Motivation for learning science in kindergarten: Is there a gender gap and does integrated inquiry and literacy instruction make a difference

Journal of Research in Science Teaching

Volumn 46, Issue 2, 2009, Pages 166-191

  Patrick, Helen ^a   Mantzicopoulos, Panayota ^a   Samarapungavan, Ala ^a  

^a PURDUE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

Inquiry; Kindergarten; Liking; Literacy; Motivation; Perceived competence; Sex gender differences

Indexed keywords

INQUIRY; KINDERGARTEN; LIKING; LITERACY; PERCEIVED COMPETENCE; SEX/GENDER DIFFERENCES;

SCHOOL BUILDINGS;

MOTIVATION;

EID: 59349090646     PISSN: 00224308     EISSN: 10982736     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1002/tea.20276     Document Type: Article

References (121)

1. Adamson, L.B., Foster, M.A., Roark, M.L., & Reed, D.B. (1998). Doing a science project: Gender differences during childhood. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 35, 845-857.
2. Alsop, S., & Watts, M. (2003). Science education and affect. International Journal of Science Education, 25, 1043-1047.
3. American Association of University Women. (1999). Gender gaps: Where schools still fail our children. New York: Marlowe & Company.
4. Anderman, E.M., & Young, A.J. (1994). Motivation and strategy use in science: Individual differences and classroom effects. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 31, 811-831.
5. Andre, T., Whigham, M., Hendrickson, A., & Chambers, S. (1999). Competency beliefs, positive affect, and gender stereotypes of elementary students and their parents about science versus other school subjects. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 36, 719-747.
6. Aunola, K., Leskinen, E., Onatsu-Arvilomni, T., & Nurmi, J.E. (2002). Three methods for studying developmental change: A case of reading skills and self-concept. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 72, 343-364.
7. Baker, D.R. (1998). Equity issues in science education. In B.J. Fraser & K.G. Tobin (Eds.), International handbook of science education (pp. 869-895). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer.
8. Baker, D., & Leary, R. (1995). Letting girls speak out about science. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 32, 3-27.
9. Baram-Tsabari, A., Sethi, R.J., Bry, L., & Yarden, A. (2006). Using questions sent to an ask-a-scientist site to identify children's interest in science. Science Education, 90, 1050-1072.
10. Beghetto, R.A. (2007). Factors associated with middle and secondary students' perceived science competence. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 44, 800-814.
11. Bleeker, M.M., & Jacobs, J.E. (2004). Achievement in math and science: Do mother's beliefs matter 12 years later? Journal of Educational Psychology, 96, 97-109.
12. Britner, S.L., & Pajares, F. (2006). Sources of science self-efficacy beliefs of middle school students. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 43, 485-499.
13. Brotman, J.S., & Moore, F.M. (2008). Girls and science: A review of four themes in the science education literature. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 45, 971-1002.
14. Brown, A.L. (1990). Domain specific principles affect learning and transfer in children. Cognitive Science, 14, 107-133.
15. Campbell, J.R. (1991). The roots of gender inequity in technical areas. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 28, 251-264.
16. Carey, S., & Spelke, E. (1994). Domain specific knowledge and conceptual change. In H. Wellman & S. Gelman (Eds.), Mapping the mind (pp. 169-200). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
17. Catsambis, S. (1995). Gender, race, ethnicity, and science education in the middle grades. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 32, 243-257.
18. Chaille, C., & Britain, L. (2003). The young child as a scientist: A constructivist approach to early childhood science education. (3rd ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
19. Chapman, J.W., & Tunmer, W.E. (1995). Development of young children's reading self-concepts: An examination of emerging subcomponents and their relationship with reading achievement. Journal of Educational Psychology, 87, 154-167.
20. Chapman, J.W., Tunmer, W.E., & Pronchow, J.E. (2000). Early reading-related skills and performance, reading self-concept, and the development of academic self-concept: A longitudinal study. Journal of Educational Psychology, 92, 703-708.
21. Cleaves, A. (2005). The formation of science choices in secondary school. International Journal of Science Education, 27, 471-486.
22. Conezio, K., & French, L. (2002). Science in the preschool classroom: Capitalizing on children's fascination with the everyday world to foster language and literacy development. Young Children, 57(5), 12-18.
