The Effects of Metacognition, Criticai Thinking, Gender, and Gender Role Identification on

Academic Achievement in the Middle Years

Janice M. Chisholm Mount Saint Vincent University

A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fuifiiiment of the Requirements of the Degree of Masters of A r t s in School Psychology at

Mount Saint Vincent University Halifax, Nova Scotia

1999

COPYRIGHT @ (1999) JMICE MARIE CHLSHOLM

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ABSTRACT

This study examined how gender role identîfïcation, metacognition and critical

thinking contributed to the achievement related behaviors of a group of rural early

adolescents. Achievement was measured in terms of overall grade point averages, while

achievement orientations were also examined by investigating Me, educational, and career

aspirations.

The resuIts of this study suggest that there has been a break down between the

nontraditional and the traditional male and fernale gender roles. These females had slightly

higher achievement levels in terms of overail grade point averages. Further examination

revealed that the contrast in males and females grades may be partially explained by the

merences in achievement orientations. Fernales were more likely than males to indicate

that education was of greatest Ulq>ortance to them and more ke ly to indicate that they

thought they would have a professional type of occupation. On the contrary, males were

more likely to rate high-income as most important to them However, males were also

more iikely than females to indicate that they thought they would be working in a

nonprofessional type of occupation. Males with fathers in similar types of occupations

were more likely to make these choices and more likely to have lower grade point

averages. The types of occupations held by the students' rnothers did not appear to have

an impact on the career expectations of young males and females in the sample, while the

fkther's occupations appeared to have more innuence on males' choices than females'

choices. This data provided a wealth of information regarding females and males

achievement rehted choices.

There was a significant correlation between metacognitive and cntical thinking

ii

skills when compared to students' grades. A regression analysis was performed which

examined the contribution of gender, metacognition, and critical thinking to overail

achievement levels. It was determined that when the influence of the other factors were

controiied for, only critical thinking came out as a significant predictor of achievement.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

1 would üke to acknowledge Dr. Fred French, as my thesis supervisor, for ail his

help and m c h needed advice, which assisted me throughout the course of my studies. I

would also like to extend a special thanks to Margaret Dechman for the amount of time

she devoted to the completion of my thesis- Additionaily, 1 would like to thank Mike

Foley for his contniutions as a comrnittee member.

1 wish to express my gratitude to the Strait Regional School Board, especiaily Dr-

M. A, Macpherson and Mr. Rob Ryan. 1 would like to thank the principles, Mr. Miles

MacDonald and Mr. Dave MacNeii, and the teachers in these schools who made it

possible for me to complete this study. Special thanks to Mr. Archie Chishoim and Ms.

Veronica Peitzsche for aii their help and support.

There are many peopIe who have made it possible for me to reach this point and

without whose love and support 1 would not have had the courage to undertake many of

these goals. This thesis is dedicated to Glen, who has aiways been there for me and gave

me the courage to believe whenever 1 had doubts. 1 would also Like to dedicate this thesis

to my parents, whose love, support and encouragement has brought me to this point. And

finally, to my grandparents, who have always been a big part of my Me.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE

.................................................................... 1 . INTRODUCTION .....* .. 1

Purpose of the Present Study .......................................................... 4

Signifïcance of the Present Study ........................................................ 4

Definition of Terms ........................................................................ 5

11 . REVEW OF THE LITERATURE ......................................................... 6

.............................. Metacognitive Skilis .................................... .... 6

................ ....................................*..................... Meta-Memoxy .. 10

............................................................. Reading and Metacognition 13

................................................................ Metacognition and Math 16

............................................................. Metacognition and Writing 19

.................. Cuitural and Family Influences on Metacognitive Development 20

Critical Thinking and Problem Solving ................................................. 22

....... Gender and Gender Role Identification ...................................... ,. 29

Research Questions ............................... .. .................................... 41

III . METHODOLOGY ......................................................................... 42

.......................................... Participants ................................ .. 42

Instruments ............................................................................... 42

Design and Procedure ................................................................... 45

Data Anaiysis ............................................................................. 46

Limitations of the Study ................................................................. 46

IV . RESULTS ..................................................................................... 48

Introduction ............................................................................... 48

S a q le Demographics ......................~..........~~............................... 48

Quantitative Analysis .................................................................... 49

