The relationship of math anxiety and gender.Abstract The effects of mathematics anxiety and gender on attitudes toward mathematics were examined using the Attitudes Toward Mathematics Inventory (ATMI ATMI American Textile Manufacturers Institute ATMI Association for Technology in Music Instruction ATMI Advanced Technology Materials, Inc. ATMI Application-to-Transaction Manager Interface ATMI According to My Information ATMI Atm Interface Unit ). A sample of 134 students enrolled in mathematics classes in a state university was asked to complete the ATMI. Data were analyzed using a multivariate The use of multiple variables in a forecasting model. factorial factorial For any whole number, the product of all the counting numbers up to and including itself. It is indicated with an exclamation point: 4! (read “four factorial”) is 1 × 2 × 3 × 4 = 24. model. In this sample, the results showed that gender had no effect on attitudes toward mathematics, and gender and math anxiety had no influence on attitudes toward mathematics. There was an overall significant effect of math anxiety on self-confidence, enjoyment and motivation with large effect size. Students with no math anxiety scored significantly higher in enjoyment than students with high math anxiety. Students with little or no math anxiety scored significantly higher than students with some or high math anxiety in measures of self-confidence and motivation. Students with some math anxiety scored significantly higher in motivation than those with high math anxiety. Introduction It is indisputable that males have higher achievement in mathematics and higher levels of enrollment in mathematics courses (Hanna, 2003), but whether these results are caused by socialization socialization /so·cial·iza·tion/ (so?shal-i-za´shun) the process by which society integrates the individual and the individual learns to behave in socially acceptable ways. so·cial·i·za·tion n. factors or innate differences has been a matter of dispute. Gender differences in mathematics have long been explained as deficits, particularly inferior spatial visualization among girls (Collins & Kimura, 1997). Some presume this to be a sex-linked characteristic of females. Justification for this point of view is often based on deficits found in boys, such as higher levels of reading disabilities and attention deficit disorders attention deficit (hyperactivity) disorder (ADD or ADHD) formerly hyperactivity Behavioral syndrome in children, whose major symptoms are inattention and distractibility, restlessness, inability to sit still, and difficulty concentrating on one thing for any , as well as the superiority of males on spatial tests (Nass, 1993; Nordvik & Amponsah, 1998). As a result, innate differences have long been used to explain the performance gap between the sexes. A report by the American Association of University Women ''This article or section is being rewritten at The American Association of University Women (AAUW) advances equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, and research. (1992) blames achievement differences on differential treatment of girls in the classroom, curricula that either ignores or stereotypes women, and gender bias that undermines girls' self-esteem. Boys and girls boys and girls mercurialisannua. have similar mathematics and science proficiency scores on tests at the age of 9, but a gap begins to appear at around age 13, or at least this has been the pattern from 1973 to 1994 on the National Assessment of Educational Progress The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as "the Nation's Report Card," is the only nationally representative and continuing assessment of what America's students know and can do in various subject areas. (NAEP NAEP National Assessment of Educational Progress NAEP National Association of Environmental Professionals NAEP National Association of Educational Progress NAEP National Agricultural Extension Policy NAEP Native American Employment Program ). However, in 1994 there was no measurable difference in the math proficiency of 13-year-old boys and girls (Campbell, Reese, O'Sullivan, & Dossey, 1996). If there was a problem in spatial visualization or other innate sexual-biological traits explaining math differences, they suddenly cleared up about a decade ago. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the Third International Math and Science Study (TIMSS TIMSS Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study TIMSS Third International Math and Science Study ) results, among participating countries, girls and boys had similar average mathematics achievement scores (U.S. National Research Center, 1996). However, on the NAEP, 17-year-old females have consistently scored lower, on average, than 17-year-old males, and in 1994, they were 5 scale-score points lower than males (Campbell et al., 1996). Even more interesting, average mathematics scores among 17-year-girls turned down between 1973 and 1982, but increased in 1994 to a level similar to the age cohort in 1973 (Campbell et al., 1996). Students who do well in mathematics have more positive attitudes about the subject, thus they are likely to take more courses and may perform better. Attitudinal research has been limited and instruments have been lacking, but generally the questions asked of students show mixed findings about 13-year-old boys and girls. Linn linn n. Scots 1. A waterfall. 