Gender Differences in Advanced Mathematical Problem Solving

Gallagher, Ann; Lisi, Richard De; Holst, Patricia C.; Lisi, Ann V. McGillicuddy‐De; Morely, Mary; Cahalan, Cara

doi:10.1006/jecp.1999.2532

Cited by 168 publications

(136 citation statements)

References 13 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

116

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Findings of sex differences in math during the primary school age years typically reflect highly specific skills, rather than a broad disparity between the sexes. Specific tasks include items such as simple arithmetic skills (favoring girls; Ginsburg & Russell, 1981), problems that rely on visualization strategies (favoring boys; Lummis & Stevenson, 1990), or math-related spatial-mechanical skills (e.g., Casey et al, 2001;Gallagher et al, 2000) including mental rotation (e.g., Astur et al, 1998;Levine et al, 1999). In our study, we examined composite scores on a broad range of math ability, paper and pencil calculation, and counting skills, and a similarly broad array of visual perception or visual motor skills, as typically assessed in primary school children.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Reports in favor of boys refer to advantages in general math performance (Lummis & Stevenson, 1990;Maccoby & Jacklin, 1974;Mau & Lynn, 2000); while additional findings reflect superior performance on only specific tasks, such as those relying on spatial-mechanical skills (Casey, Nuttall, & Pezaris, 1997;Casey et al, 2001;Gallagher et al, 2000;Geary & DeSoto, 2001;Lummis & Stevenson, 1990). Sex differences in favor of girls are reported at younger ages through preadolescence (Ginsburg & Russell, 1981;Kaplan & Weisberg, 1987;Marshall & Smith, 1987).…”

Section: Sex Differences In Math Skillsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Yet between elementary and junior high school years, boys surpass girls in their math skills (Leahey & Guo, 2001;Maccoby & Jacklin, 1974). However, studies of math abilities in high school and adulthood typically report sex differences in favor of boys (Gallagher et al, 2000;Leahey & Guo, 2001;Mau & Lynn, 2000).…”

Section: Sex Differences In Math Skillsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

A longitudinal analysis of sex differences in math and spatial skills in primary school age children

Lachance

Mazzocco

2006

Learning and Individual Differences

150

111

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We report on a longitudinal study designed to assess possible sex differences in math achievement, math ability, and math-related tasks during the primary school age years. Participants included over 200 children from one public school district. Annual assessments included measures of math ability, math calculation achievement scores, rapid naming and decoding tasks, visual perception tests, visual motor tasks, and reading skills. During select years of the study we also administered tests of counting and math facts skills. We examined whether girls or boys were overrepresented among the bottom or top performers on any of these tasks, relative to their peers, and whether growth rates or predictors of math-related skills differed for boys and girls. Our findings support the notion that sex differences in math are minimal or nonexistent on standardized psychometric tests routinely given in assessments of primary school age children. There was no persistent finding suggesting a male or female advantage in math performance overall, during any single year of the study, or in any one area of math or spatial skills. Growth rates for all skills, and early correlates of later math performance, were comparable for boys and girls. The findings fail to support either persistent or emerging sex differences on non-specialized math ability measures during the primary school age years.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Sex Differences In Math Skillsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

A longitudinal analysis of sex differences in math and spatial skills in primary school age children

Lachance

Mazzocco

2006

Learning and Individual Differences

150

111

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Regarding strategy choice, girls have been found to be more inclined to (quite consistently) rely on rules and procedures and use well-structured strategies, whereas boys have a larger tendency to use more intuitive strategies (Carr & Davis, 2001;Carr & Jessup, 1997;Gallagher et al, 2000;Hickendorff et al, 2009Hickendorff et al, , 2010Hickendorff & Van Putten, 2012;Timmermans, Van Lieshout, & Verhoeven, 2007;Vermeer et al, 2000). There are no empirical findings on whether this pattern is the same for numerical problems as for contextual problems, so further study is needed.…”

Section: The Role Of Students' Language Level and Gendermentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effects of Presenting Multidigit Mathematics Problems in a Realistic Context on Sixth Graders' Problem Solving

Hickendorff

2013

Cognition and Instruction

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

SOLVING MULTIDIGIT MATHEMATICS PROBLEMS 2The effects of presenting multidigit mathematics problems in a realistic context on sixth graders' problem solving Mathematics education and assessments increasingly involve arithmetic problems presented in context: a realistic situation that requires mathematical modeling. The present study's aim was to assess the effects of such typical school mathematics contexts on two aspects of problem solving, performance and strategy use, with a special focus on the role of students' language level. 685 sixth graders from the Netherlands solved a set of multidigit arithmetic problems on addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. These problems were presented in two conditions: with and without a realistic context. Regarding performance, item response theory (IRT) models showed first that the same (latent) ability dimension was involved in solving both types of problems. Second, the presence of a context increased the difficulty level of the division problems, but not of the other operations. Regarding strategy use, results showed that strategy choice and strategy accuracy were not affected by the presence of a problem context. More importantly, the absence of context effects on performance and on strategy use held for different subgroups of students, with respect to gender, home language, and language achievement scores. In sum, the present findings suggest that at the end of primary school the presence of a typical context in a multidigit mathematics problem had no marked effects on students' multidigit arithmetic problem solving behavior.Keywords: word problems, mathematics education, solution strategy, multidimensional IRT, linear logistic test model (LLTM). SOLVING MULTIDIGIT MATHEMATICS PROBLEMS 3 IntroductionMathematics education has experienced a large international reform (e.g., Kilpatrick, Swafford, & Findell, 2001). A general characteristic of this reform is that instruction no longer focuses predominantly on decontextualized traditional mathematics skills, but that instead the process of solving realistic mathematics problems and doing mathematics are important educational goals (e.g., NationalCouncil of Teachers of Mathematics, 1989Mathematics, , 2000. Word problems or the broader category of contextual problems 1 -typically a mathematics structure in a realistic In the Netherlands, the reform is characterized by the principles of Realistic Mathematics Education (RME; Freudenthal, 1973Freudenthal, , 1991 Treffers, 1993). In RME, contextual problems (defined as a problem that is experientially real to students) are central: they are the starting point for instruction, which is based on the principle of progressive schematization or mathematization by guided reinvention (Gravemeijer & Doorman, 1999). That is, contextual problems are expected to elicit informal or naive solution strategies which are progressively abbreviated and schematized, in a process guided by the teacher. In the last decades, RME has become the dominant instructional approach in mathemati...

show abstract

“…For instance, in one semester, the difference for the mean scores of "male favored" items was higher, than for the female favored items (d = .11). As in the previous study, items where the most sex differences existed were related to spatial reasoning and the items where the fewest sex differences existed were related to storage and retrieval from memory and verbal skills (Gallagher et al, 2000).…”

Section: Sex Differencessupporting

confidence: 59%

GRE as a Predictor of Graduate Student Success at a Hispanic Serving Institution of Higher Education

Perez¹

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Gender Differences in Advanced Mathematical Problem Solving

Cited by 168 publications

References 13 publications

A longitudinal analysis of sex differences in math and spatial skills in primary school age children

A longitudinal analysis of sex differences in math and spatial skills in primary school age children

The Effects of Presenting Multidigit Mathematics Problems in a Realistic Context on Sixth Graders' Problem Solving

GRE as a Predictor of Graduate Student Success at a Hispanic Serving Institution of Higher Education

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About