Via Jerry Becker: Girls' Math Skills May Fall Short Of Boys' Because Of Male Impulsiveness
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From Huff Post Science - LiveScience.com - Saturday, August 4,
2012. See
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/30/girls-math-skills-boys-male- impulsiveness_n_1718642.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003
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Girls' Math Skills May Fall Short Of Boys' Because Of Male
Impulsiveness
By: LiveScience.com, staff
From an early age, boys tend to take a more impulsive approach to math problems in the classroom, which might help them get ahead of girls in the long-run, suggests the latest study to touch on the gender gap in math.
The research claims girls may tend to favor a slow and accurate approach - often computing an answer by counting - while boys may take a faster, but more error-prone tack, calling out an answer from memory. The difference in strategies seems to benefit girls early in elementary school but swings in favor of boys by middle school.
"In our study, we found that boys were more likely to call
out answers than girls, even though they were less accurate early in
school," Drew Bailey, who led the study, said in a statement.
"Over time, though, this practice at remembering answers may have
allowed boys to surpass girls in accuracy." [Cool Math Games -
See http://www.livescience.com/19453-cool-math-games.html ]
The University of Missouri study followed 300 students from first grade to sixth grade. During those first two years, the boys called out more answers in class than the girls but also had more wrong answers. Girls were more often right, but answered fewer questions and responded more slowly, according to the university. By sixth grade, the boys were still answering more problems than the girls and were also getting more correct.
Several recent studies have argued that gender differences in
math performance have more to do with culture than aptitude - see
http://www.livescience.com/5482-girls-math-culture-skewed.html ].
Research published last year found that certain countries -
generally ones with more gender equality, better teachers and fewer
students living in poverty - showed a smaller gap between males and
females in math and some had no gap at all. [See
http://www.livescience.com/17429-math-gender-differences-myths.html
]
Other research has pointed to inherent gender biases in the
classroom. One such study found that high school math teachers tended
to rate girls' math abilities lower than those of male students, even
when the girls' grades and test scores were comparable to boys. [See
http://www.livescience.com/19552-girls-math-teachers-bias.html ]
Gender issues aside, the researchers of the Missouri study -
which was published in the Journal of Experimental Child
Psychology - had some advice for parents based on the findings.
"Parents can give their children an advantage by making them
comfortable with numbers and basic math before they start grade
school, so that the children will have fewer trepidations about
calling out answers," David Geary, a co-author of the study, said
in a statement.
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NOTE: There are three other interesting websites indicated
at the end of the article:
. 10 Ways to Keep Your
Mind Sharp -
http://www.livescience.com/12915-10-ways-mind-sharp.html
. 10 Facts Every Parent
Should Know about Their Teen's Brain -
http://www.livescience.com/13850-10-facts-parent-teen-brain.html
. 5 Seriously
Mind-Boggling Math Facts -
http://www.lifeslittlemysteries.com/2077-5-mind-boggling-math-facts.h tml
Additional note -- if the website does not open by clicking on
the URLs above, then copy and paste to open.
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