Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/101111
Title: Accounting for the differential performance in mathematics of boys and girls in Maltese secondary schools
Authors: Bezzina, Frank (2004)
Keywords: Education, Secondary -- Malta
Mathematics -- Study and teaching -- Malta
Sex differences
School management and organization -- Malta
Issue Date: 2004
Citation: Bezzina, F. (2004). Accounting for the differential performance in mathematics of boys and girls in Maltese secondary schools (Doctoral dissertation).
Abstract: This project explored gender differences in mathematics performance in Maltese secondary schools. This study extended local research by examining the effect of gender on the performance of students attending mixed ability single-sex and co-educational institutions and went on to account for the differential performance of boys and girls in mathematics. A sample of 400 mixed-ability students in Form 4 (aged 14-15) was given a mathematics test comprising 10 subtests. The results showed that girls obtained slightly to moderately higher scores than boys (d = 0.4). The gender difference was approximately the same within the two types of school settings but the magnitude of the gender effect varied in the specific content areas of the mathematics test. A large gender effect was found in geometry, small to moderate gender effect sizes were found in graphs and ratio/proportion and small but significant gender effect sizes were found in algebra, fractions, probability/statistics and transformations. No significant gender differences were found in decimals/place value, measurement and word problems. An item analysis revealed that item difficulty did not contribute to the gender difference in the item-responses. Another important finding was that the gender difference in performance was mainly due to the weaker performance of the low achieving boys. The study also made use of a questionnaire and an interview to examine the relationship between mathematics performance, gender and the motivational and self-regulated learning components of classroom academic learning (self-efficacy, intrinsic value, test anxiety and self-regulated learning strategy use). All the self-regulation components had an independent effect on performance. In terms of gender, the girls reported a greater use of self-regulated learning strategies than boys, whereas boys reported higher levels of self- efficacy and intrinsic value. No gender difference was found in test anxiety. The study showed that social and cultural factors contributed to gender differences in academic performance. Moreover, it also lends weight to previous research on gender differences in the perception of mathematics as a male domain, in career aspirations and in attitudes towards mathematics. A significant contribution of this study is that it has produced empirical evidence that accounts for the differential performance in mathematics of Maltese boys and girls. In fact, the gender difference in mathematics performance could be explained by the difference in the students’ use of self-regulated learning strategies. In other words, the gender difference in overall mathematics performance is no longer significant once the difference in the students’ level of involvement in self-regulated learning is accounted for. Although, in general, foreign studies reveal that self-regulated learning is associated with academic achievement (e.g. Pintrich, 2000; Wolters, 2003, Zimmerman, 1998), the finding that the students’ level of involvement in self-regulated learning accounts for the differential performance of boys and girls in mathematics has not yet been reported in the local and foreign literature I reviewed. In the light of the present findings, the issue of increasing the students’ level of involvement in self-regulated learning emerges as a possible strategy aimed at combating the underachievement of students, particularly that of the low achieving boys within Maltese secondary schools.
Description: PH.D.EDUCATION
URI: https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/101111
Appears in Collections:Dissertations - FacEdu - 1953-2007

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