In keeping with my previous blogs about the existence of bias in the classroom based on demographic factors… previously I examined race, gender, and age bias (albeit in a very minimal manner) so for this blog, I will talk a bit about bias based on disabilities.

While no one wants to believe s/he treats a disabled person differently, I am sure such a bias exists. Much of the literature I surveyed discussed LD children (children with learning disabilities) but I am considering a more global perspective. An online classroom can protect a student with a physical disfigurement from real or perceived bias from classmates or teacher. The student with hearing or visual impairments can, in an online class, participate with no special treatment.

As David Permutter states in his article Physical Appearance and Student/Teacher Interactions (http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=EJ741293&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=EJ741293) “[s]cientific and cultural research suggests that attractiveness does affect the ways that people perceive and respond to each other…Many faculty members in certain disciplines judge students by how they dress and on their looks.” Clearly, a disfigurement (such as burn marks, bad scars, and the like) would create even a greater disparity in teacher response to such students.

Weidong Li, in his article Study shows how adolescents, parents cope with obesity bias in PE, shows how adolescents and parents cope with obesity bias (http://ehe.osu.edu/news/2008/li-obesity-bias-pe.cfm). Li states that, “…overweight adolescents can be teased unmercifully by peers.”

But what if these students appeared as they wanted to be perceived through the use of avatars? This is the crux of my topic.

A few days ago I joined Second Life and created my own avatar. I found the experience truly enlightening and, in my next blog, I will talk about some of the surprising emotions I had and the things I experienced. I am rapidly becoming a Second Life aficionado!

What is Second Life? “Second Life is a free online virtual world imagined and created by its Residents. From the moment you enter Second Life, you'll discover a fast-growing digital world filled with people, entertainment, experiences and opportunity” (from http://secondlife.com/whatis/ ). One interesting aspect of Second Life is that a person can purchase real estate and use it for his/her own group. Big businesses are doing this and using the space for virtual meetings with people all over the world. The idea that a virtual classroom can be purchased and used for an online class is what has intrigued me about Second Life.

Touching on a touchy topic

1. Discussion of racial bias is always a touchy topic. People (readers) tend to react to the writer’s argument emotionally. For example, an article that states that there is racial bias against one group in a situation may be interpreted as expressing the writer’s racist political agenda. Arthur Jensen caused an incredible uproar in the 1960’s when he published statements that he said were based on scientific evidence. Lloyd Humphreys, in a review of Jensen’s book, Bias in Mental Testing, says, “Jensen discusses intelligence as a phenotypic construct. The problem of ethnic differences in phenotypic intelligence is emotionally charged, which makes rational consideration of the issues difficult.” (http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED256778&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED256778). By the way, a definition of phenotype (I had to look up the word) is “the observable physical or biochemical characteristics of an organism, as determined by both genetic makeup and environmental influences” (from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/phenotype_). Since Jensen argued that blacks scored lower on intelligence tests based on phenotypical factors, most scientists would agree that Jensen did have a political agenda.
   
   I am quick to tell people that race is simply a social construct. Scientifically, there are no “races” in the human species. “The biological context of the term race is only widely accepted when used to refer to a subspecies arising from a partially isolated reproductive population and thus share a considerable degree of genetic similarity. An example is the African wildcat, which is a subspecies of the domesticated cat” (http://www.biology-online.org/dictionary/Race). But, as Smedley and Smedley state in APA Online at http://www.apa.org/journals/releases/amp60116.pdf “race as biology is fiction, racism as a social problem is real.”
   On the other hand, racial bias does exist and literature which demonstrates this abounds. Here is just one example: Ferguson, in an article in Learning Point Associates (http://lpadev.learningpt.org/gaplibrary/text/teacherperceptions2.php) says that “experimental studies confirm that race is an important part of the information teachers use to form an impression of a student and his or her potential. In one experiment, teachers were asked to listen to a tape of a student's response to a question about their favorite TV show. They were then shown a picture (of either a black or white girl or boy) that was supposed to be a picture of the student speaking (but was not necessarily). The teachers were then asked to rate the taped responses for personality, quality of the response, current academic abilities, and future academic potential. Ferguson says that the outcome of this experiment showed that there was a highly significant relationship between the race of the student in the picture they were shown and their estimation of the student's response and academic abilities.”
   While a blog is not the place for too many references, I certainly can find many that show that race is a factor in teachers’ perceptions of students. A few are listed at the end of this blog.
   I do have a political agenda which I am eager to state: I would like to see students interact in a classroom situation without experiencing this bias. It seems that here is another area where the use of an avatar in an online class can help eliminate that bias.
   Take a look at my picture (the one I have posted as part of my profile in this class):
   1. How old am I?
   2. What is my race?
   
