International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research, Volume 4, Issue 5, May ISSN

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1 Iteratioal Joural of Scietific & Egieerig Research, Volume 4, Issue 5, May Effect of Geder, iteret browsig, sports activities ad medium of istructios o mathematics achievemet of class IX studets of South-East Bihar (Idia) Abstract: SHIVENDRA PRATAP SINGH, DR. ALI IMAM This study examied the effects of geder; time spet o iteret browsig, participatio i sports activities ad medium of istructios o mathematics achievemet of class IX studets of South-East Bihar. The study cosists of 975 male ad 969 female studets of thirty-six schools of South-East Bihar. The mathematics achievemet test ad persoal backgroud assessmet questioaire were used for data collectio. While t-test, F-test followed by Duca s test were used for statistical aalysis. The result showed that male studets had better achievemet i mathematics tha female studets. Further the result showed that participatio i sports activities ehaces the performace i mathematics ad Eglish medium studets had higher mathematics achievemet i compariso to Hidi medium studets. Key Words: Mathematics Achievemet, Geder, Secodary Stage, Iteret Browsig, Sports Activities, Medium of Istructio * * Itroductio Educatio is uiversally recogized as the most effective tool of brigig desirable chage towards the social ad ecoomic bettermet & cultural trasformatio of a society i the status of huma beig ad the coutry as a whole. It broades the metal horizo of the huma beig. I oe had, educatio develops the total persoality of the idividual ad o the other had educatio cotributes to the growth ad developmet of society. It is oly through educatio that the moral ideas, spiritual values, the aspiratio of the atio ad its cultural heritage are trasformed from oe geeratio to aother for preservatio, purificatio ad sublimatio ito higher culture. Humphrys, Traxler ad North (196) have very correctly remarked "our future material ad cultural welfare ad progress, eve our survival as a atio depeds upo the wise use of abilities ad eergies of our people." Subjects like sciece ad mathematics have foud a sigificat place i the curricula of primary ad secodary school educatio. Mathematics has become a substatial ad itegral part of a orgaized society. I today's world o oe ca live without mathematics for a sigle day. Author is Ph.D. Scholar i Departmet of Educatio, Itegral Uiversity, Luckow (U.P.), INDIA, Mo educatorshiv@gmail.com Co-Author is Associate Professor & Head i Departmet of Educatio, Itegral Uiversity, Luckow (U.P.), INDIA, Mo aliimam1977@gmail.com Mathematics has played a decisive role i buildig up our civilizatio. But i doig so, it has also made itself essetial for the existece ad progress of moder world. I moder world we have to be more ad more exact, we make larger use of quatitative terms. We have to be accurate to a split of secod. All this requires large calculatios ad miute mathematical uderstadig. I the preset social set-up, mathematics is more importat for the commo ma. I this age of taxes, isurace premium savigs ad iterests, rets ad propagada, a perso oly with good mathematical backgroud ca be reasoably sure that he is gettig his due. A little reflectio will show what predomiat role mathematics plays i our everyday life ad how it has become a idispesable factor for the progress of our preset day world. It is the pivot of all civilizatio. Each idividual is required to compute his or her icome ad balace, his family budget irrespective of havig ay formal educatio of mathematics. This is the subject which udisputed forms the very basis of etire world's commercial system. It is a cotributory factor i the prosperity of huma race. There is o sciece, o art ad o professio, where mathematics does ot held a key positio. The accuracy ad exactess of a sciece is determied to a major extet by the amout of mathematics utilized i it. Eve social scieces like ecoomics, psychology, geography etc. make abudat use of

2 Iteratioal Joural of Scietific & Egieerig Research, Volume 4, Issue 5, May mathematics. The gigatic work of costructio of dams, bridges, buildig of ships, airplaes, bombs etc. are possible oly because of the quatitative sciece. Eve i medical scieces mathematics is used to measure the doses, the blood pressure, the rate of the pulse, the body temperature etc. Most of the atural scieces ad philosophy are to be studied o mathematical lies ad without the study of mathematics there would be o improvemet i them. Academic achievemet is a paramout importace particularly i the preset social, ecoomic ad cultural cotext. Obviously, i the school great emphasis is placed o achievemet right from the begiig of formal educatio. The school has its ow systematic hierarchy which is largely based o achievemet ad performace rather tha quality. Thus, the school teds to emphasize achievemet which facilitates amog other thigs, the process of role allocatio for the social system. Studet are ot always i class, so out of school pursuits also are key factors related to achievemet Differet pursuit, traditioally labeled extracurricular (Hollad & Adre, 1987) or leisure time (Williams, E.H. Haertel, Haertel, & Walberg, 1982), ca positively or egatively