"They look at you, like, 'Why weren't you listening?' But you were listening, it's just you didn't understand it," said one girl. Another said, "It was like 'Aaaaaah! You're asking me this again?'" A third offered this comment: "They probably get bored of explaining and explaining you the basics, you know, so they like it when kids understand and start asking more complicated questions." When asked how these different levels of classroom discourse made them feel, they all replied that they felt "stupid", though they were quick to point out that some teachers are careful not to show these kinds of preferences.

Two rather lengthy comments from one of the young women are of such interest and concern to us that we would like to present them in full. These halting yet insightful remarks pose many of the issues about the way physics is presented in schools and colleges. The problems which Susie pinpoints and tries to work out for herself are some of the problems which we hope to begin to unravel as we proceed with our research.

As an addendum to the question "How do you study physics?" Susie said:
There was one thing I learned in Humanities - we were doing, um, The Realm of Science-that science and art and imagination are supposed to go together. In school you know, you're not supposed to imagine, you're supposed to learn and then memorize: da duh da duh da duh. But science is kind of like imagining things. You're just making a picture in your mind, you know. And that helps a lot. When you can take what you learn and--even if its not much-just kinda stretch it and reproduce whatever you have in your mind and how it works and keep on trying it. I didn't learn this from physics, though, I learned it from Humanities, and I thought WOW imagination and science together. I really didn't think about it before because I thought it was all about facts.

When asked if she would like to add anything at the end of the interview, Susie said:
I think they should start physics a lot earlier. At least the kind-the way you have to think about it. Because people get into grade ten and they think "HEY What a big stump." They've never imagined or had the pictures in their mind, like, "I want to raise this object, how do I do it with a pulley or a string." They also come with this attitude "Aaaah! This is physics, this is really scary." Its kind of like a straightjacket, automatically you're paranoid. Like at the beginning of the semester, I - you know - I'm kinda intimidated; like I'm taking physics and chemistry, and how am I going to do? So, one of my teachers has this sticker that says [Susie raises her eyes and points to the ceiling!] 'Physics is good for you, " but it should be a lot lower. Maybe its just because I'm looking up at the ceiling-but it should be a lot lower, you know, to have a more relaxing atmosphere about it.

Fran Davis and Arlene Steiger are working on the first year of their second Quebec Government grant for research in feminist pedagogy, focusing this time on the physical sciences in the CEGEPS. Since 1988 they have conducted numerous workshops and published articles on their research. The report of their first project, A Practical Assessment of Feminist Pedagogy, can be obtained from Vanier College, Montreal, where Fran teaches English, Arlene teaches Humanities, and both are actively involved in Women's Studies.

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