Implicit theories of math abilities – cultural and gender differences between German and Chinese fourth-graders

• In Event: Poster session 2

Proposal

Culture, gender and implicit theories about math abilities. As several studies have demonstrated, one´s belief about the malleability of abilities (implicit theory) has an important impact on students learning. Learners who believe that their abilities are malleable (incremental-theory) choose a much more productive approach to challenges and use more constructive strategies to cope with defeats than those who are more likely to believe that abilities can hardly be changed (entity-theory) (Dweck & Molden, 2005; Cimpian et al., 2007; Gunderson et al., 2013). Regarding these beliefs culture-comparative studies are suggesting a difference between people from asian and western societies (Rattan, Savani, Naidu & Dweck, 2012; Wong-On-Wing & Lui, 2007). They demonstrate that people from asian societies do not think in terms of traits. They rather tend to believe that abilities can be improved by effort, whereas people in western societies tend to view abilities as rather fixed (e.g. Markus & Kitayama, 1991; Rattan et al., 2012). Contributing to the aspect of gender relating to the field of mathematics and science, cross-cultural studies propose that there might be a gap between girls and boys concerning the beliefs of math ability. Some studies suggest, that boys and girls from western societies tend to believe more in the fixedness of abilities. With regard to cultural preferred conceptions in mathematical-scientific domains, it is argued that girls and boys in western societies learn that math is a male connoted domain and that boys are more likely to have high mathematical skills than girls (Tiedemann, 2000). Cvencek et al. (2011) found out that girls and boys already at the beginning of school assume that math is more of a typical male domain. This effect occurred even before actual differences in performance became measurable. A few studies have shown, that even as early as primary school age, children can obtain different perspectives on their math abilities (Bartels, 2015), but none has yet examined cultural differences regarding implicit theories of math ability relating to the aspect of gender at the early stage of primary school. That is the starting point for the presented study. It is investigated (a) if grade 4 students from Germany and students from china differ in their implicit theories of math abilities and (b) if girls and boys in china rather obtain an incremental-theory.


Sample. Participants of the study were n=443 (male=226; female=217) fourth-graders from China and n=441 (male=211; female=229) fourth-graders from Germany. The participants were recruited from Anhui province in China and lower-saxony in Germany. Three different types of chinese elementary schools and 17 german elementary schools took part in the study.

Measures. To gain insight into children´s beliefs about the malleability of math abilities a scale - based on Dweck and Leggett (1988) social-cognitive theory - was developed and used (3 Items; =.65). It was implemented in a cross-cultural study named “LoKi - Praise and criticism as predictors of implicit theories of math abilities at primary school age – an international comparative study between China and Germany”.

Findings. Findings show that more than half of chinese and german fourth-graders (63,4%) tend to believe that math abilities are malleable, whereas 36,6% of the students believe that math abilities are fixed. A t-test for independent samples reveals that chinese and german fourth-graders significantly differ in their view on math abilities. Whereas chinese students tend to view their abilities as less fixed (M=2.15; SD=.91) german fourth-graders tend to believe that math abilities are more stable (M=2.73; SD=.69; p.001). Taking cultural and gender aspects into consideration, analysis reveals that there are no gender gaps in China, but in Germany. Implicit measures make clear, that there – on a ten percent level of significance - are mean differences between german girls (M=2.79; SD=.64) and german boys (M=2.68; SD=.73) in their implicit theories of math ability. Whereas girls rather tend to believe that math abilities are fixed, german boys tend to view math abilities as something you can change (t(408)=-1.657; p=.09).

Discussion. The results are in aspects inconsistent to previous studies. By using new scales for measuring implicit theories of math abilities in elementary schools, it was demonstrated that german and asian students as early as fourth grade already tend to view their abilities as more fixed. In the group of german fourth graders also gender differences occurred. It is suggested that different perspectives on abilities is an effect of socialization. There are initial indications for the assumption that the form of feedback learners receive essentially determines the development of beliefs systems (Gunderson et al., 2013). It turns out that learners benefit when they are given words of appreciation for their efforts and efforts rather than praising them for existing skills, and it is also shown that it is precisely the learners who indicate that they are often positive about existing skills and those who do. The differences between girls and boys in their implicit theories of mathematical abilities of mathematical competence may therefore be explained as the result of unequal treatment. Adults often have different expectations of the mathematical performance of girls and boys.
The presented paper aims to discuss the results on the influence teachers can have on eliminating rather than reinforcing gender differences. In this sense, the presented study offers important insights for a gender- and culture-specific sensitization and professionalization of teachers. With regard to the overarching conference topic of sustainability, it will be discussed what consequences the found results can have for lifelong learning of girls and boys, if the role of teachers and the influence of feedback are neglected with regard to the belief in boys’ and girls’ own abilities in mathematics.

Authors

• Frederike Bartels, University of Vechta

• Xuping Ye, Anhui Normal University

• Melanie Kubandt, University of Vechta