124

in Student-Peer Teaching in Birmingham, Alabama, 136

in Summer Camp for Rural High School Girls, 172

in Summerscape, 30, 31

in Sweetwater Girl Power, 146, 147

in Teaching SMART, 7

in Techbridge, 24–25

in Tech Trek, 15

in TNT Girls Go to Physics Camp, 98

in Training Graduate Students to Develop Undergraduate Research Projects, 55

in Training Model for Extracurricular Science, 149

in Training Trainers in Rural Youth Groups, 163

in Training Trainers to Encourage Nontraditional Jobs, 194, 195

in Traveling Science Program, 14

in Triad Alliance Science Clubs, 190

in Turnage Scholars Program, 138

in What's in the Box?, 107, 108

in WISE Beginnings, 58

in WISE Investments, 86

in WISE Women at Stony Brook, 186, 187

in WISP, 58, 59

in Women for Women, 43

in Women's Images of Science and Engineering, 125

in Women's Studies and Science, 201

Hands-On Science in Rural Virginia Middle Schools, 161

Hann, Kathy, 61

Hanson, Katherine, 193

Hapner, Sharon J., 169

Harackiewicz, Frances J., 37

Harbor Branch Ocean Institute (HBOI), 115, 116

hard-of-hearing girls, 176–177

hardware, 107–108

Hardy, Sandra C., 138

Hare, Sally Z., 171

Harlandale Independent School Districts, 131

Harmison, Susan D., 107

Harrell, Marvin, 163

Hart, David, 66

Harte, Bret, 23

Hartline, Beverly, 210

Harvard University, 210

Hatchman, Joann, 25

Hauban, Margaret, 23, 27

Haux, Corrie, 144

HBOI. See Harbor Branch Ocean Institute

He, Xiaowei Sherry, 80

health science, 137

hearing-impaired students

FORWARD for, 177

Math Camp for Deaf High School Girls for, 175

Hearst Foundation, 34

Heber, Etta, 23, 25, 27

Heimowitz, Alison, 128

Heller, Rachelle S., 150, 177

Hempstead Union Free School District, 148

Henkin, Nancy, 142

Henry County School System, 31

Henry Luce Foundation, 211

Heritage College, 184

Hernandez, Mara Z., 117

Hershbach, Dudley, 210

Hesse, Maria, 125

Hewlett-Packard Corporation, 34

Hill Middle School, 145

Hispanic girls

After-School ASSETS Project for, 145

Biographical Storytelling Empowers Latinas in Math for, 131–132

Bringing Minority High School Girls to Science for, 150

Futurebound for, 152, 153

GEMS for, 151, 152

Girls RISE for, 83–84

GREEN Project for, 147, 148

Hispanic Girls Learn Computer-Assisted Design—And English for, 134–135

Integrating Math and Science with Lego Logo for, 133

Latinas En Ciencia for, 127–128

MAXIMA for, 128–130

Minority Girls in the System for, 142–143

REALM for, 117

Role Models Change Hispanic Girls' Job Aspirations for, 130–131

Saturday Workshops for Middle School Girls for, 145

Sisters in Science for, 141, 142

SMART for, 6

TARGETS for, 156

Techgirl for, 39
Training Model for Extracurricular Science for, 149

Una Mano al Futuro for, 133

Hispanic Girls Learn Computer-Assisted Design—And English, 134–135

history, linking to math, 9

Hmong communities, 153, 154

Hofstra University, 148

Hollenshead, Carol S., 212

Holloway, Susan, 128

Honey, Margaret, 47

Honeywell, 86

Hood College, 177

Horgan, Dianne D., 99

Hornets Nest Girl Scout Council, 12

Horry County Schools, 171

Houston Independent School District, 185

Howard Hughes Medical Institute, 185

Howard University, 202

How to Be a Mentor, 44–45

HTML

GO Team!, 101

Research in Computer Science, 103

Hudson County College, 92

Hudson Guild Neighborhood Center, 11

Humphreys, Debra, 201

Hundt, Jacqueline M., 189

Hunter College, 206

Hurston, Zora Neale, 170

I

IBM Corporation, 69, 150

IDRA. See Intercultural Development Research Corporation

Imagination Place, 77

Imbrie, P. K., 88

Immaculata College, 122

Improving Diversity in the Software Development Community, 110

Improving Science in a Dayton Magnet School, 137

Improving the Climate in Physics Departments, 203–204

Indiana University, Bloomington, 54

Indian River Community College (IRCC), 115, 116

industry partners

in Exploring Engineering, 78

in FORWARD, 177

in Girls On Track, 69

in Hands-On Engineering Projects for Middle School Girls, 81

in Hispanic Girls Learn Computer-Assisted Design—And English, 135

in Master It, 163

in Math Mega Camp, 61

in OPTIONS, 48–49

in Recruiting Women into Computer Science, 109

in Role Models Change Hispanic Girls' Job Aspirations, 131

in Science for All, 169

in Selling Girls on Physical Sciences, 97

in Shampoos Etc!, 17

in Single-Gender Math Clubs, 62

in Sisters in Science, 142

in Sweetwater Girl Power, 147

in Training Trainers in Rural Youth Groups, 163

in Turnage Scholars Program, 138

in What's in the Box?, 107, 108

in WISE Investments, 86

in WISP, 58–59

informal education

in ACES, 120

in After-School ASSETS Project, 145

in Agents for Change, 111, 113

in Careers in Wildlife Science, 121

in Computer Games for Mathematical Empowerment, 65

in Girls for Planet Earth, 27

in Girls in Science, 26

in Girls RISE, 83

in Imagination Place, 77

in Internet Explorers, 170

in Latinas En Ciencia, 127, 128

in Minority Girls in the System, 142, 143

in Mountaineering After-School and Summer Camps, 15, 16

in Science Horizons for Girl Scouts, 14

in Science in the City, 155

in Shampoos Etc!, 18

in Student-Peer Teaching in Birmingham, Alabama, 136

in Teaching Inclusive Science and Engineering, 89

in What Works in After-School Science, 181

in Why Girls Go to Whyville.net, 102–103

information engineering, 112

information technology, 101–113

Agents for Change, 111–113

Bioinformatics for High School, 122

Bringing Minority High School Girls to Science, 150

Designing with Virtual Reality Technology, 101–102

Improving Diversity in the Software Development Community, 110

Self-Authorship and Pivotal Transitions toward Information Technology, 113

InGEAR, 63, 191–192

innovation workshops, 36

inquiry-based learning

in After-School Science PLUS, 11

in E-WOMS, 74, 75

in Family Tools and Technology, 3, 5

in Get Set, Go!, 188, 189

in Jump for the Sun, 170, 171

in Life Science Biographies, 123

in Marine and Aquatic Mini-Camp, 116

in MAXIMA, 128, 130

in Minority Girls in the System, 142, 143

in REALM, 117

in Shampoos Etc!, 17

in Sisters in Science, 141

in Summer Camp for Rural High School Girls, 172

in Summerscape, 30, 31

in Teaching SMART, 7

in TNT Girls Go to Physics Camp, 98

in Training Graduate Students to Develop Undergraduate Research Projects, 55

in Training Model for Extracurricular Science, 149

in Traveling Science Program, 14

in Why Girls Go to Whyville.net, 103

in WISE Investments, 86

in Women's Images of Science and Engineering, 125

Institute for Business Trends Analysis, 72

Institute for Research in Cognitive Science, 113

Institute for Science, Engineering, and Public Policy, 56
Institute for Women in Trades, Technology & Science (IWITTS), 194, 195, 196

Institute for Women's Leadership, 90

Integrating Gender Equity and Reform. See InGEAR

Integrating Math and Science with Lego Logo, 133

Intel Corporation, 86

intelligent tutoring system, 66, 67

interactive learning

in AnimalWatch, 65–66

in Calculus Research, 72

in Girls and Technology, 28

in Imagination Place, 77

in Interconnections, 10

in Plugged In!, 106–107

in Project EDGE, 44

in Why Girls Go to Whyville.net, 102–103

Interconnections, 10

Intercultural Development Research Association, 193

Intercultural Development Research Corporation (IDRA), 63, 130, 131

International Society for Optical Engineering (SPIE), 203

International Wildlife Research and Conservation Center, 161

Internet Explorers, 170

internships

Apprenticeships in Science Policy and, 123

Careers in Wildlife Science and, 121

Counseling for Gender Equity and, 194

FORWARD and, 177

Futurebound and, 152, 153

GEMS and, 152

Girls Dig it Online and, 118

Girls RISE and, 84

Hispanic Girls Learn Computer-Assisted Design—And English and, 134, 135

Internet Explorers and, 170

OPTIONS and, 48, 49

Re-Entering the Workforce and, 174

RISE and, 51

Sisters in Sport Science and, 17

Southern Illinois Support Network and, 37

Summer Research Projects in Computer Science and, 109

Teaching Inclusive Science and Engineering and, 90

Teaching Internships in Physics for Undergraduates and, 100

Training Trainers to Encourage Nontraditional Jobs and, 195

Undergraduate Research Fellowships and, 54

WISE Investments and, 86

WISER Lab Research for First-Year Undergraduates and, 52, 53

WISE Women at Stony Brook and, 187

WISP and, 58, 59

INTERSECT, 192

intervention

AnimalWatch, 66

Appalachian Girls' Voices, 160

Douglass Projects Pre-College Program, 34

E-WOMS, 75

Family Tools and Technology, 5

FEMME Continuum, 19

Gender and Persistence, 205

Genderwise, 64

GEOS, 157

Girls RISE, 83

Improving the Climate in Physics Departments, 204

InGEAR, 192

Making Connections, 9

Retaining Graduate Students and Junior Faculty, 208

RISE, 51

Sisters in Science, 141, 142

Sisters in Sport Science, 16–17

TARGETS, 156

What's in the Box?, 107–108

WISER Lab Research for First-Year Undergraduates, 52, 53

Womenwin, 71

interviews, 208

Investigations in Number, Data, and Space Workshop, 63

Iowa City Area Science Center, Inc., 14

Iowa City Community School District, 14

Iowa State University (ISU), 163, 170, 207, 208

Iowa State University Extension Science, Engineering, And Technology Youth Initiative, 163

