Math Ability Research Articles

The Geneticization of Education and Its Bioethical Implications.

The day has arrived that genetic tests for educational outcomes are available to the public. Today parents and students alike can send off a sample of blood or saliva and receive a 'genetic report' for a range of characteristics relevant to education, including intelligence, math ability, reading ability, and educational attainment. DTC availability is compounded by a growing "precision education" initiative, which proposes the application of DNA tests in schools to tailor educational curricula to children's genomic profiles. Here I argue that these happenings are a strong signal of the geneticization of education; the process by which educational abilities and outcomes come to be examined, understood, explained, and treated as primarily genetic characteristics. I clarify what it means to geneticize education, highlight the nature and limitations of the underlying science, explore both real and potential downstream bioethical implications, and make proposals for mitigating negative impacts.

An exploratory experiment investigating teachers’ attributional race and gender bias and the moderating effects of personal experience of racial discrimination

The factors to which teachers attribute students’ successes and failures have important consequences for teachers’ instructional decisions as well as their expectations of students. Yet few, if any, experimental studies have been conducted to investigate the role that students’ race and gender play in how teachers make sense of students’ academic performance. In this exploratory experimental study, conducted with 413 mathematics teachers across the United States, we investigated the extent to which teachers attributed students’ performance disparities in mathematics to internal and external factors based on the students’ race and gender and explored the extent to which teachers’ beliefs and dispositions moderated their attributions. To do so, teachers were first given a collection of the student solutions with no gender or racial performance disparities. They were then randomly assigned to one of four conditions in which they were told that on this particular assessment: boys outperformed girls, girls outperformed boys, Black and Hispanic students outperformed White and Asian students, or that White and Asian students outperformed Black and Hispanic students. They were asked to report the reasons behind the disparities in math performance of these groups. We found that teachers attributed gender disparities in student performance to innate math ability, effort, and external social factors, whereas they attributed racial disparities in student performance to biological influences on intelligence, effort, external social factors or the assessment context. Teachers’ self-reported personal experience with racial discrimination moderated race differences in teacher attributions.

Math Abilities Among Children with Neurodevelopmental Difficulties: Understanding Cognitive Factors and Evaluating a Pilot Intervention.

Math development in children relies on several underlying cognitive functions, including executive functions (EF), working memory (WM), and visual-motor abilities, such as visual-motor integration (VMI). Understanding how these cognitive factors contribute to children's math performance is critical to supporting math learning and long-term math success. The present quasi-experimental waitlist control study (N = 28) aimed to (a) examine the unique contributions of EF, WM, and VMI to math abilities among children ages 5-8 years old with neurodevelopmental difficulties; (b) determine whether a math intervention (the Mathematics Interactive Learning Experience; MILE) that supports these cognitive processes was effective when modified to be delivered to small groups in a school setting, and (c) examine whether any participant characteristics, such as age or IQ, were correlated with post-intervention math score changes. At baseline, participants' math scores were significantly below the normative mean in all math content areas (ps < .01). EF, WM, and VMI were highly correlated with math ability; however, verbal WM was the only unique predictor of math ability in regressions analysis. Compared to a waitlist control group, children in the immediate MILE intervention group achieved significantly greater math gains overall. When all children who ultimately completed the intervention were considered together, significant improvement was observed in more than half of math content areas. Furthermore, at the individual level, 85.7% of participants showed reliable change in at least one math content area. Implications for supporting math learning in children with neurodevelopmental difficulties are discussed.

Improvement in Math Ability and Cognitive Processing in Children with Low Attention: An Intervention Based on PASS Theory.

This study investigates the effects of math training on math and cognitive performance among 8-9 year-old students with low attention. Fifty-six students with low attention were randomly assigned to a training group (n = 24) and a passive control group (n = 32). They completed math problem-solving, calculation fluency and PASS cognitive processing tests both before and after training. The children in the training group received 3 days of training per week for a total of 21 days using the math modules of The Children's Mathematics and Cognition Training Manual in Chinese. The results showed that the training group's math problem-solving performance improved significantly. Moreover, the cognitive performance on the CAS-2 in the planning and simultaneous processing tests for the training group was enhanced. The implications of these findings are discussed with consideration of the interpretability being constrained by the fact that no active control condition was applied.

An isochronic substitution benefit study of the effects of screen time on the cognitive abilities of 3-6 children.

