A Tale of Two Classrooms (2014)
Undergraduate: Ellen Murray
Faculty Advisor: Marta Civil
Department: Mathematics
The purpose of ¿A Tale of Two Classrooms: A Comparison of Female Students¿ Experiences in High School Mathematics Classrooms in China and the United States¿ was to analyze the environments of American and Chinese mathematics classrooms with a special focus on female students¿ attitudes, performance and perceived confidence towards mathematics. Through classroom observations and interviews, it was found that both countries had female students who responded less positively to mathematics than their male peers. The Chinese females were driven by the fierce competition of their education system while American females most often commented that they are more interested when mathematics has relevance with their long-term goals. Both nations¿ female students expressed a mutual increased interest in mathematics when the classroom dynamic is more conversational and open, as opposed to a setting in which a ¿black-and-white¿ and right verses wrong approach to solving mathematics problems is taken.