Iowa State University Program for Women and Science and Engineering, 163

Iowa State University Research Institute for Studies in Education, 163

IRCC. See Indian River Community College

Isle of Wright County School Systems, 166

IWITTS. See Institute for Women in Trades, Technology & Science

J

J. L. Scott Marine Education Center and Aquarium, 116

James, Wendy, 84

Jansma, Pamela E., 53

job shadow

GO Team!, 101

Science in the City, 155

Sweetwater Girl Power, 147

Training Trainers to Encourage Nontraditional Jobs, 195

Johnson, Janet, 26

Johnson, Janice K., 78

Johnson, Kristina M., 9

Johnson, Marilyn D., 128

Johnson & Johnson, 34, 152

Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Reserach & Development, 34

Jones, Eliza, 158

Jones, Lorraine, 49

Jordan, Lucille, 196

José-Kampfner, Cristina, 132

Josie True project, 40

Journey Designs, 10

Journeys of Women in Science and Engineering: No Universal Constants, 41

Jump for the Sun, 170–171

Jump Start, 115–116

Jurrison, Silvia S., 97

Just We Girls, 116

K

Kansas City Museum, 107

Kansas Collaborative Research Network, 107

Karimpour, Rahim G., 125

Karnawat, Sunil R., 140

Kaser, Joyce, 193

Katkin, Wendy, 55, 186, 187

Kaufman, Louise, 92

KBPO Seek Out Science Program, 147

KCAW-FM Raven Radio, 158, 159
Kekelis, Linda, 23, 25

Kelley, Carmen, 115

Kemenny, John, 71

Kemp, Paula, 165

Kerr, Barbara, 155, 156, 157

Kestner, Michael, 69

Ketcham, Dale, 18

Keyes, Marian C., 160

Kieve Affective Education, 168

Kieve Science Camp for Girls, 167

Kimmel, Howard, 19

King, Angela G., 189

Kingston Middle School, 82

Kintz, Virginia, 171

Kirkpatrick, Nanda, 185

"kitchen science" workshop, 21, 162

Kittrell, Flemmie P., 136

Kivelson, Pamela Davis, 41

Klibaner, Robert, 109

Knecht, Robert D., 90

Knight, Virginia, 69

knowledge-level questions, 198

Koch, Laura C., 175

Koehler, Ron, 46

Koistenen, Dale E., 23, 27

Kovach, Jack, 161

Kraemer, David R., 107

Kramer, Pamela E., 173, 174

Kusimo, Patricia S., 160

Kyrene School District, 86

L

Laboratory Science Camp for Dissemination Training, 167–168

Lambert, Lynn, 166

Lancaster, Ann-Marie, 109

Land, Harry, 177

Lander Company, 17, 18

Landesman, Miriam Fl., 133

LaSalle University, 17

Las Cruces Public School District, 130

Lasich, Debra K., 90

Latinas En Ciencia, 127–128

Lawhead, Pamela, 104

Lawrence, Sarah, 69

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 25

Lazarus, Barbara B., 48, 203

leadership skills, Collaborating Across Campuses, 214

Learning Communities, 153–154

learning communities

Changing Faculty Through Learning Communities, 202

Learning Communities, 153–154

New Courses to Draw Women into Science and Engineering, 200

learning styles, gender differences in, 65–66, 67, 74

Lego Logo, 133

Leighton, Carolyn, 56

Leventman, Paula G., 180

Levin, Amy K., 75

Levine, Audrey D., 92

Levine, Beth, 189

Levine, Dana, 19

Lewis, Cheryl, 138

Lewis-Clark State College, 138, 139

Li, Jing, 152

Libraries for the Future, 77

life science, 122–123

Life Science Biographies, 122–123

literacy, gender differences in, 70, 71

Litherland, Rebecca Q., 95, 97

Little, Nan, 13

Little Big Horn College, 169

Little Foundation, 45, 46

living spaces, 166

L.L.C., 34

Llewellyn, Donna C., 192

Loats, James T., 9

Lockheed Martin, 86

Loehr, Joann S., 56

Lofaro, Marsha L., 36

Long Island Power Authority, 43

Longwood School District, 187

Lopez, Ana M., 84

Lord Corporation, 10

Love, Susan, 41

Luce Foundation, 211

Lujan, Jaime L., 147

Lutz, Pamela B., 160

Lynch, Amanda, 158

Lynn Middle School, 130

M

MAA. See Mathematical Association of America

MacLean, Hollis, 56

M.A.D. Scientists Club, 56

Madison, Sandra K., 105, 154

MAGIC. See Microscope and Graphic Imaging Center

Maki, Ruth H., 144

Making a Splash: A Guide for Getting Your Programs, Products, and Ideas Out, 5

Making Computer Science Cool for Girls, 104–105

Making Connections, 9

Making Engineering More Attractive as a Career, 202–203

Mangin, Katrina L., 143, 153

Mantel, Linda H., 50, 174

manual

Girls Dig it Online, 118

How to Be a Mentor, 45

Project PRISM, 139

SMART, 5, 6

Testing Campus-Based Models of GRE Prep Courses, 207

MAPLE computer algebra software, 72

Mappen, Ellen F., 34, 90

Marangi, Gregory, 135

Marcello, Joseph A., 159

Margle, Janice, 108

Marguli, Lynn, 76

Maricopa County Community College, 125

Marilyn Burns' Math Solutions, 63

Marine and Aquatic Mini-Camp, 116

marine science
Jump Start, 115–116

Marine and Aquatic Mini-Camp, 116

Oceanography Camp for Girls, 114–115

Marine Sciences Research Center, 187

Marion County Public School District, 7

Marks, John R., 161

Marley, Robert J., 169

Marra, Rose M., 89

Marsh, Lori S., 161

Marshall-Goodell, Beverly, 14, 214

Martin, C. Dianne, 150

masculinity, 91–92

Massey, Christine M., 113

Massey, Katherine, 196

Master It, 163

math, 61–76

applying, to community problems, 68–69

linking history to, 9

transactional writing for, 132

math achievement

Animal World and, 67

Early Influences on Gender Differences in Math Achievement and, 61

Math Camp for Deaf High School Girls, 175

math clubs, 62

mathematical, equitable game software (MEGS), 65

Mathematical Association of America (MAA), 72

Mathematics Renaissance, 63, 147

Math Enrichment for Native American Girls, 140

math enrichment program, 68–69, 140

Math Mega Camp, 61

math reform, 63

Math Science Network, 37

Math-Science Network, 144

math skills

AnimalWatch and, 65–66

Animal World and, 67

Calculate the Possibilities and, 33

Calculus Research and, 72

Computer Games for Mathematical Empowerment and, 64–65

Designing with Virtual Reality Technology and, 102

Engaged Learning and, 125

E-WOMS and, 75

Exploring Engineering and, 78

Feed the Mind, Nourish the Spirit and, 139

GEMS and, 69

Genderwise and, 64

Integrating Math and Science with Lego Logo and, 133

Interconnections and, 10

Learning Communities and, 154

Math Enrichment for Native American Girls and, 140

Math Mega Camp and, 61

Realistic Modeling Activities in Small Technical Teams and, 88

Recruiting Women in the Quantitative Sciences and, 76

Single-Gender Math Clubs and, 62

Splash and, 124

Weaving Gender Equity into Math Reform and, 63

Womenwin and, 70–71

Matthew, Kathleen, 87

Matthews, Pamela R., 200

Mattis, Mary, 210

Matute-Bianchi, Maria E., 133

Matyas, Marsha L., 123

Maumee Valley Girl Scout Council, 15

Mavriplis, Catherine A., 177

MAXIMA, 128–130

Maxwell, Sheryl A., 49

Mayberry, Maralee, 119

McCoy, Kathleen F., 105

McCullough, Claire L., 120

McDuff, Dusa, 42

McLean, James A., 138

Medtronic Microelectronics, 86

Megginson, Bob, 140

MEGS. See mathematical, equitable game software

Mehrotra, Chandra M., 98

Menchel, Robert, 175

mentoring

in Achieving Success in Academia, 213

in Action-WISE in Zanesville, Ohio, 160, 161

in Agents for Change, 112

in Animal World, 67

in Appalachian Girls' Voices, 159, 160

in Athena Project, 180–181

in AWSEM, 55

in Bringing Minority High School Girls to Science, 149, 150

in BUGS, 182

in Building BRIDGES for Community College Students, 51–52

in Calculate the Possibilities, 33

in Calculus Research, 72

in Careers in Wildlife Science, 121

in Changing Faculty Through Learning Communities, 202

in College Studies for Women on Public Assistance, 173

in Community-Based Mentoring, 49–50

in Computer Camp for Teachers, 105

in Connections, 179, 180

in Developing Hands-On Museum Exhibits, 79

in Education Coalition in Connecticut, 191

in Enhancing "Expanding Your Horizons," 144

in Equity Initiatives in Houston, 184, 185

in E-WOMS, 73, 74, 75

in Exploring Engineering, 78

in Eyes to the Future, 45–46

in FORWARD, 177

in Futurebound, 152, 153

in GEMS, 69, 152

in GEOS, 157

in Girls Dig it Online, 118

in Girls RISE, 83–84

in Guide for Recruiting and Advancing Women in Academia, 212

in Hispanic Girls Learn Computer-Assisted Design—And English, 135

in How to Be a Mentor, 44–45

in Imagination Place, 77

in Improving Science in a Dayton Magnet School, 137

in Improving the Climate in Physics Departments, 204

in Jump Start, 115, 116

in Laboratory Science Camp for Dissemination Training, 168

in Latinas En Ciencia, 128

in Learning Communities, 153, 154
in Making Computer Science Cool for Girls, 105

in Mentoring Teams of Teacher Trainers, 197

in Mentoring Through Crossage Research Terms, 50

in MentorNet, 48

in Minority Girls in the System, 143

in Mountaineering After-School and Summer Camps, 16

in Oceanography Camp for Girls, 114

in Ole Miss Computer Camp, 104

in Opening the Horizon, 165

in OPTIONS, 48

in Partners in Engineering, 82

in PipeLINK, 111

in Project EDGE, 44

in Project EFFECT, 36

in Project GOLD, 174, 175

in Recruiting Engineers in Kentucky, K-12, 87

in Recruiting Women into Computer Science, 109

in Re-Entering the Workforce, 174

in RISE, 51

in Saturday Workshops for Middle School Girls, 145

in Science-Based Service Learning, 13

in Science for All, 168, 169

in Science of Living Spaces, 166

in Selling Girls on Physical Sciences, 97

in Sisters in Science, 141, 142

in Sisters in Sport Science, 17

in Splash, 124

in Summer Camp for Rural High School Girls, 172

in Summer Research Projects in Computer Science, 108–109

in Supporting Women in Geoscience, 53

in Sweetwater Girl Power, 147

in Team Approach to Mentoring Junior Economists, 215

in Tech Trek, 15

in Telementoring Teens, 47

in Training Model for Extracurricular Science, 149

in Training Trainers to Encourage Nontraditional Jobs, 194, 195

in Triad Alliance Science Clubs, 190

in Una Mano al Futuro, 133

in Undergraduate Research Fellowships, 54

in WISE Investments, 86

in WISER Lab Research for First-Year Undergraduates, 52, 53

in WISE Scholars Do Engineering Research, 93

in WISE Women at Stony Brook, 186, 187

in WISP, 58–59

in Women for Women, 43

Mentoring Teams of Teacher Trainers, 197

Mentoring Through Crossage Research Terms, 50

MentorNet, 48, 177

mentor training

How to Be a Mentor, 44–45

MentorNet, 48

Partners in Engineering, 82

Merck Institute for Science Education, 34

Meredith College, 69

Mesilla Elementary School, 130

Meszaros, Peggy S., 113

metaphors, 29

meteorology, 117

Metropolitan State College of Denver, 9

Metrowomen Chemists, 174

Metz, Susan S., 48, 213

Metzler, Suzanne C., 107

Meuth, Judy L., 36, 139

Mewborn, Denise, 192

Mexican-American girls

Biographical Storytelling Empowers Latinas in Math for, 131

Minority Girls in the System for, 142, 143

Meyers, Carolyn W., 192

Miami-Dade Community College, 70, 71

Miami-Dade County Middle Schools, 84

Miami-Dade County Public Schools, 71, 102

Miami-Dade County Public Schools Urban Systemic Initiative, 84

Miami Museum of Science, Inc., 83, 84, 101, 102

Miaoulis, Ioannis, 79

Microscope and Graphic Imaging Center (MAGIC), 61

Mid-Continent Council of Girl Scouts, 106, 107

Middlesex County College, 92

Milgram, Donna, 195, 196

Mills College, 25

mini-grants, Science for All, 169

Minneapolis Public Schools, 175

Minnesota State Department of Education, 175

Minnesota Zoo, 174

minorities, 126–177

Adventures of Josie True for, 40

After-School ASSETS Project for, 145

Appalachian Girls' Voices for, 159

Biographical Storytelling Empowers Latinas in Math for, 131–132

Bioinformatics for High School for, 122

Bringing Minority High School Girls to Science for, 149–150

Building BRIDGES for Community College Students for, 51, 52

Calculus Research for, 71–72

College Studies for Women on Public Assistance for, 173

Community-Based Mentoring for, 50

Enhancing "Expanding Your Horizons" for, 144

Exploring Engineering for, 78

Feed the Mind, Nourish the Spirit for, 139

Futurebound for, 152–153

GEMS for, 151, 152

Girls Dig it Online for, 117–118

Girls RISE for, 83–84

GREEN Project for, 147

Hispanic Girls Learn Computer-Assisted Design—And English for, 134–135

Improving Science in a Dayton Magnet School for, 137

Integrating Math and Science with Lego Logo for, 133

Internet Explorers for, 170

Latinas En Ciencia for, 127–128

Learning Communities for, 153–154

Making Connections for, 9

Math Enrichment for Native American Girls for, 140

Math Mega Camp for, 61

MAXIMA for, 128–130

Minority Girls in the System for, 142–143

New Courses to Draw Women into Science and Engineering for, 200

Oceanography Camp for Girls for, 114, 115

Pathways through Calculus for, 73

Pre-College Engineering Workshops for, 85

Preparing At-Risk Undergraduates for Graduate School for, 206
Project PRISM for, 138–139

