The Concept of a Single-sex Optional Discussion Session in Introductory Astronomy at a Publicly Funded University

Session 5 - Education.
Display session, Monday, January 13
Metropolitan Ballroom,

[5.03] The Concept of a Single-sex Optional Discussion Session in Introductory Astronomy at a Publicly Funded University

S. Shawl (U. Kansas)

The concept of single-sex education for science and mathematics has recently received renewed discussion in both the popular and professional literature. So important is the topic within higher education that the Duke Journal of Gender Law and Policy sponsored a symposium called "Gender amp; The Higher Education Classroom: Maximizing the Learning Environment" in February 1996 (http://www.duke.edu/ jrd4/djgcnf96.htm).

The concept is especially controversial in publicly supported educational institutions. The idea of offering an optional discussion session limited to a single sex in a university-level introductory astronomy course at a State-supported school was considered through discussions with a number of faculty and administrators, and through a questionnaire aimed at determining student attitudes toward the concept. The results of the student questionnaire will be presented. (While the questionnaire results will be seen to be in favor of such an optional discussion session, such sessions have not been offered.)

If you would like more information about this abstract, please follow the link to www.duke.edu/~jrd4/djgcnf96.htm. This link was provided by the author. When you follow it, you will leave the the Web space for this meeting; to return, you should use the Back button on your browser.

The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: s-shawl@ukans.edu

Program listing for Monday