An Investigation Of Gender Differences In Mathematics Learning Among Eighth Graders In A Middle School

Mathematics,as a basic subject,takes an important position in students' learning and life.No matter in the stage of compulsory education or in high schools and universities,mathematics is the "main course" or a required course.It is accompanied by students' whole learning career and even has an important impact on students' lifelong development.In the study of mathematics learning activities,the influence of gender difference on mathematics learning has always been an important issue concerned by us."Grade eight is the watershed in junior middle school learning",which reflects the importance of grade eight to the whole junior middle school learning from the side.With the help of TIMSS,which is an influential international mathematical measurement tool,the paper studies the gender differences in mathematics learning of eighth grade students,so as to know the differences between male and female students in mathematics learning.Firstly,through literature research,this paper summarizes and analyzes the research status of gender difference in mathematics learning from different aspects;Then the study habit and performance of eighth-grade students were investigated through questionnaire,The content of the survey includes the students' subjective initiative,driving force,perseverance,class situation,environmental impact and evaluation of their mathematics study;Meanwhile,this paper use the sample questions compiled by TIMSS on the official website of Taipei tested 276 students in grade 8 of a junior high school in Henan,The test content mainly includes four fields: "number","algebra","geometry" and "data and probability".The survey results show that there are indeed differences between male and female students in mathematics learning,but the differences are not significant.The average score of female students is slightly higher than that of male students,but in the field of "geometry",the average score of male students is slightly higher than that of female students;In addition,the questionnaire results show that there are many differences in the study habits of mathematics among boys and girls;According to the attribution analysis of these differences,it is found that(1)in terms of physiology,boys and girls have different tendency of unilateral cerebral hemispheres.(2)On the intellectual level,memory,mode of thinking and attention are different;(3)In terms of non-intelligence,the differences between male and female students are also discussed from the perspectives of mathematical learning interest and learning attitude.In addition,with the change from time to generation,environmental factors have become an important attribution of gender differences between male and female students.Based on the above reasons,this paper provides several Suggestions for comprehensive development :(1)to establish scientific gender consciousness,treat gender differences correctly,and put forward opinions on the training of male and female students' mathematical learning.(2)through the establishment of cooperation groups,boys and girls can learn from each other and improve each other.