Ambareen Siraj Department of Computer Science [email protected]

Ambareen Siraj
Department of Computer Science
[email protected]
Teaching ALL
What does it mean?
! 
Reaching out to ALL
Regardless of their group
! 
Not be unconsciously biased in teaching
 
Rather practice equitable teaching
 
2
Members of all groups share the same opportunities and
the same constraints with full participation [adapted from 1]
Why Diversity Matters
! 
! 
3
Diversity empowers
“The diverse group almost always outperforms the
group of the best by a substantial margin.” [1]
Problem [Adapted from 2]
Assumptions
Expectations
Experience
Skill
Performance
Differential treatment
of
members of different
groups
Loss of individual
potential among
members of different
groups
Assumptions about
different groups’ roles,
jobs, behaviors
Actual differences in
different groups’ roles,
jobs, behaviors
4
Solution [Adapted from 2]
Assumptions
Expectations
Experience
Skill
Performance
Equitable treatment
of
members of different
groups
Reduction in stereotyped
assumptions about
different groups’ roles,
jobs, behaviors
Increased individual
achievement among
members of different
groups
Reduced differences
in different groups’
roles, jobs, behaviors
5
Forms of Bias [2,3]
In Curricular Materials
! 
Stereotyping
 
! 
Assigning traditional and rigid roles/attributes to groups
Invisibility
Underrepresenting certain groups
! 
Imbalance/selectivity
 
! 
Linguistic bias
 
! 
Avoiding controversial topics in the real world
Fragmentation/Isolation
 
6
Reflecting discriminatory words, lack of parallel terms
Unreality
 
! 
Presenting only a limited perspective
Separating debatable issues from main issues
Forms of Bias [2,3]:
Book Example of Invisibility and Stereotyping
Word problems in Math books involving males and females
! 
Males
Buying model car and plane
Painting (2 times)
Walking (4 times)
Making map
Experimenting
Making paper chain
Losing weight
Riding bike
Running race
Swimming
Using calories (2 times)
Driving truck
Buying land (2 times)
7
! 
Females
Planting
Planning
Working for her father
Drinking
Working
Making paper chain
Gaining weight
Growing taller
Running race
Missing questions
Driving boys home
Forms of Bias [2]:
Example of Fragmentation/Isolation
Content in a Social Research book
! 
Topics
The Economy
New Space Explorations
Contributions of Contemporary Women
Domestic Politics
Foreign Policy Decisions
Scientific Achievements
Energy Crisis
8
Forms of Bias [2]:
Example of Imbalance/Selectivity
! 
9
Women were given the vote as a reward for their work in
World War I.
Forms of Bias: Exercise
! 
Jane uses the given recipe for making 1 batch of cookies
that serves 6 boys. John buys the groceries according to the
grocery list that Jane makes. Write a program which uses a
given recipe, asks the user how many boys to serve,
computes the amounts of items needed, and then prints the
grocery list accordingly for John.
! 
Is bias present?
What kind:
Revise:
! 
! 
10
Creating Gender Balance through
Gender Fair Language
Avoid exclusionary forms: Examples
! 
! 
! 
11
If a student turns in code before the due date, he will
earn 10 bonus points for the assignment.
If you think you are the best man for the team leader
job, please volunteer yourself.
The team leader would man the controls of project
activities and delegate tasks to other members.
Creating Gender Balance through
Gender Fair Language
Choose inclusionary alternatives: Examples
! 
If a student turns in code before the due date, he or she
will earn 10 bonus points for the assignment.
! 
! 
If you think you are the best person for the team leader
job, please volunteer yourself.
! 
! 
If you think you are the best man for the team leader job, please
volunteer yourself.
The team leader would take charge of project activities
and delegate tasks to other members.
! 
12
If a student turns in code before the due date, he will earn 10 bonus
points for the assignment.
The team leader would man the controls of project activities and
delegate tasks to other members.
Gender Sensitive OR Not?
Y/N Landlord Adulthood Worker Career woman Waitress Faculty wife Flight aAendant Freshman Brotherhood Mother tongue Ancestors Man made Expert 13
Proprietor Professional Server Faculty spouse First-­‐year student Community NaEve language Machine-­‐
made All men are created equal We are all created equal Best man for the job Best person for the job Boys will be boys Kids will be kids Every man for himself Everyone for themselves Honorable/informal Gentleman’s agreement agreement US Government wants you Uncle Sam wants you Avoiding Gender Sensitive Language
! 
The ladies in the Parent Teacher Organization will meet
the girls in the office.
 
! 
Calculate how much money is spent by Mr. Conners
and his wife at the end of the day.
 
 
Calculate how much money is spent by Mr. and Mrs.
Conners at the end of the day.
The lady doctor treated the patient.
 
14
The women in the Parent Teacher Organization will meet
the women in the office.
The doctor treated the patient.
Exercise: Identify and Revise
Open the text file (provided with this assignment) runners.txt. The first line contains an integer
indicating how many records are in the file. Each subsequent line contains information
about an athlete. An athlete’s information consists of his name, distance raced, and time to
finish (all separated by a space). A sample file is shown below.
3
Douglas 6000 909.10
Tim 5000 872.32
Jacob 1000 223.22
Read the first line of the file.
Display the number of records found in the file.
Dynamically create an array of object (using pointer notation) of type Athlete (The number of
element in the array should be equal to content of the first line of the file.)
Read the subsequent lines and initialize the athlete objects using the member function setValues.
Each athlete should have his name, distance raced and the time to finish. Use ARRAY
notation to traverse through the array of objects.
Display objects using the member function displayAthlete. Use POINTER notation to traverse
through the array of objects.
Finally, calculate the winner and display his name starting with the text “And the winner is Mr.”.
15
Stereotypes
16
Avoiding Stereotypical Notion of Roles
! 
Research scientists often don’t have time for their
wives and children.
Research scientists often don’t have time for their
families.
! 
The program should ask the nurse for her password
before giving access to patient data.
 
