Although it may be fact that boys and girls have different methods of learning both in and out of the classroom, a new Tel Aviv University study has found that girls improve boys’ grades markedly at school. Boys with more female peers in their classes show higher enrollment rates in both advanced math and science classes, but overall benefits were found in all grades for both sexes. Professor Analia Schlosser, an economist from the Eitan Berglas School of Economics at Tel Aviv University states, “Being with more girls is good for everybody,” and goes on to say, “We find that both boys and girls do better when there are more girls in the class.” One theory as to why this is is that a higher percentage of girls lowers the amount of classroom disruption and fosters a better relationship between pupils and their teacher, or so the study of the data suggests. Teachers seem to be less tired in classrooms with more girls, and students overall seem to be more satisfied when a high female-to-male ratio persists.
Well, as one of the male persuasion, I have to agree with the findings of this study. When I was in high school, I was apart of our tracked English program, which was always heavily dominated by those of the opposite sex. Honestly, that mere fact alone made me feel like I had something to prove being only one of the three boys to be enrolled in the program. I simply didn't want to look like another "stupid boy" in the eyes of my classmates. I agree with the idea that there is less disruption in the classroom when there are more females present because this has been the case throughout a majority of my high school career. When boys start caring about what girls think of them, I believe that a good percentage make the conscious decision to at least appear intelligent as to better their reputations with the opposite sex. Its funny, but its true.
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3 comments:
I agree with Jordan and I found this study to be something very interesting I had yet to consider. I do believe that males will definitely try harder when more female students are in the classroom. This study made me think of my high school when a large portion of the football team would have the same class together. It brought the entire classroom environment down because of the constant disruptions, etc. The increase of males in the classroom slowed down the entire class and made accomplishing things so much more difficult. So another idea I thought we could possibly consider is if it's male-dominated classes that bring learning down or female-dominated classes that bring learning up? Who's to blame or who's to thank? Jordan really gave me a new classroom factor I had never thought of with this blog post.
I not only agree with the results of the study, but I think there is more to it than just what was found when you dig below the surface. I had a cousin that went to an all boys high school in western New York, and when we would talk about girls, he was a bit strange to say the least. Not only is school important for academics but it is also a place where we learn a lot about social behavior not only ourselves, but with other people. I think it is important to encourage co-ed classrooms, not that I think they are being phased out. Socially, I feel blessed that I grew up in a co-ed public school.
I find Jordan's post to be amusing but very true. I thought back to middle school,and even in some high school classes, when a class was more productive with the girls out numbering the boys. I think with boys being a bit more competitive than girls , the few boys that are in these kinds of situations try to prove themselves against the girls. These boys wouldn't want to be out smarted by their girl classmates. I think that if schools really push to have more girls in classes then the learning experience would probably improve. I really liked this research and though it was a very unique way of looking at another obstacles that teachers face while teaching.
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