{"title":"Improving Mathematics: An Examination of the Effects of Specific Cognitive Abilities on College-age Students’ Mathematics Achievement","authors":"Gordon E. Taub, Nicholas F. Benson, J. Szente","doi":"10.20429/IJSOTL.2014.080208","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"This study investigated the effects of general intelligence and seven specific cognitive abilities on college-age students’ mathematics achievement. The present investigation went beyond previous research by employing structural equation modeling. It also represents the first study to examine the direct and indirect effects of general and specific cognitive abilities, simultaneously, on the mathematics achievement of college-age students. A model developed using the Cattell-Horn-Carroll theory of intelligence was the theoretical model used in all analyses. Data from 1,054 college-age students who participated in the standardization of the Woodcock–Johnson III (Woodcock, McGrew, & Mather, 2001) were divided into a calibration sample set and validation sample set. The calibration data set was used for model testing and modification and the independent validation sample data set was used for model validation. The specific areas of intelligence demonstrating direct effects on the mathematics achievement dependent variable were Crystallized Intelligence and Fluid Reasoning. The effects of general intelligence were found to be indirect in the collegeage sample. Implications for instruction and intervention to improve college student’s mathematics achievement are provided.","PeriodicalId":332019,"journal":{"name":"The International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2014-07-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"6","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"The International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.20429/IJSOTL.2014.080208","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 6
Abstract
This study investigated the effects of general intelligence and seven specific cognitive abilities on college-age students’ mathematics achievement. The present investigation went beyond previous research by employing structural equation modeling. It also represents the first study to examine the direct and indirect effects of general and specific cognitive abilities, simultaneously, on the mathematics achievement of college-age students. A model developed using the Cattell-Horn-Carroll theory of intelligence was the theoretical model used in all analyses. Data from 1,054 college-age students who participated in the standardization of the Woodcock–Johnson III (Woodcock, McGrew, & Mather, 2001) were divided into a calibration sample set and validation sample set. The calibration data set was used for model testing and modification and the independent validation sample data set was used for model validation. The specific areas of intelligence demonstrating direct effects on the mathematics achievement dependent variable were Crystallized Intelligence and Fluid Reasoning. The effects of general intelligence were found to be indirect in the collegeage sample. Implications for instruction and intervention to improve college student’s mathematics achievement are provided.
本研究探讨了一般智力和七种特殊认知能力对大学生数学成绩的影响。本研究采用结构方程模型,超越了以往的研究。这也是第一个同时考察一般和特殊认知能力对大学生数学成绩的直接和间接影响的研究。在所有分析中使用的理论模型是用卡特尔-霍恩-卡罗尔的智力理论开发的。对参与Woodcock - johnson III (Woodcock, McGrew, & Mather, 2001)标准化的1054名大学生的数据分为校准样本集和验证样本集。标定数据集用于模型测试和修改,独立验证样本数据集用于模型验证。对数学成绩因变量有直接影响的智力的具体领域是结晶智力和流动推理。一般智力的影响在大学样本中被发现是间接的。为提高大学生数学成绩的指导与干预提供启示。