The Effect of Level-Marked Tasks on Students’ Mathematics Self-Efficacy and Persistence—Investigating a Tiered Activity

Maria Herset, Annette H. Bjerke, Mohamed El Ghami — Mon, 04 Mar 2024 00:00:00 +0800

In school mathematics, tiering tasks according to students’ readiness levels is a common approach to adapting content to address students’ varying abilities. To distinguish between different tiers, the tasks are commonly marked by their level of difficulty, as in so called level-marked tasks – a strategy used in differentiated instruction to help students gain mastery and improve performance. However, less is known about whether and to what extent the marking of the tasks works as intended. Regarded as a significant predictor of students’ performance in mathematics, the level marking of mathematics tasks and their effects on students’ self-efficacy and persistence were investigated. The online survey part of an experimental design was used to collect data from 436 lower secondary students in Norway. Independent sample t-tests and Mann–Whitney U tests revealed that, when students across groups were given the same mathematics tasks with and without level markings, tasks marked as difficult reduced both students’ mathematics self-efficacy and their persistence, even for students with high baseline self-efficacy. Although more research is needed to fully understand how the level markings of mathematics tasks affect students’ self-efficacy and persistence, the reported results have implications for both mathematics teachers and textbook authors.

Rural Cultural Wealth in African Education

Crystal R. Chambers, Victor Chimaihe Ihuka, Loni Crumb, Dorcas E. Barde — Sat, 27 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +0800

Globally, rural communities are facing varied issues that impact the holistic well-being of residents ranging from the need to increase access to health and educational resources to addressing food and housing insecurities. In this manuscript, we expound upon the rural cultural wealth conceptual framework to demonstrate the application of this conceptual framework globally. Using the Nigerian context, we illustrate how the resourcefulness, ingenuity, familism, and unity found within rural communities can be harnessed to improve rural education.

International Educational Research

The Effect of Level-Marked Tasks on Students’ Mathematics Self-Efficacy and Persistence—Investigating a Tiered Activity

Rural Cultural Wealth in African Education