Direct and indirect effects of self-concept of ability on math skills

Developmental changes in students' use of dimensional comparisons to form ability self-concepts in math and verbal domains

Dimensional comparisons (i.e., comparing own performances across domains) may drive an increasing differentiation in students' math and verbal self-concepts over time, but little longitudinal research has directly tested this assumption. Using cross-sequential data spanning Grades 1-12 (N = 1069, ages 6-18, 92% White, 2% Black, 51% female, collected 1987-1996), this study charted age-related changes in the role of dimensional comparisons in students' ability self-concept formation. It used three types of self-concept measures: peer comparisons, cross-domain comparisons, and no comparisons. Results indicated that the increase in students' use of dimensional comparisons in self-evaluations substantially contributed to the increasing differentiation in students' math and verbal self-concepts over time. Findings highlight the importance of dimensional comparisons in the development of students' ability self-concepts.

Self-Concept With Cross-Cultural Perspective: 36-72-Month-Old Preschool Children in Turkey and Germany

Children attending preschool education in Turkey and Germany have different cultural environments and education systems. This study aimed at investigating the self-concept of 36-72- month-old preschool children in Turkey, a country with a collectivist culture, and Germany, a country with an individualistic culture. Participants were 433 children (234 female, 199 male) from Turkey and 206 children (102 female, 109 male) from Germany. Three dimensions of self-concept were measured: ability-based, social, and physical. The Self-Concept Questionnaire for Children (Preschool Version) was used for data collection. This process lasted about 5 months. Country (Turkey vs. Germany) and sex (male vs. female) of the child were analyzed as independent variables, and the three dimensions of self-concept (i.e., ability-based, social, and physical) were analyzed as dependent variables. As normality assumption was not met for the subgroups, the Mann-Whitney U test was applied for statistical analysis. Results showed significant differences between children from Turkey and children from Germany in two self-concept dimensions (i.e., ability-based and physical). It was determined that there were no differences between the two countries in social self-concept. It was also determined that there were differences in the ability-based self-concept dimension in 36-72-month-old children depending on gender in Turkey, in favor of male children. On the other hand, it was determined that there were no differences depending on gender in any of the self-concept dimensions in Germany. It was concluded that culture was a factor leading to differentiation in some dimensions of preschool children's self-concept.

Math Is for Me: A Field Intervention to Strengthen Math Self-Concepts in Spanish-Speaking 3rd Grade Children

Children's math self-concepts-their beliefs about themselves and math-are important for teachers, parents, and students, because they are linked to academic motivation, choices, and outcomes. There have been several attempts at improving math achievement based on the training of math skills. Here we took a complementary approach and conducted an intervention study to boost children's math self-concepts. Our primary objective was to assess the feasibility of whether a novel multicomponent intervention-one that combines explicit and implicit approaches to help children form more positive beliefs linking themselves and math-can be administered in an authentic school setting. The intervention was conducted in Spain, a country in which math achievement is below the average of other OECD countries. We tested third grade students (N = 180; M _age = 8.79 years; 96 girls), using treatment and comparison groups and pre- and posttest assessments. A novelty of this study is that we used both implicit and explicit measures of children's math self-concepts. For a subsample of students, we also obtained an assessment of year-end math achievement. Math self-concepts in the treatment and comparison groups did not significantly differ at pretest. Students in the treatment group demonstrated a significant increase in math self-concepts from pretest to posttest; students in the comparison group did not. In the treatment group, implicit math self-concepts at posttest were associated with higher year-end math achievement, assessed approximately 3 months after the completion of the intervention. Taken together, the results suggest that math self-concepts are malleable and that social-cognitive interventions can boost children's beliefs about themselves and math. Based on the favorable results of this feasibility study, it is appropriate to formally test this novel multicomponent approach for improving math self-concepts using randomized controlled trial (RCT) design.

What role do comprehension-oriented learning strategies have in solving math calculation and word problems at the end of middle school?

BACKGROUND

Math is a difficult subject with which many upper middle-school students struggle. In addition to knowledge, skills, and motivation, effective learning strategies play an important role in learning math.

AIMS

This study aimed to examine the effects of comprehension-oriented learning strategies (perceptual and abstract grouping of material) - together with math self-concept, task-persistent learning behaviour, earlier math skills, reasoning abilities, and reading comprehension - on solving mathematical calculation and word problems at the end of middle school.

SAMPLE

The sample consisted of 231 students (50% boys; mean age in Grade 9 = 15.55 years) from 16 schools and 31 classrooms in Estonia.

METHODS

Students were tested twice - once at the end of Grade 6 and once at the end of Grade 9. Calculation and problem-solving skills were assessed at both time points. Math self-concept, teacher-rated task persistence, reasoning abilities, and reading comprehension were assessed in Grade 6. Learning strategies were assessed using a word-memorization task in Grade 9. Multiple regression analysis was used.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

Applying abstract (but not perceptual) grouping was related to higher calculation and problem-solving skills. Math skills were persistent over time, and calculation and problem-solving skills mutually affected each other. Math self-concept, task persistence, and reading comprehension had a positive effect on problem-solving but not calculation skills. The study noted deficient use of comprehension-oriented strategies at the end of middle school, suggesting that more attention should be paid to teaching and discussing such learning strategies. These findings suggest that students' math skills may be enhanced by supporting metacognitive awareness and use of comprehension-oriented learning strategies.

Do Chinese Children With Math Difficulties Have a Deficit in Executive Functioning?

Several studies have shown that Executive Functioning (EF) is a unique predictor of mathematics performance. However, whether or not children with mathematics difficulties (MD) experience deficits in EF remains unclear. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine if Chinese children with MD experience deficits in EF. We assessed 23 children with MD (9 girls, mean age = 10.40 years), 30 children with reading difficulties and MD (RDMD; 12 girls, mean age = 10.82 years), and 31 typically-developing (TD) peers (16 girls, mean age = 10.41 years) on measures of inhibition (Color-Word Stroop, Inhibition), shifting of attention (Planned Connections, Rapid Alternating Stimuli), working memory (Digit Span Backwards, Listening Span), processing speed (Visual Matching, Planned Search), reading (Character Recognition, Sentence Verification), and mathematics (Addition and Subtraction Fluency, Math Standard Achievement Test). The results of MANOVA analyses showed first that the performance of the MD children in all EF tasks was worse than their TD peers. Second, with the exception of the shifting tasks in which the MD children performed better than the RDMD children, the performance of the two groups was similar in all measures of working memory and inhibition. Finally, covarying for the effects of processing speed eliminated almost all differences between the TD and MD groups (the only exception was Listening Span) as well as the differences between the MD and RDMD groups in shifting of attention. Taken together, our findings suggest that although Chinese children with MD (with or without comorbid reading difficulties) experience significant deficits in all EF skills, most of their deficits can be accounted by lower-level deficits in processing speed.