23. Congressional Commission on the Advancement of Women and Minorities in Science, Engineering, and Technology Development. (2000). Land of plenty: Diversity as America's competitive edge in science, engineering, and technology. Retrieved June 11, 2006 from http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2000/cawmset0409/cawmset- 0409.pdf.
24. Cousins, A. (2007). Gender inclusivity in secondary chemistry: A study of male and female participation in secondary school chemistry. International Journal of Science Education, 29, 711-730.
25. Crowley, K., Callanan, M. A., Tenenbaum, H.R., & Allen, E. (2001). Parents explain more often to boys than to girls during shared scientific thinking. Psychological Science, 12, 258-261.
26. Curan, P.J., West, S.G., & Finch, J.F. (1996). The robustness of test statistics to nonnormality and specification error in confirmatory factor analysis. Psychological Methods, 1, 16-29.
27. Dawson, C. (2000). Upper primary boys' and girls' interests in science: Have they changed since 1980? International Journal of Science Education, 22, 557-570.
28. Deboer, G.E. (1986). Perceived science ability as a factor in the course selections of men and women in college. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 23, 343-352.
29. Dickinson, V.L., & Young, T.A. (1998). Elementary science and language arts: Should we blur the boundaries? School Science and Mathematics, 98, 334-339.
30. Eccles, J.S. (1994). Understanding women's educational and occupational choices. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 18, 585-609.
31. Eccles, J.S. (1997). User-friendly science and mathematics: Can it interest girls and minorities in breaking through the middle school wall? In D. Johnson (Ed.), Minorities and girls in school: Effects on achievement and performance (pp. 65-104). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
32. Eccles, J.S. (2007). Where are all the women? Gender differences in participation in physical science and engineering. In S.J. Ceci & W.M. Williams (Eds.), Why aren't more women in science? (pp. 173-210). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
33. Eccles, J.S., & Wigfield, A. (2002). Motivational beliefs, values, and goals. Annual Review of Psychology, 53, 109-132.
34. Eccles, J., Wigfield, A., Harold, R.D., & Blumenfeld, P. (1993). Age and gender differences in children's self- and task perceptions during elementary school. Child Development, 64, 830-847.
35. Eccles, J.S., Wigfield, A., & Schiefele, U. (1998). Motivation to succeed. In W. Damon (Series Ed.) & N. Eisenberg (Vol. Ed.). Handbook of child psychology: Vol. 3. Social, emotional, and personality development (5th ed., pp. 1017-1095). New York: Wiley.
36. Eccles (Parsons), J., Adler, T.F., Futterman, R., Goff, S.B., Kacazala, C.M., Meece, J.L., & Midgley, C. (1983). Expectancies, values and academic behaviors. In J.T. Spence (Ed.), Achievement and achievement motivation (pp. 75-146). San Francisco: Freeman & Co.
37. Ford, D., Brickhouse, N.W., Lottero-Perdue, P., & Kittleson, J. (2006). Elementary girls' science reading at home and school. Science Education, 90, 270-288.
38. French, L. (2004). Science as the center of a coherent, integrated early childhood curriculum. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 19, 138-149.
39. FuIp, S.L. (2002). 2000 National survey of science and mathematics education: Status of elementary school science teaching. Retrieved November 24, 2003 from http://2000survey.horizon-research.com/ reports/elem-science.php.
40. Gardner, P.L. (1998). The development of males' and females' interests in science and technology. In L. Hoffman, A. Krapp, K.A. Renninger, & J. Baumert (Eds.), Gender and interest: Proceedings of the Seeon conference on interest and gender (pp. 41-57). Kiel, Germany: University of Kiel Press.
41. Gelman, R., & Brenneman, K. (2004). Science learning pathways for young children. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 19, 150-158.
42. George, R. (2006). A. cross-domain analysis of change in students' attitudes toward science and attitudes about the utility of science. International Journal of Science Education, 28, 571-589.
43. Giere, R.N. (1988). Explaining science. A cognitive approach. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
44. Giere, R.N. (2002). Discussion note: Distributed cognition in epistemic cultures. Philosophy of Science, 69, 637-644.
45. Giere, R.N. (2004). How models are used to represent reality. Philosophy of Science, 71(5), 742-752.
46. Greenfield, T.A. (1997). Gender- and grade-level differences in science interest and participation. Science Education, 81, 259-276.
47. Hammrich, P.L., & Ragins, A. (2002). Science and communication curriculum reform project: A content based literacy program. Paper presented at the Head Start National Research Conference, Washington.
48. th grade physics classes. Learning and Instruction, 17, 29-41.
49. Harkrader, M.A., & Moore, R. (1997). Literature preferences of fourth-graders. Reading Research and Instruction, 36, 325-339.