ifluece studet achievemet. The ifluece of pursuits (e.g. sports, clubs, employmet, televisio) has bee argued for decades (Colema, 1961; Hollad & Adre 1987; Marsh 1992). the Zero sum theory, attributed to Colema, assumes that time spet i o-academiccetered activities will decrease or "subvert" academic achievemet by absorbig valuable academic time (Marsh 1991). I a similar view, Porter (1991) argued that heavy oacademic studet activity loads iterfere with academic work, decrease the time allotted to complete homework ad make the studet less ready to participate durig school. Therefore, oacademic activities ot oly affect the amout of time for academic activities but also may iterfere with the istructioal process (Porter 1991). The purpose of this study was to examie the relatioship of mathematics achievemet (depedet variable) with geder, iteret browsig, participatio i sports activities ad medium of istructios (idepedet variables) of secodary school studets of South-East Bihar (Idia). The research questios for this study iclude the followig: 1. Do geders explai differeces i the mathematics achievemet? 2. Do the types of iteret browsig ifluece the The school performs the fuctio of selectio ad differetiatio amogst studets o the basis of their scholastics ad other attaimets ad ope out aveues for advacemet agai, primarily i terms of achievemet. The mathematics achievemet? Do the categories of sports activities affect the mathematics achievemet? Do the types of medium of istructio explai studet at school is traied to accept the hierarchy based o differeces i the mathematics achievemet? achievemet. This helps him to be released from the family status i certai ways his persoal status is a direct fuctio Method: The preset work is a descriptive study of the positio he achieves maily i the formal classroom ivestigatig if studets mathematics achievemet differed settigs. Acceptace of the system of hierarchy i terms of sigificatly to a group of variables such as geder, time achievemet helps also to itegrate the school system. spet o iteret browsig, participatio i sports activities ad medium of istructios. The sample cosisted of 1944 Achievemet i mathematics is the stage of studets of class IX, selected from 36 schools of South-Bihar attaimet i mathematics by the studets, geerally expressed i terms of grade or scores. It is defied as performace of studets i mathematics tests based o scores. Achievemet test is used to measure the degree of mastery of skills, fudametal cocepts, process ad geeral kowledge of subject. All educatioal tests are (Idia) i which 975 were male ad 969 were female studets. I this study, schools were categorized o the basis of their medium of istructios. For istace, Eglish Medium schools, where pupils i IX are from all socioecoomic strata ad are admitted through competitios ad Hidi Medium schools, where pupils i IX are from all actually are geerally achievemet test used for certai purposes. Accordig to Teaja (1989), achievemet refers to performace i a particular subject or i the whole curricular that is measured by school examiatio or test. I this study, achievemet i mathematics has bee studied socio-ecoomic competitios. Tools Used: strata ad are admitted through as kowledge, skill, comprehesio & applicatio attaied Mathematics Achievemet Test i the mathematics. The achievemet test i mathematics for class IX studets that is used i the preset study was costructed by the ivestigator. This is a very comprehesive test based o 12 commo chapters of class VIII mathematics text book (NCERT, New Delhi ad Bihar State Educatio Board, Pata). The test cosists of 7 items of multiple choice type represetig achievemet at various areas of mathematics such as 27 items i arithmetic, 21 items i algebra ad 6 items i geometry, 12 items i mestruatio ad 4 item i statistics. The total score o the test as a whole was used as a measure of achievemet i mathematics. All the items i the test were arraged i order of difficulty, the easy items beig placed i the begiig ad this was doe to

3 Iteratioal Joural of Scietific & Egieerig Research, Volume 4, Issue 5, May motivate the studets. The difficulty values of items i the test betwee the rage of.25 to.85 similarly, each item had a discrimiatig power greater tha.3. The test was based o the latest syllabus prescribed by the NCERT, New Delhi ad Bihar State Educatio Board, Pata. This test had a fairly high cotet validity ad its reliability is foud to be.9. A Persoal Backgroud Assessmet Questioaire The persoal iformatio sheet is prepared by the ivestigator. This sheet cotais such questios requirig the subjects to give iformatio o their medium of istructio i the school as well as studets' ivolvemet i iteret browsig as well as participatio i sports activities etc. Results ad Aalysis Data aalysis is performed o computer with SPSS 17 software package. Whe data was aalyzed to make a comparative study of the achievemet i mathematics of male ad female studets (Table 1) the result shows a sigificat differece betwee achievemet i mathematics of males ad females (df=1942, t=2.4). Fig. 5.1 Geder wise graphical presetatio of mea mathematics achievemet score Table2: Compariso of mathematics achievemet scores amog the three categories of iteret browsig (I 1= Zero hours, I 2= 1-2 hours, I 