GSE/RES The Role of Gender in Language Used by Children and Parents Working on Mathematical Tasks

University Of Hawaii, Honolulu

Investigators

Abstract

The University of Hawaii is investigating gender-related differences in language and actions used by children and parents when working on mathematical tasks in number, algebra, and geometry. Parents and their children from diverse ethnicities with low socioeconomic status will be recruited from public schools in Hawaii. Each of 100 child-parent dyads will work on three tasks, one representing each of three content strands, number, algebra, and geometry while being recorded on audio- and videotape. These recordings will be coded to determine gender-related differences in parents' and children's use of cognitively demanding language, by counting the number of conceptual questions, causal explanations, or specific use of mathematics vocabulary during tasks. Data will be gathered on children's self-efficacy and parent's competence beliefs for their children to determine how these related to the cognitively demanding language used by the four types of child-parent dyads (daughter-mother, son-mother, daughter-father, son-father). Intellectual Merit The results of this research will add knowledge and understanding of gender differences that exist when parents and children of diverse ethnicities with low socioeconomic status work on mathematical tasks together. The Pisa (2003) findings that self-efficacy is one of the strongest predictors of student performance indicate the importance of examining the relationship of self-efficacy of children and parents' competence beliefs to the use of cognitively demanding language. Previous related research focused primarily on highly-educated European-American parents. The plan includes careful and thorough development and piloting of mathematical tasks and instruments with 20 child-parent dyads prior to working with the study population. Broader Impact The findings from the proposed research will help determine ways parent materials and parent involvement programs should address the gender differences in language and actions of parents and their children when working on mathematical tasks similar to those found in reform mathematics curricula. This research results will be of interest to many stakeholders in mathematics education and parent education. Participants in the proposed research will be students from underrepresented groups: females, diverse ethnicities, and low socioeconomic status. It is anticipated that the findings will lead to broader participation of these groups in mathematics.