Gender differences in high school students\u27 confidence in lab and content knowledge: Investigating the impacts of an authentic science curriculum

Traditional laboratory experiences in high school chemistry are often cookbook in nature. These types of experiences do not allow for student creativity nor do they represent the scientific process. In two studies conducted with high school Chemistry 2 students, an authentic science experience was implemented to investigate the impact on those students\u27 confidence—both in the their chemistry content knowledge and their ability to perform in lab—and their future participation in science. This experience took the students through four phases where they were introduced to the topic and assays, designed and executed a novel experiment, and presented their findings to their classmates. The students indicated a positive response to the experience and an increase in confidence. The data suggest that using a course embedded authentic research experience is beneficial for students and can positively impact student confidence in chemistry knowledge and performance in laboratory activities. The data also show an increase in student plans to participate in future science—through taking more science in high school and in college. The data also indicate that significant gender differences do not exist for this population. Based on these findings, this type of experience would be beneficial for use in high school chemistry classrooms