Abstract

 The purpose of this study was to assess the gender differences in meta-cognitive awareness during Algebra problem solving. The design adopted for this research was one of the descriptive designs. The subjects of this study were selected among first year students who had taken Algebra course (MTH 3200) in University Putra Malaysia. The Meta-cognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI) which comprises of 52 items was given to male and female groups to assess their level of meta-cognitive awareness. Results showed that level of overall meta-cognitive awareness wasn’t significantly different between the male and female groups (t=-.623, sig>.05).  In conclusion, these findings indicated that difference in gender doesn’t affect students’ meta-cognitive awareness.

Keywords: Meta-cognitive Awareness, Algebra Problem Solving Performance, Gender

 

Introduction

 

 

The difference between the abilities of females and males in mathematics problem solving has been an issue in the educational area for more than a century. This difference has prompted researchers to focus their studies on different variables believed to be associated with students' mathematical abilities such as solving the mathematical problems and using meta-cognitive strategies. Problem solving in mathematics is an area of concern for educators and researchers, especially in the presence of national and provincial assessments. Also one of those variables which associate with students’ mathematical ability is gender. The concept of meta-cognition was introduced by Flavell, he introduced meta-cognition as a "knowledge and cognition about cognitive phenomena". The definition of Meta-cognition used in this study is adopted from Schraw and Dennison (1994). They defined Meta-cognition as the ability of individuals to reflect, understand and control their own learning. Based on this definition, Schraw and Dennison (1994) identified eight components of Meta-cognitive processes and these were the dimensions that they used in developing the Meta-cognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI). The importance of meta-cognition in problem solving was clearly explained by Hartman (1998) who asserts that meta-cognition affects the acquisition, comprehension, retention and application of what is learned, in addition to affecting the learning efficiency, critical thinking and problem solving. He added that meta-cognitive awareness enables students to reflect on their progress throughout the problem solving process and assess the effectiveness of the strategies that they adopt. Also meta-cognition enables individuals to better manage their cognitive skills and to determine weaknesses that can be corrected by constructing new cognitive skills.

Objectives of Study

This study seeks to investigate differences in:

·         Students’ level of overall meta-cognitive awareness based on gender.

·         Students’ level of meta-cognition for each subscales based on gender.

·         Investigating the difference meta-cognitive awareness during Algebra problem solving based on gender

Discussion

One purpose of this research was to examine the meta-cognitive awareness during Algebra problem solving performance among university students if gender differences existed. The meta-cognitive awareness inventory (MAI), focused on the students’ meta-cognitive awareness as an instrument of this study was used. In comparing the level of overall meta-cognition between the male and female respondents, it was found that male respondents showed higher level in comparison to the female respondents. However there is no significant difference in the level of overall meta-cognition between both groups (male, female). Evidence gathered from this study showed gender differences cannot predict the meta-cognitive awareness of students during solving the mathematical problems. This finding is supported by (Caplan & Caplan, 2005), (Chipman, 2005) who assert that males and females didn’t differ in their meta-cognitive awareness. This study suggests that gender couldn’t be an influential factor on students’ meta-cognitive awareness. The questions remains, if the males group size have been chosen accurately, the results would have been the same or not.

 

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