How Biographies of Women in Science, Technology, and Medicine Influence Fifth Graders’ Attitudes Toward Gender Roles

Abstract

This research focuses on elementary pupils’ attitudes toward gender roles and the learning results from using two types of teaching materials, multimedia animation and a role-play transcript, based on the biographies of women in science, technology, and medicine. We selected two fifth-grade classes for the experiment, which was conducted during the students’ science period. The findings revealed that using the two teaching materials positively benefited elementary pupils’ attitudes toward gender roles, particularly in terms of games and toys.