The Role Of Academic Mindsets Upon The Mathematics Achievement Of Eighth-grade Female Students / By Stephanie Laverne Leggett.

Abstract

Abstract

Stephanie Laverne Leggett

The role of academic mindsets upon the mathematics achievement of eighth-grade female students

Under the direction of Clemmie Whately, Ph.D.

The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a correlation among the academic mindsets and the achievement of eighth-grade female students. The study utilized archival data from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) of 2011. The sample population included 5,164 eighth-grade female students in the United States.

Quantitative methods served to analyze the archival data to determine if there were statistically significant correlations between the variables under consideration for each of the research questions. The archival data included the participants’ mathematics scores, content domain scores, and survey results from the TIMSS questionnaires. Using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software, Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated for each set of variables. Multiple analyses were calculated for each research question in order to examine differences based on the role of academic mindsets. The researcher determined that the effect sizes of academic mindsets were small and medium to medium-large when considering the mathematics academic achievement of eighth-grade females in the sample population. Pearson’s r relationship between female students’ mindset and overall TIMSS math scores demonstrated an effect

size for Value (r2= .015) and Like (r2= .037); whereas the mindset effect size for Confidence (r2= .152) was found to be medium to medium large for Confidence This finding was true also in relation to content domains. The effect sizes for Value were small in Algebra (r2=.015), Data and Chance (r2=.006), Number (r2=.008), and Geometry (r2=.018). The effect sizes for Like were small in Algebra (r2=.05), Data and Chance (r2=.02), Number (r2=.04), and Geometry (r2=.03). However, the effect sizes for Confidence were medium to medium large in Algebra (r2=.16), Data and Chance (r2=.10), Number (r2=.14), and Geometry (r2=.13).