| Female students that maintain confidence in their math skills have a better chance of succeeding in math based college majors and obtaining employment in the STEM field. This quantitative and qualitative study focused on fifth grade girls' attitudes and confidence in an out-of-school time math (OST) program. Eighty-eight fifth grade boys and girls participated in an attitude survey, forty-seven students participated in the OST math program, and six case study participants participated in three rounds of interviews. Overall, findings reveal female participants had a positive shift in attitude towards math. The key factors influencing this shift were the inquiry-based math projects, the whole group strategy discussions, and the cooperative environment of the math club. Findings encourage inquiry-based learning practices in a cooperative environment be used in elementary classrooms. |
