Middle School girls' self-efficacy and motivation toward Mathematics before and after attending an all-girls summer Mathematics camp

• Main Authors: LYNDA R. WIEST (Author), HEATHER G. CRAWFORD-FERRE (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: Metaichmio Publications, 2023-06-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.
• Notes: 10.26220/rev.4165; 1791-261X; 1792-3999
• Keywords: summer programs; females; mathematics; middle school; motivation; self-efficacy; Education; L; Mathematics; QA1-939
• Source: Review of Science, Mathematics and ICT Education, Vol 17, Iss 1, Pp 5-22 (2023)

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of a five-day summer residential mathematics and technology program on the mathematics motivation and self-efficacy of 210 middle-grades girls who participated in this female-only event. Entrance measures and gain scores were examined for the study sample as a whole and for demographic groups formed by race/ethnicity, family socioeconomic status, and grade level. The results show that this program favorably influenced participants' short-term self-efficacy and motivation for learning mathematics. Overall, significant increases appeared in self-efficacy, intrinsic motivation, and extrinsic motivation from program beginning to end. Self-efficacy showed the strongest improvements, followed by intrinsic motivation, and finally extrinsic motivation. Some differences appeared among demographic subgroups.