May 24, 1999

Computer Scientists' Research to Aid in Middle School Girls' Education

What do computer scientists at NC State University have to do with the education of girls in middle school? Beginning this year, the answer is quite a bit.

Dr. Mladen Vouk, professor of computer science, and NC State computer science doctoral student, Tiffany Barnes, are working with education researchers to develop education and tracking tools for a project aimed at improving the math and science education of adolescent girls.

The Girls on Track project, funded by the National Science Foundation, will track the progress of girls at four middle schools in Wake County. Vouk is working with Dr. Sarah Berenson, professor of mathematics education and director of the Center for Research in Math and Science Education at NC State, to design computers as tools for the project.

"The computers will be used as modelling and communications tools as well as data collection tools," says Berenson. "Mladen provides the technical expertise necessary in a project of this type. He also has expanded our thinking about how we use the computers, challenging us to stretch our thinking to another level."

"Computers need to be viewed more as tools or appliances for learning rather than as ominous equipment. How computers are perceived in a classroom can be a wall or impediment to education" says Vouk. "What we would like to do is make the computer more of a basic tool, to take away the intimidation factor. We want to make the move toward computer use in education a seamless transition for the students and teachers."

Berenson will select girls, teachers and guidance counselors from the targeted middle schools to participate in the Girls on Track program. So far, a number of teachers and counselors have expressed interest in the program, says Berenson. The participants will be tracked to determine what factors are involved in the students' loss of interest and to test various computer tools and other strategies for improving their performance in science and math.

The schools chosen for the research were selected because of their proximity to NC State. Vouk and Barnes are developing the computer tracking software as well as software to aid the teachers and guidance counselors. This summer approximately 15 to 20 teachers and 40 girls will attend the first training sessions in a pilot test of the program.

"It is very important that we provide training for the teachers for this project," says Berenson. "We cannot expect teachers to incorporate the computers and the software in their classroom if we don't teach them how to use the technology."

Berenson, Vouk and the other project researchers hope their efforts will ultimately shed light on why girls lose interest in math and science during middle school years.

"Studies have shown that girls have a tendency to lose interest in math and science during their middle school years," says Vouk. "We don't believe there is really one particular factor that causes these girls to lose interest in math and science. Instead, we believe it is a variety of factors--cultural, environmental, social.

"Part of our idea is to make computers less threatening to girls. We see sometimes that girls are less interested in computers than boys. Often boys have more access to computer-related toys while girls are less likely to play computer games or engage in other computer-related activities. By tracking the progress of the participants, we hope to find out how to prevent the loss of interest.

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