   Here are just a few references that assert the validity of the conclusion that preconceived notions about race do influence teacher perceptions are:
   1.http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/0/2/3/3/1/p23317_index.html
2. http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED488840&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED488840
3. http://classroomconnection.blogspot.com/2006/04/bias-and-prejudice.html

Narrowing the topic

Dr. Ferdig suggested to me that I narrow the focus of my topic. The topic is now about how using an avatar in an online class might diminish bias based on demographic considerations. The suggestion was that I might focus on one specific form of bias–perhaps gender. However, gender bias, as a topic, actually kind of bores me. When I was doing research toward a Ph.D. in Economic Anthropology, two of my 3 advisors continually suggested that I needed to incorporate more gender-related studies but I resisted in favor of focusing on class issues.

But I do feel I need a narrower focus. Right now I am simply at the exploratory phase, developing a research area that I will want to pursue. I won’t choose one I know doesn’t interest me. This semester I would like to see what current research says about bias based on race, ethnicity, age, and gender in the classroom. After I collect some information on this, I’ll start to look into current research on how using an avatar can impact this bias.

This blog will be about age. Age-bias is a more complex topic, I think, than gender bias.
In general, most people feel that females are discriminated against. Also, gender stereotypes occur in classrooms from pre-school up through graduate school. “Gender stereotypes exist in society at large and in education. These stereotypes portray males as dominant and females as subordinate (Tracy, 1987; Streitmatter, 1985). Moreover, these stereotypes may account for the finding that females traditionally have chosen predominantly humanistic fields, while males have chosen science and technology (Yogev & Ayalon, 1991; Clarricoates, 1978). Beginning in the 1970s, various studies reported on teachers' interactions with students: males were found to get more attention than did females (Brophy, 1985; Sadker, Sadker, & Klein, 1991).” (from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2248/is_n130_v33/ai_21072030).

But what is the stereotype about age? And also, when is it relevant? There are no grandmas or grandpas enrolled in 9th grade. Age stereotypes, if they exist, only apply to the college/university setting. And what are these stereotypes? Some teachers may think older students are in the “can’t teach an old dog new tricks” category while others may feel that, with age and maturity, comes an ability to focus on task and outperform the younger students. I had a hard time finding any research about how teachers in higher education view older students.

However, an article by Michael Langdon (http://www.salient.org.nz/blog/a-freudian-analysis-of-collective-groan-heard-whenever-mature-student-raises-hand-for-old-fuddy-duddies) addresses how the older student is perceived by his/her younger classmates. To summarize, Langdon states that a collective groan is heard whenever a “mature student” raises a hand. “The stereotype of mature students is used to describe older students of higher education, whose age and experience are seen to be an impairment to their learning, and even destructive to the learning of their younger fellow students.”

In an article called “Mature students in higher education: academic performance and intellectual ability,” John Richardson states that “Mature students are sometimes said to be deficient in the basic skills needed for effective studying in higher education or to be impaired by age-related intellectual deficits. However, the research literature on the academic performance of mature students contains no good evidence that mature students perform any less well than younger students on courses of study in higher education. Moreover, the idea that normal ageing impairs the capacity for learning in higher education is most questionable: even the oldest mature students can obtain good results when assessed by means of both examinations and coursework.” (from http://www.springerlink.com/content/u7581m370x330418/)

Clearly, there is a stereotype attached to the older student but studies also show that the number of “mature” students returning to college are increasing.

