• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.31 no.8
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• pp.1110-1120
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• 2011

The purpose of this study was to investigate teachers' perceptions of gender differences in students' mathematics and science learning ability. The sample included 289 elementary and secondary school gifted teachers. The teachers filled out the survey, asking their perceptions of gender differences in mathematics and science learning ability, as well as of the reasons of the differences. The results were as follows: 1) 65% of the teachers responded that gender differences existed in students' mathematics and science learning ability, 2) 63% of the teachers perceived that the differences began around higher elementary or middle school ages, 3) 57% of the teachers thought that gender differences existed in the high-achieving student group. Teachers perceived the reasons of differences were 1) differences in inborn ability, 2) the different expectation, and 3) the different ways of parental cares. Since teachers' perceptions of students' ability would impact teachers' attitudes on students, implications and suggestions were included in this article to provide teachers insights that promote students' better learning.

• Journal of Educational Research in Mathematics
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.313-326
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• 2011

The purpose of this study is to analyze changes in gender differences of Korean students in PISA mathematics assessment and investigate possible factors influencing the decrease of gender gap in mathematics performances. According to the results of PISA mathematics assessment, Korea showed significant large gender differences in mathematics achievement in both 2000 and 2003. The gender gap in favor of boys, however, has decreased since 2006. An interesting point from these results is that Korean girls' significant improvement led to the decrease in gender difference in 2006 and 2009 assessment. Based on a review of literature on gender differences in mathematics, possible explanations for the girls' improvement in mathematics achievements are identified as follows: the Korean government policy to encourage and support girls' study in mathematics and science and supportive environments could influence positively girls' attitudes toward mathematics and their mathematics learning; the changes in the mathematics curriculum and textbooks which emphasize similar characteristics to PISA mathematics assessment could affect the girls' improvement by reducing their unfamiliarity with PISA mathematics assessment items.

• The Mathematical Education
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• v.59 no.3
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• pp.217-235
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• 2020

This study examined Korean fourth-grade students' performance by gender on the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study(TIMSS) 2011 and 2015 mathematics assessment. We first identified items which had significantly higher mean scores by gender to decide which gender did better on a certain domain(domain-level analysis). Then, we examined the content of items(item-level analysis) to understand which items lead to gender differences in mathematics achievement. Our findings showed that about 80% of the items on both assessments did not show statistically significant differences between males and females. However, there were meaningful gender differences in the other 20% items. On both assessments, females had more items with significantly higher mean scores than males on the Shapes domain, and males had more those items on the Numbers and Measurement domains and all cognitive domains(Knowing, Applying, and Reasoning). In particular, females outperformed males on items related to identifying two- and three-dimensional shapes and drawing lines and angles and identifying them. Conversely, males had higher performance than females on items related to the pre-algebraic thinking, fractions and decimals, estimation of number differences, unit of length, and measuring time, height, and volume. The effect sizes for each item ranged from .12 to .33 and the mean effect size of all items across both assessments was .20, which indicated significant gender differences but small.

• Journal of Educational Research in Mathematics
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.351-367
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• 1999

This study aims to study the discourses influencing high school students' concept and attitude toward mathematics, and to examine how gender differences concerning mathematical aptitude are created. This study is based on the results of previous two studies which suggested that mathematical competence differs not only according to gender, region and school year, but also even within the same gender. For this study, 12 students ranking in the top 10% at two co-ed high schools were interviewed to find out 1) what discourses are related to gender and mathematics, 2) in what way these discourses are formulated and gain currency, and 3) how they have affected students in general. Common notions concerning mathematics may be summed up as follows: 1) Most of the students believe that gender difference in mathematical aptitude results because biologically men tend to be strong in mathematics and analytical skills while women tend to have better linguistic ability. This concept can help male students' studying to have a greater learning toward mathematics. 2) A large number of the students believe that male students' studying method is based on comprehension whereas female students' method is based on retention, and hence the former group tends to be better at applying their learning than the latter group. This notion seres to encourage male students and discourage female students from tackling difficult mathematical problems. 3) Many students believe that, although female students may surpass their male counterparts in middle school or the first year of high school, they will eventually fall behind by the 3rd year. Despite research which shows that these common beliefs are not grounded in scientific proof, high-school girls, who may be strong in mathematics, lose self-confidence and feel a sense of crisis. The mechanisms which produce and reinforce such concepts as those mentioned above can be summarized as follows: 1) Regarding the choice of majors and future career paths, parents show different attitudes toward sons and daughters, and this tends to influence high-school girls and hinders them from entering mathematics-related fields. 2) Teachers with value systems based on stereo-typed gender roles affect students a great deal, and give different advice according to gender of their students, for selecting their major fields - for instance, whether to study the natural sciences as opposed to humanities. 3) This study indicates that peer-group behavior, of either support or exclusion, also reinforces the process of internalizing notions of gender difference related to mathematical aptitude. 4) The gender-based notion that men are naturally more inclined to have better mathematical ability has caused male students to choose the natural science subjects and female students to turn to the humanities. The discourses discussed above, propagated in schools and homes, and in the mass media, are continually reinforced along with general gender inequalities in the society at large.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.207-220
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• 2002

The purpose of this study was to verify the trends of Korean students' achievement of earth science, especially the gender differences, in recent two international comparative studies, TIMSS-R (The Third International Mathematics and Science Study-Repeat) and PISA 2000 (Programme for International Student Assessment). To achieve this purpose, the 33 earth science items in TIMSS-R and 13 earth and environmental science items in PISA 2000 were analyzed. As a result of the comparison between Korean- and international percent correct, Korean students showed especially higher achievement in close-ended items or items required 'understanding of simple information.' Korean students, in particular Korean male students, also showed higher achievement in items of data interpretation. On the other hand, Korean students, in particular Korean female students, showed relatively lower achievement in astronomy items. The serious gender differences occurred in all aspects of items, regardless of item content, item format, and performance expectations.

