Title and Description:

Visual Thinking and Gender Differences in High School Calculus by Erhan

Haciomeroglu and Eric Chicken (2012) looks at the relationship between performance and
preferences for visual or analytical thinking of high school students in advanced placement
calculus classrooms. The study takes place in Northwest Central Florida and examines the results
of 188 high school students enrolled in AP Calculus courses on two different tests designed to
measure their preference for either a visual approach to finding the solution or by using an
analytical or algebraic approach to find the same solution. At the same time, they were also
interested in whether or not there were any gender preferences between the two approaches. The
correctness of the solutions was also measured as part of the study in efforts to find correlation
between the method of choice and the performance level of the students.
Review of Literature:
In many of the studies reviewed for their research, Haciomeroglu and Chicken noted a
pattern of which analytical reasoning usually indicated a higher level of performance than visual
solution efforts. They looked at results of studies from similar AP students (Bremigan, 2005) as
well as lower level students in geometry (Battista, 1990) in addition to numerous other studies
relating the preference for visual thinking to mathematical performance. The authors hypothesize
from their review of the literature that differences in mathematical performance have more to do
with student preferences for one approach over another, and less to do with their innate
mathematical abilities (Haciomeroglu & Chicken, 2012).
Analysis of Methodology:
The students were given standardized instructions, tested in small group settings (9-22
students) in a classroom, took both the derivative and antiderivative tests, and completed

questionnaires comparing methods of solutions after they had completed the tests. Their AP
exam scores at the end of the school year were also collected and analyzed as part of this study.
The experimental tests themselves gave the researchers two scores for each student. One score
was a measure of mathematical performance, and the other score a measure of visual preference.
The student responses were then coded based on correctness and method of choice, either visual
or analytical. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was applied to the data to look for
differences in student gender and visual performance scores. A follow up analysis of variance
(ANOVA) was applied to look at differences in mean AP scores based on visual preference and
gender. A two-way ANOVA explored any connection to gender and performance on visual
preference.
Summary of Results:
The researchers found that the preference for visual thinking is a significant factor in the
performance of male students, but not as much for female students, in both the experimental tests
as well as the AP exam performance. Visual males scored higher than analytical males on the AP
exam and higher than analytical females on the experimental tests. Student gender did not seem
to have an effect on a students preference for visual or analytical solutions according to the data
of the experimental tests. The authors suggest that differences in mathematical learning could be
attributed to student preference for visual or analytical thinking and not necessarily their ability
for visual or analytical thinking.
Opinion and Takeaway:
The reason I chose this study was because of the investigation into student preferences
for methods of solutions to specific Calculus task. If there was a connection between visual
thinking and performance, then I am very interested since I am an AP Calculus teacher.

However, this study was flawed from the very beginning. The particular tasks that were part of
the experimental tests presented to the students are much easier to solve if a student uses visual
thinking solutions as opposed to analytical ones. As a teacher, I would not demonstrate how to
solve the problems analytically simply because the effort required to do so is so much greater
than using a visual solution approach. I can only imagine these students were taught the same
way. A better approach would be to give students at this level a different type of problem that
they had not seen before, one that could be solved in a variety of different ways, and then
analyze their approaches as for visual or analytical processes and performance.
The subject of Calculus lends itself to more visual thinking than many other disciplines of
mathematics. For me, I was not surprised by the results of the study considering the tasks that the
students were asked to accomplish. At the same time, I do not think it wise to dismiss the study
altogether since there does seem to be a difference in how males and females use the visual
strategies. In my own classroom, I often fail to see a gender difference in my students methods
of approach, but this study makes me wonder about how I teach these topics and whether or not I
need to include a more analytical methodology in addition to the visual techniques.
References:
Battista, M. T. (1990). Spatial visualization and gender differences in high school
geometry. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 47-60.
Bremigan, E. G. (2005). An analysis of diagram modification and construction in students'
solutions to applied calculus problems. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education,
248-277.
Haciomeroglu, E. S., & Chicken, E. (2012). Visual thinking and gender differences in high
school calculus. International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and
Technology, 43(3), 303-313.