השפעת לימוד קורס טכנולוגי עתיר ידע בנושא עיבוד ספרתי של תמונה במחשב על עמדות תלמידות ערביות בחטיבת הביניים אודות הרצון שלהן ללמוד ולעסוק בתחום

Abstract

This paper presents a study about the gap between Arab girls and boys learning
scientific-technological subjects in junior high school. This issue raises concern in
the Arab society in particular, because studies show that there is still reluctance
among girls choosing these subjects of study and employment and their number in
Israel and worldwide is still very low relative to boys.
The study includes development and implementation of a course on Digital
Image Processing on the computer. The study population consists of three classes
from an Arab junior high school. The study evaluates the achievements of students
of both genders in the course and examines the differences in their attitudes in the
course in terms of interest in the subject matter, motivation to learn and to perform
tasks, their self-efficacy on the subject and their desire to learn such topics and to
pursue a career in the field in the future.
Research findings show that the achievements of the boys and the girls were
similar throughout the course. In addition, although initially the girls’ interest in
learning scientific-technological subjects in school was lower than the boys, upon
completing the course, the girls’ attitudes improved significantly and the gender
gap in this regard was bridged. Yet, the girls’ motivation to deal with technology in
the future was also lower compared to the boys’ after learning the new subject.
This reflects the current gender disparity regarding interest in science and
engineering areas in academia or at the workplace.