Rosa Archer

Day conference abstracts

It is recognised that an increasing number of students (in the USA) who are qualified intellectually are deciding not to study mathematics beyond minimum secondary school requirements and that many more girls than boys make this decision. A set of variables explaining individual differences in the learning of mathematics not only affects the amount of effort one is willing to employ to learn mathematics, but also influences the election of additional mathematics courses beyond the basic requirements in secondary schools. This paper reports on pilot study data gained from a Bangla translated version of the Fennema-Sherman Mathematics Attitude Scales (FSMAS). The main purpose of the survey was to check the reliability of using the Bangla translated version of FSMAS in the rural Bangladeshi context and to observe any patterns of differences in attitudes to mathematics among different groups.