3= More tha 2 hours) of secodary school studets Table 1: Compariso of mea mathematics achievemet -Duca s test scores of male ad female studets Zero Hour 1-2 Hours t- Sig./Not Geder N df score value sig. I 1 (N=1514) I 2 (N=36) Male Sig. at 2.4* Female level More tha 2 Hours I 3 (N=124) Sigifica t pairs (*) F- value The total umbers of male ad female studets were 975 & 969 respectively as idicated by the table 1. Out of 7 scores, the mea achievemet scores i mathematics of male studet is ad = I case of female studets, the mea mathematics achievemet score is ad = The statistically calculated t-value is 2.4 which is sigificat at.5 level with 1942 df. The result clearly idicates that there is sigificat differece betwee mea mathematics achievemet score of male ad female secodary school studets. Both are ot equally good but male studets are better i mathematics achievemet i compariso to female studets. Thus the hypothesis statig that Male ad female studets do ot differ sigificatly o mathematics achievemet is rejected at.5 level of cofidece. The graphical presetatio of mea mathematics achievemet scores of both sexes is give i fig I 1 Vs I 2 I1 Vs I ** ** Sigificat at.1 level The aalysis of variace was employed to fid out the ifluece of iteret browsig of studets o mathematics achievemet. The total samples were categorized ito three groups i.e. zero hours, 1-2 hours ad more tha 2 hours o the basis of their habit of iteret browsig. The mea achievemet scores of three groups of zero hours, 1-2 hours ad more tha 2 hours of studets were foud to be 43.99, ad respectively. Aalysis of variace of the mathematics scores of the three group yielded F value as which is sigificat at.1 level with df 2, 1941 (table 2). This implied that there is sigificat overall differece i the meas of these groups. Hece F test was foud sigificat therefore Duca s post hoc test was applied for further ivestigatios.

4 Iteratioal Joural of Scietific & Egieerig Research, Volume 4, Issue 5, May Further support to this coclusio, it is also provided by a test of sigificace of differece betwee the mea mathematics achievemet scores of the three types of groups of iteret browsig as give i the table 2. The fig 2 shows the mea scores of mathematics achievemet of studets of three groups of iteret browsers. Table 3: Compariso of mathematics achievemet scores amog the three categories of participatio i sport activities (P 1= Never, P 2= Sometimes, P 3= Always) of secodary school studets -Duca s test The statistical method used i testig the major hypothesis was the Duca s post hoc test for the differece betwee the meas of three groups. The sigificat pairs obtaied by comparig each group mea mathematics achievemet score with that of every other group shows that out of three possible paired comparisos oly two showed sigificat differece. Further the table 2 shows that studets of group of 1-2 hours use of iteret have the highest mathematics achievemet scores tha the other two groups, the studets of more tha 2 hour group have higher mathematics achievemet scores tha zero hour studets group. These aalyses do ot cofirm the predictio hypothesized i this study for the preset sample. A relatioship betwee mathematics achievemet scores of studets ad browsig the iteret has bee demostrated by the fidigs. Hece the hypothesis statig that there is o sigificat differece amog the categories of amout of time o iteret browsig ad mathematics achievemet of studets was partially accepted ad partially rejected. Never P 1 (N=23) Sometimes P 2 (N=1199) Always P 3 (N=542) Sigifica t pairs (*) P 1 Vs P 2 P 1 Vs P 3 P 2 Vs P 3 F- value ** ** Sigificat at.1 level The aalysis of variace was employed to fid out the ifluece of sports activities of studets o mathematics achievemet. The total sample were categorized ito three groups i.e. ever, sometimes ad always o the basis of participatios of studets i sport activities. The mea mathematics achievemet scores of ever, sometimes ad always participatio of studets i sports activities were foud to be 39.4, ad 47.9 respectively. Aalysis of variace of the mathematics scores of the three group yielded F value as which is sigificat at.1 level with df 2, 1942 (table 3). This implied that there is sigificat overall differece i the meas of these groups. Hece F test was foud sigificat therefore Duca s post hoc test was applied for further ivestigatios. Fig. 2 Presetatio of mathematics achievemet o the basis of their iteret browsig Whe Duca s post hoc test applied for further ivestigatio, the mea scores, stadard deviatios ad sigificat pairs are give i table 3. The mea scores i mathematics achievemet of the above three defied groups (ever, sometimes & always) are 39.4, ad 47.9 respectively. from the tred it is quite clear that as the participatio i sports activities icreases the achievemet i mathematics also icreases accordigly, whe Duca s post hoc test was applied to compare each mea with every other mea achievemet scores, sigificat differece were obtaied betwee all the three meas with sigificat pairs (P 1 Vs P 2, P 2 Vs P 3, & P 1Vs P 3). Hece the hypothesis statig that there is o sigificat differece amog the categories of participatio i sport activities ad mathematics achievemet of studets is rejected. The graphical presetatio is give i fig. 3.