REALM for, 117

Re-Entering the Workforce for, 174

Research in Computer Science for, 103

Role Models Change Hispanic Girls' Job Aspirations for, 130–131

Saturday Workshops for Middle School Girls for, 145

Science Connections for, 20, 162

Science for All for, 168, 169

Sisters in Science for, 141–142

Splash for, 124

Student-Peer Teaching in Birmingham, Alabama for, 136

Sweetwater Girl Power for, 146, 147

TARGETS for, 156

Training Model for Extracurricular Science for, 149

Turnage Scholars Program for, 138

Una Mano al Futuro for, 133

Weaving Gender Equity into Math Reform for, 63

Minority Girls in the System, 142–143

Minority Women in Science (MWIS), 133

mirror coaching, 8

misconceptions about women in science, 38

mistakes

learning from, 99

letting girls make, 8

Mitchell, Julius P., 139

mixed-gender groups

Family Tools and Technology, 3–5

Making Connections, 9

Minority Girls in the System, 143

Project Parity, 3

Realistic Modeling Activities in Small Technical Teams, 88

vs. single-gender groups, 32

Sisters in Science, 141, 142

Summerscape, 32

Training Trainers in Rural Youth Groups, 163

Triad Alliance Science Clubs, 190

modeling activities, 88

Moingona Girl Scout Council, 163

Mokros, Janice R., 62, 63, 65

Montana State University, 168, 169

Montera Middle Schools in Oakland Unified School District, 23

Montgomery County, 161

Montshire Museum of Science, 14

Morgan, Susan, 125

Moroh, Marsha, 109

Morrow, Charlene, 64

Mortensen, Mark, 182

Mortz, Margaret, 145

Mosely-Howard, Gerri Susan, 33

Moskal, Barbara M., 90

Mother-Daughter Academy, 93–94

Motorola, 86

Moulton, Meg M., 28

Mountaineering After-School and Summer Camps, 15–16

Mount St. Mary's College, 207

Mt. Holyoke College, 64, 175

Muller, Carol B., 48, 52, 59, 177

multi-generational learning

Mentoring Through Crossage Research Terms, 50

Sisters in Science, 141–142

Murphy, Charlotte, 9

museums

and After-School ASSETS Project, 145

and Designing with Virtual Reality Technology, 101, 102

and Developing Hands-On Museum Exhibits, 79

and FEMME Continuum, 19

and Girls in Science, 26

and Girls RISE, 83, 84

and GO Team!, 101

and Jump for the Sun, 171

and Latinas En Ciencia, 127–128

and Project Parity, 3

and Science Horizons for Girl Scouts, 14

and Science in the City, 155

and Shampoos Etc!, 18

and TNT Girls Go to Physics Camp, 98

Musil, Caryn McTighe, 201

Muskingum Area Technical College, 161

Muskingum College, 161

MWIS. See Minority Women in Science

My Horizon, 10

N

Nair, Indira, 41

NASA, 61, 64

National Academy of Sciences, 212

National Coalition of Girls' Schools, 28

National Consortium of Specialized Secondary Schools in Math, Science, and Technology, 156

National Council for Research on Women (NCRW), 201, 211–212

National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics (NCSM), 63

National 4-H Council, 27

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 116

National Research Council, 212

National Technical Institute for the Deaf, 175, 176, 177

National Testbed Project, 47

National University, 147

National Wakonse Fellowship for College Teaching, 157

National Weather Service, 107

National Women's Study Association, 201

Native American girls

After-School ASSETS Project for, 145

Enhancing "Expanding Your Horizons" for, 144

Feed the Mind, Nourish the Spirit for, 139

Futurebound for, 152, 153

Learning Communities for, 154

Math Enrichment for Native American Girls for, 140

Minority Girls in the System for, 142, 143

Project PRISM for, 138–139

Science for All for, 168, 169

TARGETS for, 156

Native American Heritage School, 124

NCRW. See National Council for Research on Women

NCSM. See National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics

Nekvasil, Hanna, 54, 55

neo-Darwinism, 76

NEU. See Northeastern University

New Courses to Draw Women into Science and Engineering, 200

New Frontiers/Center for Educational Development, 78
New Jersey Institute of Technology, 19, 91, 92

New Mexico Commission on Higher Education, 130

New Mexico State University, 128, 130

Newton, H. Joseph, 202

Newton Academy, 96

New York Academy of Sciences, 173, 174, 210, 211

New York Aquarium, 121

New York Hall of Science, 187

New York Institute of Technology, 148

Nicholson, Heather Johnson, 118

Nicholson, Jane, 23, 27

Nicoletti, Denise A., 80

non-academic questions, 198

Norcliffe Foundation, 172

North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, 69, 189, 195

North Carolina's School-to-Work Office, 195

North Carolina State University, 69, 205

North Dakota State University at Fargo, 144

Northeastern University (NEU), 179, 180

Northern Arizona University, 86

Northern Illinois University, 73, 75, 85

Northern Pine Girl Scout Council, 98

North Harris Montgomery Community College District (NHC), 195, 196

Northwest Center for Research on Women, 172

Nosebag Science, 12

note taking, 29, 85

Numedeon, 102, 103

Nunn, Barbara, 136

Nussbaum, Noel, 137

O

Oakland Unified School District, 25

Oakland University, 26

Ocean County College, 92

oceanography

Jump Start, 115–116

Marine and Aquatic Mini-Camp, 116

Oceanography Camp for Girls, 114–115

Oceanography Camp for Girls, 114–115

O'Connell, Tory, 158

O'Conner, Carol, 177

Odyssey Books, 10

Office of Minority Engineering Programs, 39

Off The Page Works, Inc., 10

Ohio State University Research Foundation, 33, 91

Old Dominion Research Foundation, 194

Ole Miss Computer Camp, 104

Oliver, Sylvia A., 16

Olmer, Catherine, 214

Onaral, Banu, 80

online course

GEMS, 192–193

Tutorials for Change, 206

online survey, What Works in Programs for Girls, 179

On the Air with Gender Equity, 39

Opening the Horizon (OTH), 164–165

OPTIONS, 48–49

Orange County Public Schools, 52

Oregon Graduate Institute, 56

Oregon Graduate Institute of Science and Technology, 56

Oregon Health & Sciences University, 56

Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, 128

Oregon Robotics Tournament and Outreach Association, 56

Oregon State Department of Education, 56

Oregon University System, 56

Orr, Lynne H., 100

Oshkosh Curriculum Institute, 176

Ostrowski, James P., 113

OTH. See Opening the Horizon

Ottawa University, 106–107

outdoors, BUGS, 182

Out of the Lab, 158–159

Owens, Charlotte H., 103

P

Pacific High School, 159

Pacific Lutheran University, 45

Paetzold, Ramona L., 200

Pagni, David L., 73

Papakonstantinou, Anne J., 185

parental involvement

in After-School ASSETS Project, 145

in After-School Science PLUS, 11

in Appalachian Girls' Voices, 159–160

in AWSEM, 56

in Bringing Minority High School Girls to Science, 150

in Bring Your Mother to (Engineering) School, 93–94

in BUGS, 182

in Developing Hands-On Museum Exhibits, 79

in Douglass Projects Pre-College Program, 34

in Education Coalition in Connecticut, 191

in Engineering GOES to Middle School, 80

in Enhancing "Expanding Your Horizons," 144

in Exploring Engineering, 78

in Family Tools and Technology, 3, 4, 5

in Get Set, Go!, 188, 189

in Girls and Technology, 28, 29

in Girls First, 23

in Girls RISE, 83, 84

in GO Team!, 101

in GREEN Project, 148

in Hands-On Engineering Projects for Middle School Girls, 81

in Improving Science in a Dayton Magnet School, 137

in Integrating Math and Science with Lego Logo, 133

in Jump for the Sun, 171

in Laboratory Science Camp for Dissemination Training, 168

in Latinas En Ciencia, 127, 128

in Making Connections, 9

in Math Enrichment for Native American Girls, 140

in Mentoring Through Crossage Research Terms, 50

in Minority Girls in the System, 142, 143

in Opening the Horizon, 165

in Project GOLD, 175

in Project Parity, 3

in REALM, 117

in Recruiting Engineers in Kentucky, K-12, 87

in Role Models Change Hispanic Girls' Job Aspirations, 131

in Saturday Workshops for Middle School Girls, 145
in Science Connections, 20, 162

