A Phenomenological Study of Middle-Grade Female and Male Students’ Single-Sex Mathematical Experiences

• In Event: Curriculum in Middle-Level Education

Abstract

Utilizing a descriptive phenomenological design, this study examined the lived experiences of seven middle grade students, four females and three males, enrolled in a single-sex mathematics classroom within a coeducational school setting. The intent of the study is to give students a voice, typically a missing perspective in the current educational reform debates and decision-making practices that impact their lives. The findings revealed that as a whole, the participants did not foreground their experience within the academic discipline under study (mathematics), but rather almost exclusively discussed social aspects of their classroom experience. However, one clear difference was the positive experience of the female participants and the negative experience of the male participants.

Authors

• Amber Simpson, Clemson University

• S. Megan Che, Clemson University