M ATHEMATICAL LITERACY ROLE OF GENDER AND EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE Vicki Tariq University of Central Lancashire HEA STEM Conference April 20121

Definitions Mathematical literacy (ML): “an individual's capacity to identify and understand the role that mathematics plays in the world, to make well-founded judgements and to use and engage with mathematics in ways that meet the needs of that individual's life as a constructive, concerned and reflective citizen” (OECD, 2003, p. 24) Emotional Intelligence (EI): an emotion-related cognitive ability ; involves perceiving, using, understanding and regulating emotion; assessed by examining reasoning and problem-solving in the emotion domain trait model assumes that EI is a constellation of emotion- related self-perceptions; assessed by examining self- perceptions of emotional capabilities HEA STEM Conference April 20122

Aim To explore: how 1 st -year undergraduates perform in a mathematical literacy test comprising PISA items associations between mathematical literacy and: (i) attitudes/beliefs concerning maths, (ii) EI gender differences HEA STEM Conference April 20123

Method ‘Convenience’ sample of st -year undergraduates; Psychology (50), Forensics (46) and Computing (42) Test instrument: 10 PISA questions (Cleary et al., 2010); 20 min. to complete (with calculators) in 1 st semester 2010/11 Online survey: scales aimed at measuring self- efficacy in maths, attitudes/beliefs concerning maths, and EI Data exported or entered manually into SPSS (v.19) for analysis HEA STEM Conference April 20124

‘Walking’ test items HEA STEM Conference April 2012 The picture shows the footprints of a man walking. The pace length P is the distance between the rear of two consecutive footprints. For men, the formula n/P = 140 gives an approximate relationship between n and P where, n = number of steps per minute, and P = pace length in metres. 1.If the formula applies to Heiko’s walking and Heiko takes 70 steps per minute, what is Heiko’s pace length? Show your work. 2.Bernard knows his pace length is 0.80 metres. The formula applies to Bernard’s walking. Calculate Bernard’s walking speed in metres per minute and in kilometres per hour. Show your working out. 5

Online survey Attitudes/beliefs re maths o Self-efficacy o Confidence o Anxiety o Theory of intelligence o Persistence o Learning goal o Performance goal EI o Situational Test of Emotion Management (STEM) – EI proficiency – ability EI o Emotional Self-Efficacy Scale (ESES) (factors 1 to 4) – component of trait EI HEA STEM Conference April 20126

Participants Participants: 46% male 18 – 48 yrs (mean 20; SD 5); 73% aged 18 or 19 yrs 22% with a qualification higher than GCSE Mathematics (e.g. AS or A2, or equivalent) (but data available for only 66% of participants) 99% full-time undergraduates 95% entered the university in % English was first language HEA STEM Conference April 20127

Test scores Test statisticProbability Mean (SD) Nt (df)p Females7.6 (2.8) (136)0.011 Males8.9 (3.4) 64 F (df)p Forensics8.8 a (3.1) (2, 135)0.040 Computing8.7 a (3.0) 42 Psychology7.3 b (3.1) 50 HEA STEM Conference April 2012 Ranged from 0 – 16 (max.); mean 8.2 (SD 3.1) 10 students (7%) achieved scores of 13 – students (12%) achieved scores of 0 – 4 8

Proficiency & self-efficacy TaskRelated PISA item % fully correct % partially correct % confident Solving an equation like 3/x = 9Walking Understanding graphs and chartsTest scores6291 Converting between currenciesExchange rate 1 Exchange rate Estimating area of a 2-D shapeContinent area Computing perimeter of simple 2-D shapes Carpenter Making use of quadratic functionsApples Converting units of measurement from m to km Walking Explaining in writing a simple maths concept Exchange rate 3 Test scores Apples Interpreting likelihood of an eventEarthquake7781 HEA STEM Conference April 20129

Correlation analyses - males Highest maths qualification1 2. Test score1 3. Self-efficacy1 4. Confidence1 5. Anxiety1 6. Theory of intelligence1 7. Persistence1 8. Learning goal oriented1 9. Performance goal oriented1 10. EI proficiency 11. Using & managing own emotions 12. Identifying & understanding own emotions 13. Dealing with emotions in others 14. Perceiving emotion (facial expression/body language) HEA STEM Conference April

Correlation analyses - females Highest maths qualification1 2. Test score1 3. Self-efficacy1 4. Confidence1 5. Anxiety1 6. Theory of intelligence1 7. Persistence1 8. Learning goal oriented1 9. Performance goal oriented1 10. EI proficiency 11. Using & managing own emotions 12. Identifying & understanding own emotions 13. Dealing with emotions in others 14. Perceiving emotion (facial expression/body language) HEA STEM Conference April

Summary of results Males performed better in the test comprising PISA items Females were less confident with regard to the nine mathematical tasks included in the test Males: correlations between attitudes/beliefs towards maths and EI suggest that aspects of emotional self- efficacy are related to learning strategies (TOI, persistence, PG), but not to confidence, anxiety or actual performance (test score) Females: correlations suggest that EI plays a greater role – those with higher levels of EI are more confident and less anxious, believe intelligence to be malleable, are more persistent and learning-goal oriented HEA STEM Conference April

Conclusions Evidence that ability EI and emotional self-efficacy (a component of trait EI) are associated with test performance and/or attitudes/beliefs surrounding maths Different patterns of association in male & female undergraduates Previous research has revealed that EI can be developed in undergraduates Interventions aimed at improving EI may have the effect of improving learning strategies and performance in maths HEA STEM Conference April

Acknowledgements Team members:  Pamela Qualter, Psychology, UCLan  Sian Roberts, Education, Leeds  Yvon Appleby, Education, UCLan  Lynne Barnes, Education, UCLan Funded by HEFCE’s National Teaching Fellowship Scheme (Project Strand) initiative managed by the Higher Education Academy HEA STEM Conference April