School belonging and math attitudes among high school students in advanced math

This study used the Trends in International Math Science (TIMSS) 2015 Advanced data from nine countries to examine the relationship between students’ sense of school belonging and their attitudes towards mathematics, and the extent to which student gender moderated these relationships. Results showed that students’ sense of school belonging emerged as a statistically significant, positive predictor of students’ liking and valuing of mathematics. For most countries, no significant moderating effect of student gender was observed. However, among Portuguese students, the relationship between students’ sense of school belonging and each attitude measure was stronger for males than for females.     

Cognitive style and gender differences in children’s mathematics achievement

Males are often found to outperform females in tests of mathematics achievement and it has been proposed that this may in part be explained by differences in cognitive style. This study investigated the relation between Wholistic-Analytic and Verbal-Imagery cognitive style, gender and mathematics achievement in a sample of 190 Australian primary school students aged between 8–11?years (M?=?9.77, SD?=?1.05). It was hypothesised that males would outperform females in mathematics achievement tests, and that gender would interact with cognitive style on mathematics performance. A significant gender/cognitive style interaction was found. Boys with an Analytic/Imagery style achieved significantly higher results than the girls with an Analytic/Imagery style, supporting the contention that certain cognitive styles affect boys and girls mathematics performance differently. Implications of results and strategies for improving mathematics achievement among girls are discussed.     

A new methodology, an old story? Gender differences in the “draw-a-computer-user” test

Gender differences in computer-related attitudes have been reported in school children of all ages. Females express more negative attitudes than males when asked to explicitly endorse attitude statements. This gender difference may be compounded by females expressing attitudes consistent with their psychological gender. This study uses an art-based methodology to assess the computer-related attitudes of 395 primary school children (aged 5 to 11). A significant difference occurs in the gender drawn by the children. Whilst 30% of females draw males, only 4% of males draw females. Additionally, older females draw proportionally less smiling faces. These results are consistent with more traditional assessments of attitude which indicate that females’ attitudes towards computers become more negative as they progress through the educational system. The art-based methodology also identified similar proportions of females holding negative attitudes as do more traditional assessments, suggesting ecological validity for the gender differences in computer attitudes. The implications for computer-related education are discussed.     

Mathematics-related emotions among Finnish adolescents across different performance levels

This study examined the relation of mathematics performance and gender with seven mathematics-related emotions (enjoyment, pride, anger, anxiety, shame, hopelessness and boredom) among adolescents. Using strict and lenient mathematics performance cut-off scores, respective groups of adolescents with mathematics difficulties (MD, n = 136), low (LA, n = 166) and typical mathematics performance (TA, n = 1056) were identified. Our results revealed that the MD group reported more shame than the LA group. The MD group also reported more negative emotions and less positive emotions than the TA group, with the exception of boredom, for which there was no statistically significant difference. The interaction effect between mathematics performance group and gender on emotions was significant. Only females with MD showed significantly higher levels of hopelessness and shame than females with LA, while males with LA even reported more boredom than males with MD. Concerning gender differences, males reported slightly more pride and enjoyment than females. However, the direction and magnitude of the gender differences showed great variance among mathematics performance groups. The practical implications of the results are discussed.     

EQUITY IN MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE OUTCOMES: CHARACTERISTICS ASSOCIATED WITH HIGH AND LOW ACHIEVEMENT ON PISA 2006 IN IRELAND

Equity in education is a key concern internationally; however, it is rare that this issue is examined separately for low- and high-achieving students and concurrently across different subject domains. This study examines student and school background characteristics associated with low and high achievement in mathematics and science on the Programme for International Student Assessment. Based on the results of a multilevel multinomial model of achievement for each domain, findings indicate that a greater number of the variables examined are associated with low rather than high achievement. At student level, home language, intention to leave school early, socioeconomic status, grade level, cultural capital, and books in the home are significantly associated with achievement in mathematics and science. At school level, only school average socioeconomic status is statistically significant in the models. Significant gender differences are found in the distribution of high and low achievers, which vary across the domains. In mathematics, females are more likely to be low achievers while males are more likely to be high achievers. In science, gender interacts with early school-leaving intent whereas males intending to leave school early are more likely to be in the low-achieving group than females intending to leave early. Conclusions emphasise the need for targeting resources aimed at promoting equity in outcomes at student level as well as at school level. Future work may extend the current analyses by incorporating domain-specific variables or examining cross-country differences.     