To investigate the impact of substituting screen time with other activities on children's cognitive ability. A total of 583 children (299 males and 284 females), aged 3-6 years, were selected as participants. Correlation, regression, and isochronic substitution analyses were used. Screen entertainment time on TV (SET_TV) was negatively associated with children's math ability. However, screen learning time on other electronic devices besides TV (SLT_OED) and non-screen learning time by learning alone (NSLT_LA) were positively associated with math ability and language ability. After controlling for gender, age, and family socio-economic status, SET_TV remained negatively associated with math ability, while NSLT_LA remained positively correlated. Furthermore, substituting 10 min of SET_TV with NSLT_LA resulted in an increase of 0.55 in language ability and 0.87 in math ability. Similarly, substituting SLT_OED, sleeping at home, and exercising outside of kindergarten for 10 min of SET_TV resulted in an increase of 0.90, 0.43, and 0.61 in math ability, respectively. There are cognitive benefits when screen recreation time is replaced with screen learning time, non-screen learning time, sleep time, and exercise time, with the highest benefits observed when screen recreation time is substituted with NSLT_LA.

Elite career expectations of adolescents: Popularity, gender differences, and social divides.

The supply of elite professionals is crucial for economic development, yet little is understood about the appeal and influencing factors of these careers among young people across different economies. It remains unclear whether adolescents in academically high-performing economies growingly expect emerging technological jobs in response to evolving workforce demands. This research used the Programme for International Student Assessment 2000-2018 data in 24 high-performing educational systems to examine the two-decade trends in adolescents' expectations for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM), medicine, law, business, and teaching careers. The popularity trend of these careers and the major impacts of gender, socioeconomic status, and academic ability were examined with multilevel logistic regression models. The findings indicated that developed economies such as Singapore, Canada, the United States of America, and the United Kingdom have successfully attracted a greater proportion of students to elite careers. In contrast, many high-performing Asian economies, such as Korea, Japan, and Taipei, have not. STEM and medical fields primarily drew students with high math abilities, whereas legal professions attracted those with superior reading skills. Although girls generally expected teaching and legal careers and boys expected STEM fields, social and gender differences have narrowed over the past decades. Many Western developed economies effectively attract a larger share of adolescents to STEM careers than their Asian counterparts. Although gender and social disparities persist, their impact has diminished. Effective human resource planning should be based on each country's unique trends and influencing factors to promote greater equality and inclusion in the workforce.

Racial stereotype and Black adolescents' math achievement: Unpacking the socio-cognitive mechanisms

Racial stereotypes are salient to Black adolescents and to the academic domain of mathematics; however, few studies have examined the socio-cognitive mechanisms through which racial stereotypes impact math achievement. This 2-year longitudinal study (N = 790 Grade 6, 8, and 10 students during Year 1; 50.7% girls and 49.3% boys) investigated (a) the extent to which the endorsement of positively and negatively biased racial stereotypes predicted Black adolescents' math performance through their cognitive engagement and ability mindset and (b) whether gender and ethnic-racial identity moderated these links. Results suggested that endorsement of negatively biased stereotypes was associated with diminished cognitive engagement and lower math scores across 2 years (p < .05). Additionally, adolescents' ethnic-racial identity commitment moderated the negative links between stereotype endorsement and math cognitive engagement in Year 2 (p < .05). When considering the mediating role of math ability mindsets, the endorsement of both positively and negatively biased racial stereotypes operated on math performance via its links to stronger fixed ability mindset beliefs in both years (p < .05). Gender also moderated the effects of racial stereotype endorsement on math mindset beliefs in Year 1 (p < .01). This study's findings advance the field's understanding of the psychosocial mechanisms through which racial stereotypes operate, thus enabling educators to develop tailored practices that facilitate equitable access to math learning opportunities.

The role of comparative processes in shaping the effects of between-class ability grouping on students’ math ability self-concept.

The role of comparative processes in shaping the effects of between-class ability grouping on students’ math ability self-concept.

In emotion and reading motivation, children with a diagnosis of dyslexia are not just the end of a continuum.

