THE INFLUENCE OF GENDER, TEOG EXAM SCORES AND SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS ON THE ACCOMPLISHMENT OF STUDENTS REGARDING READING AND INTERPRETATION OF THE FREQUENCY POLYGON AND HISTOGRAM

Year 2016, Volume: 4 , 372 - 377, 01.09.2016

Erdoğan Halat Firdevs Çimenci Ateş

Abstract

The
aim of this current study was to investigate the effects of variables, such as
gender, TEOG exam scores and socio-economic status on the 8th grade students
about the reading and interpretation of the Frequency Polygon and Histogram.
The study included 388 eighth grade students who were from four different
middle schools. The researchers used a multiple choice statistics test in the
collection of the data.  This test
contained 22 questions about the reading and interpretation of graphs and
finding of the measures of both central tendency and dispersion. This test was
developed by the researchers who piloted it and found its reliability of Cronbach's alpha
value as 0.80. In the analysis of the data, the researchers used the paired
samples t-test, independent samples t-test and two- way ANOVA. The study
pointed out that the participants of this study were more successful in reading
and interpretation of Frequency Polygon than Histogram. There was no
statistically significant difference found with regard to the value of mode in
both types of graphs between the achievement levels of the students. However,
the study also indicated that the participants were more successful on the
items that required the interpretations of standard deviations than the items
which required the computation of standard deviations. Moreover, although
gender was not a great factor on the accomplishment levels of the participants
on the test, both TEOG exam scores and socio-economic status played prominent
roles on the students’ achievements on the test. There was a positive
relationship between the students’ achievement levels and socio-economic status
on the statistics test.

Keywords

Gender, socioeconomic status, TEOG exam scores, graphs

References

• Billstein, R., & Williamson, J. (2003). Middle grades MATH Thematics: The STEM project. In S. L. Senk & D. R. Thompson (Eds.), Standards-based school mathematics curricula. What are they? What do students learn? (pp. 251-284). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates: NJ. Bunar, N., Halat, E., ve Bahar-Erşen, Z. (2014). Kümeler İle İlgili Problem Kurma Ve Çözme. XI. Ulusal Fen Bilimleri ve Matematik Eğitim Kongresi, 11-14 Eylül, Adana, TR. Chappell, M.F. (2003). Keeping mathematics front and center: Reaction to middle-grades curriculum projects research. In S. L. Senk & D. R. Thompson (Eds.), Standards-based school mathematics curricula. What are they? What do students learn? (pp. 285-298). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates: NJ. Ethington, C. A. (1992). Gender differences in a psychological model of mathematics achievement. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 23(2), 166-181. Fennema, E., & Hart, L. E. (1994). Gender and the JRME. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 25(6), 648-659. Forgasız, H. (2005). Gender and Mathematics: Re-Igniting The Debate. Mathematics Education Research Journal, 17 (1), 1-2. Friedman, L. (1994). Visualization in mathematics: Spatial reasoning skill and gender differences. In D. Kirshner (Ed.), Proceedings of the Sixteenth Annual Meeting North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education, (Vol.1, pp. 211-217). Baton Rouge, LA, USA. Halat, E. (2007). Yeni ilköğretim matematik programı (1–5) ile ilgili sınıf öğretmenlerinin görüşleri. Afyon Kocatepe Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 9(1), 63–88. Halat, E. (2006). Sex-related differences in the acquisition of the van Hiele levels and motivation in learning geometry. Asia Pacific Education Review, 7(2), 173-183. Halat, E., Jakubowski, E. & Aydın, N. (2008). Reform-Based Curriculum and Motivation in Geometry. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 4 (3), 285-292. Kaynar, Y. ve Halat, E. (2012). Sekizinci Sınıf Öğrencilerinin Grafik Okuma Ve Yorumlama Becerilerinin İncelenmesi. X. Ulusal Fen Bilimleri ve Matematik Eğitim Kongresi, 27-30 Haziran, Niğde, TR. McMillan, J. H. (2000). Educational Research. Fundamentals for the consumers (3rd ed.). New York: Addison Wesley. Middleton, J. A., & Spanias, P. (1999). Motivation for achievement in mathematics: Findings, generalizations, and criticisms of the recent research. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 30(1), 65-88. Reys, R., Reys, B., Lapan, R., Holliday, G., & Wasman, D. (2003). Assessing the impact of standards-based middle grades mathematics curriculum materials on the student achievement. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 34(1), 74-95. Romberg, T. A., & Shafer, M. C. (2003). Mathematics in context (MiC)-Prelimery evidence about student outcome. In S. L. Senk & D. R. Thompson (Eds.), Standards-based school mathematics curricula. What are they? What do students learn? (pp. 224-250). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates: NJ. Selamet, C.S. ve Halat, E. (2014). Beşinci Sınıf Öğrencilerinin Çizgi Ve Sütun Grafiklerini Okuma Ve Yorumlama Becerilerinin İncelenmesi. XIII. Ulusal Sınıf Öğretmenliği Eğitimi Sempozyumu, 29-31 Mayıs, Kütahya, TR. Taşpınar, M. ve Halat, E. (2009). Yeni İlköğretim 6. Sınıf Matematik Programının Ölçme Değerlendirme Kısmının Öğrenci Görüşleri Doğrultusunda İncelenmesi. Uludağ Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 22 (2), 551-572. Thompson, D. R., & Senk, S. L. (2001). The effects of curriculum on achievement in second –year algebra: The example of the University of Chicago school mathematics project. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 32(1), 58-84. Wiersma, W. (2000). Research Methods in Education: An introduction, (7th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.