50. Harter, S., & Pike, R. (1984). The pictorial scale of perceived competence and social acceptance. Child Development, 55, 1969-1982.
51. Harty, H., Samuel, K.V., & Beall, D. (1986). Exploring relationships among four science teaching-learning affective attributes of sixth grade students. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 23, 5-60.
52. Häussler, P., & Hoffmann, L. (2002). An intervention study to enhance girls' interest, self-concept, and achievement in physics classes. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 39, 870-888.
53. Helmke, A., & van Aken, M.A.G. (1995). The causal ordering of academic achievement and self-concept of ability during elementary school: A longitudinal study. Journal of Educational Psychology, 87, 624-637.
54. Jacobs, J.E. (2005). Twenty-five years of research on gender and ethnic differences in math and science career choices: What have we learned? In J.E. Jacobs & S.D. Simpkins (Eds.), New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 110, 85-94.
55. Jacobs, J.E., & Bleeker, M.M. (2004). Girls' and boys' developing interests in math and science: Do parents matter? In H.A. Bouchey & C.E. Winston (Eds.), New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 106, 5-21.
56. Jacobs, J.E., Finken, L.L., Griffin, N.L., & Wright, J.D. (1998). The career plans of science-talented rural adolescent girls. American Educational Research Journal, 35, 681-704.
57. Jacobs, J.E., Lanza, S., Osgood, D.W., Eccles, J.S., & Wigfield, A. (2002). Changes in children's self-competence and values: Gender and domain differences across grades one through twelve. Child Development, 73, 509-527.
58. Jones, M.G., Howe, A., & Rua, M.J. (2000). Gender differences in students' experiences, interests, and attitudes toward science and scientists. Science Education, 84, 180-192.
59. Jovanovic, J., & King, S.S. (1998). Boys and girls in the performance-based science classroom: Who's doing the performing? American Educational Research Journal, 35, 477-496.
60. Kahle, J.B., Parker, L.H., Render, L.J., & Riley, D. (1993). Gender differences in science education: Building a model. Educational Psychologist, 28, 379-404.
61. Klein, E.R., Hammrich, P.L., Bloom, S., & Ragins, A. (2000). Language development and science inquiry: The Head Start on Science and Communication program. Early Childhood Research and Practice, 2, 1-22.
62. Koballa, T.R. (1995). Children's attitudes toward learning science. In S.M. Glynn & R. Duit (Eds.), Learning science in the schools: Research reforming practice (pp. 59-84). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
63. Koch, J. (2007). A gender inclusive approach to science education. In D.M. Sadker & E.S. Silber (Eds.), Gender in the classroom: Foundations, skills, methods, and strategies across the curriculum (pp. 205-223). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
64. Labudde, P., Herzog, W., Neuenschwander, M.P., Violi, E., & Gerber, C. (2000). Girls and physics: Teaching and learning strategies tested by classroom interventions in grade 11. International Journal of Science Education, 22, 143-157.
65. Ladd, G.W., Buhs, E.S., & Seid, M. (2000). Children's initial sentiments about kindergarten: Is school liking an antecedent of early classroom participation and achievement? Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 46, 255-279.
66. Lanahan, L., Princiotta, D., & Enyeart, C. (2006). Instructional focus in first grade: Issue brief (National Center for Education Statistics Rep. No. NCES 2006-056). Retrieved October 28, 2006 from: http://www.nces.ed.gov/ pubs2006/2006056.pdf.
67. Licht, B.G., Stader, S.R., & Swenson, C.C. (1989). Children's achievement-related beliefs: Effects of academic area, sex, and achievement level. Journal of Educational Research, 82, 253-260.
68. Lyons, T. (2006). Different countries, same science classes: Students' experiences of school science in their own words. International Journal of Science Education, 28, 591-613.
69. Mantzicopoulos, P., Patrick, H., & Samarapungavan, A. (2005). The Scientific Literacy Project: Enhancing young children's scientific literacy through reading and inquiry-centered adult-child dialog. Grant proposal to the Institute of Education Sciences.
70. Mantzicopoulos, P., Patrick, H., & Samarapungavan, A. (2008). Kindergarten children becoming science learners: Early science experiences and children's perspectives about science. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New York.
71. Mantzicopoulos, P., Patrick, H., & Samarapungavan, A. (in press). Young children's motivational beliefs about learning science. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, DOI: 10.1016/j.ecresq.2008.04.001.
72. Marascuilo, L. A., & Serlin, R.C. (1988). Statistical methods for the social and behavioral sciences. New York: Freeman.
