Reducing the FCI Gender Gap

Coletta, Vincent P.

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Reducing the FCI Gender Gap

written by Vincent P. Coletta

After introducing several new elements into an introductory mechanics course for life science students, we observed a substantial reduction in the gender gap on the Force Concept Inventory (FCI). Among those students with the strongest scientific reasoning abilities, where previously the gender gap had been largest, the gender gap was completely eliminated. The course used the Thinking in Physics curriculum, an interactive engagement pedagogy aimed at developing general thinking and problem solving skills along with an understanding of physics. The new elements, designed to reduce stereotype threat and to improve the experience of female students, included giving students a self-affirmation writing exercise created by researchers at the University of Colorado, providing a learning guide, and assessing and interviewing students at the beginning of the course.

Physics Education Research Conference 2013
Part of the PER Conference series
Portland, OR: July 17-18, 2013
Pages 101-104

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Published: February 1, 2014

Subjects	Levels	Resource Types
Education - Applied Research - Active Learning - Curriculum Development = Course Education - Basic Research - Assessment = Instruments - Sample Population = Gender - Societal Issues = Gender Issues General Physics - Scientific Reasoning	- Lower Undergraduate	- Reference Material = Research study

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Format:: application/pdf
Mirror:: https://doi.org/10.1119/perc.2013…
Access Rights:: Free access
License:: This material is released under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the published article's author(s), title, proceedings citation, and DOI.
Rights Holder:: American Association of Physics Teachers
DOI:: 10.1119/perc.2013.pr.013
PACS:: 01.40.Fk
Keywords:: PERC 2013, Scientific reasoning, introductory mechanics, stereotype threat
Record Cloner:: Metadata instance created December 19, 2013 by Lyle Barbato
Record Updated:: February 1, 2014 by Lyle Barbato
Last Update when Cataloged:: December 16, 2013

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Record Link

<a href="https://www.per-central.org/items/detail.cfm?ID=13094">Coletta, Vincent. "Reducing the FCI Gender Gap." Paper presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2013, Portland, OR, July 17-18, 2013.</a>

AIP Format

V. Coletta, , presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2013, Portland, OR, 2013, WWW Document, (https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=13094&DocID=3629).

AJP/PRST-PER

V. Coletta, Reducing the FCI Gender Gap, presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2013, Portland, OR, 2013, <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=13094&DocID=3629>.

APA Format

Coletta, V. (2013, July 17-18). Reducing the FCI Gender Gap. Paper presented at Physics Education Research Conference 2013, Portland, OR. Retrieved March 15, 2025, from https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=13094&DocID=3629

Chicago Format

Coletta, Vincent. "Reducing the FCI Gender Gap." Paper presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2013, Portland, OR, July 17-18, 2013. https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=13094&DocID=3629 (accessed 15 March 2025).

MLA Format

Coletta, Vincent. "Reducing the FCI Gender Gap." Physics Education Research Conference 2013. Portland, OR: 2013. 101-104 of PER Conference. 15 Mar. 2025 <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=13094&DocID=3629>.

BibTeX Export Format

@inproceedings{ Author = "Vincent Coletta", Title = {Reducing the FCI Gender Gap}, BookTitle = {Physics Education Research Conference 2013}, Pages = {101-104}, Address = {Portland, OR}, Series = {PER Conference}, Month = {July 17-18}, Year = {2013} }

Refer Export Format

%A Vincent Coletta %T Reducing the FCI Gender Gap %S PER Conference %D July 17-18 2013 %P 101-104 %C Portland, OR %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=13094&DocID=3629 %O Physics Education Research Conference 2013 %O July 17-18 %O application/pdf

EndNote Export Format

%0 Conference Proceedings %A Coletta, Vincent %D July 17-18 2013 %T Reducing the FCI Gender Gap %B Physics Education Research Conference 2013 %C Portland, OR %P 101-104 %S PER Conference %8 July 17-18 %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=13094&DocID=3629

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