ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
*****************************************************************************

I attended a workshop a couple of years ago with Cornelia Brunner of the Education Development Center.  She has done a lot of work on gender equity, especially with respect to media products.  At the risk of misquoting and oversimplifying, she said that there is an established body of research that suggests that girls think differently about the world than boys.  The problems with engaging girls in science are in part a result of failure to acknowledge and address those differences.  On average, boys tend to be more interested in control (What does this thing do? What can I make it do?) while girls tend to be more focused on context (Why does this matter?  What is its importance?)  

If so, then "typical" science center exhibits that focus on stuff, technology, and how things work could be expected to appeal more strongly to boys, while exhibits that integrate people, narrative, and context might have stronger appeal to girls.  


> 
> At 9:43 AM -0700 11/1/10, Julie McNalley wrote:
>> It seems to me that it is also important to ask why one would assume
>> that typical exhibits are somehow not girl-friendly.
> 
> I agree that this is well worth thinking about.
> Jennie Dusheck
> 

Chuck Howarth, Vice President
____________________________________

G Y R O S C O P E I N C
283 Fourth Street, Suite 201
Oakland, CA 94607   

tele:   510.986.0111
web:  www.gyroscopeinc.com
blog:  http://museums-now.blogspot.com
____________________________________







***********************************************************************
For information about the Association of Science-Technology Centers and the Informal Science Education Network please visit www.astc.org.

Check out the latest case studies and reviews on ExhibitFiles at www.exhibitfiles.org.

The ISEN-ASTC-L email list is powered by LISTSERVR software from L-Soft. To learn more, visit
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html.

To remove your e-mail address from the ISEN-ASTC-L list, send the
message  SIGNOFF ISEN-ASTC-L in the BODY of a message to
[log in to unmask]