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Essay Subject: Examines research on effects of gender differences in learning math & science & role of teaching methods, focusing on socialized inhibitions & lack of self-esteem in females.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Examines research on effects of gender differences in learning math & science & role of teaching methods, focusing on socialized inhibitions & lack of self-esteem in females. Paper Introduction: Research on gender differences in academic achievement offers educators information on implications and guidance on specific directions to take. In mathematics and science in particular, gender differences are well documented and reveal certain stereotypes perpetuated by society, school, and family (Manning, 1998, p. 68). This paper will look at gender differences in school achievement and how educational reforms could encourage girls in their performance in mathematics and science and thus open up more career opportunities for them. Reviewers have consistently concluded that males perform better on mathematics tests than females do (Hyde, Fennema & Lamon, 1990). The authors performed a meta-analysis of 100 studies which represented the testing of 3,175,188 subjects (p. 139). An examination of age trends indicated that girls showed a Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. Changing institutional perspectives toward females andchanging boys' perceptions of who can excel in mathematics can have apowerful effect on girls' mathematics success. Lee, V. S.; Fennema, E.; & Lamon, S. Gender differences weresmallest and actually favored females in samples of the general population,grew larger with increasingly selective samples, and were largest forhighly selected samples and samples of highly precocious persons. They concluded that sciencelaboratory experiences and other forms of hands-on learning, particularlyin the physical sciences, could help to promote gender equity and scienceachievement in the middle level. References Greenfield, T. Journal of Psychology, 126, pp. Williams, J. 155). GiftedChild Quarterly, 39, pp. Toavoid blaming girls, educators need to begin changing how they teachmathematics, and reconsider how they, and boys, treat girls in mathematicsclasses. Then, as social pressures increase, girls tend toexert less effort in studying mathematics, which progressively limits theirfuture education and, eventually, their career choices. T. She concluded that males reported morestereotyped views of science than females. Understanding theneed to address gender differences and making education gender-responsivewill allow females to achieve their full potential in the fields ofmathematics and science. An exploration of gender participationpatterns in science competitions. 139). 255). 333-45. 29-35. (1997).Student gender and teaching methods as sources of variability in childrens'computational arithmetic performance. measuringfive mathematics strands: number sense, properties and operations; dataanalysis, statistics and probability; measurement; geometry and spatialsense; and algebra and functions. Looking specifically at mathematics achievement, Terwilliger andTitus (1995) studied participants in the University of Minnesota TalentedYouth Mathematics Program to determine gender differences of mathematicallytalented youth on attitudinal measures related to interest, motivation,confidence, readiness, support, priorities, and stereotypes. E. Lee and Burkam (1996) found that males tended to do much better thanfemales in physical sciences, while females held a modest advantage in thelife sciences. An experimental study of the effects of a didactic teaching approachand a constructive teaching approach on third and fifth grade boys' andgirls' performance on arithmetic computation was conducted by Hopkins,McGillicuddy-De Lisi and De lisi (1997, pp. Specifically, females'enthusiasm decreased over that time, possibly as a result of peer pressureand competition from emerging extracurricular and social interests. Two groups ofchildren, matched on the basis of initial computation performance as wellas grade and gender, were taught how to solve arithmetic problems using oneof these instructional approaches. Girls'preferences for competition increased as academic achievement increased;boys' preferences for competition decreased as academic achievementincreased. (1996). (199 ). Ramos and Lambating (1996) examined females' reluctance and males'tendency to be risk-takers. Psychology Bulletin, 1 7, pp.139-55. Childhood Education, 74, pp. Risk taking: Gender differencesand educational opportunity. A study to investigate the relationships among gender, academicachievement, and student preferences for cooperative, competitive, andindividualistic learning was carried out among adolescents enrolled insixth and seventh grade schools in Georgia (Johnson & Engelhard, 1992).Using a Learning Preference Scale for Students to measure cooperative,competitive, and individualistic preferences, they found that gender had asignificant effect on the preference for cooperative learning, with girlsreporting a higher preference for this method than boys did. They suggested that public attitudes perpetuatestereotypes that girls really can't do math and that math is unfeminine. (1992). 199-217. (1996). Manning (1998, pp. Hyde, J. Theydocumented females' reluctance to guess on multiple choice tests, as wellas their tendency to skip more difficult questions, regardless of whetherthe format is true-false, multiple choice or relationship analysis. The authors concluded that gender differences in mathematicsperformance are small, but nonetheless, a lower performance of women inproblem solving is evident in high school (p. 232-37.