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Abstract
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Before
Male students typically outperform their female classmates in maths test scores. The literature finds that one of the sources of gender inequalities in mathematics is related to differences in the acquisition of visuospatial abilities between girls and boys from a very young age.
Existing works find that playing with specific toys facilitates learning in subjects such as maths and physics and that boys usually gain more experience than girls because of different parental beliefs on the gender-specific suitability of toys. In addition, the literature stresses that self-confidence and anxiety are not gender-neutral and can affect educational outcomes.
This project is finalized at enhancing the spatial abilities of third and fourth-grade students, and at reducing the gender gap so that girls can improve their learning of mathematics and reduce math anxiety in comparison to boys. The randomized control trial involves five schools in Turin (Italy), where students will acquire visuospatial abilities via construction play (i.e., by using Lego Duplo kits). Using the bricks should help students process abstract concepts, while the playful approach should reduce math anxiety. By improving these abilities at school at a young age, girls should therefore be able to catch up with their male counterparts both in terms of maths scores and maths anxiety.
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After
Male students typically outperform their female classmates in maths test scores. The literature finds that one of the sources of gender inequalities in mathematics is related to differences in the acquisition of visuospatial abilities between girls and boys from a very young age.
Existing works find that playing with specific toys facilitates learning in subjects such as maths and physics and that boys usually gain more experience than girls because of different parental beliefs on the gender-specific suitability of toys. In addition, the literature stresses that self-confidence and anxiety are not gender-neutral and can affect educational outcomes.
This project is finalized at enhancing the spatial abilities of third and fourth-grade students, and at reducing the gender gap so that girls can improve their learning of mathematics and reduce math anxiety in comparison to boys. The randomized control trial involves several primary schools across Italy, where students will acquire visuospatial abilities via construction play (i.e., by using Lego Duplo kits). Using the bricks should help students process abstract concepts, while the playful approach should reduce math anxiety. By improving these abilities at school at a young age, girls should therefore be able to catch up with their male counterparts both in terms of visuo-spatial abilities, maths scores and reduction in maths anxiety.
We run a pilot study in the school year 2022-2023 and plan to scale up the intervention in the schooling year 2023-2024. In the following years, we plan to follow the students in the sample and link information on standardized test scores from administrative data to evaluate treatment effects in the long run.
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Trial End Date
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Before
September 30, 2023
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After
January 31, 2025
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Last Published
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Before
February 07, 2023 11:37 AM
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After
February 06, 2024 12:47 PM
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Intervention End Date
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Before
June 30, 2023
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After
June 30, 2024
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Primary Outcomes (End Points)
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Before
Pupils' visuospatial and mathematics scores.
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After
Outcomes: student data collected via questionnaires, which includes test scores in visuo-spatial abilities and cognitive abilities in mathematics and geometry, math anxiety; student data on standardized test scores from administrative sources; teachers data collected via questionnaires on basic demographics, teaching practices and self-efficacy, attitudes and personality traits.
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Experimental Design (Public)
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Before
The randomized control trial takes place in five primary schools located in Torino (Piedmont, Italy). Enrolment in the project is voluntary. The project involves around 60 classes of third and fourth-grade students (i.e., approximately 1200 pupils and 60 teachers). The treatment provides specific training to the teachers in class on the use of construction play to enhance pupils' visuospatial and mathematics abilities. Within each school, we randomly assign a third of the teachers to the control group, a third to the treatment group starting in the first half of the school year, and a third to the treatment group starting in the second half of the school year.
The study will provide evidence of the effects of teaching methods that exploit the use of construction play. The primary research questions are the following:
i. What is the impact of the treatment on the spatial abilities of pupils?
ii. How does the impact differ by gender?
iii. How does the treatment affect the gender gap in mathematics?
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After
The randomized control trial takes place in several primary schools across Italy. Enrolment in the project is voluntary. The project involves around 60 to 80 classes of third and fourth-grade students per round (i.e., approximately 1200 to 1500 pupils and 50 to 65 teachers). The treatment provides specific training to math teachers on the use of construction play to enhance pupils' visuospatial and mathematics abilities. Teachers are assigned to the treatment or control group randomly. Randomization is stratified within school and grade.
The study will provide evidence of the effects of teaching methods that exploit the use of construction play. The primary research questions are the following:
i. What is the impact of the treatment on the spatial abilities of pupils?
ii. How does the impact differ by gender?
iii. How does the treatment affect the gender gap in mathematics and math anxiety?
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Planned Number of Clusters
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60 classes/teachers
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After
Around 50 to 65 teachers in each round
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Planned Number of Observations
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1200 pupils
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After
Around 1200 to 1500 pupils in each round
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Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
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Before
20 classes control, 20 classes treated at the beginning of the school year, 20 classes treated in the second half of the school year
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After
About two thirds of the sample are assigned to the treatment group, one third is assigned to the control group
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