And, the more I think about it, the more I wonder if this might be the focus of my topic. One thing that worried me about trying to research the effect of using avatars on minimizing bias in the classroom was that an avatar cannot effectively remove bias based on gender or ethnicity since these things are often reflected in the student’s name. However, an avatar can easily disguise one’s age. There seems to be little research into the perception of teachers toward older students and a plethora of research about the perception of young people toward older students.

My next blog will try to explore this topic in more depth. If anyone knows of any research about how teachers perceive older students, I would love to hear about it!

References:
1. Teacher-student classroom interactions: the influence of gender, academic dominance, and teacher communication style, article at http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2248/is_n130_v33/ai_21072030
2. A Freudian Analysis of “Collective Groan Heard Whenever Mature Student Raises Hand” for Old Fuddy Duddies by Michael Langdon, Wed, 18 Mar 2009, at http://www.salient.org.nz/blog/a-freudian-analysis-of-collective-groan-heard-whenever-mature-student-raises-hand-for-old-fuddy-duddies
3. Mature students in higher education: academic performance and intellectual ability by John Richardson at http://www.springerlink.com/content/u7581m370x330418/

Response to my own previous blog!

I was thinking about my conundrum: if an online class uses only avatars for students to represent themselves, the instructor knows nothing of their age, gender, race, ethnicity, etc. Is this a positive or a negative? On one hand, this may eliminate bias based on these things. But my Director suggested that a good teacher responds to each student based on who the student is and that includes factors like age, gender, race, etc. This idea stopped me cold.

However, on reflection, I disagree with this interpretation of the statement that a good teacher responds to who the student is. Yes, a good teacher must respond to each student as a separate individual. However, this should not include bias (positive or negative) based on non-academic factors.

At the end of the very first computer class I taught at SFC, a student came up to me. She was a 40-year-old black woman, dressed in business clothes. I know her age because it was the first thing she told me. She walked with me out of class, explaining that she was a bit nervous because this was her first class back in school after many years. As we walked, we passed another classroom. [FYI: I am “sort of” white (I’m Jewish, married, at that time, to a black Puerto Rican).] As we walked past the other classroom, we both looked in and saw a black woman teaching the class. My student said to me (and I am still amazed at her frankness!), “I didn’t know there was a class taught by a black woman! Maybe I should have taken her class instead.” Then she thought a moment and said, “No, I think I’m better off with you. Black teachers are usually a lot harder on their black students.”

This incident stuck with me for many reasons. First, of course, I was surprised that this woman would state such a politically incorrect opinion so openly to someone who (a) she had just met and didn’t know at all, (b) was her teacher and thus a person who had some power over her success in the class. But I also thought about her second statement: that, in her mind anyway, black teachers are harder on black students than non-black teachers. [Please note that I am using “black” rather than the politically correct “African American” because I’m quoting my student.]

So the idea that race, age, gender, etc. does impact how people interact can be both negative and positive in the ways we traditionally think of them, as well as in other more surprising ways.

But yes, I do believe that teachers need to temper their responses to their students, based on the individual. But I think this must be solely in the context of the educational system. I would not want to go to a dentist who treated me differently than another patient based on my skin color or age. But I would want to go to a dentist who treated me differently from his/her other patients based on my particular teeth issues! And a teacher can do this without knowing the personal background of each student.

Next blog will contain references to pertinent research I have found on this topic.

every cloud has a silver lining

My last blog was about how the use of avatars might avoid bias in a classroom. If a teacher knew nothing about the demographics of the students (their ages, sexes, races, ethnicity, etc.), the interaction might tend to be more bias-free. I was talking about this idea with the Director of our department and he put a different -- and very interesting -- spin on the topic.

We were talking about how we are the type of people who can change the way we interact with others, based on who are the people we are interacting with. He suggested to me that, while this may sometimes cause a negative bias, it is also the earmark of a good teacher. A good teacher is able to respond differently to different students by responding to individual needs. This is certainly something I need to think about!

Liz

Support for the online environment as unbiased

This week I read an article from Educational Resources that suggests that the online environment can contribute to creating an environment free of bias.

