New Study on High School Students Attitudes in Science Classes

A new study from Northern Illinois University reports some interesting differences in the way high school students respond to science classes, based on their gender: male students report being more engaged by “public” activities like presentations and labs, while the female students in the study preferred more individual activities like listening to lectures and working on assignments. In addition, female students reported feeling more stress and boredom in their science classes than the male students, while the male students felt they were better skilled in the material and concentrated more in class.

(To be honest, the bit I found most concerning was the level of challenge – the average student response to how challenged they felt by the class was “a little”, and the average response was “somewhat” to the amount of new material being learned. No wonder many students feel that intro level science classes are difficult – and possibly leave science for another field…)

Are we losing too many potentially talented women scientists in high school – and how can we change that? What about your own recollection of those classes – if you felt this way in high school, what changed your mind?

Links: the initial findings report from NIU; an article on the the report from Noble Intent (Ars Technica)

Student Opportunities

Kelsi is adding student opportunities to the “Students” page of this site — go check out all the new scholarship, fellowship, award, and conference opportunities — more are posted as they come in!

Societies, professors, and students, you’re also welcome to add opportunities directly to the page — simply leave a comment over there with the relevant information and a web site for more details.

Job announcement: two positions at ASU

Well, technically three, but while I know many dual career couples in planetary science, I can’t think of any triple career couples in the field, so that’s probably not as important to our readership.

This week’s PEN newsletter had three postings from Arizona State University’s School of Earth and Space Exploration. All three are for faculty positions. More details are posted on the Planetary Exploration Newsletter website. If you’re not already a subscriber, you probably should be.

Job announcement: E/PO, DC area

Interested in sharing your knowledge of planetary science with others?

Consider a career in planetary science education and public outreach. SSAI is seeking an individual to work closely with scientists, the NASA educational community, formal and informal educators, parents, children, and the general public to develop, carry out, and lead education and public outreach programs and projects pertaining to NASA planetary and Earth science missions and programs. To learn more or to apply, please visit the following link: http://tinyurl.com/yfa9cer

Submitted by Lora Bleacher. Feel free to contact Lora by email or phone (301-286-2009) to find out more about the position.

A new voice for graduate students

We are excited today to announce a new contributor to the Women in Planetary Science Blog, Kelsi. Kelsi is going to help us increase the relevance of this blog to graduate students and postdocs as we continue to roll out features relevant for early-, mid-, and late-career planetary scientists. Kelsi has been active on the “Students” page for quite some time now, and we’ve had the pleasure of meeting her at the annual Women’s Networking Breakfast at LPSC.

Welcome, Kelsi!