Descriptive Statistics & Exploratory Correlations .................................. 63

V . SUMMARY. DISCUSSION. AND IMPLICATIONS ................................. 66

Sunmary .......................... .... ............................................... 66

Discussion ........................ ... .................................................. 66

Recommendations for Future Research ............................................... 77

VI . REFERENCES .............................................................................. 79

APPENDICES

Appendix A Letters Requesting Permission From the Strait Regional School

............................................................................................................. Board 88

Appendix B

Appendix C

Appendix D

Appendix E

Appendùr F

Appendix G

Appendix H

Appendix 1

Appendix J

Appendix K

Appendix L

Appendix M

Letter Requesthg Pemïssion From the Schoois' Principals ................. 91

Letter Requesting Permission From Grade Seven & Eight

............................................. ......................................... Teachers ,. 94

Letter Requesting Permission From the Students' Parents .................. 97

....... Gender Role Identification Survey ...... .. .. . . ~ ~ . ~ ~ . . ~ . ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ . ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ . . . . ~ ~ . . . 100

............................ Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) ................... ... 106

Metacognitive Tasks & Scale ............................................................ 108

........................................ Sample of Critical Thinking Items Level X 111

.................... Various Types of Student Career Exploration Activities 113

Types of Previous Work Experiences Listed by Young

Adolescents ....................................................................................... 115

Occupations Students would Like to Obtain, Think They

... ........ ............................. Will Obtain, & Parental Occupations ,. ,. 117

Reasons Given for Why Students Would Be Open to Learning

About Other Careers ......................................................................... 119

Intercorreiations Between Regression Factors and

Achievement ..................................................................................... 121

vii

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1

Table 2

Table 3

Table 4

Table 5

Table 6

Table 7

Table 8

Table 9

Table 10

Table 1 1

Table 12

Table 13

TabIe 14

Table 15

Table 16

Frequencies and Percentages of Students in Each Grade Level ............ 49

Frequencies and Percentages of MaIes and Females ............................. 49

Frequencies and Percentages of Ages ................................................. 49

Percentages of Character Ratings by Males and Females ...................... 52

Percentages of Most important Priority Ratings ................................. 53

Percentages of Least Important Pnorïty Ratings .................................. 54

........................................... Percentages of Employment Expectations 55

Occupations Males and Females Wouid Like to Have .......................... 55

......................... Occupations Males and Females Think they wiil Have 56

.............. Percentages of Effective Metacognitive Reading Strategies ... 57

...................... Percentages of Effective Metacognitive Math Strategies 57

.................. Percentages of Effective Metacognitive Wnting Strategies 58

........................... ................... Individual Critical Thinking Skills .... 59

Males and Females Mean Critical Thinking Score and

Mean Individual Skilis ...................................................................... 59

.......................................................... Adolescent Achievement Leveis 60

Summary of Regression Analysis of Variables Predicting Achievement

viii

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Current movements toward educational reform have focused on creating Ünproved

learning envîronrnents that are leamer-centered and focused on the developmental needs' of

students at various age leveis. The underlying goal of most academic institutions is to

produce competent and successful learners. Achievement levels are a readily available and

easily quantifiable rnethod of determinhg if an educational institution is meeting this objective.

However, there are many factors which impact student achievement levels and an

understanding of the complexity of these interactions is necessary for realinng the types of

traits which characterize successfül learners. Some factors which are thought to influence

achievement levels include gender role identification (Huston, 1983; Eccles, Adler, & Meece,

1984; Benbow & Minor, 1986; Benbow, 1988; Jozefowicz, Barber, & Eccles, 1993),

metacognition (Cardelle-Elawar, 1 992; Vadhan & S tander, 1 993 ; S lavin, 1 997), and critical

thinking skiils (Hudghs & Edelrnan, 1988; McCuthcheon, Apperson, Hanson, & Wynn, 1992;

Hudgins, Füesenmy, Mitchelle, Klein, & Navarro, 1994; Gadzella, Ginther, & Bryant, 1997).