"Another major benefit of distance learning not immediately apparent is the potential elimination of all biases toward race, age, and physical disability that might occur in the classroom. With all students contributing to the class and interacting solely online, this effectively levels the playing field and creates an automatic equality that wouldn't exist otherwise due to race, age, and physical discrimination. In some ways, interaction with other students and faculty may be increased, as there is much more emailing back-and-forth. The favoritism that might be shown to the youngest, brightest, and physically advantaged students in the classroom will no longer be an issue. Students are judged solely by the output of their minds and intellect, without their status in life or physical characteristics being a factor. "

Of course, this conclusion is a bit simplistic. It also implies that the teacher does not require students to post introductory autobiographies and that a student's name does not give away his/her ethnicity (Jose Rivera? Luong Do? Etienne Marcoux? Sayarath Ingnavonthsa? Herschel Goldstein? Megan O'Reilly? Vladimir Nabokov?). I plan on looking into this further as the semester progresses.

I have always had misgivings about the introductory postings every teacher seems to require at the beginning of every online class. I know people like to know a little about their classmates, but I wonder what interaction would be like if we had no idea about the background of the people we interact with. I would like to experiment with a class where each person selected an avatar, named the avatar and used both the name the student (and teacher) chose throughout the class. I'm not sure how such an experiment could be controlled but it would be interesting.

Reference:
Understanding Distance Learning - Can It Eliminate Classroom Bias?
by Heidi Anspaugh
http://www.degrees.info/online/articles/can-distance-online-learning-eliminate-bias.html
(retrieved March 17, 2009)

Gender bias

As I continue to research my topic, I've found incontrovertible evidence that gender bias exists. Teachers may perpetuate male dominance or otherwise affect the self-esteem, self-confidence, and achievement levels of both males and females.

"Teachers' biases, intentional or otherwise, also send clear and harmful messages that are very influential as children form beliefs in their own abilities. Children's perceptions of gender roles are affected not only by overt forms of gender bias, such as being told they can or cannot do a task because of their gender, but also by the "hidden curriculum"-the subtle lessons that children encounter every day through teachers' behaviors, feedback, classroom segregation, and instructional materials." from http://www.blnz.com/news/2008/04/23/Gender_Bias_Classroom_Current_Controversies_2969.html

It is also clear that there are other biases based on demographics. However, I am having a hard time tracking down any research on whether or not teachers in higher education treat older students differently from the traditional 18-20 year-old college students -- will continue to search for studies.

I'll tackle this and factors like race and ethnicity next time. Then I can move toward talking about how avatars might be used to ameliorate the problem.

Moving toward expertise

Well, now I've chosen a topic and it is, to me anyway (and, luckily to some of you too), a fascinating topic. I've chattered on about avatars and Second Life and perceived realities, but now it's time for me to get serious. So for the next few blog postings I'll be setting the groundwork for my research. Let's start with the funny story I mentioned last time:

I had an online class a few years ago and had a student named Pat (yes, reminiscent of the old Pat joke from SNL of years ago... I don't actually remember if the name was Pat or Kim or Chris but it was one of those names that went with either males or females so I'll use Pat now). Pat was a great student and emailed me often. But the style of writing seemed like that of a young girl so, in my mind, Pat was a pretty, blonde, woman, about 19 years old, maybe a year out of high school. One assignment in the class (Web Authoring) was to create a splash page for a Website of the student's choice. Pat's site was about a small furniture store and the picture of the owner on the page was of an older, chubby, bald man. Pat said this was Pat's workplace. I assumed Pat was an office manager or secretary for the man. Anway, after the semester was over, Pat asked me to write a letter of recommendation for a position doing free-lance Web design. I wrote Pat a glowing recommendation including sentences like, "She is a very conscientious student and her work was always on time and completed with great attention to detail" or "I am sure she will give 110% to any project she is involved in" and so on...

Needless to say, by now you all guessed the punch line. Pat wrote to thank me for the excellent letter of recommendation but added, "I'm actually a 57-year-old bald fat man. My picture was on the Website I handed in."

That experience really made me think about how we (teachers) perceive our students. I know that, had I known that Pat was really a 57-year-old man, some of my emails to him would have been written differently. Nothing bad -- but I, as an older woman, would have different expectations from an older man than I would from a very young girl/woman. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Not sure. Maybe this semester's research will help me find out.

