Although gender differences are fairly consistent when people report their general confidence, much less is known about such differences when individuals assess the degree of confidence they have in their ability to answer any particular test question. The objective of this research was to investigate gender differences in item-specific confidence judgments. Data were collected from three psychology courses containing 70 men and 181 women. After answering each item on course exams, students indicated their confidence that their answer to that item was correct. Results showed that gender differences in confidence are dependent on the context (whether items were correct or wrong) and on the domain being tested. Moreover, although both men and women were overconfident, undergraduate men were especially overconfident when incorrect.Lack of confidence has frequently been cited as a reason inhibiting the persistence of women in higher education and certain professions (i.e., science and engineering;Dix, 1987). Studies using general measures of confidence, such as grade prediction, potential ability to pass a test, or attitude scales have found that women are less confident than men in their abilities in mathematics, problem solving, and science

BACKGROUNDRecently, there has been a shift from using lecture-based teaching methods in undergraduate engineering courses to using more learner-centered teaching approaches, such as problem-based learning. However, research on the impact of these approaches has mainly involved student perceptions of the teaching method and anecdotal and opinion pieces by faculty on their use of the teaching method, rather than empirically collected data on students' learning outcomes. PURPOSE (HYPOTHESIS)This paper describes an investigation of the impact of problem-based learning (PBL) on undergraduate electrical engineering students' conceptual understanding and their perceptions of learning using PBL as compared to lecture. DESIGN/METHODFifty-five students enrolled in an electrical engineering course at a Midwestern university participated in this research. The study utilized a within-subjects A-B-A-B research design with traditional lecture as the baseline phase and problem-based learning as the experimental phase of the study. Participants completed pre-and post-tests surrounding the four topics covered in the study and also completed a Student Assessment of Learning Gains (SALG) survey. RESULTSResults suggested participants' learning gains from PBL were twice their gains from traditional lecture. Even though students learned more from PBL, students thought they learned more from traditional lecture. We discuss these findings and offer implications for faculty interested in implementing PBL. CONCLUSIONSGiven the limited research on the beneficial effects of PBL on student learning, this study provides empirical support for PBL. We discuss findings from this study and provide specific implications for faculty and researchers interested in problem-based learning in engineering.