in Science in the City, 155

in Science Is for Us, 33

in Science of Living Spaces, 166

in Selling Girls on Physical Sciences, 97

in Single-Gender Math Clubs, 62

in Sisters in Science, 141, 142

in Sisters in Sport Science, 17

in SMART, 6

in Southern Illinois Support Network, 37

in Summer Research Projects in Computer Science, 109

in Sweetwater Girl Power, 146, 147

in TNT Girls Go to Physics Camp, 98

in Training Trainers in Rural Youth Groups, 163

in Training Trainers to Encourage Nontraditional Jobs, 194

in Triad Alliance Science Clubs, 190

in Turnage Scholars Program, 138

in Weaving Gender Equity into Math Reform, 63

in WISE Investments, 86

in WISE Women at Stony Brook, 186

in Women's Images of Science and Engineering, 125

Parents Advocacy Coalition for Equal Rights, 175

Partnership for After School Education, 11

Partners in Engineering, 82

Pathways through Calculus, 73

Patriots' Trail Girl Scout Council, 179, 180

Pavone, Mary, 52, 59

PBS

Counseling for Gender Equity, 193, 194

Single-Gender Math Clubs, 62

PCC. See Pima Community College

Peck, Jodilyn A., 78

Peeks, Yolanda, 25

peer coaching, 8, 146, 183

peer groups

Bringing Minority High School Girls to Science, 150

Connections, 179

Douglass Projects Pre-College Program, 34

E-WOMS, 74–75

Girls for Planet Earth, 27

Learning Communities, 153, 154

Oceanography Camp for Girls, 114

Project GOLD, 174, 175

Re-Entering the Workforce, 174

Science Connections, 162

Selling Girls on Physical Sciences, 96, 97

Southern Illinois Support Network, 37

Student-Peer Teaching in Birmingham, Alabama, 136

Summer Research Projects in Computer Science, 109

Supporting Women in Geoscience, 53

Teaching Internships in Physics for Undergraduates, 100

Telementoring Teens, 47

Pemberton, Jane, 182

Peninsula study, 10

Pennsylvania Space Grant Consortium, 53

Pennsylvania State University, 52–53, 89, 107, 108

Pennsylvania State University, University Park, 53, 203

Pennsylvania State University Altoona College, 108

Pennsylvania State University at Abington, 53, 108

Pennsylvania State University Berks-Lehigh Valley, 108

Pennsylvania State University GRASP Lab, 113

performance-based science, 17

Perham, Bernadette H., 33

persistence, 205

personal care products, Shampoos Etc!, 17–18

Philadelphia School System, 17, 113, 142

Phoebe's Field, 10

Phoenix, Tempe, and Chandler Unified High School Districts, 86

Phoenix Life, 191

Phoenix Urban Systemic Initiative, 86

physical sciences

Pathways through Calculus, 73

WISER Lab Research for First-Year Undergraduates, 52, 53

physics, 95–100

Changing How Introductory Physics is Taught, 99

Experiment-Based Physics for Girls, 95

Improving the Climate in Physics Departments, 203–204

Interconnections, 10

Jump for the Sun, 170–171

Selling Girls on Physical Sciences, 96–97

Splash, 124

Teaching Internships in Physics for Undergraduates, 100

TNT Girls Go to Physics Camp, 98

Why Do Some Physics Departments Have More Women Majors?, 204–205

Pickard, Dawn M., 26

Pierce, Rebecca, 33

Pierotti, Robert A., 192

Pima Community College (PCC), 152, 153

Pinellas County School System, 115

PipeLINK, 110–111

Pitkin, Patricia, 44

Pittendrigh, Adele S., 169

Plank, Carmen, 147

Playtime Is Science (PS), 11

Plugged In!, 106–107

PLUS Center, 20, 162

policy

Achieving Success in Academia, 213

Balancing the Equation, 212

Creeping Toward Inclusivity, 211

Equity, Science Careers, and the Changing Economy, 211

Making Engineering More Attractive as a Career, 203

Washington State Gender Equity Project, 184

What Works in After-School Science, 181

Pollina, Ann, 28, 191

Pollock, Lori L., 105

Pomponi, Shirley A., 116

Portland State University, 56, 201

posters, Putting a Human Face on Science, 41, 42

Poulton, Mary M., 143

POWER project, 91, 104

Powers, Susan E., 82

Pre-College Engineering Workshops, 85–86

Preparing At-Risk Undergraduates for Graduate School, 206–207

Price, Lynda, 175

problem-solving skills

Agents for Change and, 112

AnimalWatch and, 66
Animal World and, 67

Bioinformatics for High School and, 122

Changing How Introductory Physics is Taught and, 99

Connections and, 180

Engineering Lessons in Animated Cartoons and, 85

E-WOMS and, 74, 75

Family Tools and Technology and, 3, 4, 5

Feed the Mind, Nourish the Spirit and, 139

Genderwise and, 64

Girls First and, 21, 23

Jump for the Sun and, 171

Life Science Biographies and, 123

Math Camp for Deaf High School Girls and, 175

Math Enrichment for Native American Girls and, 140

MAXIMA and, 129, 130

Oceanography Camp for Girls and, 114, 115

Ole Miss Computer Camp and, 104

OPTIONS and, 49

Partners in Engineering and, 82

Science of Living Spaces and, 166

Teaching Inclusive Science and Engineering and, 89, 90

Teaching SMART and, 8

Training Graduate Students to Develop Undergraduate Research Projects and, 55

Training Model for Extracurricular Science and, 149

Triad Alliance Science Clubs and, 190

procedural questions, 198

professional development. See also teacher training

Achieving Success in Academia, 213

After-School Science PLUS, 11

Athena Project, 180, 181

Careers in Wildlife Science, 121

Coding Student Teachers' Classroom Interactions, 198–199

Collaborating Across Campuses, 214

Counseling for Gender Equity, 193–194

Creeping Toward Inclusivity, 211

Equity Initiatives in Houston, 185

FORWARD, 177

GEOS, 157

GREEN Project, 148

Hands-On Science in Rural Virginia Middle Schools, 161

Laboratory Science Camp for Dissemination Training, 167, 168

Math Camp for Deaf High School Girls, 175

MAXIMA, 128–130

Mentoring Teams of Teacher Trainers, 197

Minority Girls in the System, 142–143

Nosebag Science, 12

Opening the Horizon, 164–165

OPTIONS, 49

Project GOLD, 174

Project PRISM, 138–139

Retaining Graduate Students and Junior Faculty, 208

Retooling High School Teachers of Computer Science, 106

Science for All, 168

Science of Living Spaces and, 166

Sisters in Science, 141–142

Summer Camp for Rural High School Girls, 172

Summerscape, 31

Sweetwater Girl Power, 146, 147

TARGETS, 156

Teaching SMART, 7–8

Team Approach to Mentoring Junior Economists, 215

Training Model for Extracurricular Science, 149

Training Trainers in Rural Youth Groups, 163

Triad Alliance Science Clubs, 190

Turnage Scholars Program, 138

Weaving Gender Equity into Math Reform, 63

What Works in Programs for Girls, 179

Women's Studies and Science, 200–201

Profiles of Women in Science and Engineering, 41

Project Access, 210

project-based learning

in Agents for Change, 112, 113

in Appalachian Girls' Voices, 160

in Camp REACH, 79

in Developing Hands-On Museum Exhibits, 79

in Equity Initiatives in Houston, 185

in FORWARD, 176

in Girls RISE, 83, 84

in Hands-On Engineering Projects for Middle School Girls, 81

in OPTIONS, 49

in Partners in Engineering, 82

in Sweetwater Girl Power, 146, 147

in Techbridge, 24, 25

in Women's Images of Science and Engineering, 125

Project EDGE, 44

Project EFFECT, 36

Project GOLD, 174–175

Project Kaleidoscope, 201

Project Parity, 3

Project PRISM, 138–139

PROMISE project, 118

Prospect Park Zoo, 121

Proxima, 147

PSE&G, 34

psychology, AnimalWatch, 65, 66

publications

Balancing the Equation, 211–212

Creeping Toward Inclusivity, 210–211

Equity, Science Careers, and the Changing Economy, 211

Eyes to the Future, 46

Improving the Climate in Physics Departments, 204

Making Engineering More Attractive as a Career, 203

Profiles of Women in Science and Engineering, 41

TNT Girls Go to Physics Camp, 98

Una Mano al Futuro, 133

Why Do Some Physics Departments Have More Women Majors?, 205

Public Broadcasting Service. See PBS

Public Radio International, 159

Purdue University, 88

Puskar, Elizabeth, 171

Putting a Human Face on Science, 41–42

Q

Quakenbush, Lori, 158

Qualcomm, 147

quantitative sciences, Recruiting Women in the Quantitative Sciences, 75–76

Queens Zoo, 121

questionnaires
Breaking the Silences, 208, 209

Tutorials for Change, 206

questions, 198

quilt-making, 9

Quiroz, Arlene, 143

R

Radcliffe College, 211

Radcliffe Public Policy Institute, 211

radio

On the Air with Gender Equity, 39

Out of the Lab, 158, 159

Radio Series on Alaskan Women in Science, 158

Radio Series on Alaskan Women in Science, 158

Ramakrishna, B. L., 125

Ramakrishna, Pushpa, 125

Rand, Donna, 3

Ransome, Elizabeth W., 28

Ratner, Esther, 156

Rayman, Paula, 28, 211

Realistic Modeling Activities in Small Technical Teams, 88

real-life applications

in ACES, 120

in After-School Science PLUS, 11

in Balancing the Equation, 211–212

in Calculus Research, 72

in Camp REACH, 80

in Changing How Introductory Physics is Taught, 99

in E-WOMS, 73, 74, 75

in Experiment-Based Physics for Girls, 95

in Eyes to the Future, 46

in Family Tools and Technology, 3, 4, 5

in Girls and Technology, 28

in Girls for Planet Earth, 27

in Girls on Track, 68, 69

in GO Team!, 101

in GREEN Project, 148

in Hands-On Engineering Projects for Middle School Girls, 81

in Hands-On Science in Rural Virginia Middle Schools, 161

in Master It, 163

in Math Enrichment for Native American Girls, 140

in Oceanography Camp for Girls, 114

in Partners in Engineering, 82

in Pathways through Calculus, 73

in REALM, 117

in Science-Based Service Learning, 13

in Science in the City, 155

in Science Is for Us, 33

in Selling Girls on Physical Sciences, 96–97

in Summerscape, 30, 31

in WISE Investments, 86

REALM, 117

Recruiting Engineers in Kentucky, K-12, 87

Recruiting Women in the Quantitative Sciences, 75–76

Recruiting Women into Computer Science, 109

recruitment

Assessing Women in Engineering Programs, 89

Collaborating Across Campuses, 214

College Studies for Women on Public Assistance, 173

Developing Hands-On Museum Exhibits, 79

Education Coalition in Connecticut, 191

Futurebound, 152, 153

Get Set, Go!, 188

Guide for Recruiting and Advancing Women in Academia, 212

Hispanic Girls Learn Computer-Assisted Design—And English, 134

Improving Diversity in the Software Development Community, 110

Improving Science in a Dayton Magnet School, 137

MAXIMA, 130

Project EFFECT, 36

Recruiting Engineers in Kentucky, K-12, 87

Recruiting Women in the Quantitative Sciences, 75–76

Recruiting Women into Computer Science, 109

What's in the Box?, 107, 108

Why Do Some Physics Departments Have More Women Majors?, 204, 205

Women's Studies and Science, 200–201

WomenTech at Community Colleges, 195, 196

recycled computers, 107–108

Re-Entering the Workforce, 173–174

re-entry, 173–174

Rees, Margaret N., 119

Reid, Pamela T., 69

reinventing engineering and creating new horizons. See Camp REACH

relay service, 176

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 89, 110, 111

research experience

in Achieving Success in Academia, 213

in Apprenticeships in Science Policy, 123

in Building BRIDGES for Community College Students, 51–52

in Calculus Research, 71–72

in Community-Based Mentoring, 49, 50

in Engaged Learning, 124, 125

in FORWARD, 176, 177

in Futurebound, 152, 153

in Gender Equity Training in Teacher Education, 183

in Girls Dig it Online, 117

in Improving Science in a Dayton Magnet School, 137

in Internet Explorers, 170

in Making Computer Science Cool for Girls, 105

in Mentoring Through Crossage Research Terms, 50

in Pathways through Calculus, 73

in PipeLINK, 111

in Pre-College Engineering Workshops, 86

in Preparing At-Risk Undergraduates for Graduate School, 206, 207

in Research in Computer Science, 103

in RISE, 51

in Sisters in Sport Science, 17

in Summer Research Projects in Computer Science, 108–109

in Sweetwater Girl Power, 147

in Teaching Inclusive Science and Engineering, 90

in Training Graduate Students to Develop Undergraduate Research Projects, 54–55

in Undergraduate Research Fellowships, 54

in WISER Lab Research for First-Year Undergraduates, 52–53

in WISE Scholars Do Engineering Research, 92, 93

in WISE Women at Stony Brook, 186, 187

in WISP, 58, 59

in Women for Women, 43

in Women in Astronomy, 27

