Gender Responses to Animation Project
In the Animation project, results for males and females were similar to those for the PT project. Fifty-seven percent of the males, however, thought this was an easy project with only 22% of males reporting that it was challenging. Thirty-five percent of the females rated the project as easy, and 42% felt it was challenging. A much higher percentage of females (70%) looked over the grading rubric than the males (51%). When asked if they would like to do a similar project, 85% of the males strongly agreed/agreed but only 60% of the females had the same response. Eighty-five percent of the females responded positively to enjoying using the computer on the project.
Gender Responses for Zoo Design Project
In the Zoo Design project, 31% of males were neutral on whether this was an example of their best effort and best work. They were more decisive on their enjoyment of using the computer (76%) on this project. There was almost a three-way split on if this was an easy project; 33% strongly agreed/agreed, 31% neutral, and 31% strongly disagreed/disagreed. Sixty-seven percent of males did not want to be graded as a group.
In the Zoo Design project, 84% of the females felt that what they turned in was their best effort and 71% thought it was an example of their best work. Like the males, there was almost a three-way split on if this was an easy project; 32% strongly agreed/agreed, 32% neutral, and 35% strongly disagreed/disagreed. Females had positive feelings about working by themselves (70%) and about working in a group (72%).
Between the three projects, computer enjoyment and learning a new technology skill were much higher in the Animation project for both males and females. In the Animation project, males showed a 28 percentage point increase in teaching someone a computer skill over the PT project. Males showed the highest percentage (85%) in their desire to do a similar project to the Animation one over the other two projects. Females (53%) rated the PT project the easiest while males (57%) thought that the Animation project was the easiest. Both males and females rated the Zoo Design project highest for both individual and group work enjoyment.
Overall, at least 85% of both males and females enjoyed the Animation project over the other two projects. Males thought the Animation project was the easiest while over half of the females thought the PT project was the easiest. A majority of both males and females said they not only learned a new skill in the Animation project but also taught a new skill. Males rated the Zoo Design project as the most challenging while at least 40 % of the females said that all projects were equally challenging (see Table 3).
Table 3.
Strongly agree/agree responses |
|
PT |
Animation |
Zoo Design |
|
|
Male
% |
Female
% |
Male
% |
Female
% |
Male
% |
Female
% |
|
Challenging project |
35 |
40 |
22 |
42 |
40 |
40 |
|
Computer enjoyment |
76 |
73 |
86 |
85 |
66 |
68 |
|
Enjoyed working by myself |
50 |
37 |
29 |
18 |
59 |
70 |
|
Enjoyed working with group |
|
|
56 |
70 |
63 |
74 |
|
Easy project |
42 |
53 |
57 |
35 |
33 |
32 |
|
Like to do similar projects |
56 |
44 |
85 |
60 |
56 |
65 |
|
Learned new technology skill |
33 |
26 |
68 |
78 |
27 |
50 |
|
Taught a technology skill |
27 |
51 |
55 |
48 |
31 |
37 |
|
Student Open-ended Responses
Students were given one open response question in the second and third surveys. The prompt for the open response items was, “If you spent more time outside of class to finish the (project), what were the major reasons that caused you to need that extra time?” A much smaller percentage of females (23%) than males (47%) were able to complete the Animation project in class. Even though females rated themselves in the initial survey as being comfortable using PPT (93%), learning a new set of skills in a familiar program was a challenge.
The results of the open response item for the Zoo Design project indicate that 14% percent of females rated partner issues and design issues as the biggest obstacles to completing the project on time. Both males (11%) and females (9%) had absences as a reason for needing extra time. After absences, males listed time management, low understanding of directions, and product length, all at 9%, as reasons for needing more time. About a third of both males and females were able to finish the project during class.
Males and females had similar responses on the Animation survey regarding their work with a partner. However, nine percent of females felt their ideas were not valued by their partner; whereas, there were no males that had that same feeling. A higher percentage of females than males indicated they wanted a partner but didn't request one or wished that the teacher was involved in the selection of partners. Both males and females had similar percentages in the categories of having less work with a partner, sharing equally in the project, incorporating ideas, picking their partner, and sometimes messing up their group's work.
