RES - AnimalWorld: Enhancing High School Women's Mathematical Competence

University Of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst MA

Investigators

Abstract

Some national assessments show that the gender gap in math achievement has narrowed dramatically in the last decade, and that there has been a significant increase in the number of mathematics courses taken by high school women. However, other data indicate that female students do not confront the critical transition from high school to college with deep, conceptually based mathematical competence that supports entry into STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) careers. Specifically, female students perform much less well than males on complex problem solving, when they must apply novel problem solving approaches, and when they must work under time pressure or transfer skills to problems not previously seen. Other research points to differences in female and male students learning styles; female students require more structured, concrete and repetitive instruction whereas males do equally well with more abstract hints and help, suggesting that they have a deeper understanding of mathematical concepts. A related concern is that female students increased math course taking has not translated into a higher number of women in the pipeline towards careers; that is, women are taking additional math but are not planning to utilize it in their careers. The consequences are seen in the continued under-representation of females in STEM majors and careers, and the critical lack of mathematically sophisticated workers in numbers sufficient to meet our nations needs. This project is designed to investigate the factors that contribute to female students shallower mathematical competence, as well as the learning styles that characterize male and female students at the critical transition from high school to college. Our investigations take place in the context of a multimedia, multi-component simulation environment: AnimalWorld. AnimalWorld provides high school women (and men) with 1) an intelligent tutor for high school mathematics (fractions; algebra; geometry; ratios/proportions/decimals; probability) that provides gender adaptive instruction and allows for analysis of male and female learning styles; 2) a virtual mentor component, in which students who are solving math problems in the simulated world can meet real female researchers and experts (through video clips embedded in the simulation) who discuss their training and the importance of math for their careers; 3) a math at your fingertips module in which students periodically rehearse math facts to free cognitive resources for higher-order problem solving, predicting increased math test scores; 4) a module to enhance students spatial cognition through dynamic manipulation of objects in simulated three-dimensional environments, which will allow us to provide a strong test of the hypothesis that females poorer math achievement reflects less well developed spatial cognition; and 5) an SAT-Math preparation module designed to narrow the striking gender gap on this critical achievement test. Our prediction is that female students who work with AnimalWorld will show significant increases in their complex math problem-solving skill, including their SAT-Math exam performance; that gender adaptive instruction will foster greater conceptual understanding in female students; and that virtual mentors will encourage female students to report greater interest in STEM careers. The results will increase our understanding of male and female learning styles, as well as provide new approaches to effective mathematics instruction for all students.