5 Iteratioal Joural of Scietific & Egieerig Research, Volume 4, Issue 5, May Fig. 3 Graphical presetatio of mea mathematics achievemet score of three groups of studet based o their participatio i sport activities Fig. 4 Graphical presetatio of mea mathematics achievemet score o the basis of their medium of istructio Table 4: Compariso of mathematics achievemet scores of Discussio studets o the basis of their medium of istructio The results of the aalysis of data shows that the geder, time spet o iteret browsig, participatio i sports Medium No. of activities ad medium of istructio all had sigificat of t- studet df Sig. effect o mathematics achievemet scores i expected istructio value s N directio. There was sigificat differece i mathematics achievemet scores betwee boys ad girls i the preset 12.9 Eglish study. The fidig of this study is supported by Asate, K * Oppog (21), Forgasz, Hele (21) foud that geerally leve 2 * female studets attaied higher grades i all other school Hidi l subjects besides mathematics, sciece ad IT tha their 8 male couterparts. Geder differeces ad the fidigs o geder differeces i mathematics achievemet are ot **Sigificat at.1 level ewly emerged fact. Log research history i this area has The total umbers of Eglish medium ad Hidi demostrated that male advatage i mathematics medium studets were 1282 & 662 respectively as idicated achievemet is a uiversal pheomeo (Beato et al, 1996; by the table 4. Out of 7 scores, the mea achievemet Mullis et.al., 2). Researchers have show that boys ted scores i mathematics of Eglish medium studet is 48.9 to score higher tha girls o problems that iclude spatial ad stadard deviatio (=12.99) i case of Hidi represetatio, measuremet, proportios as well as medium studets, the mea mathematics achievemet complex problems; whereas girls ted to score higher o score is ad stadard deviatio (=15.58). The computatios, simple problems ad graph readig (Beato statistically calculated t-value is 17.16; which is sigificat et.al. 1999) Accordig to some research fidigs, the geder at.1 level with 1942 df. The result clearly idicates that gap i mathematics achievemet icreases durig middle there is sigificat differece betwee mea mathematics school ad becomes more disturbig at the upper achievemet score of Eglish medium ad Hidi medium secodary level (Feema et.al. 1998; Feema, 1985). secodary school studets. Both are ot equally good ad Friedma (1989) oted that util age 1 either o they differ i their mathematics achievemet. Thus the differeces betwee geders or favorig girls are observed. hypothesis statig that, there is o sigificat differece He observed that 12th grade boys out performed girls, betwee medium of istructio ad mathematics fially, other studies (Fox, Brody & Tobi, 198) achievemet of secodary school studets is rejected at emphasized high mathematics achievemet beig.1 level. The graphical presetatio is give i fig. 4. domiated by males. Deder (1992) has also reported the existece of geder differeces i sciece subject i geeral as well as i mathematics but Braholt, Goodraw & Coey

6 Iteratioal Joural of Scietific & Egieerig Research, Volume 4, Issue 5, May (1999), Ewers & Wood 1992; Skaalvik, 199; Hilto & Berglud (1974). Awartai ad Gray (1989) reported o sigificat differeces betwee male ad female studets i mathematics achievemet. Ma (1995) studied a sample of high school seiors, based o algebra ad geometry achievemet. He foud o geder differeces i algebra but males sigificatly outperformed females i geometry. Geder differeces i achievemet, especially mathematics, have ot bee cosistet ad cotiue to be a much debated topic (Leder, 1992). observatios. Joural for Research i Mathematics Educatio, 15, Comstock, G. (1991). Televisio ad the America child. New York: Academic Press. Cooper, H., Valetie, J.C., Nye, B. & Lidsay, J.J. (1999). Relatioships betwee five after-school activities ad academic achievemet. Joural of Educatioal Psychology. 