Children with dyslexia (CwD) often report poor psychological well-being. We examined (i) whether anxiety, self-concept and reading motivation in CwD differed from those of typically developing children (TDC; case-control design, Study 1a) and (ii) whether these differences mirrored the linear relationships that these variables present with reading ability in the TDC group (dimensional approach, Study 1b). In Study 1a, 34 CwD were compared with 191 TDC in grades 4-8 on anxiety, self-concept, reading motivation and reading strategy using self-reports (controlling for sex, intelligence and math ability scores). In Study 1b, the differences that emerged in Study 1a were compared with the results obtained from a simulation procedure that generated dyslexia observations under the assumptions of a dimensional hypothesis. The CwD group presented small-to-moderate difficulties, which partially mirrored the predictions in the TDC group. However, violations of predictions based on the population without dyslexia were found for reading self-concept, social anxiety and reading competitiveness. In sum, children's diagnoses affect their self-perception as readers and social anxiety in a way that cannot be inferred from linear relationships. CwD need support to preserve an adequate image of themselves as readers and cope with social anxiety.

Does inducing growth-oriented mindsets about math ability in parents enhance children's math mindsets, affect, and achievement?

A parent-directed intervention designed to foster growth-oriented mindsets about math was evaluated in a longitudinal randomized-control trial. Parents (N = 615; 61% White, 22% Black; 63% with at least a bachelor's degree) participated in the intervention or an active control condition in which they learned about the Common Core math curriculum. Parents reported on their math mindsets and parenting practices (e.g., autonomy-supportive math homework assistance) over 15-18 months; their young elementary school children's (Mage = 7.17 years; 50% girls) math adjustment (e.g., mindsets and achievement) was also assessed. The intervention (vs. control) led to sustained increases in parents' beliefs that math ability is malleable and math failure is beneficial for learning. The intervention, however, did not improve their math parenting practices or children's math adjustment relative to the control. Instead, there were generally improvements in math parenting practices and children's math adjustment over the course of the study regardless of condition, perhaps because the control condition provided parents with useful information about the Common Core math curriculum. Overall, the findings indicate that although the mindset intervention was effective in instilling stronger growth-oriented mindsets about math in parents, this did not translate into benefits for children's math learning over and above the active control condition. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Supplemental Material for Does Inducing Growth-Oriented Mindsets About Math Ability in Parents Enhance Children’s Math Mindsets, Affect, and Achievement?

Supplemental Material for Does Inducing Growth-Oriented Mindsets About Math Ability in Parents Enhance Children’s Math Mindsets, Affect, and Achievement?

Longitudinal stability and change across a year in children's gender stereotypes about four different STEM fields.

Gender stereotypes about science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) are salient for children and adolescents and contribute to achievement-related disparities and inequalities in STEM participation. However, few studies have used a longitudinal design to examine changes in gender stereotypes across a range of STEM fields. In a large, preregistered study, we examined the developmental trajectories of two gender stereotypes (involving interest and ability) in four STEM fields across three time points within a calendar year, starting in Grades 2-8. The diverse sample included 803 students ages 7-15 years old at the start of the study (50% girls; 8.5% Asian, 6.0% Black, 25.5% Hispanic/Latinx, 43.7% White, and 16.3% other). Multilevel growth modeling was used to examine developmental trajectories in students' stereotypes for four STEM fields (math, science, computer science, and engineering) while considering both gender and grade level. We found that different STEM disciplines displayed different developmental patterns: Math ability and science interest stereotypes more strongly favored girls over the year among elementary school participants, whereas computer science stereotypes less strongly favored boys over time, and engineering stereotypes (which largely favored boys) were stable across time. The results highlight that the development of stereotypes is not the same for all STEM fields as well as the need to understand the complexity and specificity of developmental change across fields and types of stereotypes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Neuroanatomical, transcriptomic, and molecular correlates of math ability and their prognostic value for predicting learning outcomes.

Foundational mathematical abilities, acquired in early childhood, are essential for success in our technology-driven society. Yet, the neurobiological mechanisms underlying individual differences in children's mathematical abilities and learning outcomes remain largely unexplored. Leveraging one of the largest multicohort datasets from children at a pivotal stage of knowledge acquisition, we first establish a replicable mathematical ability-related imaging phenotype (MAIP). We then show that brain gene expression profiles enriched for candidate math ability-related genes, neuronal signaling, synaptic transmission, and voltage-gated potassium channel activity contributed to the MAIP. Furthermore, the similarity between MAIP gene expression signatures and brain structure, acquired before intervention, predicted learning outcomes in two independent math tutoring cohorts. These findings advance our knowledge of the interplay between neuroanatomical, transcriptomic, and molecular mechanisms underlying mathematical ability and reveal predictive biomarkers of learning. Our findings have implications for the development of personalized education and interventions.