2. A steep ravine. [Scottish Gaelic linne, pool, waterfall.] and Hyde (1989) reported that attitudes are more negative for girls earlier than age 13, but the Longitudinal Study longitudinal study a chronological study in epidemiology which attempts to establish a relationship between an antecedent cause and a subsequent effect. See also cohort study. of American Youth found no differences for 7th-grade students (Miller, Kimmel, Hoffer, & Nelson, 1999). Students' attitudes are clearly important, but little is known about the factors that intervene to create significant differences. It is clear that career aspirations of boys and girls are quite different beginning around age 13, which must be explained by social and cultural factors, because girls at that age have virtually identical abilities in mathematics. Boys are twice as likely to say they want to become scientists or engineers, but girls express a preference for professional, business, or managerial occupations (U.S. Department of Education, 1990). Enrollment patterns of college undergraduates show that few students anticipate a career in science, mathematics or engineering, and very few major in mathematics, in fact, less than 1 percent of undergraduates (Haycock & Steen, 2002). The Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences The Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences (CBMS) is an umbrella organization of sixteen professional societies in the mathematical sciences. Member Societies (Lutzer & Maxwell, 2000) showed that bachelor degrees granted in mathematics fell 19 percent between 1990 and 2000, although undergraduate enrollment rose 9 percent. Attitudinal research among college students has not been thoroughly investigated. This study was an effort to determine if there are gender differences in college, a level where there has been little research compared to that at the K-12 level. Method Subjects The subjects were 134 undergraduate students enrolled in mathematics classes at a state university in the southeast. Seventy-one subjects were male and 58 were female. Five participants did not report their gender. Approximately 80% of the sample was Caucasian and about 20% African-American. The ages of the sample ranged from 17 to 34. Ten participants did not report their ages. All subjects were volunteers and all students in the classes agreed to participate. Materials The Attitudes Toward Mathematics Inventory (ATMI) consists of 40 items designed to measure students' attitudes toward mathematics (Tapia, 1996). The items were constructed using a Likert-format scale of five alternatives for the responses with anchors of 1: strongly disagree, 2: disagree, 3: neutral, 4: agree, and 5: strongly agree. Eleven items of this instrument were reversed items. These items were given appropriate value for the data analyses. The score was the sum of the ratings. A Student's Demographic Questionnaire was also used. This questionnaire consisted of four questions. The purpose of these questions was to identify gender, age, ethnic background, and level of math anxiety. Level of math anxiety consisted of four levels (none, little, some, high). Exploratory factor analysis of the ATMI using a sample of high school students resulted in four factors identified as self-confidence, value, enjoyment, and motivation. Self-confidence consisted of 15 items. The value scale consisted of 10 items. The enjoyment scale consisted of 10 items. The motivation scale consisted of five items. Alpha coefficients for the scores of these scales were found to be .95, .89, .89, and .88 respectively (Tapia, 1996). Procedure The ATMI was administered to participants during their mathematics classes. Directions were provided in written form and students recorded their responses on computer scannable answer sheets. Results Tapia (1996) found a four-factor solution from an exploratory factor analysis with maximum likelihood method of extraction and a varimax, orthogonal At right angles. The term is used to describe electronic signals that appear at 90 degree angles to each other. It is also widely used to describe conditions that are contradictory, or opposite, rather than in parallel or in sync with each other. , rotation. The names for the factors reported were self-confidence, value of mathematics, enjoyment of mathematics, and motivation. Based on that factor analysis, the 40 items were classified into four categories each of which was represented by a factor. A composite score for each category was calculated by adding up all the numbers of the scaled responses to the items belonging to that category. Cronbach alpha coefficients were calculated for the scores of the scales and were found to be .96 for self-confidence, .93 for value, .88 for enjoyment, and .87 for motivation. The data were analyzed by using multivariate