Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemSome determinants of students' course selection in mathematics( 1984)In this study some determinants of students' course selection in mathematics. were investigated, with particular attention being given to those factors which may result in differential participation rates between boys and girls. The aim of the study was to assess the relative importance for student decisions of various psychological variables related to achievement attitudes. Such knowledge could then be used in the design of appropriate programs and techniques to increase the likelihood of students continuing to take maths. Questionnaires were administered to the 115 students in Year 9 and to the 107 students in Year 7 at a Melbourne inner-suburban .high school. Specific findings apply to those students in that particular school; without investigation of the effect of such variables as socioeconomic status, ethnic background., administrative structure, course-availability and class size they could not be extrapolated to other students in other schools. Students' estimates of their maths abilities and their expectations for maths performance, decreased with age, as did their perception of their parents' and teachers' beliefs about their ability and expectations for their success. Students' beliefs about the importance of success in maths and their declared interest in and liking'for the subject also decreased with age, while their estimates of the difficulty of maths increased with age. Year 9 boys had higher opinions of their maths ability and were more confident of success in future maths courses, than were Year 9 girls. These girls saw the subject as being more difficult and the cost of the effort required to do well to be higher than did their male classmates. At the Year 7 level, however, the only sex differences were in the stereotyping of the utility of maths for females and in the stereotyping of maths as a male domain. Plans to continue with maths were facilitated by high expectations, by firm beliefs in the value of maths and in one's own ability and by low estimates of the difficulty of maths. Sex differences favouring boys were found on these variables. On the basis of these findings, certain areas for intervention were identified. These areas included the encouragement of positive attitudes towards maths, the provision of career awareness programs, and the attempt to modify parents' and teachers' attitudes as to the maths, ability of girls and the importance of maths for them.
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ItemTrainee-teachers: can attitudes and achievement in mathematics be improved?( 1988)The aim of the investigation was to compare the effects of different class-groupings upon the Attitude to, and Achievement in, Mathematics of Primary Teacher Trainees. The experiment was of the pre-test, post-test design, with students randomly assigned to Experimental or Control classes. Lecturers taking part were assigned one Experimental and one Control group each. The treatment comprised the First Year Mathematics Education Course at Phillip Institute of Technology, with students assigned to classes which were either homogeneous (Experimental) or heterogeneous (Control) with respect to school Mathematics background. The sample was drawn from an entire entry cohort (with depletions), to give a sub-population of about one-third. The experimental conditions extended over ten months (the time between dependent variable measurings) and subjects were not treated as special in other than those (grouping) ways mentioned above. Simple graphical analyses showed results of the treatment to be quite varied. Predicted outcomes were supported in few instances (measured by Effect Sizes) but in the main, hypotheses remain unsupported by this investigation - which matches the results of the majority of studies in this field.
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ItemGirls, maths and schooling: what counts( 1989)This thesis is a critical review of public discourses about the significance of mathematics and of what feminists have had to say, directly or indirectly, about this. There are four main aspects which correspond to the chapters. These are based around the following questions: 1. How is the significance of maths proclaimed? 2. How have feminists analyzed the problem of girls and schooling? 3. What are the issues raised by feminists on the problem of girls and maths? 4. What are the most significant assumptions about gender, education and society implied in the culture of maths? The material used in each chapter is largely literature which includes theoretical literature and empirical investigations. This reflects the dual approach which has been used to tackle the issues. Where it is appropriate, I have included my own experience and observations to substantiate and highlight a case. There are various standpoints within the literature on the problem addressed by this thesis, and I attempt to show that each, historically at least, is significant. I also demonstrate however that there needs to be a more critical appraisal of the girls and maths initiatives currently being explored in our schools.