91(2), The results preseted support the idea that iteret browsig brigs some beefits for studets. The result shows that browsig brigs some beefits for studets. The result shows that iteret browsig for 1 hr to 2 hrs per day has icreasigly positive effects o achievemet of studets. The studet have o iteret browsig ad also studets who have browsig iteret more the 2 hrs per day have icreasigly egative effects o achievemet. Our results suggest that more time ad o time spet o iteret browsig have egative effects o the mathematics achievemet of high schools studets. Further, aother variable which comes up as a major ifluecig factor for mathematics achievemet amog studets is the types of participatio i sports activities. For example mea mathematics achievemet score varies o a cotiuum of high (always) to low (ever). The fidig is corroborated by Stephe Limpscomb (27) who reported a relatioship betwee mathematics achievemet ad sports activities based o percetage aalysis Whe data was aalyzed to see the sigificat differece i mathematics achievemet scores o the basis of medium of istructios of the schools, it is foud that studets of Eglish medium achieved sigificatly more achievemet score i mathematics tha the studets of Hidi medium schools. It is clear that Eglish medium schools have good facilities as compare to Hidi medium schools. Refereces Friedma, L. (1989). Mathematics ad the geder gap : A meta aalysis of recet studies o sex differeces i mathematics tasks. Review of Educatioal Research, 59(2), Fa X. & Che M. (21) Paretal ivolvemet ad studets' academic achievemet: A Meta -aalysis. Educatioal Psychology Review, 13,1-22. Gortmaker, S.L Salter C.A. walker D.K. & Diets. W.H. (199) the impact of televisio viewig o metal aptitude ad achievemet: A logitudial study Public opiio Quarterly, Gerber, S.B. (1996). Extracurricular activities ad academic achievemet. Joural of Research ad Developmet i Educatio, 3(1), Haller, E.J. (1992). High school size ad studet idisciplie: Aother aspect of the school cosolidatio issue? Educatioal Evaluatio ad Policy Aalysis, 14(2) Jacobs, J. E. & Eccles, E. (1985). Geder differeces i mathematics ability: the impact of media reports o parets. Educatioal Researcher, 14, Leder, G.C. (1992). Mathematics ad geder: Chagig perspectives. I D.A. Grows (Ed.) Hadbook of research o mathematics teachig ad learig pp ) New York, Macmilla. Aick, C.M.; Carpeter, T.P., & smith (1981). Miorities ad mathematics: results from the atioal assessmet of educatioal press. Mathematics teacher, 74, Awartai, M., & Gray, M.W. (1989). Cultural iflueces o sex differetials i mathematics aptitude ad achievemet. Iteratioal Joural of Mathematical Joural i sciece ad Techology, 2(2), Astoe N.M. & Mc Laaha S (1991) Family structure paret practices ad high school completio America Sociological Review 56,39-32 Callaha, L.G., & Clemets, D.H. (1984). Sex differeces i rote coutig ability o etry to first grade: some McLeod. D.B. (1992). Research affect i mathematics educatio: For recoceptualizatio I D.A. grouws (Ed) Had book of research o mathematics leadig ad learig pp , New York, Macmilla. Madiga, T. (1994) Paret ivolvemet ad school achievemet, Paper preseted at the meetig of the America Educatio Research Associatio New Orleas. Ma, X (1995). Geder differeces i mathematics achievemet betwee Caadia ad Asia educatio systems. The Joural of Educatioal Research, 89, Ma, X. (1997). Reciprocal relatioship betwee attitude towards mathematics ad achievemet i mathematics. The Joural of Educatioal Research, 9(4),

7 Iteratioal Joural of Scietific & Egieerig Research, Volume 4, Issue 5, May Reyes, L.H. (1984). Affective variables ad mathematics educatio, Elemetary school Joural 84, Williams, P.A. Haertel, E.H., Haertel, G.D., & Walberg, H.J. (1982). The impact of leisure-time televisio o school learig. America Educatioal Research Joural, 19(1), Wilkis, J.L.M., & MA, X (22). Predictig studets growth i mathematical cotet kowledge. Joural of Educatioal Research 95(5),