How Girls Learn: Putting Research to

WorkCenter for Research on Girls (CRG) at Laurel

School

CRG’s mission and vision• CRG is a bridge between

schools and academic research

• Doctors update their practice based on the latest research results…

• …teachers should too!

CRG…Develops progressive educational initiatives and curricula based on cutting-edge academic research

Sponsors original research studies on the development and education of girls

Connects faculty and parents to well-established and highly salient and meaningful research on girls and their education.

CRG:Educational Programming

•2007-2008 Initiatives: Girls & Mathematics–Primary School: Spatial skills–Middle School: Growth mindset–Upper School: Stereotype threat

Primary School: Spatial Skills

• What the research shows:– Boys outperform girls on math problems that require spatial skills

– Gender differences in spatial skills emerge by first grade

– Spatial skills are trainable

Primary School: Spatial Skills• In-class

activities– Tangrams– Pentominoes

• Mix-It-Up Day– 3-D Construction– Mapping the school

• Game Hall• CRG Rubik’s cubes

Middle School: Growth Mindset

• What the research shows– Girls are more likely than boys to develop a “fixed mindset”

– Girls are more likely than boys to back away from difficult material because of their “fixed mindset”

– Students can be trained to develop a “growth mindset”

– Doing so increases academic achievement

Middle School:Growth Mindset

• Brain Training

• Brain Bowl

Brain Training

The new science of intelligence

View from the past• We used to think

that brains were a lot like skeletal structures:– You’re born with everything you’ll ever have.

– No matter what you do, nothing new is added over time.

What we know now• Brains are a lot

like muscles:– What you’re born with is just a start

– What you do makes a big difference in how your muscles and brain grow and develop!

There are four important ways

that muscles and brains are alike.

Similarity #1

•Muscles and brains have tiny structures that grow and multiply.

Muscles have fibers….• that contract when the muscle is put to work.

• Your muscles grow as the fibers get bigger new fibers are added.

Brains have neurons…• that are activated when the brain is in use.

• Your brain grows as neurons get denser and new neurons are added.

What’s a neuron?• The brain is made up

of billions of neurons that work together to run our bodies and our minds.

• 30,000 neurons can fit on the head of a pin.

• Neurons are cells that share information with each other.

How do neurons share information?

• Neurons communicate by passing along an electrical impulse.

• Electrical impulses are passed from one neuron to the next through the release of chemicals called neurotransmitters.

How do neurons get denser with use?

• Under heavy use, neurons develop new dendrites so that they can communicate more efficiently with each other.

Before effort

After effort

How do neurons increase in number?

• The human brain constantly generates progenitor cells that can turn into neurons.

• A brain that is learning needs to add neurons to store and communicate the new information.

• This process by which a progenitor cell becomes a neuron is called neurogenesis.

How do we know that brains grow as we

learn?• Animal studies prove

that the brain grows when challenged.

• Rats raised in enriched cages have brains that are 10% heavier than the brains of rats raised in plain cages.

Similarity #2•Muscles and brains only develop when challenged by increasingly difficult tasks.

To develop bigger muscles…

•You need to lift heavier and heavier weights.

To develop your brain…•You need to do harder and harder work.

•Developing muscles and developing your brain is challenging and sometimes uncomfortable.

Muscles only develop…•When pushed past the point of comfort.

Brains only develop…•When pushed past the point of comfort.

Similarity #3

•Building muscles and building your brain takes time and sustained effort.

Sustained effort is required…

•to build muscle size and

•to train muscles to develop new skills.

Sustained effort is required…

• to build new connections between neurons and

• to integrate new neurons into old neural pathways.

How do we know that sustained effort builds

your brain?• Buddhist monks spend thousands

of hours engaged in meditation, the art of carefully observing one’s own mental processes.

• Areas of the brain associated with attention and sensory processing are much thicker in the brains of monks than in the brains of people who don’t

meditate.

Similarity #4

•All girls can build their muscles and their brains.

•Muscles and brains start small in everyone and grow with use.

Babies’ muscles start small and weak and get bigger and

stronger with use.

