Interactive EdPuzzles on Single-Gender Education

1. Video #1: Should Schools Be Single Sex? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ob5o2Dkme3s)

1.1. Q1: The title of this video is the first issue you need to address when considering single-gender schools. The "Should" in the title asks an important question: is there a reason male and female students should be schooled in different environments?

1.2. Q2: With which side of this argument do you agree? Will students gets distracted by members of the opposite sex or will they drive and motivate each other?

1.3. Q3: Should a school be selected based solely on avoiding the discomfort of adolescence? What do you think the second debater's answer will be to the first?

1.4. Q4: This video boils the single-gender school argument into simple sides: single-gender schools for focus and protection, and coeducational schooling to gain life skills like interacting with a variety of students. But is the issue truly this simple?

2. Video #2: Single-Gender Classroom (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDyOiOkQp0k)

2.1. Q1: What do you think about this question? Would it motivate you to send your student to a single-gender classroom?

2.2. Q2: Now that you've seen information on single-gender classrooms, do you think the ages when students learn in this environment matters?

2.3. Point: Brains matter! One of the best reasons to consider single-gender education is the pace at which your student learns. Boys and girls mature differently, and single-gender education focuses on that.

2.4. Q3: How does your child learn? What qualities could your child learn better in a single-gender classroom?

2.5. Q4: Is single-gender education itself a strategy? What do you think?

2.6. Q5: Does this seem odd that voluntary separation based on gender is considered "innovative"? Why do you think this way?

3. Video #3: Inside Education | Single Gender Classrooms (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoAcfJoteK0)

3.1. Q1: If students have specific differences in learning styles, does it make more sense to instruct by gender?

3.2. Point: This strikes at the heart of the single-gender classroom issue. The choice is voluntary. If a single-gender school is in the best interest of the student, then a parent should consider it.

3.3. Point2: While this type of teaching helps all students (teaching to their interests), single-gender classrooms may make it decidedly easier to reach more students in the same span of time.

3.4. Q2: The experimental nature of this example is helpful in that it shows that only by trying new methods of teaching can we find what works best for our students. Do you think this model would work well in most public schools? Why or why not?