Hemispheric Brain Dominance and Mathematics Performance of Western Visayas College of Science and Technology Students – Phase IV

Abstract

This is the last phase of a four-year study which aimed to determine the significance of the difference in the mathematics (math) performance of the participants when grouped according to their hemispheric dominance (HD). The study was anchored in the Split-Brain or Lateralization Theory of Roger Wolcott Sperry which states that the brain is divided into two hemispheres, the left, and the right hemisphere. The participants were eighty-eight (88) fourth-year college students from the courses of Bachelor of Science in Mathematics (BSM), Bachelor of Science in Education major in Mathematics (BSEd), Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering (BSEE), Bachelor of Science in Electronics and Communication Engineering (BSECE), and Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering major in Automotive Engineering (BSMEAE) at Western Visayas College of Science and Technology SY 2014-2015. The participants’ HD was determined by the use of a researcher-made 46-item Hemispheric Brain Dominance Test while their mathematics performance was based on their Math classes average final grades. The statistical tools used were the mean, standard deviation, Mann-Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis, and Post hoc tests. The hypothesis was set at the 0.05 alpha level. As an entire group, the left brain was the dominant brain hemisphere among the participants from phase I to phase IV. When the participants were grouped according to program in phase I, the BSM, BSEd, and BSMEAE was left-brain dominant while the BSEE participants were right-brain dominant. The BSECE had an equal number of left-brained and right-brained participants. In phase II, the dominant brain hemisphere was the left brain. Only the BSEE participants were right-brain dominant. In phase III, the dominant brain hemisphere was the left brain, except for the BSMEAE where there was an equal number of left-brained and right-brained participants. In phase IV, all participants from the different programs were left-brained. Only the BSEE participants were right-brain dominant. As an entire group, phase I and II participants had “fair” mathematics performance; phase III had “good” mathematics performance, and phase IV had “very good” mathematics performance. When the participants who were right-brained were grouped according to mathematics performance, phase I had “conditional” mathematics performance; phase II and III had “fair” mathematics performance; and phase IV had “good” mathematics performance. Those who were left-brain dominant had “fair” mathematics performance in phase I, “good” mathematics performance in phase II and III, and “very good” mathematics performance in phase IV. In all phases of the study, significant differences existed in the level of mathematics performance when the participants were grouped according to their hemispheric brain dominance. The “left-brained” performed better in mathematics than the “right-brained”. There was a significant decrease in the enrolment of participants who were right-brain dominant because they shifted to other courses or they transferred to other schools. In phases, I, II and III, significant differences existed in the level of mathematics performance when the participants were grouped according to their program. There is no significant difference in the hemispheric brain dominance of the participants when grouped according to the phase of the study. This implies that the slight changes in the hemispheric brain dominance of the participants were not significant in the last four years.