Do Small Classes in Higher Education Reduce Performance Gaps in STEM?
Do Small Classes in Higher Education Reduce Performance Gaps in STEM?
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DOI：
10.1093/biosci/biy056
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发表时间：
2018-08-01
期刊：
影响因子：
10.1
通讯作者：
Cotner, Sehoya
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Ballen, Cissy J.;Aguillon, Stepfanie M.;Cotner, Sehoya
科学方面的成绩差距是有据可查的，对导致女性和代表不足的少数群体(URM)表现不佳和流失的潜在机制的审查可能会提供高度有针对性的手段来提拔这类学生。确定影响学业成绩的因素可为改进大学一级的教学方法和政策制定提供依据。我们调查了四所大学17门生物课程的班级规模对学生的影响。尽管随着班级规模的增加，女学生在高风险考试中的表现不如男学生，但在非考试评估中，女学生的得分高于男学生。与大多数学生相比，无论班级规模大小，URM学生在各年级的表现都不如大多数学生，这表明教育环境的其他特征影响了学习。学生入学人数预计将在未来十年急剧增加，这突显出在考虑公平的教学方法和班级规模上限时，需要优先考虑个别学生的潜力，而不是屈服于预算限制。
Performance gaps in science are well documented, and an examination of underlying mechanisms that lead to underperformance and attrition of women and underrepresented minorities (URM) may offer highly targeted means to promote such students. Determining factors that influence academic performance may provide a basis for improved pedagogy and policy development at the university level. We examined the impact of class size on students in 17 biology courses at four universities. Although the female students underperformed on high-stakes exams compared with the men as class size increased, the women received higher scores than the men on nonexam assessments. The URM students underperformed across grade measures compared with the majority students regardless of class size, suggesting that other characteristics of the education environment affect learning. Student enrollment is expected to increase precipitously in the next decade, underscoring the need to prioritize individual student potential rather than yield to budget constraints when considering equitable pedagogy and caps on classroom sizes.