Prior research attributes growing male superiority in word problem solving to age, with onset debated between sixth grade and high school¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · causal r1 · q2
Currency · newest study 1994 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Reviews and meta-analyses agree females tend to be superior in computational activities while males tend to be superior in problem solving, and the problem-solving difference increases with age. → Zambo 1994 q2 i? Studies disagree on onset: some find differences at the upper elementary level, others not until high school. → Zambo 1994 (2)

Evidence¶

Zambo 1994¶

Zambo, Ron; Hess, Robert. (1994). The Gender Differential Effects of a Procedural Plan for Solving Mathematical Word Problems. ERIC. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED375005

q2 · i? · causal · r1

The article's literature review states these two points of agreement among reviews and meta-analyses (citing Aiken 1971 through Hyde, Fennema and Lamon 1990); the review reports them second-hand without new analysis.

"First, females tend to be superior in lower level, computational, algorithmic activities; whereas males tend to be superior in arithmetic reasoning, application and problem solving. Second, the differences in problem solving ability increase with the age of the subjects"

Zambo 1994 (2)¶

Zambo, Ron; Hess, Robert. (1994). The Gender Differential Effects of a Procedural Plan for Solving Mathematical Word Problems. ERIC. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED375005

q2 · i? · causal · r1

The review reports disagreement about when the male advantage first appears, attributing upper-elementary findings to Maccoby and Jacklin (1974) and Badger (1981) and high-school onset to Linn and Hyde (1989) and others.

"Some researchers have found differences at the upper elemontary level (Maccoby and Jacklin, 1974; Badger, 1981), while others suggest that differences are not apparent until High School (Linn and Hyde, 1989; Hyde, Fennema and Lamon, 1990; Hyde & Fennema, 1990)"

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Age and Developmental Stage — moderator: an instructional effect differs with it
• Gender — predictor: outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause

Related Claims¶

• No significant gender difference in word-problem performance on either formatted or unformatted test forms — reports the opposite
• Congressional hearing testimony reports, citing a 1979 ETS study second-hand, that females tend to do better on test items with female or neutral figures than on items with male figures — related
• Basic conclusions about male-female achievement gaps and changes in gaps as students progress through school may change when models account for test effort — related
• Affective variables and gender do not relate to picture effects on elementary schoolers' word problem-solving performance — related
• In one word-problem study, females gained significantly when the formatted procedural plan came after an unformatted test, and scored lower when the formatted test came first — related