Date of Award

2013-01-01

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Teaching , Learning and Culture

Advisor(s)

Mourat Tchoshanov

Abstract

This study analyzed interventions used in improving the mathematics achievement in spatial reasoning tasks for females called connectedness. Gender achievement in mathematics has been a controversial topic because of the wide variance in research. Some research has found a difference between the genders in mathematics while others argue there is no difference in mathematical achievement. The Seven Clever Piece Tangrams were used in the mixed method study as the instrument of spatial reasoning tasks. Freshmen participants (N=719) from southwest high schools in a border town participated in one of two groups: control (n=247) and treatment (n=472). Of the participants, 379 were male and 340 were female. The participants were predominately Latino/a (83.6%). Of the two groups, the treatment group received a connectedness intervention based on feminist epistemologies regarding mathematical reasoning, multiple strategies, and social cognition. ANOVA results show the treatment group increased scores more than the control group (p<0.05) in spatial reasoning in which we attribute to connectedness activities. Furthermore, females further increased their scores more than males. The findings of the study confirm an achievement disparity between genders and validate the intervention of connectedness as a factor in decreasing gender difference in success in spatial reasoning tasks.

Language

en

Provenance

Received from ProQuest

File Size

193 pages

File Format

application/pdf

Rights Holder

Raymond Falcon

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