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Culture Documents
Hassan Alamolhodaei
Ferdowsi University of Mashhad
Mashhad, Iran
INTRODUCTION
In recent years the study of cognitive styles has become a broad stream in
cognitive psychology and mathematics education. Individuals display their
own personal cognitive styles which is a major attribute in what makes an
individual to respond to various situations (Anastasi, 1996).
According to Messick (1976), cognitive styles are information processing
habits representing the learners typical style of perceiving, thinking, problem
solving and remembering. In fact, each individual has his/her own styles
for collecting and organizing information into knowledge which can be of
benefit (Cross, 1976).
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mainly the divergent thinkers among them who finally achieved better
results. These researchers found that there was a relationship between
students’ choice of faculty (arts or science) and their convergent/divergent
learning style in agreement with Hudson’s finding (1966) in this domain.
Al-Naeme (1991) suggested the important role of convergence/divergence
style in tackling the mini-project problems in chemistry, with the superiority
of divergent thinking over convergent thinking in such tasks. An important
question could be raised at this point. Is there any discipline in which
students could cope equally well with a convergent or divergent bias? Orton
(1992) suggested that, biology, geography and economics are subjects which
do not fall into just dimension of divergent thinking or convergent thinking.
It seems that only a minority of learners may cope well with convergent
and divergent styles at the same time.
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instructions and learning (Moses, 1982; Mundy, 1987; Vinner & Dreyfus
1989; Vinner, 1982, 1989; Resnick, 1989; Presmeg, 1986; Leinhardt, Zaslavsky
& Stein, 1990; Dreyfus, 1992; Moore, 1994; Campbell, Collis & Watson, 1995;
and Alamolhodaei, 1996). Students’ misconceptions about functions can
be traced logically to pictorial meaning (Leinhardt, Zaslavsky, & Stein, 1990).
Research into maths education shows that students generally are very weak
visualizers in calculus course materials, which in turn lead to a lack of
meaning in the formalities of mathematical analysis (Tall, 1991;
Alamolhodaei. 1996). The nonvisual way of teaching has the effect of leading
students who are visual thinkers to believe that success in mathematics
learning and problem solving depends on rote memorisation of routine
rules and formulas. (Presmeg, 1986a).
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METHOD
Sample
This study was conducted on third year undergraduate mathematics
students at Ferdowsi University of Mashhad in the north east of Iran. An
attempt was made to select a sample of 93 students, while they were doing
the maths courses as part of higher education requirements. They were
mainly female students.
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Table 2
The distribution of cognitive styles over the sample
Group Convergent Intermediate Divergent
N=93 48.6% 22.58% 36.55%
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DATA ANALYSIS
The data analysis procedure was mainly done by using the mean score.
A parametric statistical test (One-way ANOVA) was used in order to find
out whether the differences in students’ performance in mathematical
problem solving activities are statistically significant or insignificant. Results
are given at the .05 level. The reliability coefficient (Cronbach’s α) for the
(convergent/divergent) tests was estimated to be 0.65.
RESULTS
In order to examine the hypothesis of this study the performance of students
with thinking styles (Convergent/Divergent) in the math exam had to be
investigated.
The mean scores and standard deviation (SD) in this assessment related
to (convergent/intermediate/divergent) learning styles in the sample are
set out in Table 3. According to one-way ANOVA, on mean scores of the
math exam, a significant difference was found in performance among three
groups of styles (F = 4.23, P < .05). Figure 1 represents the superiority of
students with different styles, (convergent vs. divergent) based on their
mean scores in the pictorial math exam.
Table 3
Mean scores and SD in the math exam
Group Convergent (N=38) Intermediate (N=21) Divergent (N=34)
Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD
Math
exam 9.63 3.1 9.76 3.01 11.75 3.6
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Math (Mean)
15-
11.76
10- 9.63
5-
Con Div
Figure 1. The students’ achievements with different styles in the math exam
DISCUSSION
According to the mean scores of students with convergent/divergent
cognitive styles in Table 3, the divergent learners performed and achieved
higher results than convergent learners in pictorial questions. The difference
between mean scores in groups of students (convergent vs. divergent) was
found to be significant owing to p < .05.
Therefore, this finding could support the hypothesis of this study. It
seems from the results attained that mathematical pictorial problems could
be a rather distinctive and challenging task on the part of learners. Instances
of misconception found in their answers to the questions proposed in the
math exam, may be regarded as a support to this. Particularly questions
No. 2, 4 & 5 represent this occuring (see, Appendix). Table 3 indicates that,
for students with divergent cognitive style the mean scores in math task is
11.75, while for convergent ones it is 9.63. This means that being divergent
in thinking style could be more beneficial than being convergent in tackling
pictorial and curve interpreting problems. Moreover, this result supports
the previous research findings indications (e.g., Alamolhodaei, 1996) that
convergent students experience more troubles when handling the
complexity of curve interpretation and pictorial problems even in school
and higher education.
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thinking are used. As a ground for future research the following questions
need to be attempted.
To what extent should a pictorial approach in math be taught to students?
To what extent can pictorial considerations become a natural part of
students’ mathematical thinking? The answers to these questions will
undoubtedly be useful research areas for the future according to the present
researcher.
REFERENCES
Alamolhodaei, H. (1996). A study in higher education calculus and students’ learning
styles. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, University of Glasgow.
Anastasi, A. (1996). Psychological testing. (7th Edition). New York: Macmillan.
Al-Naeme, F. F. A. (1991). The influence of various learning styles on practical problem-
solving in chemistry in scottish secondary schools. Ph.D. Thesis, University of
Glasgow.
Campbell, R. J. Collis, K. F. & Watson, J. M. (1995). Visual processing during
mathematical problem solving. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 28, 177-194.
Cross, K. L. (1976). Accent on learning. New York: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
Dreyfus, T. (1992). Imagery and reasoning in mathematics and mathematics education.
Selected Lectures from the 7th International Congress on Mathematics
Education, 107-122, Quebec, Canada, Universite de Laval.
Eisenberg. T. & Dreyfus, T. (1986). On visual versus analytical thinking in
mathematics. Proceeding of the Tenth International Conference of the International
Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education, 153-158. London: IGPME.
Ervynck, G. (1981). Conceptual difficulties for first year university students in
the acquisition of the notion of limit of a function. Proceedings of the 5th
International Conference of the Psychology of Mathematics Education, Grenoble,
France, 330-333.
Field, T. W. & Pool, M. E. (1970). Intellectual style and achievement of arts and
science undergraduates. British Journal of Education, 40, 338-341.
Guilford, J. P., Hoepfner, R. & Petersen, H. (1965). Predicting achievement in
ninth-grade mathematics from measures of intellectual aptitude factors.
Educational and Psychological Measurement, Vol. XXV, No. 30.
Guilford, J. P. (1959). Three faces of intellect. American Psychologist, 14, 459-479.
Guilford, J. P. (1967). The nature of human intelligence. New York: McGraw-Hill.
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APPENDIX
π π π π
2 2 2 2
A B C
y y y
x x x
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4. Each equation mathes one of the following graphs. Write down its matching
equation.
k
y = kx2 y = kx2 + P y= y = qxk y=k x y = pqx
x
(p, q and k are constant).
A Y B C
Y Y
X
X
X
X X
X
D E F
Y Y
X
X
X
X
X
X
5. Which of the following statement are true of the function f defined for
-1< x <3 in the below fig.
1) lim F (x) = 1
x → 1+
2) lim F (x) = 2 2-
x→2
1-
3) lim F (x) = 2
x → 1- -1 1 2 3
4) lim F (x) = lim F (x)
x → 0+ x → 0-
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