Primary School Age Students' Spontaneous Comments about Math Reveal Emerging Dispositions Linked to Later Mathematics Achievement

Michèle M. M. Mazzocco,Maia M. Noeder,Laurie B. Hanich

doi:10.1155/2012/170310

Abstract

To longitudinally explore children's developing beliefs towards mathematics, we asked 207 children to define “math” and “reading” at grades 2 and 3 and coded for spontaneous references to likability or difficulty of math (or reading) in their definitions. We found that children attributed more difficulty to math than to reading despite their relatively neutral comments on the likability of either subject. Children described math and reading with comparable degrees of specificity, but girls' definitions were more specific than boys'. Relative to their peers, children with mathematics learning disability (MLD) provided less specific definitions overall, were more likely to describe math as more difficult than reading, and were more likely to show a decrease in likability ratings of math (but not reading) from grades 2 to 3. Grade 2 ratings predicted math ability at grade 3, more so than predictors from grade 3. These findings, although based on informal analyses not intended to substitute for validated assessments of disposition, support the notions that distinct aspects of dispositions towards math emerge in early childhood, are revealed through casual discourse, and are predictive of later math achievement outcomes. This further supports current interests in developing formal measures of academic disposition in early childhood.

Highlights

A productive disposition towards mathematics is an essential component of mathematics proficiency [1]
Parents who believe that math and science are male-oriented domains tend to overestimate their sons’ math and science performance and underestimate their daughters’ performance in math and science at least in mid- to late-elementary school [25]. This underestimation may impact self-concepts and self-underestimation of math ability [26, 27]. These findings suggest that teacher and parent behaviors can and do play a major role in student learning, and that efforts to counter such effects on negative beliefs about math and achievement-related perceptions should begin in early childhood [23]
We carried out three analyses of variance (ANOVAs), each based on a 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 (MLD status: typically achieving (TA), low mathematics achievement (LA), and mathematics learning disability (MLD)) design, with repeated measures of the first two factors

Summary

Introduction

A productive disposition towards mathematics is an essential component of mathematics proficiency [1]. The National Research Council [1] defines it as “the tendency to see sense in mathematics, to perceive math as both useful and worthwhile, and to believe that steady effort in learning mathematics pays off.” At a minimum, this description captures features of positive attitudes about mathematics, seeing sense in mathematics, the belief that effort is needed to support math learning, and a perspective that math is useful within and beyond school experiences—regardless of whether it is liked or disliked or achieved with minimal or great effort. We report on a brief, exploratory study of whether second and third graders’ definitions of mathematics shed light on their emerging dispositions and are related to their later mathematics achievement

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Conclusion