Modeling Change in Student Attitude Toward and Beliefs About Mathematics

Abstract

The authors used data from the Longitudinal Study of American Youth to investigate variables related to change in students' attitude toward and beliefs about mathematics in middle school and high school. Using hierarchical linear modeling techniques, the authors modeled variation in students' rate of change with variables associated with student characteristics, instructional experiences, and environment. They also identified variables that differentially affect change at different levels of secondary school (i.e., middle school vs. high school) and for different affective dimensions (i.e., attitude toward mathematics, beliefs about the social importance of mathematics, and beliefs about the nature of mathematics). Results showed a substantial negative change in students' attitudes toward and beliefs about the social importance of mathematics throughout secondary school. However, students' notions of the nature of mathematics did not change throughout secondary school. The authors identified variables related to change and found that they differed according to the level of secondary school and affective dimensions.     

Attitudes Toward Computers of Gifted Students and their Teachers

One of the prerequisites for acceptance and implementation of computers in an educational system is a positive attitude of both teachers and students toward their use. This research, therefore, focuses on differences in attitudes toward computers between male and female teachers, female and male gifted students, and teachers and gifted students. Samples consisted of 217 gifted students (115 males and 102 females) and 125 teachers (30 males and 95 females) in the Amman Educational District, Jordan. Computer attitudes were measured by means of the Attitudes of Both Teachers and Students Toward Computers Questionnaire, and compared statistically to variables such as performance in mathematics, IQ, gender, teachers’ experience in teaching and computing, and teachers’ training. Results showed that participants are generally positive towards computers, and there were no significant differences in attitude between gifted students and teachers or between males and females. Attitudes towards computers, however, may be predicted by performance in mathematics and by IQ scores.     

Motivation to learn as an outcome and determining factor of learning at school

This article defines and measures interest in lifelong learning in an effort to capture motivation as an outcome of schooling. As a school-internal counterpart, motivational orientations toward learning at school in general and toward mathematics learning in particular are introduced, based on Deci and Ryan’s theory of self-determination. Analysis within the Swiss TIMSS samples in lower and upper secondary education led to the definition of five such orientations with a constant structure across grades and levels of generality. Some orientations show a concrete focus like long-term utility. The validity of these constructs is examined by analysing the relation among these motivational orientations, their relationship to interest in lifelong learning and mathematics achievement as well as age and gender differences. As hypothesised, the higher a motivational orientation’s degree of self-determination, the higher is its correlation with interest in lifelong learning and mathematics achievement. Among age and gender differences, the contrasting behaviour of intrinsic and long-term utility orientation toward mathematics is notable. For example, the gender difference in long-term utility but not in intrinsic orientation increases from grade 6 to grade 8. These findings can be understood as an expression of gender-typical vocational aspirations which define technical and scientific fields as a domain for males and not for females.     

Gender Differences in Mathematics Participation: an Australian perspective

Gender differences in many areas of participation in school are receding, but the gap favouring males in mathematics study in senior secondary school persists. This study attempted to identify some of the dimensions underlying gender differences in mathematics participation. The data from a survey of Years 10, 11 and 12 students at four high schools were used to examine the relationships between the gender differences in attitudes towards mathematics and the participation in senior school courses. The findings suggest that the separation of senior school mathematics into academic and non-academic subjects was more efficient for boys than for girls because in the junior years of high school boys develop more positive views of mathematics and of themselves as mathematics learners leading to them more often selecting the university-preferred options. Not all girls were disadvantaged, however. Girls from middle-class backgrounds, particularly those from professional and managerial origins, tended to remain confident and retained their interest in mathematics supporting high enrolment rates in the specialist maths stream at the senior level of high school. The social background offset the effects of gender.     

