  We discuss the development of a research-based conceptual multiple-choice
survey related to magnetism. We also discuss the use of the survey to
investigate gender differences in students' difficulties with concepts related
to magnetism. We find that while there was no gender difference on the
pre-test, female students performed significantly worse than male students when
the survey was given as a post-test in traditionally taught calculus-based
introductory physics courses (similar results in both the regular and honors
versions of the course). In the algebra-based courses, the performance of the
female students and the male students has no statistical difference in the
pre-test or the post-test.
