Gender bias in the force concept inventory?

Dietz, R. D.; Pearson, R. H.; Semak, M. R.; Willis, C. W.

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Gender bias in the force concept inventory?

written by R. D. Dietz, R. H. Pearson, M. R. Semak, and C. W. Willis

Could the well-established fact that males tend to score higher than females on the Force Concept Inventory (FCI) be due to gender bias in the questions? The eventual answer to the question hinges on the definition of bias. We assert that a question is biased only if a factor other than ability (in this case gender) affects the likelihood that a student will answer the question correctly. The statistical technique of differential item functioning allows us to control for ability in our analysis of student performance on each of the thirty FCI questions. This method uses the total score on the FCI as the measure of ability. We conclude that the evidence for gender bias in the FCI questions is marginal at best.

Physics Education Research Conference 2011
Part of the PER Conference series
Omaha, Nebraska: August 3-4, 2011
Volume 1413, Pages 171-174

download 95kb .pdf
Published: February 6, 2012

Subjects	Levels	Resource Types
Education - Basic Research - Assessment = Conceptual Assessment = Instruments - Research Design & Methodology = Evaluation = Statistics - Sample Population = Gender - Societal Issues = Gender Issues - Student Characteristics = Ability	- Lower Undergraduate - Graduate/Professional	- Reference Material = Research study

PER-Central Type	Intended Users	Ratings
- PER Literature	- Researchers	Currently 0.0/5 Want to rate this material? Login here!

Formats:: application/pdf
non-digital
Mirror:: https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3680022
Access Rights:: Free access and
Available for purchase; A preprint of the work is available. A hard copy of the PERC 2011 proceedings is available for purchase from the AIP.
Restriction:: © 2011 American Institute of Physics
DOI:: 10.1063/1.3680022
PACSs:: 01.40.Fk; 01.40.gf; 01.75.+m
Keywords:: PERC 2011, Physics education research, bias, differential item functioning, gender, mechanics, student understanding
Record Cloner:: Metadata instance created April 24, 2012 by Lyle Barbato
Record Updated:: March 14, 2018 by Lyle Barbato
Last Update when Cataloged:: February 6, 2012

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Record Link

<a href="https://www.per-central.org/items/detail.cfm?ID=11839">Dietz, R, R. Pearson, M. Semak, and C. Willis. "Gender bias in the force concept inventory?." Paper presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2011, Omaha, Nebraska, August 3-4, 2011.</a>

AIP Format

R. Dietz, R. Pearson, M. Semak, and C. Willis, , presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2011, Omaha, Nebraska, 2011, WWW Document, (https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=11839&DocID=2690).

AJP/PRST-PER

R. Dietz, R. Pearson, M. Semak, and C. Willis, Gender bias in the force concept inventory?, presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2011, Omaha, Nebraska, 2011, <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=11839&DocID=2690>.

APA Format

Dietz, R., Pearson, R., Semak, M., & Willis, C. (2011, August 3-4). Gender bias in the force concept inventory?. Paper presented at Physics Education Research Conference 2011, Omaha, Nebraska. Retrieved October 4, 2024, from https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=11839&DocID=2690

Chicago Format

Dietz, R, R. Pearson, M. Semak, and C. Willis. "Gender bias in the force concept inventory?." Paper presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2011, Omaha, Nebraska, August 3-4, 2011. https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=11839&DocID=2690 (accessed 4 October 2024).

MLA Format

Dietz, R. D., R. H. Pearson, M. R. Semak, and C. W. Willis. "Gender bias in the force concept inventory?." Physics Education Research Conference 2011. Omaha, Nebraska: 2011. 171-174 Vol. 1413 of PER Conference. 4 Oct. 2024 <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=11839&DocID=2690>.

BibTeX Export Format

@inproceedings{ Author = "R. D. Dietz and R. H. Pearson and M. R. Semak and C. W. Willis", Title = {Gender bias in the force concept inventory?}, BookTitle = {Physics Education Research Conference 2011}, Pages = {171-174}, Address = {Omaha, Nebraska}, Series = {PER Conference}, Volume = {1413}, Month = {August 3-4}, Year = {2011} }

Refer Export Format

%A R. D. Dietz %A R. H. Pearson %A M. R. Semak %A C. W. Willis %T Gender bias in the force concept inventory? %S PER Conference %V 1413 %D August 3-4 2011 %P 171-174 %C Omaha, Nebraska %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=11839&DocID=2690 %O Physics Education Research Conference 2011 %O August 3-4 %O application/pdf

EndNote Export Format

%0 Conference Proceedings %A Dietz, R. D. %A Pearson, R. H. %A Semak, M. R. %A Willis, C. W. %D August 3-4 2011 %T Gender bias in the force concept inventory? %B Physics Education Research Conference 2011 %C Omaha, Nebraska %V 1413 %P 171-174 %S PER Conference %8 August 3-4 %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=11839&DocID=2690

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