----------------------- 8 For the othertwo learning preferences, no significant gender differences were found.Academic achievement did not correlate significantly with any of the threelearning preferences. In terms of academic achievement, females benefitted much morethan males did from laboratory experiences. School Science and Mathematics, 96, pp. Analysis of subsequent computation testperformance revealed that fifth graders scored higher than third graders,and there was a significant interaction between gender and instructiongroup. Youngadolescents are forming gender identities and self-esteem during thoseyears - another reason why middle schools need to provide gender-responsivelearning environments and experiences (Manning, 1998). Ramos, I.; & Lambating, J. This paper will look at genderdifferences in school achievement and how educational reforms couldencourage girls in their performance in mathematics and science and thusopen up more career opportunities for them. Changing societal attitudesand stereotypes will also help to raise the self-esteem of girls in regardto mathematics and give them the confidence to pursue careers inmathematical academic fields. Another study reported by Manning showed that girls and boys showedlittle difference as they progressed through a mathematics curriculum untilthe adolescent years. The underrepresentation of girls and women in mathematics fields hasbeen considered primarily a "girl problem" (Campbell, 1995, p. J. Gender differences in young adolescents'mathematics and science achievement. There were no gender differences inproblem solving in elementary or middle school, but differences favoringmales emerged in high school and in college. Despite the effects of the program staff toprovide a supportive, encouraging atmosphere for females, genderdifferences increased over the two-year period. Gender differences in computation performance can appearrelatively early, by third grade, if didactic instruction strategies areused to teach computational rules. (1995). Terwilliger, J. Gender differences in middlegrade science achievement: Subject domain, ability level, and courseemphasis. 735-48. This is in agreement with the work of Hopkins, McGillicuddy-DeLisa and De Lisa (1997) and suggests that better educational programs inmathematics would help erase any gender differences in mathematicsperformance. V.; & De Lisi, R. Examining participation in science fairs, Greenfield (1995) foundthat females are more likely now than 2 years ago to participate; femalerepresentation in the physical sciences has increased over the years;females continue to be less likely than males to engage in physical scienceprojects, earth science and mathematics; and females tend to avoid projectsbased on scientific inquiry and experimental research in favor of thosebased on library research. The reportsummized that gender differences in mathematics performance result from theaccumulated effects of sex-role stereotyping perpetrated by families,schools, and society. He reportsan ongoing survey of students' educational progress in the U.S. The pattern of gender differencessuggests that didactic teaching does not handicap boys. Theauthors suggest that educators should emphasize females' ability andcompetence, and encourage them to take risks when solving mathematicsproblems, and they urged test constructors to consider how directions onguessing might influence female test- takers. Gender differencesin mathematics performance: a meta-analysis. Males showedsignificantly higher levels of motivation, confidence, and interest inmathematics than females. They suggest that males' tendencies to takemore risks might explain their higher mathematics achievement. 613-5 . S.,; & Titus, J. 385-92. Rather, it appearsthat didactic instruction enhances computational performance in girls. (1995). Gender, academic achievement,and preferences for cooperative, competitive, and individualistic learningamong African-American adolescents. L. 168-171) reviewed the literature on genderdifferences in mathematics and science, paying particular attention toachievement in mathematics and science, and implications for middle schooleducators addressing young adolescents' gender-specific needs. Theyshowed that the magnitude of gender differences has declined over theyears. Research on gender differences in academic achievement offerseducators information on implications and guidance on specific directionsto take. Manning, M. (1994). In addition, only about 25 percent of eighth grade scienceclasses provide even weekly laboratory experience; such experiences weremore likely to occur in middle schools per se than in other types ofschools. Journal of Research in Science Teaching,32, pp. In mathematics and science in particular, gender differences arewell documented and reveal certain stereotypes perpetuated by society,school, and family (Manning, 1998, p. 333-45). In 1996, he reports, fourth grade males'average scores were higher than scores for fourth grade females; however,scores for eighth and 12th grade males and females did not show anysignificant difference (p.168). Psychology in the Schools, 31, pp. C. B.; McGillicuddy-De Lisi, A. Gender differences inattitudes and attitude changes among mathematically talented youth. Williams found thatstudents with higher expectations for success generally had higherperformance outcome scores, and the relationship between judgements forperformance and actual performance proved stronger in mathematics than inother subject areas. Gender differences in high school students'efficacy-expectation/performance discrepancies across four subject matterdomains. Approximately equal numbers of male and femalestudents overestimated their performance capabilities. Science Education, 8 , pp. Theauthors performed a meta-analysis of 1 studies which represented thetesting of 3,175,188 subjects (p. R.; & Burkam, D. Reviewers have consistently concluded that males perform better onmathematics tests than females do (Hyde, Fennema & Lamon, 199 ). 168-71. A. A two-way interaction between gender and academicachievement was observed for competitive learning preferences. An examination of age trendsindicated that girls showed a slight superiority in computation inelementary school and middle school. 68). Johnson, C.; & Engelhard, G. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 158,pp. By understanding the research on gender differences in mathematicsand science achievement, middle school educators can begin to offer moreequitable responses to females' participation in those fields. After instruction, girls in the didactic group outperformed boys inboth instruction groups and girls who had been taught using constructivistapproaches. Hopkins, K. (1998). Williams (1994) studied gender differences in fifth, eighth and 11thgrade students' perceived abilities to meet successful performance levelscompared with their actual performance levels in mathematics, reading,English and science. For many decades,educators, perhaps unknowingly, considered reading and literature as femaledomains and mathematics and science as male domains. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.

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