Research in Computer Science, 103
research studies

Agents for Change, 113

AnimalWatch, 66

Animal World, 67

Appalachian Girls' Voices, 159, 160

Biographical Storytelling Empowers Latinas in Math, 131–132

Breaking the Silences, 208–209

Coding Student Teachers' Classroom Interactions, 198–199

Computer Games for Mathematical Empowerment, 64–65

Early Influences on Gender Differences in Math Achievement, 61

GEMS, 193

Gender and Persistence, 205

Gender and Team Decision-Making, 90

GEOS, 157

Girls on Track, 68–69

Imagination Place, 77

Improving the Climate in Physics Departments, 204

InGEAR, 191, 192

MAXIMA, 129, 130

Minority Girls in the System, 143

Realistic Modeling Activities in Small Technical Teams, 88

Retaining Graduate Students and Junior Faculty, 208

Saturday Workshops for Middle School Girls, 145

Self-Authorship and Pivotal Transitions toward Information Technology, 113

Sissies, Tomboys, and Gender Identity, 92

Summerscape, 31–32

Testing Campus-Based Models of GRE Prep Courses, 207

Tutorials for Change, 206

What Works in Programs for Girls, 179

Why Do Some Physics Departments Have More Women Majors?, 204, 205

Why Girls Go to Whyville.net, 102–103

resource center

Collaborating Across Campuses, 214

Community-Based Mentoring, 50

Education Coalition in Connecticut, 191

Gender Equity Training in Teacher Education, 183

Girls in Science, 26

InGEAR, 192

Nosebag Science, 12

Training Trainers in Rural Youth Groups, 163

What Works in After-School Science, 181

resource guide

After-School Science PLUS, 11

Community-Based Mentoring, 49

Education Coalition in Connecticut, 191

Girls and Technology, 28

Guide for Recruiting and Advancing Women in Academia, 212

Weaving Gender Equity into Math Reform, 63

Retaining Graduate Students and Junior Faculty, 207–208

retention

Assessing Women in Engineering Programs, 89

Balancing the Equation, 212

Calculus Research, 71

Changing How Introductory Physics is Taught, 99

Collaborating Across Campuses, 214

Community-Based Mentoring, 50

Counseling for Gender Equity, 194

Creeping Toward Inclusivity, 210–211

Developing Visualization Skills, 91

Education Coalition in Connecticut, 191

Futurebound, 152, 153

Gender and Persistence, 205

Girls on Track, 68

Guide for Recruiting and Advancing Women in Academia, 212

InGEAR, 191–192

Mentoring Teams of Teacher Trainers, 197

MentorNet, 48

Pathways through Calculus, 73

Project EFFECT, 36

Recruiting Women into Computer Science, 109

Retaining Graduate Students and Junior Faculty, 207–208

Retooling High School Teachers of Computer Science, 106

Role Models Change Hispanic Girls' Job Aspirations, 131

Teaching Internships in Physics for Undergraduates, 100

Undergraduate Research Fellowships, 54

What's in the Box?, 108

Why Do Some Physics Departments Have More Women Majors?, 204, 205

WISE Beginnings, 58

WISER Lab Research for First-Year Undergraduates, 52–53

WISP, 58, 59

WomenTech at Community Colleges, 195, 196

Retention of Women Graduate Students and Early Career Academics in Science, Mathematics,

Engineering, and Technology (conference), 207–208

Retooling High School Teachers of Computer Science, 106

Reyes, Maria, 39

Reyes, Marie E., 153

Reynolds, Jerald H., 12

Rheingans, Penny, 104

Rice University, 185, 207

Rich, Adrienne, 126

Rich, Nancy C., 214

Richardson, Greer M., 17

Richter, Mary, 15

RISE, 51

risk-taking, 99, 167

Riva, Maria T., 145

Riverhead School District, 43, 187

RMSC. See Russell Mathematics and Science Center

Roanoke County, 161

Roanoke River Valley Consortium, 138

Robertson Museum and Science Center, 18

Robinson, Jean C., 54

Robinson, Tracy, 69

Robinson-Kurpius, Sharon, 156, 157

robotics

ACES, 120

Agents for Change, 111–113

Rochester Institute of Technology, 44, 175

Rockford Public School District, 85

Rockhurst College, 107

Rodger, Susan H., 111

Rodriguez, Alberto J., 130

Rogers, Jim, 171

role models

in ACES, 120

in Achieving Success in Academia, 213

in Action-WISE in Zanesville, Ohio, 161

in Adventures of Josie True, 40
in After-School ASSETS Project, 145

in After-School Science PLUS, 11

in Agents for Change, 112

in On the Air with Gender Equity, 39

in Athena Project, 181

in AWSEM, 55, 56

in Balancing the Equation, 212

in Biographical Storytelling Empowers Latinas in Math, 132

in Bioinformatics for High School, 122

in Bringing Minority High School Girls to Science, 149

in Bring Your Mother to (Engineering) School, 94

in Building BRIDGES for Community College Students, 52

in Calculate the Possibilities, 33

in Careers in Wildlife Science, 121

in Collaborating Across Campuses, 214

in Community-Based Mentoring, 50

in Computer Camp for Teachers, 105

in Developing Hands-On Museum Exhibits, 79

in Douglass Projects Pre-College Program, 34

in Engineering GOES to Middle School, 80

in Equity, Science Careers, and the Changing Economy, 211

in Equity Initiatives in Houston, 184, 185

in E-WOMS, 74, 75

in Exploring Engineering, 78

in Eyes to the Future, 45–46

in FORWARD, 177

in Futurebound, 152, 153

in GEMS, 69, 151, 152

in Get Set, Go!, 188, 189

in Girls First, 23

in Girls for Planet Earth, 27

in Girls RISE, 84

in GO Team!, 101

in Guide for Recruiting and Advancing Women in Academia, 212

in Hands-On Engineering Projects for Middle School Girls, 81

in Hands-On Science in Rural Virginia Middle Schools, 161

in How to Be a Mentor, 44, 45

in Improving the Climate in Physics Departments, 203, 204

in Integrating Math and Science with Lego Logo, 133

in Jump for the Sun, 171

in Jump Start, 115, 116

in Laboratory Science Camp for Dissemination Training, 167–168

in Latinas En Ciencia, 127, 128

in Learning Communities, 154

in Making Computer Science Cool for Girls, 105

in Master It, 163

in Math Camp for Deaf High School Girls, 175

in Math Enrichment for Native American Girls, 140

in Math Mega Camp, 61

in Oceanography Camp for Girls, 114, 115

in Ole Miss Computer Camp, 104

in Opening the Horizon, 165

in PipeLINK, 110, 111

in Profiles of Women in Science and Engineering, 41

in Project EDGE, 44

in Project EFFECT, 36

in Project GOLD, 174, 175

in Project Parity, 3

in Putting a Human Face on Science, 41, 42

in Radio Series on Alaskan Women in Science, 158

in Recruiting Engineers in Kentucky, K-12, 87

in Recruiting Women into Computer Science, 109

in Research in Computer Science, 103

in RISE, 51

in Role Models Change Hispanic Girls' Job Aspirations, 130–131

in Saturday Workshops for Middle School Girls, 145

in Science Connections, 20, 162

in Science Horizons for Girl Scouts, 14

in Science in the City, 155

in Science Is for Us, 33

in Selling Girls on Physical Sciences, 96, 97

in Single-Gender Math Clubs, 62

in Sisters in Science, 141, 142

in Southern Illinois Support Network, 37

in Splash, 124

in Student-Peer Teaching in Birmingham, Alabama, 136

in Summer Camp for Rural High School Girls, 172

in Summer Research Projects in Computer Science, 109

in Supporting Women in Geoscience, 53

in Sweetwater Girl Power, 146, 147

in TARGETS, 156

in Techbridge, 24–25

in Techgirl, 39

in Training Model for Extracurricular Science, 149

in Training Trainers in Rural Youth Groups, 163

in Training Trainers to Encourage Nontraditional Jobs, 194, 195

in Traveling Science Program, 14

in Undergraduate Research Fellowships, 54

in What's in the Box?, 108

in WISE Investments, 86

in WISE Women at Stony Brook, 186, 187

in WISP, 58, 59

in Women in Astronomy, 27

in Women Who Walk Through Time, 119

Role Models Change Hispanic Girls' Job Aspirations, 130–131

Roman, Lois, 43

Romer, Karen T., 58

Romero, Melinda, 86

Roosevelt School District, 86

Rosa, Rafael, 101

Rosamond, Frances, 147

Roscher, Nina M., 50, 123

Rose, Joan B., 115

Rosenbaum, Robert A., 191

Rosynsky, Michelle O., 34

Rothman, Frank G., 58

Rowan College of New Jersey, 201

Rowan University, 201

Roychoudhury, Anita, 33

Royer, James M., 67

Rubin, Andee, 65

Rudolph, Frederick B., 185

rural areas

Appalachian Girls' Voices in, 159, 160

Hands-On Engineering Projects for Middle School Girls in, 81

Hands-On Science in Rural Virginia Middle Schools in, 161

Hispanic Girls Learn Computer-Assisted Design—And English in, 134, 135

Internet Explorers in, 170
Jump for the Sun in, 170, 171

Laboratory Science Camp for Dissemination Training in, 167, 168

Latinas En Ciencia in, 127

Master It in, 163

Mentoring Through Crossage Research Terms in, 50

Ole Miss Computer Camp in, 104

Opening the Horizon in, 164–165

Out of the Lab in, 158, 159

Partners in Engineering in, 82

Pre-College Engineering Workshops in, 85

Research in Computer Science in, 103

Science Connections in, 20, 162

Science for All in, 168, 169

Science of Living Spaces in, 166

Southern Illinois Support Network in, 37

Summer Camp for Rural High School Girls in, 172

Teaching SMART in, 7

Training Trainers in Rural Youth Groups in, 163

Turnage Scholars Program in, 138

WISER Lab Research for First-Year Undergraduates in, 52–53

WISP in, 59

Ruscher, Paul H., 117

Russell Mathematics and Science Center (RMSC), 136

Rutgers University, 5, 34, 89, 90, 151, 152

S

Saab, Paulette, 97

Sadker, David, 44, 84, 192

Sadker, Myra, 44, 84, 192

Sahuaro Girl Scout Council, 142, 143

Salk, Jonas, 158

Salt River Project, 86

Sam Houston Elementary School, 182

Sanders, Jo, 183, 184, 197

San Diego County Water Authority, 147

San Diego Science Alliance, 146, 147

San Diego Science Educators Association, 147

San Diego State University, 147

Sandy, Mary L., 194

Sanford, Beverly, 12

San Francisco Unified School District, 190

San Jose State University Foundation, 48

Santa Clara University, 179

Santer, Jennifer, 84

Santos, Maria, 190

SAT prep course, Animal World, 67

Saturday Academy, 55–56

Saturday programs

AWSEM, 55–56

Get Set, Go!, 189

GREEN Project, 148

Saturday Workshops for Middle School Girls, 145

Turnage Scholars Program, 138

Saturday Workshops for Middle School Girls, 145

Scantlebury, Kathryn, 199

Schadler, Linda S., 80

Schlagter, Cynthia, 18

Schmidt, Janet A., 51

Schmidt, Linda C., 51

scholarships

Collaborating Across Campuses, 214

Counseling for Gender Equity, 194

FORWARD, 177

Project EFFECT, 36

Science for All, 168, 169

Student-Peer Teaching in Birmingham, Alabama, 136

WISE Women at Stony Brook, 186, 187

school-based program

Counseling for Gender Equity, 194

Single-Gender Math Clubs, 62

Triad Alliance Science Clubs, 190

School of the Americas, 131, 132

School-to-Work Office, 195

School-to-Work Opportunities Act, 194

school-to-work program, Training Trainers to Encourage Nontraditional Jobs, 195

Schull, Diantha, 77

Schultz, Klaus, 66

science, math, and relevant technology. See SMART

Science and Technology Task Force, 201

Science at Home, 172

Science-Based Service Learning, 13

science clubs

in AWSEM, 55–56

in Equity Initiatives in Houston, 185

in Get Set, Go!, 188, 189

in Girls First, 21, 23

in Girls in Science, 26

in Latinas En Ciencia, 127, 128

in REALM, 117

in Science for All, 169

in Science Is for Us, 33

in Summer Camp for Rural High School Girls, 172

in Sweetwater Girl Power, 146, 147

in Traveling Science Program, 14

in Triad Alliance Science Clubs, 189–190

in Turnage Scholars Program, 138

in WISE Women at Stony Brook, 186, 187

Science Connections, 20–21, 162

science exhibits, Experiment-Based Physics for Girls, 95

Science for All, 168–169

Science Horizons for Girl Scouts, 14

Science in the City, 155

Science in the Lab, 172

Science Is for Us, 33

Science Museum of Minnesota, 98, 145

Science of Living Spaces, 166

science policy, 123

science skills, College Studies for Women on Public Assistance, 173

SciMaTEC, 15

Scott, Patrick B., 130

J. L. Scott Marine Education Center and Aquarium, 116

SCROUNGE, 107

Seattle Pacific University, 184

Seattle University, 124, 184

SECME Inc., 83–84, 84

Selby, Cecily, 211

self-assessment

in Appalachian Girls' Voices, 160
in Changing How Introductory Physics is Taught, 99

