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/