In the middle years, shifts in curriculum occur that place certain expectations on young

adolescents. Throughout the elementary years educators focus on helying students to view

thernselves as capable and competent learners. With the transition to the middle years, these

individuals are expected to engage in more independent types of learning tasks (Wigfield,

MacIver, Reuman, & Midgley, 199 1). They should also have developed basic level skills that

will allow them to generalize this knowledge and utilize higher order cognitive processes, such

as critical thinking and metacognition, to help them solve more complex problems. Some

researchers have proposed that high school graduates are not mastering these skih and, while

they miy be able recite content material they do not apply and generalize skills such as

metacognition and cntical thinking when presented with novei problem solving situations

(DeNitto & Strickland, 1987). The development of these skih will be necessary to faciiitate

the development of competent, Me-long leamers. Additionaliy, it has been suggested by some

researchers that this transition places additional demands on fernale students to overtly

establish their role as a leamer (Wigfïeld, et al., 1991).

Academic success is an important component in the life of young adolescents and wiil

impact fiiture employment opportunities. Meeting with academic success and being prepared

for today's rapidly changing workforce depends upon students being able to develop skiils to

direct their own learning. Since the 19803, educators have recognized t h e împortance of

providing curriculum that encourages thinking skills rather than simply providing students

with factuai knowledge that is likely to become increasingiy obsolete w i ~ h today's expanding

technology industry (Cohs-Block, 1993). These shifts in educational philosophies are fueled

by the recognition that leamers judged to be competent in today's workEorce will be those

who have the necessary skik to solve a variety of problems. It is argued that the

development of such skills are essential to be truly successfùl, as the acquisition of content

matenal and discrete skills do not promote the generalization of knowledge from the

classroom environment to real world situations. Most acquired content howledge is typically

not retained, therefore, it is essential that students develop skilis that WU allow them to

constmctively solve novel problems.

An understanding of how students become effective problem solvers requires a more

detailed explmation of the fundamental nature of problem components. NeweU and Simon

(1972) define a problem as a situation in which an individual wishes to achieve a specific goai,

but is uncertain as to the best course of action needed to obtained the desired outcorne.

Deterrnining the best course of action involves a greater understanding of the factors involved

in the problem-solving process. The procedure involves an understanding of the goals, givens,

obstacles, and methods or operations. The various steps to problem solving involve howuig

what the desired outcornes are (goals), the resources that are available to help solve the

problem (givens), the factors that may inhï'bit or prevent the individual fiom reaching a

solution (obstacles), and the processes that wili need to be carried out to derive the desired

solution (methods) (Phye & Andre, 1986). Learning to employ a strategic and systematic

process for solving problerns enables individuals to develop important cognitive skills needed

in a variety of situations.

Two important cognitive strategies that students cm utilize to help direct their learning

involve the use of cntical thinking and metacognitive skilis. The use of such techniques are

thought to make students more effective leamers, and subsequently irnprove overali

achievement levels (Slavin, 1997). The use of metacognitive skills requires one to discem

when and how to utilize difEerent leamhg strategies for the purpose of actively planning,

monitoring, and controbg their learning (Flavell, 1979; Stahl Simpson, & Hayes, 1992).

Critical thking skiils involve the employment of reasonable and reflective thinking, which is

intended to improve an individual's understanding of his or her thoughts and the thoughts of

others (ChafFee, 1988). These skilIs compliment one another by fostering inteilectual curiosity

and promoting üfe-long learners. An awareness of how these skills contribute to one's

educational attainment requîres a closer examination of the research findings in these areas.

Purpose of the Present Studv

The current research attempted to explore how various factors interact to contniute

to student achievement. Gender ciifferences were examined in relation to gender related

priorities, charactenstics, and career options. Further, how these beliefi could impact

-dent's grades, metacognitive skills, and critical thinking ski& was explored. Understanding

any gender differences that niay occlx, requires insight into how males and fernales difTer in

their attitudes and perceptions. It is these perceptions that help to form one's gender identity,

and therefore may contribute to one's achievement orientations. Finally, a regression analysis

determined the degree to which gender, metacognition, and cntical thinking contniute to

student achievement.

Simifïcance of the Present Studv

Studies regarding how various factors affect academic achievement have important

social implications in tenns of educational refom Necessary changes in education can only

occur through closer examinations of student's perceptions, expectations, and acquired skills.

This is particularly essential as many schools are adopting middle school approaches or

philosophies.

Additionally, the chosen sample charactenstics are an intricate part of these findings.