in GEMS, 151

self-authorship, 113

Self-Authorship and Pivotal Transitions toward Information Technology, 113

self-confidence

AnimalWatch and, 65, 66

Appalachian Girls' Voices and, 160

Bringing Minority High School Girls to Science and, 149, 150

Camp REACH and, 79, 80

Changing Faculty Through Learning Communities and, 202

Changing How Introductory Physics is Taught and, 99

Collaborating Across Campuses and, 214

Community-Based Mentoring and, 49, 50

Designing with Virtual Reality Technology and, 101, 102

Early Influences on Gender Differences in Math Achievement and, 61

Education Coalition in Connecticut and, 191

E-WOMS and, 75

Experiment-Based Physics for Girls and, 95

Exploring Engineering and, 78

Eyes to the Future and, 46

FEMME Continuum and, 19

FORWARD and, 176, 177

GEMS and, 69, 151, 152

Gender and Team Decision-Making and, 90

Genderwise and, 64

GEOS and, 157

Girls and Technology and, 28

Girls First and, 22–23

Girls RISE and, 84

Hispanic Girls Learn Computer-Assisted Design—And English and, 134, 135

Improving the Climate in Physics Departments and, 203, 204

Jump for the Sun and, 171

Jump Start and, 116

Laboratory Science Camp for Dissemination Training and, 168

Latinas En Ciencia and, 127, 128

Master It and, 163

Math Camp for Deaf High School Girls and, 175

Mentoring Through Crossage Research Terms and, 50

MentorNet and, 48

Minority Girls in the System and, 143

Mountaineering After-School and Summer Camps and, 15, 16

New Courses to Draw Women into Science and Engineering and, 200

Nosebag Science and, 12

Ole Miss Computer Camp and, 104

OPTIONS and, 49

PipeLINK and, 111

Preparing At-Risk Undergraduates for Graduate School and, 207

Project EFFECT and, 36

Project GOLD and, 174, 175

Project Parity and, 3

Recruiting Women into Computer Science and, 109

Re-Entering the Workforce and, 173

Role Models Change Hispanic Girls' Job Aspirations and, 131

Science for All and, 169

Science Horizons for Girl Scouts and, 14

Science of Living Spaces and, 166

Selling Girls on Physical Sciences and, 97

Shampoos Etc! and, 18

Single-Gender Math Clubs and, 62

SMART and, 5, 6

Student-Peer Teaching in Birmingham, Alabama and, 136

Summerscape and, 31

Supporting Women in Geoscience and, 53

TARGETS and, 156

Teaching Internships in Physics for Undergraduates and, 100

Teaching SMART and, 8

Techbridge and, 24, 25

Telementoring Teens and, 47

TNT Girls Go to Physics Camp and, 98

Triad Alliance Science Clubs and, 189, 190

Undergraduate Research Fellowships and, 54

What's in the Box? and, 108

WISE Beginnings and, 58

Womenwin and, 71

self-efficacy

RISE and, 51

WISE Scholars Do Engineering Research and, 93

Selling Girls on Physical Sciences, 96–97

Selzer-Boddy, Inc., 163

seminars

Achieving Success in Academia, 213

Action-WISE in Zanesville, Ohio, 160

Building BRIDGES for Community College Students, 52

Community-Based Mentoring, 49, 50

FORWARD, 176, 177

Futurebound, 152, 153

Gender Equity Training in Teacher Education, 183

Laboratory Science Camp for Dissemination Training, 168

Preparing At-Risk Undergraduates for Graduate School, 206, 207

Project EFFECT, 36

Recruiting Women in the Quantitative Sciences, 76

Science for All, 169

Teaching Inclusive Science and Engineering, 89, 90

Washington State Gender Equity Project, 184

WISE Scholars Do Engineering Research, 93

Women's Studies and Science, 201

Sequoia, 23

Seraphin, Surapan, 143

service learning

in Camp REACH, 80

in Girls for Planet Earth, 27

in Out of the Lab, 158, 159

in Project PRISM, 139

in Science-Based Service Learning, 13

in Traveling Science Program, 14

Severin, Laura R., 205

Seymour, Robert G., 160

Shagbark Council of the Girl Scouts, 37

Shaikh, Rashid A., 211

Shailor, Barbara A., 90

Shakeshaft, Charol S., 148

Shampoos Etc!, 17–18

Shaw, Kimberly, 125

Shea, Sandra L., 37

Shelby County Schools, 49

Sheldon Jackson Collegge, 159

Sher, Lawrence, 72

Shortridge, Ray, 118
Shulman, Bonnie, 41

Shultz, Harris S., 73

Sigford, Ann, 20, 98, 162

sign-language interpreters, 175, 176, 177

Sikes, Marilynn, 12

Simmons, Brenda, 84

Single-Gender Math Clubs, 62

single-sex groups

for Hispanics, 130

math clubs, 62

vs. mixed-sex groups, 32

on sensitive issues, 190

Singley, Carol, 152

SIROW. See Southwest Institute for Research on Women

SISEM. See Southern Illinois Science, Engineering and Math

Sissies, Tomboys, and Gender Identity, 91–92

Sisters in Science, 141–142, 148

Sisters in Sport Science, 16–17

site visits

Guide for Recruiting and Advancing Women in Academia, 212

Improving the Climate in Physics Departments, 204

Why Do Some Physics Departments Have More Women Majors?, 205

SIUC. See Southern Illinois University at Carbondale

Skidmore, Linda, 212

Slaughter, Gayle, 207

Sloan Foundation, 41, 42, 49, 133

small group instructional diagnosis, 100

SMART, 5–6, 189, 206

SMART GIRL, 69

Smiley Middle School, 145

Smith, Andrea M. Zardetto, 14

Smith, Bruce W., 109

Smith, Page, 51

Smith University, 177

SMSU. See Southwest Missouri State University

Smullen, Stephanie, 120

Snow, Lisa, 130

Snyder, H. David, 177

social relevance, 28

social science, GEMS, 69

Society of Women Engineers (SWE), 78, 82, 107, 203

sociology, Earth Systems, 118, 119

software

Adventures of Josie True, 40

AnimalWatch, 66

Animal World, 67

development of, 110

gender-neutral, 28, 106

for girls, 40, 102–103

Improving Diversity in the Software Development Community, 110

math-tutoring, 65–66, 67

Solar Energy Association of Oregon, 56

Song, Xueshu, 85

Sorber, Patricia, 145

Sorensen, Charlene, 177

South Bay Union School District, 7

Southern Illinois Science, Engineering and Math (SISEM), 37

Southern Illinois Support Network, 37

Southern Illinois University at Carbondale (SIUC), 37

Southern Illinois University at Carbondale's College of Engineering, 37

Southern Illinois University at Carbondale's School of Medicine, 37

Southern Illinois University at Carbondale's University Women's Professional Advancement, 37

Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, 124, 125

South Mountain Community College, 86

Southwest Baptist University, 165

Southwestern Bell, 107

Southwest Institute for Research on Women (SIROW), 143, 209

Southwest Missouri State University (SMSU), 164, 165

space, ACES, 120

spatial skills

Animal World and, 67

Early Influences on Gender Differences in Math Achievement and, 61

Girls and Technology and, 28

Girls First and, 21, 23

Realistic Modeling Activities in Small Technical Teams and, 88

Spelman College, 207

Spertus, Ellen, 25

SPIE. See International Society for Optical Engineering

Splash, 124

sports-based learning

in FEMME Continuum, 19

in Girls on Track, 68, 69

in Sisters in Sport Science, 16–17

Sprung, Barbara, 11

SSI Math Renaissance Project, 63

St. Joseph College, 191

St. Lawrence University, 201

St. Louis Science Center, 37

St. Lucie School District, 116

St. Martin's College, 184

St. Paul Public Schools, 175

staff training. See also professional development; teacher training

After-School Science PLUS, 11

Nosebag Science, 12

Project GOLD, 175

TNT Girls Go to Physics Camp, 98

Turnage Scholars Program, 138

standardized testing, 63

Stanley Isaacs Neighborhood Center, 11

Staten Island Technical School (SSTI), 109

State of Flodia Division of Emergency Management, 116

State University of New York at Albany, 39

State University of New York at Binghampton, 18, 81

State University of New York at Buffalo, 40

State University of New York at Stony Brook, 42, 43, 54–55, 186–187

State University of New York at Stony Brook Center for Biotechnology, 55

State University of New York at Stony Brook Collaborative Laboratories, 55

State University of New York at Stony Brook College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, 43

statistics, Recruiting Women in the Quantitative Sciences, 76

Steele, Diane F., 75

Steiner, Mary Ann, 145

Steinfeld, Edith, 43, 186, 187

Stevens Institute of Technology, 213

Stewart, Abigail J., 69

Stoddart, Patricia L., 133

storytelling, Biographical Storytelling Empowers Latinas in Math, 131–132

strategy skills, Early Influences on Gender Differences in Math Achievement, 61

"Stream Team," 13
Streinu, Ileana, 177

Student Computer Recycling to Offer Underrepresented Groups in Education, 107

Student Computing Services, 36

Student-Peer Teaching in Birmingham, Alabama, 136

study groups

Connections, 179

E-WOMS, 74–75

Learning Communities, 153, 154

Re-Entering the Workforce, 174

WISE Beginnings, 58

WISE Women at Stony Brook, 187

Sturm, Deborah, 109

Subramaniam, Banu, 209

suburban areas, 127

Sullivan, Kathleen, 124

Summer Camp for Rural High School Girls, 172

SummerMath, 64, 175

summer program

ACES, 120

Action-WISE in Zanesville, Ohio, 160, 161

Agents for Change, 112

Apprenticeships in Science Policy, 123

Athena Project, 180–181

Bioinformatics for High School, 122

BUGS, 182

Calculate the Possibilities, 33

Camp REACH, 79–80

Computer Camp for Teachers, 105

Connections, 179, 180

Counseling for Gender Equity, 193

Douglass Projects Pre-College Program, 34

Engaged Learning, 124, 125

Feed the Mind, Nourish the Spirit, 139

FEMME Continuum, 19

GEMS, 151

GEMS and, 69

Genderwise, 64

Girls on Track and, 68

Girls RISE, 83

GREEN Project, 147–148

Hands-On Engineering Projects for Middle School Girls, 81

Hands-On Science in Rural Virginia Middle Schools, 161

Improving Science in a Dayton Magnet School, 137

Internet Explorers, 170

Jump Start, 116

Laboratory Science Camp for Dissemination Training, 167, 168

Making Computer Science Cool for Girls, 104, 105

Making Connections, 9

Master It, 163

Math Camp for Deaf High School Girls and, 175

Math Enrichment for Native American Girls, 140

Math Mega Camp, 61

MAXIMA, 129

Minority Girls in the System, 142–143

Mountaineering After-School and Summer Camps, 16

OPTIONS, 48

Pathways through Calculus, 73

PipeLINK, 111

Plugged In!, 107

Pre-College Engineering Workshops and, 85, 86

Preparing At-Risk Undergraduates for Graduate School, 206

Project EDGE, 44

Project GOLD, 175

Project PRISM, 139

Research in Computer Science, 103

Retooling High School Teachers of Computer Science, 106

Science Connections, 20, 162

Science for All, 168, 169

Science of Living Spaces, 166

Selling Girls on Physical Sciences, 97

Sisters in Science, 141

Southern Illinois Support Network, 37

Splash, 124

Student-Peer Teaching in Birmingham, Alabama, 136

Summer Camp for Rural High School Girls, 172

Summer Research Projects in Computer Science, 108–109

Summerscape, 30–32

Sweetwater Girl Power and, 146, 147

Techbridge and, 24, 25

Tech Trek, 15

TNT Girls Go to Physics Camp, 98

Turnage Scholars Program, 138

Undergraduate Research Fellowships, 54

WISE Women at Stony Brook, 186

Women for Women, 43

Women's Images of Science and Engineering, 125

Summer Research Projects in Computer Science, 108–109

Summerscape, 30–32

Supporting Women in Geoscience, 53

support system

in Achieving Success in Academia, 213

in Appalachian Girls' Voices, 160

in Athena Project, 180

in AWSEM, 56

in College Studies for Women on Public Assistance, 173

in Connections, 179, 180

in Creeping Toward Inclusivity, 211

in Equity Initiatives in Houston, 185

in E-WOMS, 73, 74–75

in Futurebound, 152, 153

in Girls for Planet Earth, 27

in Hands-On Science in Rural Virginia Middle Schools, 161

in Hispanic Girls Learn Computer-Assisted Design—And English, 134, 135

in Master It, 163

in Mentoring Teams of Teacher Trainers, 197

in Nosebag Science, 12

in Re-Entering the Workforce, 174

in Role Models Change Hispanic Girls' Job Aspirations, 130

in Science Connections, 20, 162

in Telementoring Teens, 47

in Training Trainers in Rural Youth Groups, 163

survey

Changing Faculty Through Learning Communities, 202

Improving the Climate in Physics Departments, 204

New Courses to Draw Women into Science and Engineering, 200

Self-Authorship and Pivotal Transitions toward Information Technology, 113

Sissies, Tomboys, and Gender Identity, 92

surveys mathematics and research technology: girls investigate real life. See SMART GIRL
SWE. See Society of Women Engineers

