Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Protagonist gender as a design variable in adapting mathematics story problems to learner interests

  • Research
  • Published:
Educational Technology Research and Development Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Junior-high students solved mathematics story problems featuring a male protagonist, a female protagonist, or both. A total of 252 eighth-graders from a rural school and a suburban school participated. Females and especially males strongly preferred own-gender over opposite-gender protagonists. Female performance exceeded male performance overall, regardless of protagonist gender. For the rural sample only, and more so for high-ability than low-ability students, performance was higher for those who received preferred-protagonist problems. Problem-solving performance was strongly related to standardized mathematics achievement scores, but was not significantly related to race or socioeconomic status. The implications of the findings for using preferred contexts as a basis for instructional adaptation in mathematics education are discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Anand, P., & Ross, S. M. (1987). Using computer-assisted instruction to personalize math learning materials for elementary school children.Journal of Educational Psychology, 79, 72–79.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Armstrong, J. M. (1981). Achievement and participation of women in mathematics: Results of two national surveys.Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 12, 356–372.

    Google Scholar 

  • Armstrong, J. M. (1985). A national assessment of participation and achievement of women in mathematics. In S. F. Chipman, L. R. Brush, & D. M. Wilson (Eds.),Women and mathematics: Balancing the equation (pp. 59–94). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Asher, S. R. (1980). Topic interest and children's reading comprehension. In R. Spiro, B. Bruce, & W. Brewer (Eds.),Theoretical issues in reading comprehension (pp. 525–534). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Benbow, C. P., & Stanley, J. C. (1982). Consequences in high school and college of sex differences in mathematical reasoning ability: A longitudinal perspective.American Educational Research Journal, 19, 598–622.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beyard-Tyler, K. C., & Sullivan, H. J. (1980). Adolescent reading preferences for type of theme and sex of character.Reading Research Quarterly, 16, 104–120.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bleakley, M. E., Westerberg, V., & Hopkins, K. D. (1988). The effect of character sex on story interest and comprehension in children.American Educational Research Journal, 25, 145–155.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bransford, J. D. (1979).Human cognition: Learning, understanding, and remembering. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carpenter, T. P., Moser, J. M., & Bebout, H. (1988). The representation of basic addition and subtraction word problems.Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 19, 345–357.

    Google Scholar 

  • Connor, J. M., & Serbin, L. A. (1978). Children's responses to stories with male and female characters.Sex Roles, 4, 637–645.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Connor, J. M., & Serbin, L. A. (1985). Visual-spatial skill: Is it important for mathematics? Can it be taught? In S. F. Chipman, L. R. Brush, & D. M. Wilson (Eds.),Women and mathematics: Balancing the equation (pp. 151–174). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis-Dorsey, J. (1989).The role of context personalization and problem rewording in the solving of mathematical problems. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Memphis State University.

  • DeCorte, E., Verschaffel, L., & DeWin, L. (1985). Influence of rewording verbal problems on children's representations and solutions.Journal of Educational Psychology, 77, 460–470.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dossey, J. A., Mullis, I. V. S., Linquist, M. M., & Chambers, D. L. (1988).The mathematics report card. Are we measuring up? (Trends and achievement based on the 1986 National Assessment, Report No. 17-M-01). Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fennema, E., & Carpenter, T. P. (1981). Sex-related differences in mathematics: Results from national assessment.Mathematics Teacher, 74, 554–559.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fennema, E., & Peterson, P. (1985). Autonomous learning behavior: A possible explanation of gender-related differences in mathematics. In L. C. Wilkinson & C. B. Marrott (Eds.),Gender influences in classroom interaction (pp. 17–35). New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heyn, J., Barry, J., & Pollack, R. (1978). Problem-solving as a function of age, sex, and the role appropriateness of the problem content.Experimental Aging Research, 4, 505–519.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hollingshead, A. B. (1975, June).Four factor index of social status. (Available from August B. Hollingshead, P.O. Box 1965 Yale Station, New Haven, CT 06520).

  • Johnson, E. S. (1984). Sex differences in problem solving.Journal of Educational Psychology, 76, 1359–1371.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kimball, M. M. (1989). A new perspective on women's math achievement.Psychological Bulletin, 105, 198–214.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knifong, J. D., & Burton, G. M. (1985). Understanding word problems.Arithmetic Teacher, 32, 13–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • Linn, M. C., & Hyde, J. S. (1989). Gender, mathematics, and science.Educational Research, 118, 17–28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lopez, C. L. (1990, February).Personalizing math problems. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology, Anaheim, CA.

  • Marsh, H. W. (1989). Sex differences in the development of verbal and mathematics constructs: The high school and beyond study.American Educational Research Journal, 26, 191–225.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marshall, S. P., & Smith, J. D. (1987). Sex differences in learning mathematics: A longitudinal study with item and error analyses.Journal of Educational Psychology, 79, 372–383.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Milton, G. (1959). Sex differences in problem solving as a function of role appropriateness of the problem content.Psychological Reports, 5, 705–708.

    Google Scholar 

  • Muller, A. C., & Kurtz, R. (1981). Students like personalized word problems.Arithmetic Teacher, 28, 13–14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pattison, P., & Grieve, N. (1984). Do spatial skills contribute to sex differences in different types of mathematical problems?Journal of Educational Psychology, 76, 678–689.

    Google Scholar 

  • Role, S. (1970). Sex differences in problem solving as a function of content and order of presentation.Psychonomic Science, 19, 97.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ross, S. M. (1983). Increasing the meaningfulness of quantitative material by adapting context to student background.Journal of Educational Psychology, 75, 519–529.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ross, S. M., & Anand, P. (1987). A computer-based strategy for personalizing verbal problems in teaching mathematics.Educational Communication and Technology Journal, 35, 151–162.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ross, S. M., McCormick, D., & Krisak, N. (1986). Adapting the thematic context of mathematical problems to student interests: Individual versus group-based strategies.Journal of Educational Research, 79, 245–252.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ross, S. M., Morrison, G. R., & O'Dell, J. K. (1989). Uses and effects of learner control of context and instructional support in computer-based instruction.Educational Technology Research and Development, 37(4), 29–39.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schau, C. G., & Scott, K. P. (1984). Impact of gender characteristics of instructional materials: An integration of the research literature.Journal of Educational Psychology, 76, 183–193.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spence, J. T., & Helmreich, R. (1972). The Attitudes Toward Women Scale: An objective instrument to measure attitudes toward the rights and roles of women in contemporary society.JSAS Catalog of Selected Documents in Psychology, 2, 66.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spence, J. T., Helmreich, R., & Stapp, J. (1973). A short version of the Attitudes Toward Women Scale (AWS).Bulletin of Psychonomic Society, 2, 219–220.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. the Health Science Center, College of Medicine, Boling Center for Developmental Disabilities, University of Tennessee, 38105, Memphis, TN

    Laura O. Murphy (Assistant Professor)

  2. Department of Foundations of Education, College of Education, Memphis State University, 38152, Memphis, TN

    Steven M. Ross (Professor)

Authors
  1. Laura O. Murphy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Steven M. Ross
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Murphy, L.O., Ross, S.M. Protagonist gender as a design variable in adapting mathematics story problems to learner interests. ETR&D 38, 27–37 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02298179

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02298179

Keywords

Search

Navigation