This study was airned at providing greater insight into the responses of young, nual

adolescents in terms of their academic choices, occupational choices, and skill levels- Much of

the previous achievement-related research was conducted in larger, inner-city environrnents,

which may not be applicable to the cdtural realities of rural students.

Cognition refers to the strategies that a leamer uses when engaged in academic tasks, whïie

metacognition refers to one's awareness of these cognitions and the abiiity to exert control

over these strategies (Forrest-Pressley and Waller, 1984; cited by Juiiebo, Maliclq, &

N o m , 1998). Metacopnition involves a knowledge of when and how to use dBerent

learning strategies to actively pian, monitor, and control one's 1ea-g (Stahl, Simpson, &

Hayes, 1 992). Cognitive-based philosophies, such as metacognit ion, emphasize the

development of strategies for thinking and independent learning.

Criticai thinkhg is described as being composed of three principle elements: "(1) an attitude

of being disposed to consider in a thoughtfùi, perspective manner the problerns and subjects

that corne within one's range of expenences; (2) knowledge of the methods of logical inquiry

and reasoning; and (3) slcills in applying those methods. It means assessing the authenticity,

accuracy, and worth of knowledge claims, beliefs, or arguments" (Whitfield, 1995, p. 39).

Gender Identification is one's role defined according to social, cultural, and psychological

chamtenstics, whicb are shaped by traits, n o m , stereotypes, and expected roles (Doyle &

Paludi, 1 995).

Academic achievement for this study was defhed in terms of students' averages calculated

from their f ia l academic grades for each subject.

CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

Metacognitive S kills

Metacognition entails the use of systematic approaches to problem solvuig, along with

the reflection and evaluation of these thinking processes (Cardelie-Elawar, 1992). It is

comprised of a three stage hierarchical process involving minimal awareness, strategic use,

and reflection of the thinking processes (Swartz & Perkins, 1990). Minimal awareness

requires the identification and classification of the various thought processes. For example,

being able to recognize that a particular task involves comparing and contrasting or

predicting, comprises of awareness of the thought processes involved in executing a particular

task. Strategic thinking involves explicitly appiying a method of thinking or a plan to a

particuIar task. The strategic stage ufilizes more complex skiils than sirnply being aware of

the thought process. Thinking in a strategic manner requires the application of the thought

process by purposely articulating a plan of action and carrying it out in a systematic manner.

The utiiization of such strategies will ailow individuals to attend to their thoughts and

subsequently ûnprove their thought process. Reflective thinking involves being aware of how

we currently thhk and attempting to direct our thiaking according to weil thought-out plans

or ideas regarding how we shouid t h a . Reflective ttiinking is often executed through a

retrospective process that involves descniing what steps were taken to think through a

particular problem or issue and evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of this process. This

final stage is a vital component in the development of competent Ieamers, who are capable of

actively refiect on effective techniques to solve problems, making decisions, and engaging in a

v a ~ e t y of thought processes (Swartz & Perkuis, 1990). Garner (1987) argues that while

cognitive skills are essential in executing a given task metacognition is a key elemnt in

understanding how to cany out the task. The use of metacognition enables student s to

enhance their leaming through the use of regulation, strategy, and reflection (Shvin, 1997).

Various researchers define metacognitive awareness in terms of declarative,

procedural, and conditional divisions (Jacobs & Paris, 1987; Schraw & Moshman, 1995;

Schraw, 1998)- Awareness of our thought process is complex and more effectively

rationalized when d ~ d e d into the various types of awareness. These awareness types are

comprised of declarative, procedural, and conditional awareness. Declarative knowledge

requires individuah to be aware of their learning styles and the variety of factors that influence

one's achievement. Procedural knowledge allows individuals to perform tasks more

automaticaliy, as they typically have more strategies and are able to apply such strategies more

effectively. Conditional awareness requires one to know when certain strategies should be

used and why. One way procedural knowledge can be used to improve task efficiency is

through the use of chunking and categorizing information to aid recall. This is a practical

example of how procedurai knowledge can be used to improve one's memory performance.

Knowing when declarative and procedural knowledge shodd be utilized and why conditional

awareness is important will make it easier for students to cope and adapt to changing

situational demands (Schraw, 1 998).

