Gender differences in high school students’ interests in physics

Personal Information Form

Name of Your University:…………………………………………

Age:………………………….

Gender: Male ( ) Female ( )

Level of Education: Freshman ( ) Sophomore ( ) Junior ( ) Senior ( )

How much do you know about Isaac Newton?
Very Poor ( )   Poor ( )    Fair ( )    Good ( )    Very Good ( )
How much do you know about Gregory Mendel?
Very Poor ( )   Poor ( )    Fair ( )    Good ( )    Very Good ( )
How much do you know about Antoine Lavoisier?
Very Poor ( )   Poor ( )    Fair ( )    Good ( )    Very Good ( )

Did you get any course regarding history of science, epistemology of science or philosophy of science before?

No ( ) Yes ( )

Did you participate in any activity (conferences, meetings and seminars etc.) regarding history of science, epistemology of science or philosophy of science before?

No ( ) Yes ( )

Scientific Epistemological Beliefs Inventory

Introduction: This inventory includes 15 items in three different texts about physics, biology and chemistry. In the inventory critical reading process of a prospective science teacher about a scientific issue is summarized. Appropriate places in the summary involved questions and related items. There are no correct or wrong answers of the questions so they are designed to determine your personal views about the scientific issue. The evaluations at the end of the application you will not be compared with other individuals or you will not be graded based on your answers to the questions. In the inventory you can select one or more items for each question. Items are represented by bold and italic writings in the text.

Corresponding Researcher: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mustafa Serdar KÖKSAL
Address: Hacettepe University, Faculty of Education
Department of Special Education,
06800, Beytepe/Ankara
e-mail: bioeducator@gmail.com

PHYSICS
Isaac Newton is a scientist working in the field of physics. Based on his experiences, Newton stated that he reached the knowledge that “Any object staying on a ground plane is pushed in opposite direction with a force equal to weight of the object by the ground”. In other words C and D forces in the figure are equal to each other in stable objects.

By the knowledge produced by Newton, other people understood swimming of fish by interacting with water and flying of birds by interacting with air. A prospective science teacher who is interested in the knowledge produced by Newton asked a question to him/ herself: What is the nature of learning experienced by Newton during his knowledge production process? (a) Newton immediately learned this knowledge by his instinct, (b) Newton quickly learned this knowledge, (c) Newton’s learning of this knowledge in an accumulative manner took time, (d) as like everybody Newton learned the knowledge by using his experiences in a certain time, (e) Newton’s learning of this knowledge took more time than expected. Then the prospective teacher thought about the knowledge produced by Newton and remembered that when he/she pushed the wall by his/her hands the wall applied an opposite force to the hands. In this situation he/she asked another question by remembering her/his old experiences about the knowledge that “What is the nature of knowledge produced by Newton?” (a) it is a stable (unchangeable) fact observed by everybody, (b) it is a stable (unchangeable) fact produced by Newton’s observations, (c) it is a tentative knowledge produced by making constructions regarding observations in mind, (d) it is a knowledge produced by trial and error and that is easily changeable in a short time and, (e) it is clearly a wrong knowledge and it has to be changed immediately. The prospective science teacher made more detailed readings about the knowledge and then he/she found that the knowledge is represented by the formula of F1 = -F2. Moreover he/she learned that action force and reaction force affect different objects; action force affected the ground whereas reaction force affected the object on the ground. When the prospective teacher read about the knowledge and formula, another question come into his/her mind: How is structure of the knowledge produced by Newton? (a) it has a simple structure, (b) it has a simple structure with associated components, (c) it has a simple structure with unassociated components, (d) it has a complex structure with unassociated components, (e) it has a complex structure with associated components, (f) it has a complex structure in which components are not known. After thinking about structure of the knowledge, the prospective science teacher made calculations about interactions between action and reaction forces in interaction of different objects. Based on the calculation, she/he noticed that considering intersection of these forces to explain the calculations is not enough due to their effect on different objects. During his/her thinking on the calculations, another question came into his/her mind: Which resource or resources of knowledge production were used by Newton when he produced the knowledge? (a) he produced the knowledge by summarizing his experiences and experiments as they are and by comparing them, (b) he produced the knowledge by using books about the issue, (c) he produced the knowledge by asking more knowledgeable individuals, (d) he produced the knowledge by constructing his experiments and experiences in his mind,(e) he produced the knowledge by using his imagination on possible situations about the issue without experimenting. The prospective science teacher repeated the processes regarding Newton’s experiences on the issue and noticed that the knowledge is very important and invaluable. Then she/he asked that is there any need for a special learning ability in producing this knowledge? (a) Newton had an extraordinary inborn learning ability and this ability would not improve over time, (b) Newton’s learning ability was spontaneously developed afterwards, (c) Newton’s learning ability was developed by help of other people, (d) Newton’s learning ability was developed by his individual experiences, (e) Newton’s learning ability was developed by both individual experiences and help of other people.

