Encouraging Girls into Physics

1. Encouraging Girls into Physics Terry Marsh, Ruth Merrett, UK Intel Educator Academy, Los Angeles 11th May 2011

2. Overview Why does it matter? New research into the learning process Support for trainee teachers Call to action

3. Why does it matter? The future increasingly depends on emerging technologies So each country needs the best scientists and engineers possible A large proportion of hard-to fill vacancies are Physics-based Many of the most talented girls are turning their backs on Physics-based study and careers The loss to the UK economy of under-used female talent has been estimated to be more than £2 billion

4. Why does it matter? The future increasingly depends on emerging technologies So each country needs the best scientists and engineers possible A large proportion of hard-to fill vacancies are Physics-based Many of the most talented girls are turning their backs on Physics-based study and careers The loss to the UK economy of under-used female talent has been estimated to be more than £2 billion

5. Statistics:16-year-olds The has been a large increase in the number of girls studying Physics as part of a government drive to ‘triple science’

6. Statistics:18-year-olds No equivalent increase in the number of girls continuing with Physics

7. Statistics:18-year-olds 93% of girls qualified to study Physics at advanced level walk away from it No equivalent increase in the number of girls continuing with Physics

8. Standard ways to tackle this issue Focus on the girls themselves This is only ‘shouting louder’ – more of the same is making no difference Increase emphasis on variety of careers in science/engineering Set up after school club Instigate competitions and awards ‘Girlify’ the curriculum Send out more literature

9. Why do many girls dislike Physics? • Find it boring, too much teacher talk • Find the concepts hard to understand • Find the language hard to understand • Can’t see the purpose of it • Think nobody listens to girls’ perspectives • In the WISE research no Physics lesson was remembered as ‘my best science lesson ever’

10. Try this activity Think of a school subject you did not like Take a couple of minutes to talk with your neighbour how you felt about that subject Include how you felt doing the homework Find some words you have in common

11. Common themes Feel ill, sick when thinking of the lesson Stressed when trying but not understanding ‘I’ve always hated it, always will’ Increased levels of anxiety Lacking confidence about my ability to pursue the subject further

12. What this session is about The neuroscientific body of literature ... presents affect as having primacy over cognition, and having the capability of influencing, attenuating, and even subjugating cognition. Affect is revealed as paramount in significance to human mental processes such as learning, and crucial to survival, social functioning, and human wellbeing. Neuroscientific evidence of brain/body interaction, the primacy of emotion in human functioning, and neuropsychological data of behavioural influence elicited by affect requires the attention of educational researchers, especially educational neuroscientists, and is quite likely to eventuate in some profound changes and shifts in educational theory and practice. The Somatic Appraisal Model of Affect: Paradigm for educational neuroscience and neuropedagogy_712 87..97 Kathryn E. Patten Educational Neuroscience Laboratory, Simon Fraser University

13. To get the gist of it Learning is not just a rational thing Even ‘background’ emotions can impede learning This can be observed by watching the internal functioning of the brain with MRI scans It is important that researchers work to understand these processes better Their results are likely to bring about a change in the very way we teach and learn

14. Learning and neuroscience The neuroscientific body of literature ... presents affect as having primacy over cognition, and having the capability of influencing, attenuating, and even subjugating cognition. Affect is revealed as paramount in significance to human mental processes such as learning, and crucial to survival, social functioning, and human wellbeing.

15. Learning and neuroscience Neuroscientific evidence of brain/body interaction, the primacy of emotion in human functioning, and neuropsychological data of behavioural influence elicited by affect requires the attention of educational researchers, especially educational neuroscientists, and is quite likely to eventuate in some profound changes and shifts in educational theory and practice.

16. Affective neuroscience • Affective neuroscience is the study of the neural mechanisms of emotion - what goes on in the brain when we feel • Cross disciplinary - working with • Neuroscience • Psychology • Behavioural sciences • Sports science • Proteomics • Philosophy • It is a relatively new science focussing on the brain’s Limbic system

17. The Limbic system and emotions

18. The Amygdala • Two almond shape bodies deep in the brain • Key to the formation and storage of memories associated with emotional events • They drive ‘instantaneous’ responses to ‘threat’ • physical or psychological • The ‘amygdala hijack’ • They participate in ‘emotional memory’ • Unconscious memory • Involved in the regulation of cognitive functions • E.g. attention, perception, and explicit memory • They contribute to longer term anxiety

19. The Limbic system and learning Teacher joked about my efforts after Philippe Goldin, Stanford University

20. How does this relate to girls and Physics? • Many people view particular school subjects with an immediate and negative response • This is a learned response working through the amygdala • Girls in particular are influenced by teaching which does not take the affective domain into account • Repeated unpleasant emotions associated with the subject have built this response • It could be hard to change this reaction to a particular subject by mere cognitive methods • i.e. telling students that Physics will lead to a good job • Change can only be brought about through attention to the emotional experience