There were several differences between males and females in the Zoo Design project. Forty percent of the females thought they had less work to do as a group member while only 24% of males thought the same. Twenty-seven percent of the males thought they had done something to mess up their group while only 7% of the females felt they had messed up. Both males (65%) and females (77%) wished they had been able to pick their own group members.
Between the two projects that had partner or group work (Animation and Zoo Design), there was little difference between the genders with a few exceptions. Forty percent of the females thought they had less individual work when they had three or four people in their group even though each member of the group had their own final activity to complete. A majority of students were glad they picked their own partner for the Animation project. Students also wished they could have picked their entire group in the Zoo Design project but over 90% liked at least someone in their teacher-chosen group (see Table 4).
Table 4.
Responses to Partner/Group Work |
|
Animation |
Zoo Design
|
|
Male
% |
Female
% |
Male % |
Female
% |
Less work with partner/group |
20 |
21 |
24 |
40 |
More work with partner/group |
13 |
19 |
20 |
18 |
A partner/group member messed me up |
7 |
14 |
29 |
40 |
I messed up someone in my group |
22 |
21 |
27 |
7 |
Glad I didn't pick group members |
|
|
16 |
16 |
Glad I picked my partner |
65 |
74 |
|
|
Wish I had picked group |
|
|
65 |
77 |
Wish teacher had picked partners |
0 |
4 |
|
|
Wanted partner but didn't ask anyone |
4 |
11 |
|
|
Wanted partner but only if teacher chose |
0 |
5 |
|
|
Liked working with all group members |
|
|
33 |
42 |
Liked working with most group members |
|
|
58 |
56 |
Did not like working with any group members |
|
|
4 |
2 |
Results and Discussion
As the teacher-researcher, I initially wanted to see how increasingly challenging projects that included a computer component affected the students' achievement and attitude. In addition, I was curious to see how males and females differed in their perceptions of how competent and comfortable they were in using computers. Recognizing that today's students are considered to be “digital natives” (Prensky, 2001), I wanted to see if that moniker really applied to the students I teach. I expected that most of my students would have computer access at home, and that was verified.
Student Attitudes
As students completed the three projects, they had the greatest enjoyment in the Animation project where students learned a new computer skill within a familiar program, PPT. More students said they not only learned a new skill but taught someone else a new skill in the Animation project. Students rated the Zoo Design project as the easiest even though students had to do individual research and create a product. The Zoo Design project had students work with groups of three to four students. In the Zoo Design Project, both males and females were evenly split on the difficulty. In this project, students within a group had different tasks to complete and needed different computer skills to complete each task. The variation in student assignments or tasks led to a broader range of attitude in whether the project was easy or not. One of the strongest feelings expressed was that students were glad that their grade on the Zoo Design project was only on their individual work and not a grade that combined the effort of all group members. All students completed the project by the due date; which was not the norm for these students. Rarely do all students turn in homework on the date due and often times one to two students per class will have incomplete assignments. Students were eager to present their animations to the class and were proud of their work.
Gender Differences
It was somewhat surprising that the percentages between males and females were so close in a majority of the survey questions. While males are stereotyped as being much more tech savvy than females, these findings did not support that assumption. Both genders expressed positive feelings when learning a new skill in the Animation project. For the females, almost a fifth indicated they were perfectionists on the Animation project; they wanted to spend extra time so they could have a final product that was above the norm. Even though many females enjoyed the project, there were still those that felt they had deficient knowledge but most were willing to use their personal time to work on the project.
Many of the students were glad that they were able to work with a partner and that they were able to choose their own partner in the Animation project. There were a higher percentage of females than males who wanted a partner but did not ask someone to be their partner in that project. In the future, I can give shy students a way to acquire a partner if they want one. In the Zoo Design project, students liked working in a group but wanted to pick their own group members. I need to design a method in which kids have more of a voice in picking groups while, at the same time, making sure shy or last-chosen kids are placed within a group in which they can be successful.
