Abstract
This study aims to describe the similarities and differences in the science interests of males and females from Israeli and Arab Middle Eastern countries, as derived from over 1,000 science questions sent to an international ask-a-scientist site. Our findings indicate that while the stereotypical gender gap in interest persists, and significant differences were found between the age groups, no significant differences were found between science questions that were sent by Israelis and Arabs. Furthermore, no correlation was found between female participation and the state of gender equity in the country, and only 1% of the questions made any reference to country-specific, local, or religious aspects. One may conclude that science interests are gender- and age-dependent but culturally-independent in this asynchronous, open and distant science learning environment. Further research is needed in order to determine if this is a genuine attribute of science interest in ODL environments or an outcome of the digital divide in the region.
Highlights
The declining interest of students in pursuing higher science education and science-related careers is a major concern in many countries (e.g. The High Level Expert Group on Human Resources for Science and Technology in Europe, 2004; The National Commission on Mathematics and Science Teaching for the 21st Century, 2000)
In order to investigate the role played by gender and culture in an open and distant science learning environment, 1,102 questions submitted to an international ask-a-scientist site by students and teachers from Middle Eastern countries were analyzed
Among the questions sent by K-12 students, 46% (153) of the gender identifiable questions were sent by female students (Table 1)
Summary
The declining interest of students in pursuing higher science education and science-related careers is a major concern in many countries (e.g. The High Level Expert Group on Human Resources for Science and Technology in Europe, 2004; The National Commission on Mathematics and Science Teaching for the 21st Century, 2000). Interest is a powerful motivator that differs from other motivational concepts by its content specificity (Krapp, 2002) Teaching students what they want to know can be a very beneficial pedagogical strategy. The issue of students’ interests may be viewed in the context of the “pupil’s voice in education” movement, in which involving students in decisions about their life in school is an important moral and educational principle (Davie & Galloway, 1996). For all these reasons, the ability to identify students’ interests in science plays an important role in improving existing curricula to meet their needs
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