• Journal of Gifted/Talented Education
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.193-214
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• 2006

This study is focused on the trends in education and polices for women in Korea. First, historical background of education for women in Korea revealed that a biased view of education for women was deeply rooted. Next, several findings such as international comparison of performance on the PISA, TIMSS, and National Assessment including gender differences especially in Mathematical and Science performance were analyzed. In international assessments, female students perform better in reading literacy, but still fall behind male students in mathematical and scientific literacy, and the gap between the genders are wider than most OECD countries. The change in status of women in contemporary Korea is examined focusing on educational system and women's educational and vocational performance, etc. Additionally, policies planned by Ministry of Science and Technology which show the many execution plans for training and supporting female professionals were presented. Finally, possible reasons for gender differences in educational performance is examined and some suggestions are provided to reduce the gender gap in mathematical and scientific literacy of Korean students.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.328-341
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• 2001

The purpose of this study was to analyze the achievements in science results of the TIMSS-R test, which was performed in 1999 with 38 nations participating. In this study, general trends in international science achievement considering the differences beween nation, content areas, and gender were analyzed through descriptive statics. The average scale score of Korean 8th grades students was 549, which was significantly higher than international average of 488. However it showed a relative decline from 4th grade in TIMSS to 8th grade in TIMSS-R. Chinese Taipei and Singapore students had the highest average performance, followed by Hungary, Japan, and Korea. The average gender differences of Korean students showed a decrease from TIMSS in 1995 to TlMSS-R in 1999, but it was still significantly higher than the international average. The average differences of overall science and each content area were not statistically significant both internationally and domestically.

• Journal of the Korean Data and Information Science Society
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.295-304
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• 2016

This study investigates significant factors in mathematical learning and examines the inter-grade and gender-based differences of elementary students. Five factors that are counted to affect the view of mathematical learning are (1) confidence, (2) utility, (3) aversion, (4) practical ability, and (5) traditional view of mathematical learning. The factor analyses on third graders and sixth graders each illustrate the features of inter-grade factors. The result also indicates that the factors may vary depending on the traits and circumstances of students surveyed. Third graders are more likely to be positive compared to sixth graders in terms of confidence and practical ability, which calls for implementing 'doing mathematics' and reinforcing the method of mathematical learning in the general educational field.

• Korean Journal of Cognitive Science
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.149-171
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• 2017

In this research, based on the fact that spatial ability is important for the achievement in the STEM fields, and technological innovation, Purdue Spatial Visualization Test-Rotation has been used to investigate engineering freshmen's spatial ability and gender differences. Students who have taken advanced mathematics courses in high school(those who have taken type B math test in Korean SAT test) and students with general math courses(those who have taken type A in Korean SAT-Math test) are included in this study to find out the relationship between mathematics achievement and spatial ability. Finding out the strategies taken by students was another aim of this study. This strategic differences between high achievers and lower achievers, male and female students were analyzed from students' self report. Spatial ability test score was highest in the SAT-Math type B male students, decreased in the order of type A male students, type B female students, and lastly type A female students. There was no substantial difference between second and third groups. In each group, male students' average score was 8~10% higher than female students, which affirms 2015's results. The correlation between spatial ability and mathematics achievement was negligible in each group, but male students' math score and spatial ability score were higher than that of female students. This can be interpreted that there is some correlation between these two. Strategic choices can vary in the continuous spectrum with analytic method and holistic method at both ends. From students' self report, using Mann-Witney test, it turned out that there exists strategic differences between male and female students. Male students have a tendency to use holistic strategy more often than female students. I also found that the strategy choice did not vary greatly among all score groups. For the perfect score groups, both female and male students used holistic strategy most frequently. For low achieving groups, there is an evidence that these students overuse one method compared to average or high achieving groups, which turned out to be less effective. Based on these, I suggest that low achieving students need to have more chances to adopt efficient strategies and to practice challenging problems to improve their spatial abilities.

• Journal of Gifted/Talented Education
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.69-92
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• 1997

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effects of the enrichment program for the gifted on gifted childrens development of the logical thinking and science process skills. The enrichment program consists of 200 enrichment courses in language arts, mathematics, sciences, social sciences and thinking for children at the age of 30 months to Grade 8. Enrichment programs are characterized as process-oriented, student-choice available, activities-oriented, open-ended, and interdisciplined. Subjects were 123 gifted children from Grade 1 to 3 at the Korean Academy of Gifted Education (KAGE), whose IQ scores were above 130 at their entry point to KAGE. Children were divided into two groups depending the duration of the program participation. Older Group participated in the program for longer than 13 months, while Newer Group did for shorter than 12 months. Mean of IQs of the two groups were not significantly different. They were tested on Logical Thinking Test and Integrated Process Skills Test revised by KEDI into Korean version in 1991. Descriptive statistics were calculated and group differences were analyzed with t-test, and scheffe test. The main finding were as follows: There were not significant differences between gender. Children in higher grades showed higher level of development. Older groups showed significantly higher level of logical thinking level of development. Older group showed significantly higher level of logical thinking and process skills than the Newer group inspite of the similar IQ levels to each other. The longer the gifted child participate in the enrichment program, the higher the development of childrens thinking skills.