Gender Differences in Student Comfort Voluntarily Asking and Answering Questions in Large-Enrollment College Science Courses
ABSTRACT Allowing students to ask and answer questions is a common practice employed by college science instructors. However, recent literature has identified that women participate in whole-class discussions less often than men. One hypothesized reason for this gender gap is that women may be less...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
American Society for Microbiology
2021-09-01
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| Series: | Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/jmbe.00100-21 |
| _version_ | 1818750819786293248 |
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| author | Erika M. Nadile Keonti D. Williams Nicholas J. Wiesenthal Katherine N. Stahlhut Krystian A. Sinda Christopher F. Sellas Flor Salcedo Yasiel I. Rivera Camacho Shannon G. Perez Meagan L. King Airyn E. Hutt Alyssa Heiden George Gooding Jomaries O. Gomez-Rosado Sariah A. Ford Isabella Ferreira Megan R. Chin William D. Bevan-Thomas Briana M. Barreiros Emilie Alfonso Yi Zheng Katelyn M. Cooper |
| author_facet | Erika M. Nadile Keonti D. Williams Nicholas J. Wiesenthal Katherine N. Stahlhut Krystian A. Sinda Christopher F. Sellas Flor Salcedo Yasiel I. Rivera Camacho Shannon G. Perez Meagan L. King Airyn E. Hutt Alyssa Heiden George Gooding Jomaries O. Gomez-Rosado Sariah A. Ford Isabella Ferreira Megan R. Chin William D. Bevan-Thomas Briana M. Barreiros Emilie Alfonso Yi Zheng Katelyn M. Cooper |
| author_sort | Erika M. Nadile |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | ABSTRACT Allowing students to ask and answer questions is a common practice employed by college science instructors. However, recent literature has identified that women participate in whole-class discussions less often than men. One hypothesized reason for this gender gap is that women may be less comfortable participating. However, no studies have examined students’ comfort with asking and answering questions in large-enrollment science courses, identified what about these practices might make students uncomfortable, or explored whether there are gender differences with regard to student comfort. To answer these questions, we surveyed 417 undergraduates at an R1 institution about their experiences asking and answering questions in large-enrollment college science courses. Students answered questions about the extent to which they felt comfortable both asking and answering questions and selected possible factors that could make them uncomfortable participating. Using binary logistic regression, we tested whether student demographics predicted their opinions about these practices. Over half of students reported feeling uncomfortable both asking and answering questions in front of college science classes, and women were significantly less comfortable than men both asking and answering questions. Furthermore, we identified student confidence regarding their knowledge of the material and a concern that other students would judge them as some of the primary factors that could cause students to feel uncomfortable asking and answering questions in front of the whole class. This work highlights factors that instructors can target in hopes of maximizing student comfort participating in large-enrollment college science courses. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-18T04:25:44Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1829743c49fa4f40925ac7d62ee9b7da |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1935-7877 1935-7885 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-18T04:25:44Z |
| publishDate | 2021-09-01 |
| publisher | American Society for Microbiology |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education |
| spelling | doaj.art-1829743c49fa4f40925ac7d62ee9b7da2022-12-21T21:21:06ZengAmerican Society for MicrobiologyJournal of Microbiology & Biology Education1935-78771935-78852021-09-0122210.1128/jmbe.00100-21Gender Differences in Student Comfort Voluntarily Asking and Answering Questions in Large-Enrollment College Science CoursesErika M. Nadile0Keonti D. Williams1Nicholas J. Wiesenthal2Katherine N. Stahlhut3Krystian A. Sinda4Christopher F. Sellas5Flor Salcedo6Yasiel I. Rivera Camacho7Shannon G. Perez8Meagan L. King9Airyn E. Hutt10Alyssa Heiden11George Gooding12Jomaries O. Gomez-Rosado13Sariah A. Ford14Isabella Ferreira15Megan R. Chin16William D. Bevan-Thomas17Briana M. Barreiros18Emilie Alfonso19Yi Zheng20Katelyn M. Cooper21Research for Inclusive STEM Education Center, School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USABSC 4932: Undergraduate Biology Education Research Class, Department of Biology, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, USABSC 4932: Undergraduate Biology Education Research Class, Department of Biology, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, USABSC 4932: Undergraduate Biology Education Research Class, Department of Biology, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, USABSC 4932: Undergraduate Biology Education Research Class, Department of Biology, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, USABSC 4932: Undergraduate Biology Education Research Class, Department of Biology, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, USABSC 4932: Undergraduate Biology Education Research Class, Department of Biology, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, USABSC 4932: Undergraduate Biology Education Research Class, Department of