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Physical Review Physics Education Research
written by Matthew Dew, Jonathan D. Perry, Lewis Ford, William Bassichis, and Tatiana L. Erukhimova
Studies examining gender differences in introductory physics show a consensus when it comes to a gender gap on conceptual assessments; however, the story is not as clear when it comes to differences in gendered performance on exams. This study examined whether gendered differences exist on midterm and final exams in introductory physics courses and if such differences were correlated with a gender difference in final course grades. The population for this study included more than 10?000 students enrolled in algebra- and calculus-based introductory physics courses between Spring 2007 and Spring 2019. We found a small but statistically significant difference, with a weak effect size, in final letter grades for only one out of four courses: algebra-based mechanics. By looking at midterm exam grades, statistically significant differences were noted for some exams in three out of four courses, with calculus-based electricity and magnetism being the exception. In all statistically significant cases, the effect size was small or weak, indicating that performance on exams and final letter grades was not strongly dependent on gender. As an added dimension examining gendered differences, we investigated if differences exist when accounting for instructor gender. Additionally, a questionnaire was administered in Fall 2019 to more than 1600 students in both introductory sequences to explore students' perceptions of performance, class contributions, and inclusion. We observed some differences between students' perception of their performance and contribution when grouped by gender, but no difference on perception of inclusion.
Physical Review Physics Education Research: Volume 17, Issue 1, Pages 010106
Subjects Levels Resource Types
Classical Mechanics
- General
Education - Basic Research
- Achievement
- Assessment
= Self Assessment
= Summative Assessment
- Research Design & Methodology
= Evaluation
= Statistics
- Sample Population
= Gender
- Societal Issues
= Gender Issues
- Student Characteristics
= Ability
General Physics
- Physics Education Research
- Lower Undergraduate
- Reference Material
= Research study
PER-Central Type Intended Users Ratings
- PER Literature
- Researchers
- Administrators
- Educators
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Rights Holder:
American Physical Society
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.17.010106
Record Creator:
Metadata instance created May 12, 2021 by Bruce Mason
Record Updated:
July 18, 2022 by Caroline Hall
Last Update
when Cataloged:
February 9, 2021
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AIP Format
M. Dew, J. Perry, L. Ford, W. Bassichis, and T. Erukhimova, , Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. 17 (1), 010106 (2021), WWW Document, (https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.17.010106).
AJP/PRST-PER
M. Dew, J. Perry, L. Ford, W. Bassichis, and T. Erukhimova, Gendered performance differences in introductory physics: A study from a large land-grant university, Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. 17 (1), 010106 (2021), <https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.17.010106>.
APA Format
Dew, M., Perry, J., Ford, L., Bassichis, W., & Erukhimova, T. (2021, February 9). Gendered performance differences in introductory physics: A study from a large land-grant university. Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res., 17(1), 010106. Retrieved February 12, 2025, from https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.17.010106
Chicago Format
Dew, M, J. Perry, L. Ford, W. Bassichis, and T. Erukhimova. "Gendered performance differences in introductory physics: A study from a large land-grant university." Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. 17, no. 1, (February 9, 2021): 010106, https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.17.010106 (accessed 12 February 2025).
MLA Format
Dew, Matthew, Jonathan D. Perry, Lewis Ford, William Bassichis, and Tatiana L. Erukhimova. "Gendered performance differences in introductory physics: A study from a large land-grant university." Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. 17.1 (2021): 010106. 12 Feb. 2025 <https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.17.010106>.
BibTeX Export Format
@article{ Author = "Matthew Dew and Jonathan D. Perry and Lewis Ford and William Bassichis and Tatiana L. Erukhimova", Title = {Gendered performance differences in introductory physics: A study from a large land-grant university}, Journal = {Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res.}, Volume = {17}, Number = {1}, Pages = {010106}, Month = {February}, Year = {2021} }
Refer Export Format

%A Matthew Dew %A Jonathan D. Perry %A Lewis Ford %A William Bassichis %A Tatiana L. Erukhimova %T Gendered performance differences in introductory physics: A study from a large land-grant university %J Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. %V 17 %N 1 %D February 9, 2021 %P 010106 %U https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.17.010106 %O text/html

EndNote Export Format

%0 Journal Article %A Dew, Matthew %A Perry, Jonathan D. %A Ford, Lewis %A Bassichis, William %A Erukhimova, Tatiana L. %D February 9, 2021 %T Gendered performance differences in introductory physics: A study from a large land-grant university %J Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. %V 17 %N 1 %P 010106 %8 February 9, 2021 %U https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.17.010106


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