! 
The program should ask the nurse for his or her
password before giving access to patient data.
Mothering a child is not an easy thing to do.
Parenting a child is not an easy thing to do.
17
Gender Stereotypical Expectations
Research shows: Frequent Adjectives Used for Describing Good Students:
! 
Males
Active
Adventurous
Aggressive
Assertive
Curious
Energetic
Enterprising
Frank
Independent
Inventive
18
! 
Females
Appreciative
Calm
Conscientious
Considerate
Mannerly
Poised
Sensitive
Dependable
Efficient
Obliging
Mature
Thorough
Interaction Patterns [2,3]
Research shows:
! 
Active Teaching Pattern:
 
! 
Evaluation Pattern:
 
 
 
! 
Teachers give males more verbal praise
Teachers criticize males more for rules and regulations
Teachers criticize females more for intellectual
inadequacy
Disciplinary Pattern:
• 
19
Teachers give males more positive, active teaching
attention
Teachers reprimand males more (mostly for
inappropriate classroom behaviors)
Praise and Criticism [2]
Research shows:
100
PRAISE
80
60
Male
Female
40
20
0
For Intellectual Quality
100
80
60
40
For Following Rules
CRITICISM
Male
Female
20
0
For Intellectual Inadequacy For Failure to Obey Rules
20
Wrong Way/Right Way
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
21
Giving minimal wait time for Q/A
Extended wait time for Q/A
Probing same group of enthusiastic students
“Managing” enthusiastic hand raisers and probing
others/alternating reporters
Let “shy” ones be shy
Reaching out to the shy ones.
Permitting “speaking/talking” over
Managing situations where one speaks over another
Intelligence can be Nurtured [5-8]
Research shows:
! 
! 
! 
! 
! 
22
Environment plays a major role in development
Fixed mindset can hinder learning
Growth mindset can enhance learning
Prolonged and repeated deliberate practice
can improve performance
Overcoming stereotype vulnerability improves
performance gaps between ethnic/gender
groups
Gender Equitable Practices [2-4]
! 
! 
! 
! 
! 
! 
! 
! 
! 
! 
! 
23
Hold high expectations of all students.
Value intellect rather than appearance.
Praise, encourage, and respond to contributions of females and males
equally and fairly.
Establish collaborative groups composed of both males and females.
Establish rules for participation.
Rotate responsibilities.
Use examples of females in roles traditionally held by male and vice versa.
Establish peer support group.
Avoid and discourage comments or humor that demean or stereotype
males or females.
Analyze curricular material for bias and supplement, if needed.
Diversify classroom resources.
Computer Science (CS) Stereotypes
24
! 
Computer Scientists are nerds.
! 
CS students are geeks.
! 
CS people have a computer gene.
! 
CS material is hard to learn.
! 
CS students have no social life.
! 
CS environments are unexciting.
Dealing with CS Stereotypes
! 
Changing tools, techniques
! 
Changing perceptions with role models
! 
Changing environment or perception of environment ..
• 
25
Environment with ambient belonging [9]
Sense of Environment
26
http://depts.washington.edu/sibl/Publications/Debunking%20Stereotypes%20Brochure%20%28teacher%29.pdf
Teaching ALL
27
! 
Being conscious about unconscious bias
! 
Being cautious about interaction patterns
! 
Debunking stereotypical notions
! 
Being aware of cultural differences
! 
Being equally sensible and fair to all
References
1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 
5. 
6. 
7. 
8. 
9. 
28
Lu Hong and Scott Page, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, (2002)
Sadker, David., Sadker, Myra, 1982, Sex equity handbook for schools, Publisher:
Longman.
Sadker, David, Ed. 1990, “Gender Equity in the Classroom”, Writer/Producer: Mary
Makley
National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), 2002. “Guidelines for Gender-Fair
Use of Language”, http://www.ncte.org/positions/statements/genderfairuseoflang
(Accessed July. 3, 2011)
Nisbett, Richard, 2009, Intelligence and How to Get It: Why Schools and Cultures
Count, W. W. Norton Publishers.
Carol Dweck, 2007, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, Ballantine Books,
Steele, C. M., & Aronson, J. (1995). Stereotype threat and the intellectual test
performance of African-Americans. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69
(5), 797-811.
Ericsson, K. A. (2008). Attaining excellence through deliberate practice: Insights from
the study of expert performance. In M. Ferrari (Ed.), The pursuit of excellence in
education. Hillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum.
Sapna Cheryan, Victoria C. Plaut, Paul G. Davies, Claude M. Steele. Ambient
belonging: How stereotypical cues impact gender participation in computer science.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 2009; 97(6): 1045-1060.
Web Resources
! 
! 
! 
! 
! 
! 
! 
29
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYwIqM20x4&feature=youtu.be
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=ASDzcvyatgw&feature=youtu.be
http://www.ncte.org/positions/statements/
genderfairuseoflang
http://www.asha.org/docs/html/GL1993-00200.html
http://www2.edc.org/WomensEquity/pdffiles/sciguide.pdf
http://www.reducingstereotypethreat.org/
http://sibllab.blogspot.com/
Questions
30