73. Marsh, H.W., & Craven, R.G. (2006). Reciprocal effects of self-concept and performance from a multidimensional perspective: Beyond seductive pleasure and unidimensional perspectives. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 1, 133-163.
74. Marsh, H.W., Craven, R.G., & Debus, R. (1991). Self-concepts of young children 5 to 8 years of age: Measurement and multidimensional structure. Journal of Educational Psychology, 83, 377-392.
75. Marsh, H.W., Craven, R.G., & Debus, R. (1998). Structure, stability, and development of young children's self-concepts: A multicohort-multioccasion study. Child Development, 69, 1030-1053.
76. Marsh, H.W., Ellis, L.A., & Craven, R.G. (2002). How do preschool children feel about themselves? Unraveling measurement and multidimensional self-concept structure. Child Development, 38, 376-393.
77. Meece, J.L., & Jones, M.G. (1996). Gender differences in motivation and strategy use in science: Are girls rote learners? Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 33, 393-406.
78. Miller, P.H., Blessing, J.S., & Schwartz, S. (2006). Gender differences in high-school students' views about science. International Journal of Science Education, 28, 363-381.
79. National Association for the Education of Young Children. (2003). Early Childhood Curriculum, Assessment, and Program Evaluation. Retrieved December 20, 2003 from: http://www.naeyc.org/ resources/position-statements/pscape.asp.
80. National Center for Education Statistics. (1997). Time spent teaching core academic subject in elementary schools: Comparisons across community, school teacher, and student characteristics (NCES 97-923). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved November 28, 2003 from: http:// nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=97293.
81. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development-Early Child Care Research Network. (2005). A day in third grade: A large-scale study of classroom quality and teacher and student behavior. Elementary School Journal, 105, 305-323.
82. National Research Council. (1996). National science education standards. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
83. National Research Council. (2000). Inquiry and the national science education standards: A guide for teaching and learning. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
84. National Research Council. (2001). Eager to learn: Educating our preschoolers. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
85. National Research Council. (2007). Taking science to school: Learning and teaching science in grades K-8. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
86. Nichols, S.E., Gilmer, P.J., Thompson, A.D., & Davis, N. (1998). Women in science: Expanding the vision. In B.J. Fraser & K.G. Tobin (Eds.), International handbook of science education (pp. 967-978). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer.
87. Nieswandt, M. (2007). Student affect and conceptual understanding in learning chemistry. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 44, 908-937.
88. Nolen, S.B. (2001). Constructing literacy in the kindergarten: Task structure, collaboration, and motivation. Cognition and Instruction, 18, 95-142.
89. Oakes, J. (1990). Opportunities, achievement, and choice: Women and minority students in science and mathematics. In C. Cazden (Ed.), Review of Research in Education (Vol. 16, pp. 153-222). Washington, DC: American Educational Research Association.
90. Parker, L.H., & Rennie, L.J. (2002). Teachers' implementation of gender-inclusive instructional strategies in single-sex and mixed-sex science classrooms. International Journal of Science Education, 24, 881-897.
91. Pintrich, P.R., & Schunk, D.H. (2002). Motivation in education: Theory, research, and applications (2nd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
92. Rennie, L.J. (1998). Gender equity: Toward clarification and a research direction for science teacher education. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 35, 951-961.
93. Rogoff, B. (1990). Apprenticeship in thinking: Cognitive development in social context. New York: Oxford University Press.
94. Roth, W.-M. (2005). Talking science: Language and learning in science. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Little-field.
95. Roychoudhury, A., Tippins, D.J., & Nichols, S.E. (1995). Gender-inclusive science teaching: A feminist-constructivist approach. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 32, 897-924.
96. Samarapungavan, A., Mantzicopoulos, P., & Patrick, H. (in press). Learning science through inquiry in kindergarten. Science Education, 10.1002/sce.20275.
97. Scantlebury, K., & Baker, B. (2007). Gender issues in science education research: Remembering where the difference lies. In S.K. Abell & N.G. Lederman (Eds.), Handbook of research on science education (pp. 257-285). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