Brains become denser and more complex as new mental skills are

developed.

Building muscle….• makes you stronger!

• Your new muscles can help you do all sorts of things.

Building your brain…•makes you smarter!

•Your increased intelligence can help you in all of your classes.

How are muscles and brains alike?

1. Both have tiny structures that GROW AND MULTIPLY.

2. These structures only develop when CHALLENGED by difficult tasks.

3. Both muscles and brains require SUSTAINED EFFORT in order to develop.

4. ALL GIRLS can build their muscles AND their brains.

Profound Impact on Environment

• Worked with faculty to change students’ response to “road blocks”

• “I can’t” changes to “That muscle is still growing”

• Encourages persistence, cultivates belief in intellectual growth

Upper School: Stereotype Threat

• Claude Steele and the discovery of stereotype threat– Well-known phenomenon in psychology departments

– Virtually unknown anywhere else

Upper School: Stereotype Threat

• What the research shows:– Members of negatively stereotyped groups tend to underperform in situations that have the potential to confirm the negative stereotype - a phenomenon known as stereotype threat

– Stereotype threat suppresses girls’ performance on math tests

– Interventions can shield students from stereotype threat

Upper School: Stereotype Threat

• CRG educational programming for girls– Stereotype threat education

– G.A.T.O.R.S. pencils

Stereotypes and “Stereotype Threat”

The discovery of “stereotype threat”

What is “stereotype threat”?

• When a person’s ability is suppressed by anxiety about confirming a negative stereotype.

What if you don’t believe the stereotype? • Individuals do not need to believe in a negative stereotype in order to be threatened by the fear of confirming it.

• They just need to know that other people believe it.

Anticipating “Stereotype Threat”

• Asian Women• Asian Men• Latina Women• Latino Men• Caucasian Women• Caucasian Men

• African-American Women

• African-American Men

• Middle Eastern Women

• Middle Eastern Men

How does “stereotype threat” suppress performance?

• People become anxious when put in situations where they fear that they might confirm a negative stereotype.

Why is increased anxiety a problem?

• Instead of accurately attributing their anxiety to “stereotype threat,” people assume that their anxiety arises from the difficulty of the situation (“test anxiety”).

How does anxiety influence test-taking?

• It increases negative thoughts• It increases physiological arousal• It reduces working memory capacity • It reduces performance expectations• It can increase OR reduce effort

What conditions trigger “stereotype

threat”?• An individual’s awareness of a negative stereotype

• An individual’s wish to disprove the stereotype

• A challenging test• A variable that “triggers” the stereotype

• Remember: this whole process is subconscious!

How can “stereotype threat” be prevented?

• By teaching members of negatively stereotyped groups about the effects of “stereotype threat”– Doing so explains away anxiety and improves test performance!

How else can “stereotype threat” be

prevented?• By equipping members of stereotyped groups with stereotype-busting information!

G.A.T.O.R.S.!• Grades - girls get higher grades than boys• All-girls education - girls from single-sex schools

outperform boys and girls from coed schools on standardized tests

• Tests of math and science - Laurel girls score 20% higher than the national average on math and science ACTs

• Only Laurel teaches girls how to ward off the effects of stereotype threat

• Reading and English - Laurel girls score 26% higher than the national average on reading and English ACTs

• S.A.T. - Laurel girls score 20% higher than the national average on the SAT and 5% higher than the independent school average

Putting it all together• Be AWARE of the negative stereotypes

that apply to you• Be ALERT for situations that might trigger stereotype threat

• ATTRIBUTE ANXIETY to the stereotype threat (not to a lack of ability/preparation on your part)

• Remember: Your ACTUAL ABILITY has nothing to do with the stereotype

Stereotype Threat for Teachers

• What teachers need to know

• “Shielding Students from Stereotype Threat: A guide for teachers”

• laurelschool.org/about/CRGProductsandServices.cfm

What’s Next?• Sharing our work

– CRG Symposium, July 2009– To learn more and/or register go to: www.laurelschool.org/crg

• 2008-2009 Initiative– Promoting girls’ interest in technology and engineering