factorial model with the four factors as dependent variables: (1) self-confidence, (2) value, (3) enjoyment, and (4) motivation and two independent variables: (1) gender and (2) level of math anxiety. Multivariate analysis multivariate analysis, n a statistical approach used to evaluate multiple variables. multivariate analysis, n a set of techniques used when variation in several variables has to be studied simultaneously. of variance (MANOVA MANOVA Multivariate Analysis of the Variance ) was performed by using SPSS A statistical package from SPSS, Inc., Chicago (www.spss.com) that runs on PCs, most mainframes and minis and is used extensively in marketing research. It provides over 50 statistical processes, including regression analysis, correlation and analysis of variance. . Data were analyzed testing for interaction effect and main effect at the .05 level. Data analysis indicated that the two-way interaction effect of the two variables Gender*MathAnxiety on the four dependent variables self-confidence, value, enjoyment, and motivation was insignificant with small effect size (Wilks' Lambda F = 1.117, p < .35, eta squared = .04). Hence, it was concluded that there was not enough evidence to indicate a two-way multivariate interaction. The results also showed that the main effect of gender was insignificant with small effect size (Wilks' Lambda F = 1.018, p < .40, eta squared = .03), but the main effect of mathematics anxiety was significant with large effect size (Wilks' Lambda F = 7.237, p < .00, eta squared = .19). So it was concluded that there was enough evidence to say that there was an effect of the variable level of math anxiety on the four dependent variables self-confidence, value, enjoyment, and motivation. Therefore, follow ups were conducted. Tests of between-subject effects showed that the effect of math anxiety to three of the four dependent variables was significant with large effect size. There was enough evidence to say that there was an effect of math anxiety on the variables self-confidence (F(3,121) = 31.158, p < .00, eta squared = .44), enjoyment (F(3,121) = 9.614, p < .00, eta squared = .19), and motivation (F(3,121) = 13.179, p < .00, eta squared = .25). Estimated marginal means in self-confidence were 62.96 (SD = 2.12) for students with no math anxiety, 57.64 (SD = 1.68) for students with little math anxiety, 48.89 (SD = 1.71) for students with some math anxiety, and 36.42 (SD = 2.16) for students with high math anxiety. Pairwise comparisons showed students with no or little math anxiety scored significantly higher in self-confidence than students with high math anxiety. In enjoyment estimated marginal means were 36.78 (SD = 1.49) for students with no math anxiety, 34.37 (SD = 1.19) for students with little math anxiety, 31.74 (SD = 1.20) for students with some math anxiety, and 26.08 (SD = 1.52) for students with high math anxiety. Pairwise comparisons showed students with no math anxiety scoring significantly higher in enjoyment than students with high math anxiety. Estimated marginal means in motivation were 17.06 (SD = 0.79) for students with no math anxiety, 16.14 (SD = 0.63) for students with little math anxiety, 13.65 (SD = 0.64) for students with some math anxiety, and 10.88 (SD = 0.80) for students with high math anxiety. In motivation pairwise comparisons showed students with no or little math anxiety scoring significantly higher in motivation than students with some or high math anxiety and students with some math anxiety scoring significantly higher than students with high math anxiety. Discussion With the multiple analysis of variance, one interaction and two main effects were found: (a) Gender did not have an effect on attitudes toward mathematics; (b) Different levels of math anxiety by gender classification had no effect on attitudes, (e) Levels of math anxiety had an effect on attitudes toward math, independent of gender, and (d) The level of math anxiety had an effect on measures of self-confidence, enjoyment, and motivation. Students with no math anxiety scored significantly higher in enjoyment than students with high math anxiety. Self-confidence was significant, with students having little or no math anxiety scoring significantly higher than students with some or high math anxiety. Motivation was also significant and had an inverse relationship A inverse or negative relationship is a mathematical relationship in which one variable decreases as another increases. For example, there is an inverse relationship between education and unemployment — that is, as education increases, the rate of unemployment : students having little or no math anxiety scored significantly higher than students with some or high math anxiety, and students with some math anxiety scored significantly higher than students with high math anxiety. Jordan and Nettles net·tle n. 1. Any of numerous plants of the genus Urtica, having toothed leaves, unisexual apetalous flowers, and stinging hairs that cause skin irritation on contact. 