98. Schunk, D.H., & Pajares, F. (2005). Competence perceptions and academic functioning. In A.J. Elliot & C.S. Dweck (Eds.), Handbook of competence and motivation (pp. 85-104). New York: Guilford Press.
99. Shepardson, D.P., & Pizzini, E.L. (1994). Gender, achievement, and perception toward science activities. School Science and Mathematics, 94, 188-193.
100. Simpkins, S.D., Davis-Kean, P.E., & Eccles, J.S. (2006). Math and science motivation: A longitudinal examination of the links between choices and beliefs. Developmental Psychology, 42, 70-83.
101. Simpson, R.D., & Oliver, J.S. (1990). A summary of major influences on attitude toward and achievement in science among adolescent students. Science Education, 74, 1-18.
102. Slate, J.R., & Jones, C.H. (1998). Fourth and fifth grade students' attitudes toward science: Science motivation and science importance as a function of grade level, gender, and race. Research in the Schools, 5, 27-32.
103. Spelke, E.S. (2005). Sex differences in intrinsic aptitude for mathematics and science? A critical review. American Psychologist, 60, 950-958.
104. Teale, W.H. (2003). Reading aloud to young children as a classroom instructional activity: Insights from research and practice. In A. van Kleeck, S.A. Stahl, & E.B. Bauer (Eds.), On reading books to children (pp. 114-139). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
105. Tucker-Raymond, E., Varelas, M., Pappas, C.C., Korzh, A., & Wentland, A. (2007). "They probably aren't named Rachel": Young children's scientist identities as emergent multimodal narratives. Cultural Studies of Education, 1, 559-592.
106. U.S. Department of Education. (2004). Trends in educational equity of girls and women: 2004. Washington, DC: Institute of Education Sciences.
107. U.S. Department of Education. (2006). The condition of education 2006. Washington, DC: Institute of Education Sciences.
108. Valeski, T.N., & Stipek, D.J. (2001). Young children's feelings about school. Child Development, 72, 1198-1213.
109. van Langen, A., Rekers-Mombarg, L., & Dekkers, H. (2006). Sex-related differences in the determinants and process of science and mathematics choice in pre-university education. International Journal of Science Education, 28, 71-94.
110. Varelas, M., & Pappas, C.C. (2007). Identities as narratives: Multiples perspectives from integrated science-literacy enactments in urban primary classrooms. Symposium presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago.
111. Varelas, M., Pappas, C.C., Kane, J.M., Arsenault, A., Hankes, J., & Cowan, B.M. (2008). Urban primary-grade children think and talk science: Curricular and instructional practices that nurture participation and argumentation. Science Education, 92, 65-95.
112. Vargas-Gomez, R.G., & Yager, R.E. (1987). Attitude of students in exemplary programs toward their science teachers. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 24, 87-91.
113. Watson, J., McEwen, A., & Dawson, S. (1994). Sixth form A level students' perceptions of the difficulty, intellectual freedom, social benefit and interest of science and arts subjects. Research in Science and Technological Education, 12, 43-52.
114. Weiss, I.R., Pasley, J.D., Smith, P.S., Banilower, E.R., & Heck, D.J. (2003). A study of k-12 mathematics and science education in the United States. Chapel Hill, NC: Horizon Research. Retrieved from http:// www.horizon-research. com/insidetheclassroom/reports/looking/.
115. Welch, W.W., Walberg, H.J., & Fraser, B.J. (1986). Predicting elementary science learning using national assessment data. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 23, 699-706.
116. Whitehurst, G.J., Zevenbergen, A.A., Crone, D.A., Shultz, M.D., Velting, O.N., & Fischel, J.E. (1999). Outcomes of an emergent literacy intervention from Head Start through second grade. Journal of Educational Psychology, 91, 261-272.
117. Wigfield, A., & Eccles, J.S. (2002). The development of competence beliefs, expectancies for success, and achievement values from childhood through adolescence. In A. Wigfield & J.S. Eccles (Eds.), Development of achievement motivation (pp. 91-120). San Diego: Academic Press.
118. Wigfield, A., Eccles, J.S., Yoon, K.S., Harold, R.D., Arbreton, A.J.A., Freedman-Doan, C., & Blumenfeld, P.C. (1997). Change in children's competence beliefs and subjective task values across the elementary school years: A 3-year study. Journal of Educational Psychology, 89, 451-469.
119. Wigfield, A., & Karpathian, M. (1991). Who am I and what can I do? Children's self-concepts and motivation in achievement situations. Educational Psychologist, 26, 233-261.
120. Woodcock, R.W., McGrew, K.S., & Mather, N. (2001). Woodcock-Johnson III tests of achievement. Itasca, IL: Riverside Publishing.
121. Worth, K., & Grollman, S. (2003). Worms, shadows, and whirlpools: Science in the early childhood classroom. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children.