The gendered maths confidence gap, social influence and social integration

ABSTRACT While there is little discernible difference between girls and boys in maths competence during secondary education, on average, girls have lower confidence in their maths skills. Over time, this difference leads to gendered choices of education and occupation. Research explaining the maths confidence gap focusses on psychological factors and socialisation into stereotypical gender roles. However, how the peer context shapes the self-perception of competence and how this self-image affects social integration and popularity of girls and boys is barely understood. We analyse friendship networks and perceptions of maths confidence in Sweden and Germany to answer these questions using the CILS4EU dataset (N = 7,472) and multi-level, longitudinal network models. We find that maths confidence of girls accurately follows their maths grades and social relations have little impact on girls’ self-evaluation. Boys tend to overestimate their ability and are more susceptible to peer processes; social comparison processes inform boys’ maths confidence. This suggests that math ability is important for boys but socially irrelevant for girls. Concerning friendship choices, we find that boys and girls with higher maths confidence are often more integrated. Thus, we do not find social pressure on girls to adhere to gendered math-stereotypes – the opposite is the case.

Math anxiety effects on consumer purchase decisions: the role of framing

AbstractMathematics anxiety, an emotional state resulting in negative responses to math problems and numerical information, has been extensively studied in educational psychology. Research on the impact of math anxiety on consumer purchase decisions, however, is still in its nascent stages. This paper examines the interaction between math anxiety and different promotion framing formats on consumers’ perceived savings, price acceptability, and purchase decisions. Across two studies, we demonstrate that consumers with varying levels of math anxiety respond differently to various promotion frames: a gain versus a reduced loss and a single discount versus multiple discounts. We further show that consumers with insufficient math ability may experience negative affect and heighten math anxiety, particularly when faced with numerical and arithmetic tasks commonly encountered while shopping.

Analysis of students' critical thinking skills in solving mathematics problems in terms of students' initial ability

This study aimed to analyze the effect of initial mathematics ability on the critical thinking ability of seventh-grade students of SMP Negeri 8 Padangsidimpuan in solving mathematics problems. Using a qualitative descriptive method, this study involved six students from class VII-D who were selected based on the initial ability test, which was categorized into high, medium, and low. The analysis focuses on four aspects of critical thinking: interpretation, analysis, evaluation, and inference. Based on the data obtained through critical thinking tests and interviews, the results showed significant variations in critical thinking ability according to students' initial ability levels. Students with high initial ability showed full mastery of all four critical thinking indicators, while students with moderate ability achieved two indicators, and students with low initial ability did not fulfil the critical thinking indicators. These results indicate that initial math ability significantly affects student's critical thinking skills in the context of mathematical problem-solving. The implications of this study provide important insights for developing educational strategies that target improving critical thinking skills, taking into account students' initial mathematical abilities.

Skin Tone and Academic Readiness Among Young Mexican-Origin Children: Testing the Moderating Role of Ethnic-Racial Identity Attitudes and Centrality

ABSTRACT Skin tone-based social stratification is an enduring part of the U.S. racial landscape. Despite literature finding that skin tone informs educational outcomes among adults, few studies have examined these processes in early childhood. The current study tested whether skin tone predicted Mexican-origin 5-year-old children’s academic readiness (i.e., applied problems and letter-word identification) and whether relations were modified by ethnic-racial identity (i.e., positive attitudes and centrality). Findings indicated that darker skin tones predicted lower applied problems scores, an indicator of early math ability. Positive ethnic-racial attitudes did not moderate the relation between skin tone and academic readiness. However, contrary to our hypothesis, higher ethnic-racial centrality strengthened the association between darker skin tone and lower letter-word identification, an indicator of early reading skills. Findings suggest that there is early development of within-race skin tone-based disparities in education, and underscore the need for further exploration of children’s ethnic-racial identity in these processes.