Sweetwater Girl Power, 146–147

Sweetwater Union High School District, 147

Swett, John, 23

Swift Water Council of the Girl Scouts, 14

Symbol Technologies, Inc., 55

systemic reform

Breaking the Silences, 209

Creeping Toward Inclusivity, 211

Why Do Some Physics Departments Have More Women Majors?, 205

T

Talcott Mountain Science Center, 3

Tang, K. Wendy, 187

Tan-Wilson, Anna, 17, 18

Targan, David M., 58

TARGETS, 155–156, 157

Tausner, Miriam, 109

Taylor, Kimberly W., 103

teacher involvement, and SMART, 6

teacher training

Action-WISE in Zanesville, Ohio, 161

Agents for Change, 113

AnimalWatch, 66

Athena Project, 180, 181

AWSEM, 56

Biographical Storytelling Empowers Latinas in Math, 131, 132

Calculus Research, 71–72

Changing Faculty Through Learning Communities, 202

Changing How Introductory Physics is Taught, 99

Coding Student Teachers' Classroom Interactions, 198–199

Computer Camp for Teachers, 105

Education Coalition in Connecticut, 191

Engineering Lessons in Animated Cartoons, 85

Equity Initiatives in Houston, 184–185

Experiment-Based Physics for Girls, 95

Exploring Engineering, 78

Eyes to the Future, 46

Family Tools and Technology, 3, 4, 5

FORWARD, 177

GEMS, 193

Gender Equity Training in Teacher Education, 183

Genderwise, 64

GEOS, 157

Get Set, Go!, 188–189

Girls and Technology, 28–29

Girls First, 23

Girls in Science, 26

Girls on Track and, 68, 69

Girls RISE, 84

GREEN Project, 148

Hands-On Engineering Projects for Middle School Girls, 81

Hands-On Science in Rural Virginia Middle Schools, 161

Improving Diversity in the Software Development Community, 110

Improving Science in a Dayton Magnet School, 137

InGEAR, 191–192

Integrating Math and Science with Lego Logo, 133

Jump for the Sun, 170, 171

Jump Start, 116

Laboratory Science Camp for Dissemination Training, 167, 168

Learning Communities, 154

Making Connections, 9

MAXIMA, 128–130

Mentoring Teams of Teacher Trainers, 197

Mentoring Through Crossage Research Terms, 50

Minority Girls in the System, 142–143

New Courses to Draw Women into Science and Engineering, 200

Ole Miss Computer Camp, 104

Opening the Horizon, 164–165

OPTIONS, 48–49

Out of the Lab, 159

Plugged In!, 107

Pre-College Engineering Workshops, 85

Project EDGE, 44

Project EFFECT, 36

Project Parity, 3

Project PRISM, 138–139

Recruiting Engineers in Kentucky, K-12, 87

Recruiting Women into Computer Science, 109

Retooling High School Teachers of Computer Science, 106

RISE, 51

Science Connections, 20, 162

Science for All, 168, 169

Science Is for Us, 33

Science of Living Spaces, 166

Selling Girls on Physical Sciences, 97

Shampoos Etc!, 17

Sisters in Science, 141–142

SMART, 6

Southern Illinois Support Network, 37

Student-Peer Teaching in Birmingham, Alabama, 136

Summer Camp for Rural High School Girls, 172

Summerscape and, 30–32

Sweetwater Girl Power, 146, 147

Teaching Inclusive Science and Engineering, 89, 90

Teaching Internships in Physics for Undergraduates, 100

Teaching SMART, 7–8

Techbridge and, 25

Training Graduate Students to Develop Undergraduate Research Projects, 54–55

Training Trainers to Encourage Nontraditional Jobs, 194–195

Triad Alliance Science Clubs, 189–190

Turnage Scholars Program, 138

Washington State Gender Equity Project, 183–184

Weaving Gender Equity into Math Reform, 63

What's in the Box?, 107–108

WISE Investments, 86

Women's Images of Science and Engineering, 125

Women's Studies and Science, 200–201

Teaching Inclusive Science and Engineering, 89–90

Teaching Integrated Mathematics and Science (TIMS) Project, 63

Teaching Internships in Physics for Undergraduates, 100

Teaching SMART, 7–8

Team Approach to Mentoring Junior Economists, 215

teamwork

in ACES, 120

in Bringing Minority High School Girls to Science, 149, 150

in Bring Your Mother to (Engineering) School, 94

in Camp REACH, 79, 80
in FEMME Continuum, 19

in FORWARD, 176

in Gender and Team Decision-Making, 90

in Girls and Technology, 29

in Girls Dig it Online, 117

in Girls on Track, 68

in Girls RISE, 84

in GREEN Project, 148

in Making Computer Science Cool for Girls, 104, 105

in Mentoring Through Crossage Research Terms, 50

in Mountaineering After-School and Summer Camps, 16

in Pre-College Engineering Workshops, 85–86

in Realistic Modeling Activities in Small Technical Teams, 88

in Recruiting Engineers in Kentucky, K-12, 87

in RISE, 51

in Single-Gender Math Clubs, 62

in Splash, 124

in Summer Research Projects in Computer Science, 109

in Teaching Internships in Physics for Undergraduates, 100

in Team Approach to Mentoring Junior Economists, 215

in TNT Girls Go to Physics Camp, 98

in WISE Women at Stony Brook, 186, 187

in Women in Astronomy, 27

Teasdale, Jean A., 86

Tebbens, Sarah F., 115

Techbridge, 23–25

Tech Corps, 196

Techgirl, 39

Technical Education Research Centers. See TERC, Inc.

technical interpreting, 176

technical skills, What's in the Box?, 108

technology. See also computer skills; information technology

Girls and Technology, 28–29

Techbridge, 23–25

What's in the Box?, 107–108

WomenTech at Community Colleges, 196

Technology Museum of Innovation, 61

Tech Star seminars, 36

Tech Trek, 15

TEKS. See Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills

telementoring. See electronic mentoring

Telementoring Teens, 47

television

Imagination Place, 77

Tech Trek, 15

Temple College of Technology and Engineering, 17

Temple University, 17, 108, 141, 142

TERC, Inc., 45, 46, 62, 63, 65, 193

Testing Campus-Based Models of GRE Prep Courses, 207

Texaco and Texaco Foundation, 203

Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science, 182

Texas A&M University, 200, 202

Texas A&M University College of Science, 202

Texas Center for Educational Technology, 182

Texas Engineering Experiment Station, 200

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), 185

Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, 185

Texas Southern University, 207

Texas Woman's University, 207

Thigpen, George, 138

Thompson, Mary H., 56

Thompson, Robert J., 76

Thornhill Elementary Schools and Claremont, 23

Thornton, Constance, 84

Thorsen, Carolyn C., 31, 192

3M, 97

Three Village School District, 187

Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve, 147

TIMS Project, 63

TNT Girls Go to Physics Camp, 98

tomboys, 91–92

tools, TNT Girls Go to Physics Camp, 98

Tooney, Nancy M., 50, 174

toy factory, 96

Tracy, Dyanne M., 26

trainer training. See professional development; teacher training

Training Graduate Students to Develop Undergraduate Research Projects, 54–55

Training Model for Extracurricular Science, 149

Training Trainers in Rural Youth Groups, 163

Training Trainers to Encourage Nontraditional Jobs, 194–195

transactional writing

Biographical Storytelling Empowers Latinas in Math, 131–132

Womenwin, 70–71

transition points, Self-Authorship and Pivotal Transitions toward Information Technology, 113

Traveling Science Program, 14

Treisman, Uri, 71, 153

Trevisian, Michael S., 16

Triad Alliance Science Clubs, 189–190

TRW and TRW Foundation, 203

Tubbs, Laura E., 44

Tufts University, 79

Tunstall, Margaret E., 149

Turnage Scholars Program, 138

Turrell Fund, 34

Turtle Mountain Community College, 140

Tuskorara Intermediate Unit, 177

Tutorials for Change, 206

21st Century Mathematics Center for Urban Schools, 142

Tyler-Wood, Tandra L., 182

U

UA. See University of Arizona

UCSMP Everyday Learning Center, 63

UM-GIRL, 69

Una Mano al Futuro, 133

Undergraduate Research Fellowships, 54

underprivileged girls

Action-WISE in Zanesville, Ohio for, 160, 161

After-School ASSETS Project for, 145

Appalachian Girls' Voices for, 159

BUGS for, 182

College Studies for Women on Public Assistance for, 173

Enhancing "Expanding Your Horizons" for, 144

Exploring Engineering for, 78

GEMS for, 151, 152

Girls Dig it Online for, 117, 118

GO Team! for, 101

GREEN Project for, 147–148
Hands-On Science in Rural Virginia Middle Schools for, 161

Imagination Place for, 77

Laboratory Science Camp for Dissemination Training for, 167, 168

Mentoring Through Crossage Research Terms for, 50

Minority Girls in the System for, 142–143

Ole Miss Computer Camp for, 104

Out of the Lab for, 158, 159

Partners in Engineering for, 82

Science Connections for, 20, 162

Science in the City for, 155

Science Is for Us for, 33

Southern Illinois Support Network for, 37

Sweetwater Girl Power for, 146

Uniondale Union Free School District, 148

Union-Endicott School District, 18

United Connecticut for Women in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering, 191

United Neighborhood House of New York, 11

United States Geological Survey, 115

The Universe Is in My Face, 10

University Hills Elementary School, 130

University of Alabama Psychology Department, 136

University of Arizona (UA), 142, 143, 152, 153, 200, 201, 208, 209

University of Arkansas, 53

University of California at Berkeley, 153

University of California at Long Beach, 201

University of California at Los Angeles, 42

University of California at Riverside, 180, 181

University of California at San Diego, 147

University of California at San Francisco, 189, 190

University of California at Santa Barbara, 63

University of California at Santa Cruz, 133

University of Delaware, 104, 105, 199

University of Denver, 145

University of Florida, 52, 114

University of Georgia, 191, 192

University of Georgia Research Foundation Inc., 61

University of Houston, 207

University of Idaho, 85, 86

University of Illinois at Chicago, 201

University of Illinois at Chicago's Institute for Mathematics and Science Education, 63

