Cooperative Learning for a More Sustainable Education: Gender Equity in the Learning of Maths

Jose Antonio Prieto-Saborit, David Méndez-Alonso, Jose Antonio Cecchini, Ana Fernández-Viciana and Jose Ramón Bahamonde-Nava
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Jose Antonio Prieto-Saborit: Facultad Padre Ossó, University of Oviedo, 33008 Oviedo, Spain
David Méndez-Alonso: Facultad Padre Ossó, University of Oviedo, 33008 Oviedo, Spain
Jose Antonio Cecchini: Department of Educational Science, University of Oviedo, 33008 Oviedo, Spain
Ana Fernández-Viciana: Facultad Padre Ossó, University of Oviedo, 33008 Oviedo, Spain
Jose Ramón Bahamonde-Nava: Facultad Padre Ossó, University of Oviedo, 33008 Oviedo, Spain

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 15, 1-12

Abstract: Education and gender equity are of high priority in the list of objectives when looking to achieve sustainable development; however, various studies have analysed that these objectives are far from being reached. The goal of this paper was to investigate the influence that cooperative learning has on academic performance and on the gender gap in the subject of Maths. A total of 14,122 students between the ages of 10 and 19 took part in the study. The hypothesis posed was that gender differences observed in Maths would significantly be reduced in those classrooms in which cooperative learning had a higher degree of implementation. In the results, the analysis of the regression of means and gradients showed that gender predicts Maths results in a positive manner (estimated beta = 0.12, p < 0.01) and interacts with cooperative learning by taking a negative value (−0.26) and with an associated critical value less than 0.05. In other words, the relation between cooperative learning and Math grades is significantly higher in males than in females. However, females achieve better marks, which generates a certain relation of equity. These results prove that cooperative learning can reduce gender differences in the learning of Maths.

Keywords: sustainable education; cooperative learning; gender equity in mathematics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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