Colleen Vale

Student views of computer-based mathematics in the middle years: does gender make a difference?

How the use of computers in mathematics classrooms was viewed by students in two middle years mathematics classrooms was the focus of the research described in this paper. The primary data sources consisted of questionnaires, classroom observations supported by videotaping of mathematics lessons, and interviews with two girls and two boys from each class. Thus both qualitative and quantitative methods were used. Girls viewed the computer-based lessons less favourably than did boys. In general, the boys were likely to believe that computers contributed to their experiencing pleasure in these lessons, and to making mathematics more relevant to them. Girls were typically more concerned about whether computers facilitated learning and enabled success in mathematics. The attitudes of students to computer-based mathematics were related to their views of computers.

Learning Cultures of Problem-Based Learning Teams

Abstract The learning experiences of first-year engineering students to a newly implemented engineering problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum is reported here, with an emphasis on student approaches to learning. Ethnographic approaches were used for data collection and analysis. This study found that student learning in a PBL team in this setting was mainly influenced by the attitudes, behaviour and learning approaches of the student members in that team. Three different learning cultures that emerged from the analysis of eight PBL teams are reported here. They are the finishing culture, the performing culture and the collaborative learning culture. It was found that the team that used a collaborative approach to learning benefited the most in this PBL setting. Students in this team approached learning at a deep level. The findings of this study imply that students in a problem-based, or project-based, learning setting may not automatically adopt a collaborative learning culture. Hence, it is important for institutions and teachers to identify and consider the factors that influence student learning in their particular setting, provide students with necessary tools and ongoing coaching to nurture deep learning approaches in PBL teams.

Girls back off mathematics again: the views and experiences of girls in computer-based mathematics

The views and experiences of girls in two co-educational mathematics classrooms in which computers were regularly used were researched. Data were collected by observation and videotaping of lessons, questionnaire, and interviews of students and the teachers. In this paper case studies of six girls are presented. Their ‘stories’ reveal a diversity of experiences and views and multiple gender identities. High achieving girls persisted as “outsiders within,” other girls “backed off”, and exceptional girls challenged gender stereotypes. Implications for social justice in mathematics in the age of the super highway are discussed.

Equity, social justice and ethics in mathematics education

The performativity policy mindset driving national and international testing highlights issues of equity in access and success according to socio-economic status, geographic location, ethnicity, gender and combinations of these factors. Researchers seek explanations for these inequities in terms encompassing engagement, participation and achievement to identify socially just and ethical practices at system, school and classroom level. The emergence of a theoretical perspective involving redistribution, recognition and participation (Fraser, Fortunes of feminism. From state-managed capitalism to neoliberal crisis, 2013) is evident in a range of studies concerning leadership, professional learning, pre-service teacher education, and pedagogies that focus on equity and social justice in mathematics education. The challenge of ethical and socially just practices at all levels and social groups is in providing access to deep learning in mathematics and success in “knowledge making” (Jorgensen, Proceedings of the 37th Annual Conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia 2014).

Technology for Mathematics Education: Equity, Access and Agency

In this chapter, issues of equity – including gender, access, and agency – with respect to the learning of mathematics with technology are examined. Research findings are not equivocal. Compared to late developing countries, where issues of access to technology can be complicated by educational and cultural values and beliefs, there seems to be greater access to technology to be used for the learning of mathematics in developed nations. There also appears to be some disparity in findings on the relationship between technology use and gender differences in mathematics achievement; in some countries the gender gap favoring males may be closing, while in other countries, where there have been little or no gender differences in the past, the gap may be widening. Areas in which more research is needed have been identified.

Uses of Technology in K–12 Mathematics Education: Concluding Remarks

The aim of this closing chapter is to reflect on the content of this book and on its overall focus on the development of mathematical proficiencies through the design and use of digital technology and of teaching and learning with and through these tools. As such, rather than making an attempt to provide an overview of the field as a whole, or trying to define overarching theoretical approaches, we chose to follow a bottom-up approach in which the chapters in this monograph form the point of departure. To do so, we reflect on the book’s content from four different perspectives. First, we describe a taxonomy of the use of digital tools in mathematics education, and set up an inventory of the different book chapters in terms of these types of educational use. Second, we address the learning of mathematics with and through technology. Third, the way in which the assessment of mathematics with and through digital technology is present in this monograph is reflected upon. Fourth, the topic of teachers teaching with technology is briefly addressed. We conclude with some final reflections, including suggestions for a future research agenda.

Commentary on the Chapter by Gabriele Kaiser, Maren Hoffstall, and Anna B. Orschulik, “Gender Role Stereotypes in the Perception of Mathematics: Results of an Empirical Study with Secondary Students in Germany”

Since the mid-1970s gender differences favouring males in mathematics achievement at all levels of schooling and participation at post-compulsory levels of schooling have declined around the world. Yet gender differences in mathematics self-efficacy that favour males have remained intransigent, and the gender stereotyping of mathematics proficiency and interest persist. The study by Kaiser, Hoffstall and Orschulik is the latest in a series of studies commencing in the mid-1970s (Fennema and Sherman 1977) to provide evidence of higher self-concept in mathematics for male students compared to female students, and male stereotyped views of mathematics learning and achievement, especially among senior secondary aged students.

Introduction to Section 4

The nature and extent of the implementation of digital technology in mathematics curricula along with issues of access and equity were the issues considered by one working group of this ICMI study. A summary of the discussion conducted by the working group and the findings reported in the following chapters on this theme are presented. It is clear that widespread and sustained use of digital technology is not common and that where digital technology is used there are complex and confounding equity issues.

Mathematics curriculum reforms: Reproducing social inequalities

This book is essential reading for Australasian mathematics educators and other researchers with an interest in the history of mathematics curriculum, the culture of mathematics, gender, and social justice issues in mathematics. Drawing on the results of research conducted by the Educational Outcomes Research Unit at the University of Melbourne and historical documents, Richard Teese argues that the education system fails to diffuse the economic and cultural benefits assumed to flow from the completion of secondary schooling.