BIOLOGY
Gregory Mendel is a scientist working in the field of biology. Based on his experiences, Mendel stated that he reached the knowledge that “Crossing organisms that have different characteristics and homogenous genotypes results in identical organisms”. In other words heterozygote individuals including S and s alleles represented in figure are produced.

By the knowledge produced by Mendel, other people understood the ways of transferring characteristics from parents to next generation. A prospective science teacher who is interested in the knowledge produced by Mendel asked a question to him/ herself: What is the nature of learning experienced by Mendel during his knowledge production process? (a) Mendel immediately learned this knowledge by his instinct, (b) Mendel quickly learned this knowledge, (c) Mendel’s learning of this knowledge in an accumulative manner took time, (d) as like everybody Mendel learned the knowledge by using his experiences in a certain time, (e) Mendel’s learning of this knowledge took more time than expected. Then the prospective teacher thought about the knowledge produced by Mendel and remembered that when he/she looked at the picture of his/her grandparents she /he noticed his/her similarity to them. In this situation he/she asked another question by remembering her/his old experiences about the knowledge that “What is the nature of knowledge produced by Mendel?” (a) it is a stable (unchangeable) fact observed by everybody, (b) it is a stable (unchangeable) fact produced by Newton’s observations, (c) it is a tentative knowledge produced by making constructions regarding observations in mind, (d) it is a knowledge produced by trial and error and that is easily changeable in a short time and, (e) it is clearly a wrong knowledge and it has to be changed immediately. The prospective science teacher made more detailed readings about the knowledge and then he/she found that the symbol of Ss referred to heterozygote organism and the organism had one allele of the gene for each characteristic. When the prospective teacher read about the knowledge and investigate hereditary scheme, another question come into his/her mind: How is structure of the knowledge produced by Mendel? (a) it has a simple structure, (b) it has a simple structure with associated components, (c) it has a simple structure with unassociated components, (d) it has a complex structure with unassociated components, (e) it has a complex structure with associated components, (f) it has a complex structure in which components are not known. After thinking about structure of the knowledge, the prospective science teacher made investigations about crossings with different organisms. Based on the investigation, she/he noticed that Mendelian heredity was valid for animals such as hooded pigeons. During his/her thinking on the issue, another question came into his/her mind: Which resource or resources of knowledge production were used by Mendel when he produced the knowledge? (a) he produced the knowledge by summarizing his experiences and experiments as they are and by comparing them, (b) he produced the knowledge by using books about the issue, (c) he produced the knowledge by asking more knowledgeable individuals, (d) he produced the knowledge by constructing his experiments and experiences in his mind,(e) he produced the knowledge by using his imagination on possible situations about the issue without experimenting. The prospective science teacher repeated the processes regarding Mendel’s experiences on the plant crossing and noticed that the knowledge is very important and invaluable. Then she/he asked that is there any need for a special learning ability in producing this knowledge? (a) Mendel had an extraordinary inborn learning ability and this ability would not improve over time, (b) Mendel’s learning ability was spontaneously developed afterwards, (c) Mendel’s learning ability was developed by help of other people, (d) Mendel’s learning ability was developed by his individual experiences, (e) Mendel’s learning ability was developed by both individual experiences and help of other people.