Instructional strategy change and the attitude and achievement of seventh- and eighth-grade science students

This sequential methodologic elaboration study investigated differences between the middle school and the junior high instructional strategies and the effects on adolescent attitude toward science in school and science achievement. Subjects of the quantitative phase were 570 seventh- and eighth-grade students in one school in an urban school district in the midwest United States during a transition year from junior high to middle school. Germann's Attitude toward Science in School Assessment and the school district's Benchmark Exams were employed to measure student pre- and posttest attitude and achievement. Variations within grade level, gender, race, general ability, and socioeconomic group were evaluated. Results of split plots revealed no significant differences in science attitude between the experimental middle school group and the junior high control group at this phase. However, there was significant improvement in attitude in both seventh-grade populations, but no change in attitude in either eighth-grade population. No significant differences in attitude were found between males and females, Caucasian students and students of color, or students of different ability or socioeconomic groups. Significant increases in science achievement were revealed in the seventh-grade junior high control group, the eighth-grade middle school, and the eighth-grade junior high, but not in the seventh-grade middle school. No significant differences in achievement were found between males and females. Caucasians scored significantly higher in achievement than students of color. Average and high ability students scored significantly higher pretest to posttest, but low ability students did not. High ability students scored significantly higher than both average and low ability groups. There was significant improvement in science achievement for students in the sufficient socioeconomic status group, but not in the low socioeconomic status group. These results were discussed with the five science teachers, the principal, and a university consultant in the setting, who were the informants of the qualitative elaboration phase of the study. Ethnographic methods uncovered themes explaining differences and similarities within the two instructional strategies. Teachers' feelings and stages of concern were identified. The results are discussed in terms of effectively implementing changes in instructional strategies and assessing science achievement of early adolescents.     

Gender differences in academic self-efficacy: a meta-analysis

A meta-analysis of 187 studies containing 247 independent studies (N?=?68,429) on gender differences in academic self-efficacy identified an overall effect size of 0.08, with a small difference favoring males. Moderator analysis demonstrated that content domain was a significant moderator in explaining effect size variation. Females displayed higher language arts self-efficacy than males. Meanwhile, males exhibited higher mathematics, computer, and social sciences self-efficacy than females. Gender differences in academic self-efficacy also varied with age. The largest effect size occurred for respondents aged over 23 years old. For mathematics self-efficacy, the significant gender differences emerged in late adolescence. Future research should longitudinally examine gender differences in academic self-efficacy to determine the prevalence of gender differences during different life stages.     

Book Review Section 2

A persistent belief in American culture is that males both outperform and have a higher inherent aptitude for mathematics than females. Using data from two school districts in two different states in the United States, this study used longitudinal multilevel modeling to examine whether overall performance on standardized as well as classroom tests reveals a gender difference in mathematics performance. The results suggest that both male and female students demonstrated the same growth trend in mathematics performance (as measured by standardized test scores) over time, but females' mathematics grade-point average is significantly higher than males. These results are discussed in the context of present day standardized assessment in the United States that may motivate teachers to focus on higher expectations for mathematics performance regardless of gender, thus challenging cultural beliefs that stigmatize mathematics as masculine in the United States.     

Relationships of some socio-personal factors to mathematics achievement of secondary school and university students in Bophuthatswana

Poor matriculation mathematics results in Bophuthatswana led us to make exploratory efforts to identify possible non-pedagogical factors responsible for such results. Two small scale studies were carried out to examine relationships of socio-personal variables to mathematics achievement. Study 1 looked into the impact of socioeconomic background, school alienation, sex, self-concept and attitude toward mathematics on mathematics performances of secondary school pupils, while study 2 was aimed at examining relationships of dogmatism and mathematics anxiety to mathematics achievement of first-year university students. The data of these two studies invite the attention of mathematics educators to the importance of attitude toward mathematics, mathematics anxiety, and dogmatism in mathematics achievement of Bophuthatswana secondary school and university students.     

Emotional intelligence and negative feelings: a gender specific moderated mediation model

This study aims to clarify the effect of emotional intelligence (EI) on negative feelings (stress, anxiety, burnout and depression) in a gender specific model. Four hundred and twenty-five primary school teachers (326 males, 99 females) completed the measures of EI, stress, anxiety, burnout and depression. The multi-group analysis was performed using a structural equation approach. The moderated mediation results show that there are gender related differences in the relationships of age, emotional intelligence, stress, anxiety, burnout and depression. The results imply that school managers should take into consideration the teachers’ personal variables such as gender and age in order to assess the use of emotional intelligence in coping with negative feelings at the place of work effectively.     