Perspectives of teachers on the signs and causes of mathematics anxiety

Math anxiety is a common challenge that affects students in different age groups, hinders their achievements in math, and leads to avoidance of math related activities. This article aims to contribute to a better understanding of the signs of math anxiety in students and the factors which contribute to math anxiety. The research instrument was an online questionnaire specially designed for this study. The questions related to the main aspects presented in this paper were closed questions, most of them measured on a 4-level Likert scale. The participants were 160 mathematics teachers, most of them active teachers with special qualifications and more than 5 years of experience in teaching mathematics. The participants were teaching on different grade levels, covering grades from 1 to 12. Participants self-reported a high familiarity with math anxiety, teachers with special qualification for teaching mathematics, those with more than 5 years of experience, and teachers teaching in grades 7-12 perceived a higher level of familiarity, but the differences were not statistically significant. Teachers reported that there are students with math anxiety in their classes, teachers with qualification reported more students with anxiety, teachers with more experience observed less students with anxiety, these differences being not significant. Teachers teaching grades 7-12 observed a significantly higher number of students with math anxiety than those teaching in grades 1-6. Also, teachers observed physical symptoms of math anxiety, those teaching grades 7-12 in a significantly higher number of students than those teaching in grades 1-6. As regarding other symptoms, increased stress or frustration while doing math and negative self-talk about math ability are the most frequently observed. Teachers consider that the main causes of students’ math anxiety are related to the parents, their math anxiety and their attitude to their child’smath ability could increase anxiety.

What matters the most, the assessment method or individual skills in marketing research learning?

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to generate knowledge about assessment methods in blended business education, which have become increasingly important to establish sustainable assessment practices that support knowledge acquisition for undergraduate students in business administration at a Colombian university.Design/methodology/approachFor the analysis, a two groups comparison was performed using a nonequivalent control group design with a sample of 420 students. As this study wants to find insights to improve the knowledge on assessment topics in marketing research (MR) education, it was focused on the students from the business administration program. This study also uses individual scores from the state test as prior cognitive scores and the high school classification provided by the National Ministry of Education in Colombia (2012).FindingsIt was found that the variables that best predict performance on the MR course examinations were the mathematics skills and reading comprehension scores on the state test. The study also showed a better performance of female students on both assessment methods. There were no significant differences between the assessment methods or among the high school levels.Research limitations/implicationsOne of the limitations of this study is the limited number of items on the tests. Additionally, the authors recommend conducting an analysis of the differences between the testing items to provide a detailed explanation of students’ performance when comparing computer-based testing and paper-and-pencil testing.Practical implicationsFurther design of teaching material and assessments online and offline, based on local and regional marketing problems, is suggested. As the current text and readings are more oriented to the English-speaking contexts, most of the problems presented are oriented to multinational companies and brands.Social implicationsInsights into the skills required for future jobs provide valuable guidance (World Economic Forum, 2020). Essential skills for emerging roles, like data scientists, can find robust support within the MR course. To further enrich in-class and online exercises with Excel and SPSS, Colombian educators can leverage data sets obtained from sources like the national statistics office and international market intelligence databases available through the university’s library, including Passport and Statista. Engaging with authentic data sets provides students with a more profound understanding of practical applications in MR.Originality/valueThis approach facilitates the identification of key variables, such as assessment and cognitive abilities in math and reading, which predict students’ knowledge acquisition in MR. It not only offers insights into the relevant factors influencing learning in MR but also provides valuable feedback. Additionally, it suggests potential avenues for future research in this field.

Training Executive Functions Within the Mathematical Domain: A Pilot Study with an Integrated Digital‐Paper Procedure in Primary Second‐Grade

AbstractInterventions targeting cognitive control processes, such as Executive Functions (EF) have recently been experimented to enhance early math skills. This pilot study explored the feasibility and effectiveness of an intervention integrating EF activities into the mathematical domain among second‐grade students. One hundred and four typically‐developing‐children were assigned to either a group that underwent the intervention (Trained Group; n = 58) or a group that continued with daily didactic activities (Control Group; n = 46). The training lasted for 8 weeks and included both home‐based digital and school‐based paper activities. According to teachers' feedback, the intervention was highly appreciated by children and compatible with classical school curricula. The Trained Group improved in behavioral self‐regulation, math abilities and problem‐solving in comparison to the Control Group. Notably, within the Trained Group, benefits of the training were higher in children with high working memory. This training offers a model to support math learning in primary school, considering inter‐individual differences in EF.