Abstract
Given the attention that gender issues receive in science education (Baker, 1998; Kahle & Meece, 1994) and feminist scholarship on the social construction of Nature (Merchant, 1989), upon examining the student narratives one immediately looks for possible gender differences. Do the boys talk about science more than do the girls? Do the girls talk about aesthetics and religion more than do the boys? Are the girls more environmentally sensitive than are the boys? These questions and others are implicitly suggested by the literature. They are addressed in the assertions that follow.
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Notes
In other words, to be included in a category a student had to make more than a passing or off-handed remark.
Of course, such differences could be examined statistically but our group did not feel that a quantitative analysis at this point would serve our interests; nor was the study set up to enable a quantitative analysis.
During her primary interview, Jackie did not speak of personal activities in Nature or personal feelings about Nature. However, in the interview in which Jackie was asked to talk about herself, her family and friends, and activities, she expressed a clear interest in camping and other such activities.
Note that Jackie is Native American.
It should be noted that Kelly, although having this particular view on creation, was not found in Cobern (1993a) to be anti scientific as some might suppose.
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© 2000 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
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Cobern, W.W. (2000). Gender and Conceptualizations of Nature. In: Everyday Thoughts about Nature. Science & Technology Education Library, vol 9. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4171-0_7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4171-0_7
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
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