College Chemistry and Piaget: An Analysis of Gender Difference, Cognitive Abilities, and Achievement Measures Seventeen Years Apart

• Published in: Journal of chemical education Vol. 80; no. 5; p. 569
• Main Authors: Shibley, Ivan A, Milakofsky, Louis M, Bender, David S, Patterson, Henry O
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Easton Division of Chemical Education 01-05-2003; American Chemical Society
• Subjects: Academic achievement; Aptitudes; Chemistry; Cognition; Cognitive ability; Cognitive Development; College students; Colleges & universities; Curriculum Development; Followup Studies; Gender; Gender aspects; Gender differences; Higher Education; Organic chemistry; Piagetian Theory; Science Education; Sex Differences; First-Year Undergraduate / General; Chemical Education Research; Combinatorial Chemistry
• ISSN: 0021-9584; 1938-1328
• DOI: 10.1021/ed080p569

This study revisits an analysis of gender difference in the cognitive abilities of college chemistry students using scores from "Inventory of Piaget's Developmental Tasks" (IPDT), the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT), and final grades from an introductory college chemistry course. Comparison of 1998 scores with those from 1981 showed an overall decline on most of the measures and a changing pattern among males and females. Gender differences were found in the IPDT subtests measuring imagery, classification, and proportional reasoning, but not conservation, a pattern that differs from the findings reported 17 years earlier. The generational and gender differences revealed in this study suggest that instructors should be cognizant of, and should periodically assess, the diversity of students' cognitive abilities.