Instructional Strategies

Review the Theory and Evidence.

Recommendations and Strategies*

  • Provide comprehensive professional development: Teachers who receive rich and sustained professional development, and professional development that is geared toward higher-order thinking skills and concrete activities, are more likely to engage in effective classroom practices. An application of comprehensive professional development was found in The Dallas Gender Equity Project that incorporated full-day workshops, mini-assignments, half-day follow-up workshops and resulted in dramatic increases in AP physics enrollments.
  • Stress professional development self-assessment: Train teachers on how to assess integrated practice.
  • Utilize intervention programs for IT in formal education: A study by The Ohio State University found that school experiences, such as taking computer courses, and encouraging teachers impacted successful women in IT and indicated that formal schooling is a good place for intervention.
  • Foster interest, as well as skill, in math and science: The National Center for Educational Research recommends a classroom environment that encourages curiosity and embeds efforts to sustain interest and relevance in math and science. One technique for nurturing science interest and identity is to create “hybrid” space in the science classroom. A hybrid space is one that incorporates the experience of the student so that the science classroom is no longer “another world.” Not only does this increase female students’ interest in science, but it also impacts the way teachers then teach other students.

[pullquote align=”right”]Females prefer learning experiences that they help design, that are learner centered, and that involve them in a community.[/pullquote]

Effective Practices and Resources