Physics colleagues,
Since many of you administer the Force Concept
Inventory to students in order to measure your
effectiveness in teaching, you might be
interested in this research.
I received the note below today from Dr. Sharon
Osborn Popp. Sharon has worked with the Modeling
Instruction Program at Arizona State University
since 1995 when she was an ASU graduate student
in educational statistics. (The 1995 FCI version
was used; and FCI posttest data are of high
school students in first-year physics classes of
teachers who had taken Modeling Workshops in the
late 1990's.) -Jane J
I quote Sharon:
The paper and powerpoint (presented at the 2011
American Educational Research Conference in New
Orleans by Sharon Osborn Popp, Colleen Megowan,
and David Meltzer) present a Differential Item
Functioning (DIF) analysis on FCI data (from over
4700 students), which looks at whether male and
female students of the same estimated ability
level perform differently on the same test items.
No evidence of systematic bias in favor of males
was found. In other words, the physics learning
gender gap for first year students is real, not
due to instrument bias meaning that researchers
can use the FCI, with confidence, as one of their
measurement tools to investigate possible
nature/nurture/instructional influences that
actually affect male/female performance.
ABSTRACT:
Persistent differences in performance between
females and males on measures of physics
conceptual learning have prompted interest in
investigating and reducing the gender gap.
Educators and researchers need to have confidence
in their interpretations of results and want to
know if observed group differences are artifacts
of test bias or due to factors like background or
instruction. A differential item functioning
(DIF) analysis was conducted on responses to a
widely used measure of conceptual learning to
assess whether properties of the test itself,
unrelated to student ability, influence
performance by gender. Findings provide evidence
that the test is not systematically biased in
favor of males. However, three items did exhibit
substantial DIF, two favoring males and one
favoring females.
--
cheers,
Jane
Jane Jackson, Co-Director, Modeling Instruction Program
Box 871504, Dept. of Physics, ASU, Tempe, AZ 85287
Jane.Jackson@asu.edu http://modeling.asu.edu
"Modeling is about making and using scientific
descriptions (models) of physical phenomena and
processes. Modeling Instruction is an inquiry
method for teaching science by actively engaging
students in all aspects of scientific modeling."
-- David Hestenes