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 214

University of Iowa, 14

University of Kentucky, 87

University of Louisiana at Monroe, 103

University of Louisville, 87

University of Maryland, 51

University of Massachusetts at Amherst, 65, 66, 67

University of Memphis, 99

University of Michigan, 45, 69

University of Minnesota, 174

University of Minnesota at Duluth, 98

University of Minnesota at Twin Cities, 175

University of Minnesota General College, 175

University of Minnesota's Computer Accommodations Program, 175

University of Mississippi, 104

University of Missouri at Columbia, 89, 95, 96, 97

University of Missouri at Columbia Department of Industrial Engineering, 97

University of Missouri at Columbia Women in Engineering Programs, 89

University of Nevada at Las Vegas, 119

University of North Texas (UNT), 182

University of Oregon, 40

University of Pennsylvania, 111, 113

University of Puget Sound, 184

University of Rhode Island, 201

University of Rochester, 100

University of Southern Mississippi, 116

University of South Florida, 115

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, 120

University of Texas at Austin, 89, 153

University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), 130, 131

University of Toledo, 15

University of Utah, 119

University of Washington, 13, 44, 45, 172, 184

University of Washington, Center for Workforce Development, 45

University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point, 105, 153, 154

University System of Georgia, 31

upper-level questions, 198

urban areas

Appalachian Girls' Voices in, 159, 160

Education Coalition in, 191

Eyes to the Future in, 46

GEMS in, 69, 151, 152

Girls RISE in, 83, 84

GO Team! in, 101

Latinas En Ciencia in, 127

Making Connections in, 9

Project Parity in, 3

Science in the City in, 155

Sisters in Science in, 141–142

Sisters in Sport Science in, 16

Student-Peer Teaching in, 136

Techbridge in, 24

U.S. Navy, 147

using mathematics: girls investigate real life. See UM-GIRL

Usselman, Marion, 31

UTC Challenger Center, 120

UTSA. See University of Texas at San Antonio

UV beads, 165

V

Valencia Community College, 51–52

Valian, Virginia, 206

Valley View Elementary School, 130

Vasquez, Juan, 196

Vergun, Judith, 41

Verizon Foundation, 34

Vernon, Mitzi R., 10

Vickroy, Marcia, 22

video

Counseling for Gender Equity, 193

Girls and Technology, 28

Girls in Science, 26

GREEN Project, 148

MAXIMA, 129

Self-Authorship and Pivotal Transitions toward Information Technology, 113

Techbridge, 24

Tech Trek, 15

Training Trainers to Encourage Nontraditional Jobs, 194, 195
Turnage Scholars Program, 138

Women in Astronomy, 26–27

Women Who Walk Through Time, 119

Video Case Studies Project, 63

videoconferencing

BUGS, 182

FORWARD, 177

Washington State Gender Equity Project, 183

videoconferencing relay service, 176

video games, 104

Vietnamese girls, 151

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 10, 113, 161, 193, 194

Virginia Space Grant Consortium, 161, 194

Virginia Tech Center for Organizational and Technology Achievement, 194

Virginia Tech Continuing Education Department, 194

virtual reality technology, 101–102

VisionLand, 136

visualization skills, Developing Visualization Skills, 91

visually impaired girls, 22

Vouk, Mladen A., 69

VR Visions, 102

W

Wadia-Fascetti, Sara, 180

Wagner, Michael G., 39

Wake County Public Schools, 69

Wake Forest University, 188, 189

Wakhungu, Judi Wangalwa, 108

Walker, Ellen L., 111

Walker, Sharon H., 116

Wallace, Joy M., 14

Walnut Grove Junior/Senior High School, 165

Walters, Howard D., 116

WAMC Northeast Public Radio, 39

Warren, Betty J., 173

Washington Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, 184

Washington (CHAIN) and University City Middle School Clusters in the School District of

Philadelphia, 113

Washington County, 161

Washington Education Association, 184

Washington Elementary School District, 78

Washington Middle School District, 113

Washington Research Institute, 110, 184, 197

Washington Science Teachers Association, 184

Washington State Council of Mathematics, 184

Washington State Gender Equity Project, 183–184

Washington State University (WSU), 15, 16, 36, 138, 139, 184

Washington State University's Center for Teaching and Learning, 36

Washington State University Spokane's City Lab, 16

water

Engaged Learning, 124–125

GREEN Project, 147

Splash, 124

Watkins, Laura, 180

Watson, Karan L., 200, 202

Watson School of Engineering, 81

Wayang Outpost, 67

Wayne State University, 69

Weaver, Gerald F., 113

Weaving Gender Equity into Math Reform, 63

Weber, Lynn, 99

website

BUGS, 182

Counseling for Gender Equity, 194

Designing with Virtual Reality Technology, 102

Engineering Lessons in Animated Cartoons, 85

Eyes to the Future, 45–46

GEMS, 69

Girls Dig it Online, 117–118

GO Team!, 101

Imagination Place, 77

Improving Diversity in the Software Development Community, 110

Internet Explorers, 170

Math Mega Camp, 61

Plugged In!, 106–107

Putting a Human Face on Science, 41–42

Techgirl, 39

Telementoring Teens, 47

TNT Girls Go to Physics Camp, 98

Weaving Gender Equity into Math Reform, 63

What Works in Programs for Girls, 179

Why Girls Go to Whyville.net, 103

Whyville.net, 102–103

WISE Beginnings, 57

Women's Images of Science and Engineering, 125

WomenTech at Community Colleges, 195–196

Women Who Walk Through Time, 119

WEEA Equity Resource Center, 193

Weisgerber, R. A., 175

welfare, College Studies for Women on Public Assistance, 173

Wellesley College, 28, 207

Welty, Claire, 80

WEPAN. See Women in Engineering Programs & Advocates Network

Wesleyan College, 207

Wesleyan University Women in Science, 191

WestEd, 193

Western Kentucky University (WKU), 87

Western Kentucky University Department of Engineering, 87

Western Kentucky University Women's Studies, 87

Western Triad Science and Mathematics Alliance (WTSAMA), 163, 188

Western Washington University, 184

Westover School, 191

Wetterhahn, Karen E., 59

WGTE TV-FM, 15

What's in the Box?, 107–108

What Works in After-School Science, 181

What Works in Programs for Girls, 179

Wheeling Jesuit University, 108

"Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?" (game), 106

Whitbeck, Chris, 46

Whiting, Donna, 31

Whitney, Gail N., 56

Whitten, Barbara L., 205

Whizbangers and Wonderments: Science Activities for Young People, 165

Why Do Some Physics Departments Have More Women Majors?, 204–205

Why Girls Go to Whyville.net, 102–103

Why So Slow? (Valian), 206

Whyville.net, 102–103
Widnall, Sheila, 41

Wiegand, Deborah, 13

Wigal, Cecelia, 120

Wilcox, Kimberly J., 175

Wildlife Conservation Society, 27, 121

wildlife science

Careers in Wildlife Science, 121

Girls for Planet Earth, 27

Wildlife Science Careers (WSC) program, 121

Wilds, 161

Wilhite, Kathleen, 145

Wilkins, Dawn E., 104

Wilkinson, Patricia, 72

William Marsh Rice University, 185

William Randolph Hearst Foundation, 34

Willis Junior High School, 125

Wilson, Kristin, 85

Wilson, Patricia, 125

Wilson, Paula N., 119

Wilson, Stacy S., 87

WiMSE. See Women in Math, Science, And Engineering

Winfrey, Oprah, 169

Wing, Barbara D., 165

Winters, Kathy, 120

WISE Beginnings, 57–58

Wise County, 161

WISE Institute, 108

WISE Investments, 86

WISE programs, 14, 39, 43, 44–45, 87, 107, 152, 153, 187

WISER Lab Research for First-Year Undergraduates, 52–53

WISE Scholars Do Engineering Research, 92–93

WISE summer camps, 37

WISE Women at Stony Brook, 186–187

WISP, 14, 52, 54, 58–59

WITI. See Women in Technology International

WKU. See Western Kentucky University

Women and Girls Support Network, 37

Women for Women, 43

Women in Astronomy, 26–27

Women in Engineering, 80

Women in Engineering Programs & Advocates Network (WEPAN), 45, 203, 213

Women in Math, Science, And Engineering (WiMSE), 36

Women in Science and Engineering Project, 205

Women in Science Project. See WISP

Women in Technology International (WITI), 56

Women Life Scientists: Past, Present, and Future—Connecting Role Models in the Classroom

Curriculum, 122, 165

Women of Color Consortium at University of Arizona, 153

Women's Images of Science and Engineering, 125

women's studies

Changing Faculty Through Learning Communities, 202

Earth Systems, 118–119

Get Set, Go!, 189

Learning Communities, 154

New Courses to Draw Women into Science and Engineering, 200

Teaching Inclusive Science and Engineering, 89, 90

Women's Studies and Science, 200–201

Women's Studies and Science, 200–201

WomenTech at Community Colleges, 195–196

WomenTech Career Expo, 195

WomenTechWorld.org, 196

Women Who Walk Through Time, 119

Womenwin, 70–71

Wong, Peter Y., 79

Woodbury, Peter, 196

Woolf, Beverly P., 66, 67

Worchester Polytechnic Institute, 80

work experience, College Studies for Women on Public Assistance, 173

workshops

Appalachian Girls' Voices, 159, 160

Biographical Storytelling Empowers Latinas in Math, 132

BUGS, 182

Camp REACH, 79

Changing How Introductory Physics is Taught, 99

Collaborating Across Campuses, 214

Computer Camp for Teachers, 105

Designing with Virtual Reality Technology, 101

Developing Visualization Skills, 91

Douglass Projects Pre-College Program, 34

Engineering GOES to Middle School, 80

Enhancing "Expanding Your Horizons," 144

Exploring Engineering, 78

FEMME Continuum, 19

FORWARD, 176, 177

Girls in Science, 26

Girls on Track, 68

GO Team!, 101

GREEN Project, 148

Integrating Math and Science with Lego Logo, 133

Minority Girls in the System, 142

Ole Miss Computer Camp, 104

Opening the Horizon, 164–165

PipeLINK, 111

Pre-College Engineering Workshops, 85–86

Project EFFECT, 36

Project GOLD, 174, 175

Recruiting Women into Computer Science, 109

Re-Entering the Workforce, 174

RISE, 51

Saturday Workshops for Middle School Girls, 145

Science Connections, 20, 21, 162

Self-Authorship and Pivotal Transitions toward Information Technology, 113

Southern Illinois Support Network, 37

Summer Research Projects in Computer Science, 108

Summerscape, 30, 31

Sweetwater Girl Power, 146, 147

Teaching Inclusive Science and Engineering, 89

Team Approach to Mentoring Junior Economists, 215

Washington State Gender Equity Project, 184

Weaving Gender Equity into Math Reform, 63

What's in the Box?, 107–108

What Works in Programs for Girls, 179

WISE Investments, 86

WISE Scholars Do Engineering Research, 93

Women's Images of Science and Engineering, 125

Wright, Mary H., 37

Wright State University (WSU), 137

writing
Biographical Storytelling Empowers Latinas in Math, 131–132

Recruiting Women in the Quantitative Sciences, 75–76

Womenwin, 70–71

WSC program, 121

WSU. See Washington State University; Wright State University

WTSAMA. See Western Triad Science and Mathematics Alliance

Wyer, Mary, 205, 209

Wyeth, 34

Wynn, Karen, 53

Wythe County, 161

X

Xavier University, 7

Y

Yaffee, Lisa, 62

Yalow, Rosalyn, 41, 178

Yanik, Elizabeth G., 163

Yanyo, Lynn, 10

Young, John W., 90

Young, Sara, 169

Youth & Family Services, Rapid City, S.D., 7

Yu, Xiaokang, 108

"Yuk" factor, 8

Z

Zales, Charlotte R., 122

Zander, Amy K., 82

Zanesville City School District, 160, 161

Zawojewski, Judith, 88

Zia Middle School, 130

Zizelman, Nockie, 196

Zozakeiwiz, Cathy, 130

Zsoldos, Hepsi D., 115

Zymogenetics, 172