CHEMISTRY

Antoine Lavoisier is a scientist working in the field of chemistry. Based on his experiences, Lavoisier stated that he reached the knowledge that “In a chemical reaction sum of masses of substances entering into the reaction practically equals to sum of masses of substances produced”. In other words sum of masses of Fe and S in the figure before the reaction equals to mass of FeS produced in the reaction.
By the knowledge produced by Lavoisier, other people predicted masses of substances to be produced in chemical reactions and explained unchanging masses of substances before and after the reaction. A prospective science teacher who is interested in the knowledge produced by Lavoisier asked a question to him/ herself: What is the nature of learning experienced by Lavoisier during his knowledge production process? (a) Lavoisier immediately learned this knowledge by his instinct, (b) Lavoisier quickly learned this knowledge, (c) Lavoisier’s learning of this knowledge in an accumulative manner took time, (d) as like everybody Lavoisier learned the knowledge by using his experiences in a certain time, (e) Lavoisier’s learning of this knowledge took more time than expected. Then the prospective teacher thought about the knowledge produced by Lavoisier and remembered that when he/she burned a wood in closed box she /he noticed masses in beginning of burning equaled to total masses of products. In this situation he/she asked another question by remembering her/his old experiences about the knowledge that “What is the nature of knowledge produced by Lavoisier?” (a) it is a stable (unchangeable) fact observed by everybody, (b) it is a stable (unchangeable) fact produced by Newton’s observations, (c) it is a tentative knowledge produced by making constructions regarding observations in mind, (d) it is a knowledge produced by trial and error and that is easily changeable in a short time and, (e) it is clearly a wrong knowledge and it has to be changed immediately. The prospective science teacher made more detailed readings about the knowledge and then he/she learned that sum of masses of substances before and after in melting, freezing, evaporation and condensation events also does not change. When the prospective teacher read about the knowledge and investigate different reactions, another question come into his/her mind: How is structure of the knowledge produced by Lavoisier? (a) it has a simple structure, (b) it has a simple structure with associated components, (c) it has a simple structure with unassociated components, (d) it has a complex structure with unassociated components, (e) it has a complex structure with associated components, (f) it has a complex structure in which components are not known. After thinking about structure of the knowledge, the prospective science teacher made investigations about reactions involving various substances. Based on the investigation, she/he noticed that conservation of mass was only valid for closed systems. During his/her thinking on the issue, another question came into his/her mind: Which resource or resources of knowledge production were used by Lavoisier when he produced the knowledge? (a) he produced the knowledge by summarizing his experiences and experiments as they are and by comparing them, (b) he produced the knowledge by using books about the issue, (c) he produced the knowledge by asking more knowledgeable individuals, (d) he produced the knowledge by constructing his experiments and experiences in his mind,(e) he produced the knowledge by using his imagination on possible situations about the issue without experimenting. The prospective science teacher repeated the processes regarding Lavoisier’s experiences and noticed that the knowledge produced by him is very important and invaluable. Then she/he asked that is there any need for a special learning ability in producing this knowledge? (a) Lavoisier had an extraordinary inborn learning ability and this ability would not improve over time, (b) Lavoisier’s learning ability was spontaneously developed afterwards, (c) Lavoisier’s learning ability was developed by help of other people, (d) Lavoisier’s learning ability was developed by his individual experiences, (e) Lavoisier’s learning ability was developed by both individual experiences and help of other people.

Profiling Form

Aspects of Science-specific Epistemological Beliefs	Text Type			Profile of Student
Aspects of Science-specific Epistemological Beliefs	Physics	Biology	Chemistry	Profile of Student
Learning Time
Tentativeness
Structure of Knowledge
Source of Knowledge
Learning Ability