Biology, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, USABSC 4932: Undergraduate Biology Education Research Class, Department of Biology, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, USABSC 4932: Undergraduate Biology Education Research Class, Department of Biology, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, USABSC 4932: Undergraduate Biology Education Research Class, Department of Biology, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, USABSC 4932: Undergraduate Biology Education Research Class, Department of Biology, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, USABSC 4932: Undergraduate Biology Education Research Class, Department of Biology, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, USABSC 4932: Undergraduate Biology Education Research Class, Department of Biology, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, USABSC 4932: Undergraduate Biology Education Research Class, Department of Biology, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, USABSC 4932: Undergraduate Biology Education Research Class, Department of Biology, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, USABSC 4932: Undergraduate Biology Education Research Class, Department of Biology, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, USABSC 4932: Undergraduate Biology Education Research Class, Department of Biology, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, USABSC 4932: Undergraduate Biology Education Research Class, Department of Biology, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, USABSC 4932: Undergraduate Biology Education Research Class, Department of Biology, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, USAMary Lou Fulton Teachers College, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USAResearch for Inclusive STEM Education Center, School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USAABSTRACT Allowing students to ask and answer questions is a common practice employed by college science instructors. However, recent literature has identified that women participate in whole-class discussions less often than men. One hypothesized reason for this gender gap is that women may be less comfortable participating. However, no studies have examined students’ comfort with asking and answering questions in large-enrollment science courses, identified what about these practices might make students uncomfortable, or explored whether there are gender differences with regard to student comfort. To answer these questions, we surveyed 417 undergraduates at an R1 institution about their experiences asking and answering questions in large-enrollment college science courses. Students answered questions about the extent to which they felt comfortable both asking and answering questions and selected possible factors that could make them uncomfortable participating. Using binary logistic regression, we tested whether student demographics predicted their opinions about these practices. Over half of students reported feeling uncomfortable both asking and answering questions in front of college science classes, and women were significantly less comfortable than men both asking and answering questions. Furthermore, we identified student confidence regarding their knowledge of the material and a concern that other students would judge them as some of the primary factors that could cause students to feel uncomfortable asking and answering questions in front of the whole class. This work highlights factors that instructors can target in hopes of maximizing student comfort participating in large-enrollment college science courses.https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/jmbe.00100-21comfortgenderparticipationasking questionsanswering questionsactive learning |
| spellingShingle | Erika M. Nadile Keonti D. Williams Nicholas J. Wiesenthal Katherine N. Stahlhut Krystian A. Sinda Christopher F. Sellas Flor Salcedo Yasiel I. Rivera Camacho Shannon G. Perez Meagan L. King Airyn E. Hutt Alyssa Heiden George Gooding Jomaries O. Gomez-Rosado Sariah A. Ford Isabella Ferreira Megan R. Chin William D. Bevan-Thomas Briana M. Barreiros Emilie Alfonso Yi Zheng Katelyn M. Cooper Gender Differences in Student Comfort Voluntarily Asking and Answering Questions in Large-Enrollment College Science Courses Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education comfort gender participation asking questions answering questions active learning |
| title | Gender Differences in Student Comfort Voluntarily Asking and Answering Questions in Large-Enrollment College Science Courses |
| title_full | Gender Differences in Student Comfort Voluntarily Asking and Answering Questions in Large-Enrollment College Science Courses |
| title_fullStr | Gender Differences in Student Comfort Voluntarily Asking and Answering Questions in Large-Enrollment College Science Courses |
| title_full_unstemmed | Gender Differences in Student Comfort Voluntarily Asking and Answering Questions in Large-Enrollment College Science Courses |
| title_short | Gender Differences in Student Comfort Voluntarily Asking and Answering Questions in Large-Enrollment College Science Courses |
| title_sort | gender differences in student comfort voluntarily asking and answering questions in large enrollment college science courses |
| topic | comfort gender participation asking questions answering questions active learning |
| url | https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/jmbe.00100-21 |
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