Sex Differences in Mathematics Achievement and Attitude toward Mathematics

Nyangeni, Nosisa P.; Glencross, Michael J.

doi:10.2466/pr0.1997.80.2.603

Cited by 11 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…The findings are in agreement with other researchers who have shown gender differences in mathematics self-efficacy (Randhawa et al, 1993;Pajares and Miller, 1994;Skaalvik and Rankin, 1994). They are also consistent with the findings on gender differences in mathematics performance, with boys' performance being significantly superior to that of girls (Tate, 1997;Nyangeni and Glencross, 1997;Voyer, 1996). Such gender differences have been attributed, inter alia, to differential mathematics self-efficacy (Pajares and Miller, 1994;Randhawa et al, 1993), which is a good predictor of performance in mathematics (Eshel and Kurman, 1991;Simpson et al, 1996).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Short Notices

Naylor

1999

Research in Education

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AimsThe research reported here is premised on the belief that lying at the heart of the process of education is the interpersonal relationship between the teacher and learner. However, we know very little about the teacher-pupil relationship from the view of ethnicity, particularly from the pupils' perspective. It has been argued elsewhere (Naylor, 1996) that the revelation of these perceptions and conceptions is important in understanding the effects teacher racism may have on pupils, why some schools alienate so many ethnic-minority pupils, and why educational opportunity is not equal for all ethnic groups. The exploratory research reported here, which is part of a larger project (Naylor, 1996), has attempted to investigate adolescent pupils' conceptions of teachers' racist behaviour and actions in the classroom.Methods Two interrelated methods of data collection were used. Method 1 A five-minute video presentation of an actual classroom episode, reconstructed for the purposes of the research, was produced. The film was scripted and role-played by a multi-ethnic group of twenty-one Year 9 and 10 (13-15 year old) English comprehensive school pupils. The film focuses on the behaviour of a white female teacher towards pupils of 'visible ethnic minority group membership' (VEMGM; Cohen and Manion, 1994, p. 268). A drama teacher elicited performances from the pupils and faithfully interpreted their directions in her portrayal of the devised teacher role. In order to elicit the role-players' perceptions of what the film was intended to portray, and also to provide a check on the internal validity of the film, the role-players subsequently provided their independent accounts of the roleplay.Method 2 An opportunity sample of sixty-one mid-adolescents (Year 9) responded to the role-play, using a bubble dialogue 'comic strip' technique. This technique involved 'grabbing' eight or nine key still images from the video film. 'Say' bubbles of the actual speech from each shot were superim-

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Short Notices

Naylor

1999

Research in Education

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“…Negative attitudes and beliefs about ES can result in reduced interest, which in turn impedes ES learning. In a study of Standard 10 students in South Africa, [16] observed that the correlation between attitudes towards mathematics and mathematics scores is signi® cant but low. A discussion on the role of non-cognitive issues and their eå ects on statistics learning is available in [6].…”

Section: Interestmentioning

confidence: 96%

An investigation of how perceptions of mathematics ability can affect elementary statistics performance

Galagedera¹,

Woodward²,

Degamboda³

2000

International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and

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This study investigates the eå ects of perceived mathematics ability (PMA) on the learning process with special reference to 147 undergraduates following an elementary statistics (ES) course. A model incorporating PMA together with aptitude, eå ort put in, expected grade, motivation to do well and interest in the subject, which are deemed to be either directly or indirectly associated with performance, is developed. PMA itself is not a good predictor of ES performance, rather its eå ect may be channelled through interest, expected grade and motivation to do well in ES. Low perception in mathematics ability impedes eå ort put forth when learning ES. The in¯uence of PMA on ES performance is likely to be the consequence of the belief that mathematics is essential to learn ES.

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“…The performance of boys in arithmetic was sig-boys outscore girls, in most teacher-assigned mathematics, either girls outperform boys or there are no sex differences (Benbow, 1992;Randhawa, Beamer & Lundberg, 1993;Gallagher & De Lisi, 1994;Macleod, 1995). Nyangeni and Glencross (1997) in their study of South African Standard 10…”

mentioning

confidence: 94%

“…In a study of 450 Standards 9 and 10 South African students' understanding of mathematical concepts, no sex differences were observed (Sibaya, Sibaya, & Mugisha, 1996). Similarly, Nyangeni, and Glencross (1997) reported that, in 278 South African Standard 10 mathematics students' achievement in algebra and geometry, there were no sex differences in performance in algebra. Both North American and British litera-ture, in the main, indicate that there were no sex differences in mathematics performance in primary and junior secondary school (Macleod, 1995).…”

mentioning

confidence: 98%