An analysis of gender-related, attitudinal factors affecting participation and achievement in the ESU Math Day competition.

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the affect of student's altitudes on participation and achievement at an annual, university-sponsored, high school mathematics competition. The investigation focused mainly on how each gender's achievement correlated with these attitudinal factors. The affect of other significant factors, such as mathematical background, educational and occupational ambitions, and how school sponsors select the contestants, were also considered. The mathematics competition used was the 1992 Emporia State University Donald L. Bruyr Math Day. The subjects of the study consisted of a nearly equal number of participants in ESU Math Day and non-participants from each cooperating high school. Both of these groups completed the Fennema-Shennan Mathematics Attitudes Scales (FSMAS) to determine their mathematical attitude. Each student who competed in an individual algebra or geometry test had their results analyzed with their FSMAS attitude score in each of nine categories using an analysis of variance. The following is a summary of the conclusions derived from the study: I. Among both males and females, a more positive mathematics attitude enhances performance at math competitions; 2. Males who score well at math contests are more self-confident, believe they receive more support from teachers and parents, believe mathematics is more useful, rewarding, and challenging, and are much less anxious about tests than males who do not fare well; 3. Females who finish higher at math contests feel more encouraged by their mathematics teachers to succeed than females who do not fare well; 4. Males are much more comfortable if others know that they did well at mathematical endeavors than females; 5. Females of all mathematical abilities and males of lower ability believe that mathematics is gender-neutral; however, high-achieving males feel that females are not as capable or as reliable and that mathematics is a male domain; 6. In general, the genders have little difference in overall mathematical attitudes; however, males that finish in the top 30% at math competitions have a significantly better mathematical attitude and have taken more mathematics classes than top 30% female finishers; and, 7. Females come to competitions with different priorities than males do, being motivated towards grades, not competition awards.