21. Negative emotions in the classroom Social defeat – public humiliation Negative self-belief Specific painful social memory - I’m not good enough Self deprecation Negative rumination – brooding

22. Three related research projects • Tonbridge School/Cambridge University • mindfulness research • Max Plank Institute • Coping with psycho-social stress • Stanford University • Got an hour? Boost your grades

23. Cambridge – being aware • Ten week course with Tonbridge school • Addressing anxiety and worry inside and outside the classroom • Offering techniques to • Explore how attention works • Recognise how we ruminate and catastrophise • Be Here Now • Half the students reported positive benefits • Only 7% wanted to stop the work

24. Max Plank - coping with public stress • Trier Social Stress Test • Mock job interview • Public mental arithmetic • Errors pointed out • Participants needed positive coping strategies to avoid increased stress in subsequent testing • Largest stress responses and the longest recovery times • Feeling out of control, not knowing what will happen • Being judged as wanting – ‘social-evaluative threat’

25. Stanford - ‘people like me’ “Having a teacher say something negative to you could seem like proof that you don’t belong, and maybe evidence that your group doesn’t belong either. That feeling could lead you to work less hard and ultimately do less well.“ One hour session to explore and understand that everyone feels like that at first By writing about older students’ experiences of overcoming these feelings, students internalise and personalise 22% of those who participated were in the top quartile on graduation, as opposed to only 5% of those who did not

26. WISE created a self-reflection game

27. Common themes link to classrooms Anxiety can interfere with the task in hand The task of teaching and learning is seen as more important than the process So, results orientation can ironically sabotage the achieving of good results

28. WISE research into girls and Physics • Pupil perception of Physics teaching • Research project funded by the UKRC • Questionnaires and focus groups for pupils • Common themes • Focus group for student teachers • Gender had not been highlighted in training • The danger for them as ‘technical specialists’ to be too task oriented • Some misconceptions re encouraging girls • Output was a student teacher website addressing issues and tools

29. Remember why girls dislike Physics? • Find it boring, too much teacher talk • Find the concepts hard to understand • Find the language hard to understand • Can’t see the purpose of it • Think nobody listens to girls’ perspectives

30. Intel website for new teachers Helping trainee teachers understand the causes of unhappiness in the physics classroom Listing specific issues that research has shown to be important for girls Offering tools to overcome these issues Giving examples of approaches that have worked with other teachers

31. www.girlfriendlyphysics.co.uk

32. Message for new physics teachers Keep it interactive and practical Use analogies and metaphors Use everyday language to ‘get the gist’ Relate it to everyday life (not merely ‘careers’) Keep checking to understand the emotional experience

33. Institute of Physics has followed WISE

34. Case study Rosebery school Experienced and committed Heads of Science and Careers – open to new ideas Whole school approach Family involvement Cross-subject collaboration Older students sharing experiences with younger ones

35. Jobs of the future... • Robot designers • for homes, offices and production plants • Space tour guides • Virgin Galactic are building a spaceport in New Mexico • Fuel cell technologists • car exhaust is water • Personal genome advisors • check out people's risk to health • Ubicomp technologists • embedding everyday objects with intelligence • Airship pilot • use dirigibles and get the lorries off the roads • Nanotechnologists • build miniature machines to work in the body

36. Mentoring

37. www.postcardsfromthefuture.me

38. So, what do girls want? To feel relaxed and confident in class To participate rather than just listen and write To be able to ‘visualise their way through’ the challenges To experience success on a pretty regular basis

39. And it’s not only girls... Others suffering from “stereotype threat” Afro Caribbean boys Working class boys Pupils who disrupt classes

40. Call to action - SSTEM • Are girls opting out as they get older? • Are the girls performing as well as the boys? • Visit the Intel website • Anonymous questionnaires • Focus groups led by outsider You need to change what you do to change what is happening 1. Sign up to a School–wide approach to addressing any inequity 2. Analyse the Statistics for your school 3. Ensure ongoing Training and Development of staff 4. Acknowledge the Emotional side to learning - ask for feedback on your teaching style and effectiveness 5. Try some action research on IoPModel

41. Encouraging Girls into Physics Terry Marsh tv.marsh@virgin.net Ruth Merrett ruth.merrett@amiprint.co.uk Intel Educator Academy, Los Angeles 11th May 2011

42. References and further reading Student Teacher website - Intel Postcards from the Future - WISE (UK) Physics and Engineering Mindmaps - WISE (UK) Action Research - Institute of Physics (UK) Evaluation of Action Research - Edge Hill College (UK)