Gender differences in intelligence, language, visual-motor abilities, and academic achievement in students with learning disabilities: a review of the literature

A substantial body of research confirms higher verbal ability in normally achieving females and higher visual-spatial and mathematical abilities in normally achieving males. However, the specific nature of these differences varies by age, specific measure, magnitude, and variability within the groups. Re-analysis of earlier research showed that, although differences in visual-spatial ability were larger than verbal ability differences, gender differences did not account for more than 1% to 5% of the group variance. In the population with learning disabilities (LD), research must be interpreted cautiously because LD samples were drawn mainly from the system-identified population and may reflect selection bias. Findings indicate that system-identified females with LD are lower in IQ, have more severe academic achievement deficits in some aspects of reading and math, and are somewhat better in visual-motor abilities, spelling, and written language mechanics than males with LD. In mathematics, however, it is difficult to document consistent differences in computational skills in the elementary school ages. More consistent findings, however, indicate superiority in mathematical reasoning in males with LD. A limited number of studies on research-identified samples indicate that findings from studies of school-identified LD samples must be interpreted cautiously because females with LD identified in the schools may not be representative of females with LD in general.     

Victimization,perception of violence,and social behaviour / Victimización,percepción de la violencia y conducta social

Abstract

This study had three goals: to analyze gender differences in victimization, perception of school violence, and social behaviour; to study the relations between these variables; and to identify variables predicting victimization. A correlational methodology was employed, and three assessment instruments were administered. The sample was made up of 178 participants aged between 13 and 15 years. The results yielded no gender differences in victimization; however, females perceived more verbal abuse and performed more behaviours of help-collaboration, whereas males scored higher in negative social behaviours (aggressiveness-stubbornness, dominance, apathy-withdrawal). The bullying victims of both sexes had a high perception of school violence; moreover, victimized males performed few behaviours of help-collaboration and assurance-firmness, whereas victimized females displayed many behaviours of social anxiety. Six variables predicted victimization: high perception of violence through information and communication technologies, high social anxiety, lower age, little aggressive behaviour, high perception of verbal abuse, and few behaviours of help-collaboration.     

Self-Efficacy, Motivation Constructs, and Mathematics Performance of Entering Middle School Students

The objectives of this study were to determine the influence of various motivation variables on task-specific mathematics performance and to explore whether these variables change during the first year of middle school (N = 273). Students' task-specific self-efficacy was the only motivation variable to predict performance and did so both at start and end of year. There were no differences in anxiety, self-concept, or self-efficacy for self-regulation between start and end of year, but, by end of year, students described mathematics as less valuable and reported lower effort and persistence. Gifted students had stronger mathematics self-concept beliefs, and they had more accurate and less overconfident self-efficacy beliefs than did regular education students. There were no gender differences in any of the motivation constructs. Copyright 1999 Academic Press.     

Gender Differences and High Attainment

Recent emphasis on raising attainment has focused attention onto the ‘gender gap’ in school attainment levels. Using data from the Scottish School Leavers Survey, the article examines factors related to high attainment and asks whether these differ for males and females. A strong relationship is established between social advantage and high attainment within each gender. There is no evidence of differential progression rates for males and females between the ages of 16 and 18. The only factor which offers any explanation for gender differences in attainment is the evidence that girls took school more seriously than boys. This supports theories that girls and boys experience different peer pressures which influence their school attainment. Other factors have also been shown to influence gender differences in performance in the research literature. Factors affecting gender differences were found equally in all schools, suggesting that wider cultural factors are also influential in creating gender differences.     

Girls Helping Girls: Assessing the Influence of College Student Mentors in an Afterschool Engineering Program

Current data suggest fewer females than males continue to be interested in engineering and that this gender gap is first evidenced during middle school years. One might expect that female engineering role models would encourage adolescent girls to pursue future careers in engineering and thereby increase the girls’ interests in and attitudes towards science and mathematics. This study sought to correlate middle school girls’ overall confidence in science and mathematics with a year-long, afterschool mentoring program led by female engineering students from a local university. The results demonstrated that there was a significant correlation between the quality of the mentoring relationship and the girls’ confidence in mathematics. The relationship between female role models and young girls’ attitudes toward science and mathematics is discussed.