Ching, C. C., Kafai, Y. B., & Marshall, S. (2000). Spaces for change: Gender and technology access in collaborative software design projects. Journal for Science Education and Technology, 9(1), 4556. Also in N. Yelland & A. Rubin (in press). Ghosts in the machine: Women study women and technology. New York: Peter Land Publishers.
Equitable computer collaborations in mixed gender teams have been a pressing issue for many years. While some have argued for creating single-gender teams or girls-only computer activities, our approach was different. The current study examines a three-month software design activity in which mixed teams of girls and boys (10-12 year olds) designed and implemented multimedia astronomy resources for younger students. In this context we assessed gender differences in students' levels of access to technology and how these participation patterns changed throughout the project duration. We found through our qualitative analyses that the configuration of social, physical and cognitive "spaces" in the project environment contributed to a positive change in girls' levels of access. We discuss the implications of these results in regard to issues surrounding the development and maintenance of gender equity in computer use and further research.
NEW! Kafai, Y. B. Tech-Savvy Girls' Participation in Computer Classroom Cultures (ongoing).
While many studies have documented
girls' lack of familiarity with computers in an out of school
and their negative attitudes toward computers, these gender differences
have rarely been examined from the perspective of girls who are
technologically competent, or "tech-savvy". Drawing
from a data set collected over four years, this study proposes
to assess and compare tech-savvy girls working within different
software design team configurations during a ten-week long programming
project in an elementary school setting. The purpose of this study
is to assess not only girls' participation in computer team activities,
in particular when their technical skills are equal to those of
boys, but also girls' development of technological competence
within mixed-gender versus single-gender team configurations.
Participation will be conceptualized via students' helping interactions
around programming issues analyzed through video footage from
actual classroom interactions and triangulated with students'
own perceptions of giving and receiving help. The results will
contribute to the research on longterm collaborations in mall
groups and address the issues of how to create equitable computer-based
learning environments.