Strategic use of thinkuig processes and reflective thinking cm be grouped under what

are sometimes referred to as regulatory processes. Regulating skilis depend on one's ability to

plan or select appropriate strategies, monitor or evaluate task comprehension and

performance, and evaluate task outcome and efficiency. Research indicates that these skiUs

generaliy develop with training and practice. In fact, Berieter and Scardamalia (1987) found

that the plamhg abiIity of d d e d d e r s developed throughout childhood and adolescence,

and improved drarnatically between the ages of ten and fourteen.

Being an effective pro blem solver involves the acquisition of certain metacognitive

skius, which the individual is able to generalize to various problem or situations and appLy in

a systemtic marner. Brown (1978) conducted a study to examine the strategic processes that

would help promote effective problem-solving skiils and found that there were a number of

contributhg factors. Essentially individuals m s t be aware of their lunits as a learner and the

strategies they have afready developed that have allowed them to solve previous problems,

including the appropriateness of the fit between a probiem and a given strategy. Leamers

have to become skilled in i d e n t w g the problem, selecting a plan, and initiating this plan

within a scheduled time fiame. Onçe the scheme is put hto place, learners must recognize

that monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of the solution is an important component of

the problem-solving process (Brown, 1978). The a b i w to determine if the problem bas been

solved effectively will help learners to acquire knowledge for friture problem-solving

situations.

Many researchers propose that these skills span a wide variety of subject areas and are

not as subject specific as cognitive skills (Scbraw, 1998; Wolters & Pintrich, 1998). However,

there are general metacognitive skills, as weii as subject-specific metacognitions. General

strategies that can be employed to Q r o v e learning in most tasks entail the identification of

main goals, self-monitoring, self-questioning, and self-assessrnent (Gourgey, 1998).

The literature indicates that there are various dzerences that distinguish effective £kom

non-effective leamers in terms of metacognitive abilities. Researchers have found that

c o ~ e t e n t students apply metacognitive skills to accurately estimate the amount of knowledge

that has been acquired, monitor current and continuous learning, update obtained knowledge,

and develop effective plans for acquiring new information (Baker, 1989; Brown & Campione,

1986; Garner & Alexander, 1989; Pressley & Ghatala, 1990). The importance of

acquiring such skills is accentuated when one considers the environment in which such skiiis

are acquired. CIassroom environments requue students to become proficient in a number of

&dl areas within a stnictured period of time. Under these conditions, students who are able

to utilize metacognitive skills are at an advantage in that they are able to evaluate what is

already hown and use that to incorporate recentiy acquired information (Bjork, 1994;

Davidson, Deuser, & Sternberg, 1994). In short, the most efficient way to merge new

information into our knowledge base is to draw upon what we already know.

The effect of students' cognitive abilities needs to be addressed to provide a persuasive

argument that metacognitive skilis enabIe students to be more effective and efficient learners.

The research suggests that proficiency in obtaining metacognitive skills does not arongly

depend on one's cognitive ability or IQ. It has been argued that IQ may have a greater impact

on skiii development in the initial stages; however, during the later stages of skill acquisition,

IQ is thought to exert far less influence. In fact, the use of effective strategies may

compensate for IQ, to a certain degree. Swanson (1 990) examined problem-solving skills in

fifth and sixth-grade students and found that students with high metacognitive sk& used

fewer strategies, but were more effective problem solvers than students with low

metacognitive skills, regardless of ability level. This suggests that overall metacognitive skilis

may compensate for IQ and cm contniute to problem-solving abilities (Swanson, 1 990).

Whüe metacognition and intelligence have a siight positive correlation, the two do not appear

to be strongly correlated (Alexander, C m , Schwanenflugel, 1995). This Uriplies that a hi&

IQ is not necessary to attain metacognitive skills.

Meta- Memorv

Much of the early research on metacognition has been conducted in the area of

memory. This interest was greatly generated by a quest for deeper understanding into how

the various memory processes operate. There are many cognitive components involved in

memory activities, such as encoding and retrieving information, rehearsal of infûrmatïon in

one's short-term memory, and use of memory strategies, along with many others (Phye &

Andre, 1986). The study of such processes are complex due to the fact that many are

conceptuaiized differently depending on the fonn and stage of memory to which one is

referring. For example, they difEer depending on whether short-term memory or long-term

memoiy processes are involved and whether one is referrïng to memoiy for factual knowledge

or memory encompassing persona1 or meaningful events.

