Don’t tell me I’m stupid

“Girls can’t do science.” “Asians are better at math.” Yup, it’s stereotype time. Studies have long shown that people do worse on tests when they’re reminded that they’re not supposed to be smart. It’s called stereotype threat. Just having students mark a box for Male or Female is enough to trigger the effect, meaning that people do badly on tests even when they know the material.

Good news. New research suggests that a few small changes — like moving the “What is your gender?” checkbox to the end of the test, and announcing to students beforehand that the test is gender-neutral — can dramatically improve students’ scores. Read the full post, complete with practical suggestions for teachers.

(Via.)

posted by Sra. Bibliotecaria ⋅ tagged academia, education, race, research, youth

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