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Re: Is this OT?



On Sept. 5, Hugh Haskell posted:
"What is likely to be more effective overall in helping girls to
achieve in school (especially in science and math, where the boys
most resent their competition) would be aggressive intervention with
teachers, to make sure that they truly give girls an equal shot in
classes.... It is hard enough to overcome the boys'
attitude toward girls who excel ..."

Resentment and competition. So these are at the forefront of boys' feeling
and thinking? Why is that?

More importantly, how can these qualities be reduced, redirected, brought
into balance? I think the evidence is clear that this happens through
cooperative learning, combined with structured inquiry - as in our Modeling
Instruction Program. Modeling Instruction is being used in middle school as
well as high school, so I'm speaking here of younger kids as well as high
schoolers.

So Hugh's suggestion is a start, but we must go much further. And we must
help the boys, as Tim Folkerts says. Research-based instruction is a big
part of the answer.
cheers,
Jane





Jane Jackson, Co-Director, Modeling Instruction Program
Box 871504, Dept.of Physics & Astronomy,ASU,Tempe,AZ 85287
480-965-8438/fax:965-7331 <http://modeling.asu.edu>
"The greatest shortcoming of the human race is
our inability to understand the exponential function."
- Al Bartlett, Prof of Physics, Colorado State Univ