This dissertation was made up of three studies, with the overall goal of examining first through ... more This dissertation was made up of three studies, with the overall goal of examining first through fourth grade children's math utility conceptions—knowledge and beliefs about the usefulness of math—and how those conceptions relate to their parents' conceptions and children's math achievement. All three studies used the Math Utility Conceptions conceptual model, an expansion of multiple theoretical models, to investigate children's math utility conceptions. The first paper examined children's math utility conceptions and grade-level differences in math utility conceptions and home math engagement. Most children viewed math as heavily focused on low-level math operations and as learned and used primarily in school. Older children had more awareness of math in daily activities, but had a more school-based view than younger children. The second paper primarily investigated the associations between parents' and children's math utility conceptions and children&#...
and telling us what having access to this work means to you and why it's important to you. Thank ... more and telling us what having access to this work means to you and why it's important to you. Thank you. Results (Parents' Role cont'd) Provide Artifacts: However: • CHINESE discussed: • Activities that fostered a greater range of math skills than Whites. • Using workbooks from China which included a greater variety and depth of math skills than those in US and were more interesting to the children. Active Involvement: However: • CHINESE expressed: • More systematic involvement (e.g., planning, monitoring progress, drawing connections between learning and daily life). • Expectations for child to work at or above grade level. • WHITES emphasized: • Self-initiated exploration by the child. Parent-initiated activities were typically done to help child retain information or at teacher suggestion. Relation between Importance of Children Doing Math at Home and Parents' Active Involvement: • The relation was stronger for CHINESE (r = .78, p = .001) than for WHITES (r = .40, p = .032; Fisher's Z = 2.26, p = .02
County (UMBC) ScholarWorks@UMBC digital repository on the Maryland Shared Open Access (MD-SOAR) p... more County (UMBC) ScholarWorks@UMBC digital repository on the Maryland Shared Open Access (MD-SOAR) platform.
County (UMBC) ScholarWorks@UMBC digital repository on the Maryland Shared Open Access (MD-SOAR) p... more County (UMBC) ScholarWorks@UMBC digital repository on the Maryland Shared Open Access (MD-SOAR) platform.
This study explored associations between parents’ beliefs about children’s development and childr... more This study explored associations between parents’ beliefs about children’s development and children’s reported math activities at home. Seventy-three parents were interviewed about the frequency of their children’s participation in a broad array of math activities, the importance of children doing math activities at home, how children learn math, parents’ role in their children’s math learning, and parents’ own math skills. Although the sample consisted of African Americans, Chinese, Latino, and Caucasian parents in the United States, the majority were Chinese or Caucasian. Several important findings emerged from this study. Parents’ beliefs about math development and their role in fostering it were significantly related to children’s math activities. There was important variability and relatively limited participation of children in math activities at home. There were age-related differences in children’s engagement in math activities. Chinese and Caucasian parents showed somewhat ...
This dissertation was made up of three studies, with the overall goal of examining first through ... more This dissertation was made up of three studies, with the overall goal of examining first through fourth grade children's math utility conceptions—knowledge and beliefs about the usefulness of math—and how those conceptions relate to their parents' conceptions and children's math achievement. All three studies used the Math Utility Conceptions conceptual model, an expansion of multiple theoretical models, to investigate children's math utility conceptions. The first paper examined children's math utility conceptions and grade-level differences in math utility conceptions and home math engagement. Most children viewed math as heavily focused on low-level math operations and as learned and used primarily in school. Older children had more awareness of math in daily activities, but had a more school-based view than younger children. The second paper primarily investigated the associations between parents' and children's math utility conceptions and children&#...
and telling us what having access to this work means to you and why it's important to you. Thank ... more and telling us what having access to this work means to you and why it's important to you. Thank you. Results (Parents' Role cont'd) Provide Artifacts: However: • CHINESE discussed: • Activities that fostered a greater range of math skills than Whites. • Using workbooks from China which included a greater variety and depth of math skills than those in US and were more interesting to the children. Active Involvement: However: • CHINESE expressed: • More systematic involvement (e.g., planning, monitoring progress, drawing connections between learning and daily life). • Expectations for child to work at or above grade level. • WHITES emphasized: • Self-initiated exploration by the child. Parent-initiated activities were typically done to help child retain information or at teacher suggestion. Relation between Importance of Children Doing Math at Home and Parents' Active Involvement: • The relation was stronger for CHINESE (r = .78, p = .001) than for WHITES (r = .40, p = .032; Fisher's Z = 2.26, p = .02
County (UMBC) ScholarWorks@UMBC digital repository on the Maryland Shared Open Access (MD-SOAR) p... more County (UMBC) ScholarWorks@UMBC digital repository on the Maryland Shared Open Access (MD-SOAR) platform.
County (UMBC) ScholarWorks@UMBC digital repository on the Maryland Shared Open Access (MD-SOAR) p... more County (UMBC) ScholarWorks@UMBC digital repository on the Maryland Shared Open Access (MD-SOAR) platform.
This study explored associations between parents’ beliefs about children’s development and childr... more This study explored associations between parents’ beliefs about children’s development and children’s reported math activities at home. Seventy-three parents were interviewed about the frequency of their children’s participation in a broad array of math activities, the importance of children doing math activities at home, how children learn math, parents’ role in their children’s math learning, and parents’ own math skills. Although the sample consisted of African Americans, Chinese, Latino, and Caucasian parents in the United States, the majority were Chinese or Caucasian. Several important findings emerged from this study. Parents’ beliefs about math development and their role in fostering it were significantly related to children’s math activities. There was important variability and relatively limited participation of children in math activities at home. There were age-related differences in children’s engagement in math activities. Chinese and Caucasian parents showed somewhat ...
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