2. Any of various hairy, stinging, or prickly plants. (1999), who analyzed data from the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS NELS National Educational Longitudinal Study NELS North East Linguistic Society NELS Northwest European Loran-C System NeLS Next-Generation LEO System NELS Northeast Linux Symposium NELS Nursing Education Loan/Scholarship NELS NASA Electronic Library System ), reported that girls had lower scores than boys on math in the 12th grade, which is a pattern that exists in many other countries (Hanna, Kundiger, & Larouche, 1990). Numerous studies have shown that male achievement in math is higher (Entwistle, Alexander, & Olson, 1994; Gamoran, 1992; Callahan & Clements, 1984; Dossey, Mulls, Lindquist, & Chambers, 1988). Due to the fact that gender differences do not appear until around puberty puberty (py  `bərtē), period during which the onset of sexual maturity occurs. , and they appear in several countries, the differences have often been attributed to innate biological differences, social factors, and anxiety among females (Callahan & Clements, 1984; Dossey et al., 1988). The logic has been that, because females take the same courses, learn under the same conditions, but have lower scores, must be intervening factors to explain the difference. One of the first studies about math anxiety was by Richardson and Suinn (1972), whose work drew attention to the problem. Since then, the literature has included results of studies about math anxiety and its effect on math achievement (Stent stent (stent)1. a device or mold of a suitable material, used to hold a skin graft in place. 2. a slender rodlike or threadlike device used to provide support for tubular structures that are being anastomosed, or , 1977; Betz, 1978; Hembree, 1990). Research has shown that females, as a group, do not enjoy math and often see it as having little relationship to their lives or their futures (Fennema & Sherman, 1978). Females display more math anxiety than males in secondary school and college (Woodard, 2004). While girls at various ages may have cultural or social pressures that help shape their attitudes about mathematics as a subject of study or an element in a future career, results with this sample of college-age students showed that the main effect of gender was insignificant. From these results, we conclude that feeling good about mathematics is not related to gender among this group of college students, but rather it is likely to be something related to individual, personal experiences. While the literature has reported a high relationship between math anxiety and gender, in this sample of students it is clear that math anxiety is unrelated to gender. References American Association of University Women. (1992). How schools shortchange short·change tr.v. short·changed, short·chang·ing, short·chang·es 1. To give (someone) less change than is due in a transaction. 2. girls: A study of major findings on girls and education. Washington, DC: AAUW AAUW abbr. American Association of University Women Educational Foundation, The Wellesley College Wellesley College, at Wellesley, Mass.; for women; chartered 1870, opened 1875. Long a leader in women's education, it was the first woman's college to have scientific laboratories. Center for Research on Women. Betz, N. 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Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), as part of the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences (IES), collects, analyzes, and publishes statistics on education and public school district finance information in the United States; conducts studies . Collins, D. W., & Kimura, D. (1997). A large sex difference on a two-dimensional mental rotation task. Behavioral Neuroscience neu·ro·sci·ence n. Any of the sciences, such as neuroanatomy and neurobiology, that deal with the nervous system. neuroscience the embryology, anatomy, physiology, biochemistry and pharmacology of the nervous system. , 111(4), 845-849. Dossey, L A., Mulis, I. V. S., Lindquist, M. M., & Chambers, D. L. (1988). The mathematics report card: Are we measuring up? Trends and achievement based on the 1986 National Assessment. Princeton: Educational Testing Service The Educational Testing Service (or ETS) is the world's largest private educational testing and measurement organization, operating on an annual budget of approximately $1.1 billion on a proforma basis in 2007. . Eutwistle, D. R., Alexander, K. L., & Olson, L. S. (1994). The gender gap in math: Its possible origins in neighborhood effects. American Sociological Review The American Sociological Review is the flagship journal of the American Sociological Association (ASA). The ASA founded this journal (often referred to simply as ASR) in 1936 with the mission to publish original works of interest to the sociology discipline in general, new , 59, 822-838. Fennema, E., & Sherman, J. (1978). Sex related differences in mathematics achievement and related factors: A further study. