Designing Authentic Assessments to Promote Girls' Self-Efficacy and Interest in STEM Subjects and Careers

• In Event: Considering Classroom Assessment in K–12 Math and Science Classes: Four Perspectives

Abstract

Although science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education has gained recognition internationally, a common phenomenon encountered by many countries is that gender disparity in self-efficacy and interest in STEM subjects and careers begins in elementary school. This paper reports findings derived from the first phase of our design-based research, which aims to develop and validate authentic assessments in STEM for elementary school girls, and to develop reliable and valid questionnaires to measure girls’ self-efficacy and interest in STEM subjects and careers. The findings indicate that after exposure to an authentic STEM assessment, girls’ self-efficacy did not change significantly, despite a significant improvement in their interest in mathematics. Other data sources are used to unpack the design and implementation issues.

Authors

• Kim H. Koh, University of Calgary

• Olive Chapman, University of Calgary

• Shimeng Liu, University of Calgary