In the meantime, what actually is an avatar? Here's a definition:

An avatar is a computer user's representation of himself/herself or alter ego, whether in the form of a three-dimensional model used in computer games, a two-dimensional icon (picture) used on Internet forums and other communities, or a text construct found on early systems such as MUDs. It is an “object” representing the embodiment of the user. The term "avatar" can also refer to the personality connected with the screen name, or handle, of an Internet user.

Now that I know what one is, I can start to learn how avatars are used and, eventually, how they can be used to improve student-teacher and student-student interaction in online classes or even in traditional classrooms.

The decision: Avatars Exposed...

Last week I posted a blog with two possible options for a research topic to pursue in this class. I have now decided to look closely at how the use of avatars may affect student-teacher and student-student interaction in an online course. One topic that has interested me since the first class I ever taught online was whether the fact that a teacher does not physically see the students will have an impact on student success. As an online teacher, I normally have no idea whether or not a specific student is old or young, tall or short, black or white, and, often, even whether the student is male or female (funny story about that in the next blog entry, if I remember).

Now, however, it is possible for students to create avatars and use them in lieu of their real physical appearance. This takes my topic even one step farther -- how will interaction between students and each other and their teacher be affected by the fact that the student's (and even the teacher's) physical appearance is created from a person's wish list of physical characteristics. More next time...

My area of interest

I haven't quite narrowed down my focus on my area of interest for this course but perhaps someone (Dr. Ferdig?) can offer some specific direction if what I propose is too broad. I also have 2 options in mind and, after attending a particularly inspiring presentation at the SIGCSE conference today, I am inclined to choose my second option. Here are the two I am considering but I am leaning toward Option 2:

Option 1: I have always been very interested in how, given the fact that people in online classes do not interact face-to-face, it may be possible for a teacher to respond to students without any positive or negative connotations that may arise from preconceived notions about certain demographic features like race, age, gender, and so on. While many online instructors request students to post introductions or short biographies, I don’t. I like the idea that I am interacting with students solely on the basis of their performance in my class. Even with introductions, online classes still cut down on interactions based on preconceived notions of these factors or other forms of stereotyping.

It has occurred to me that using avatars instead of photos and text bios might reduce preconceptions affecting student-teacher (and student-student) interaction even more.

Therefore, this semester I would like to learn a lot more about avatars. I know some large corporations conduct online meetings with members using their avatars. Second Life is a venue that has fascinating applications. This is one area I am considering pursuing this semester.

Option 2: The second area of interest I have in mind is to develop new ways to teach Logic to my Programming Logic students through historical sources. Presently I am "lead instructor" for a course entitled Programming Logic and Design. This is my favorite course. However, every semester I am dismayed at how many students find logical thought so difficult. Learning to use truth tables, compound conditions, and the like seems to be harder for students than I imagined it would be. Since it is not hard for me, I often find myself frustrated because I cannot find ways to make it clearer to my students. I need to find a way to get students to reason and think logically and most of the conventional methods do not seem to do the trick.

The presentation I attended this morning was given by 3 professors at New Mexico State University. They use historical sources by studying the works of logicians and philosophers as a vehicle to get students to understand and use reasoning systems. These professors teach students at a much higher level than those I teach at Santa Fe College. However, I believe their premises would work at my level if I do some hard work to create viable options for my students.

I would propose, over the course of the semester, to study the works of such mathematicians, logisticians, and philosophers as Aristotle, Euclid, the Stoic philosophers (especially Chrysippus), Bertrand Russell, Alfred Whitehead, George Boole, and Ludwig Wittgenstein and, using their principles, design modules and/or exercises for my Programming Logic class.

a trip to Tennessee this week

I've never blogged so this is just a quick trial.

I am going to be out of town for the rest of the week. I will be attending SIGCSE 2009 (SIGCSE is Special Interest Group on Computer Science Education, http://www.sigcse.org/) in Chattanooga, TN from March 4-8. I'll check in to this class online from my hotel room but I hope I don't miss anything.

Liz