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 9, 189-203. Gamoran, A. (1992). The variable effects of high school tracking. American Sociological Review, 57(6), 812-828. Hanna, G. (2003). Reaching gender equity in mathematics education. The Educational Forum, 67(3), 204-214. Hanna, G., Kundiger, E., & Larouche, C. (1990). Mathematical achievement of grade 12 girls in fifteen countries. In L. Burton (Ed.), Gender and mathematics: An international perspective. London: Cassell Educational Ltd. Pp. 87-97. Haycock, K. & Steen, L. A. (2002). Add it up: Mathematics education in the U.S. does not compute Does not compute, and variations on it, was a phrase often spoken by computers, robots and other artificial intelligences in science fiction works of the 1960s to 1980s. The phrase indicated cognitive dissonance on the part of the device, conventionally leading to its . Thinking K-16, 6, 1. Hembree, R. (1990). The nature, effects, and relief of mathematics anxiety. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 21, 33-46. Jordan, W. J., & Nettles, S. M. (1999). How students invest their time out of school: Effects on school engagement, perceptions of life chances, and achievement (Report No. 29). Washington, D.C.: Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed At Risk. Linn, M. & Hyde, J. (1989). Gender, mathematics, and science. Educational Researcher 18, 17-19, 22-27. Lutzer, D. J. & Maxwell, J. W. (2000). Statistical abstract of undergraduate programs in the mathematical sciences in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. . Washington, D.C.: Conference Board of Mathematical Sciences. Miller, J. D., Kimmel, L., Hoffer, T. B., & Nelson, C. (1999). Longitudinal study of American youth: User's manual. Chicago: International Center for the Advancement of Scientific Literacy, Chicago Academy of Sciences. Nass, R. D. (1993). Sex differences in learning abilities and disabilities. Annals an·nals pl.n. 1. A chronological record of the events of successive years. 2. A descriptive account or record; a history: "the short and simple annals of the poor" of Dyslexia dyslexia (dĭslĕk`sēə), in psychology, a developmental disability in reading or spelling, generally becoming evident in early schooling. To a dyslexic, letters and words may appear reversed, e.g. , 43, 61-78. Nordvik, H. & Amponsah, B. (1998). Gender differences in spatial abilities and spatial ability among university students in an egalitarian educational system. Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, June, 1998. Online: http://www.findarticles.com/cf_dls/m2294/ n11-12_v38/21109782/pl/article.jhtml Richardson, F. C. & Suinn, R. M. (1972). The mathematics anxiety rating scale: Psychometric psy·cho·met·rics n. (used with a sing. verb) The branch of psychology that deals with the design, administration, and interpretation of quantitative tests for the measurement of psychological variables such as intelligence, aptitude, and data. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 19, 551-554. Stent, A. (1977). Can math anxiety be conquered? Change, 9, 40-43. Tapia, M. (1996). The attitudes toward mathematics instrument. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Mid-South Educational Research Association, Tuscaloosa, AL (ERIC Reproduction Service No. ED 404165). U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement, National Center for Education Statistics. (1990). A profile of the American eighth-grader: NELS:88 Student descriptive summary, Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. U.S. National Research Center. (1996). Third international math and science study (Report No. 7). East Lansing East Lansing, city (1990 pop. 50,677), Ingham co., S central Mich., a suburb of Lansing, on the Red Cedar River; inc. 1907. The city was first known as College Park, but was renamed when it was incorporated. , MI: Michigan State University Michigan State University, at East Lansing; land-grant and state supported; coeducational; chartered 1855. It opened in 1857 as Michigan Agricultural College, the first state agricultural college. . Woodward, T. (2004). The effects of math anxiety on Post-Secondary developmental students as related to achievement, gender, and age. Inquiry, 9(1), Spring 2004. Online: http://www.vccaedu.org/inquiry/inquiry-spring2004/ i-91-woodard.html Martha Tapia, Berry College Berry College is an accredited, private, four-year liberal arts college located in Mount Berry, Georgia, USA, in Floyd County just north of Rome, Georgia. The institution emphasizes the importance of educating the whole person. George E. Marsh II, The University of Alabama The University of Alabama (also known as Alabama, UA or colloquially as 'Bama) is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA. Founded in 1831, UA is the flagship campus of the University of Alabama System. Martha Tapia is assistant professor of mathematics education. George E. Marsh H is a professor of instructional technology There are two types of instructional technology: those with a systems approach, and those focusing on sensory technologies. The definition of instructional technology prepared by the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) Definitions and Terminology in the Institute of Interactive Technology. |
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