Flavell and WellmRn (1977) classified metarnemory into two main categories:

sensitivity and variables. Sensitivity relates to the leamers' understanding of the moa

appropnate way of approaching a situation. For example, knowuig which memory strategies

would be most instrumental when studying a particular content area may inrprove the learner's

chances for executing the task successfùlly. The sensitivity category was divided into two

sub-categones which embody elicited and spontaneous activities. Elicited activities involve all

those activities leamers engage in when asked to retrieve information fiom memory or given

the insight that fùture retneval wiil be necessary. Spontaneous activities are those that the

leamer will engage in spontaneously because of the underlying assumption that these activities

will help them with retieval process (Phye & Andre, 1986).

The variables category is characterized as a preexisting knowledge of certain factors

which may benefit the leamer in memory tasks. For example, discerning that it is easier to

recall main ideas fkom a passage rather than word for word detail would improve one's abiiity

to recali more information. As with the sensitivity category, the variables category is divided

into four sub-categories. The sub-categories are comprised of person, task, strategy, and the

interaction among these variables. Siniply defined person variables include all those personal

attributes that irnpact data retrieval; task variables are the qualities of the task itself; strategy

variables are the methods in which information is stored and retrieved; and interaction

variables take into account that the leamers actions in a particular setting are a f'ûnction of

what is known about the task and strategy variables classes (Phye & Andre, 1986).

Overali, the research on metamemory indicates that there is a positive correlation with

developmental age. This simply means that, as learners mature, so do their general knowledge

of various memory fiinctions and their understanding of the types of strategies that will

enhance the encoding and retrieval processes. Research has found that young children

typically do not differentiate between requests that instruct them to memorize information for

firture recall and instructions to simply examine information carefuily (Appel, Cooper,

McCarreil, Sims-Wight, Yussen, & Flavell, 1972).

Yussen and Levy (1 975) investigated students' understanding of their abilities and

limitations with regard to their memory. This was accomplished through the use of a picture

task in which the participants were shown a number of pictures to be remembered and asked

to recall them in sequence. M e r each correct response, the task would increase in difficulty.

For example, if two picture items could be accurately recalled, the examiners would continue

to add pictures until the sequence reached a number that would be qute diacuit to remember

(approximately ten pictures). The participants were age four, eight, and twenty. It was found

that older participants made more accurate predictions than younger participants who tended

to overestimate their memory spans (Yussen & Levy, 1975).

Comparable results were found when researchers examined students' ability to

recognize how the relationships between items affect the retrieval of information. Moynahan

(1973) found that third and fifth graders were significantly more likely than £ïrst graders to

recognize that it would be easier to recali categorized items than unrelated items. Studies

examining the complexity of the strategies used at various ages have revealed two major

flndings. Older students were more likely to select a greater number of effective and elaborate

strategies than were younger students (Pessley & Levin, 1977). However, it should also be

noted that even older students are not always able to predict the types of strategies that are

likely to improve retention levels (Hale, 1983).

Overali, metacognitive skills are an important part of memory acquisition and general

academic success. It permits individuals to successfuliy employ memory strategies, as it

enables students to review their compreheasion of previously obtained information and

evaluate their effectiveness in reaching set goals. Vadhan and Stander (1993) found that

students with higher grades were better able to predict how well they would perform on a

regular classroom exam. Students with higher grades had more knowledge of their abilities

and Limitations. In general high metacognitive skills were found to be correlated with high

academic performance.

Reading & Metacognition.

Researchers recently began to focus more on reading strategies as opposed to simply

studying reading skih. The attention was refocused due to the recognition that reading

coqrehension is influenced by the reader's interaction with the text. Reading skills denote a

more passive roIe. Sùnply making reference to skilis does not take into account the impact

that the control and selection of certain strategies, which are intended to reach a particular

goal (Le. to understand the main idea or remember specific details), can have on one's

comprehension. According to this h e of thought, skills are more automatic while strategies

require the dehierate irriplementation. However, strategies are also considered to be more

efficient and developmentaiiy advanced ifthey become more autornated comparable to one's

skills (Paris, Wasik, & Turner, 199 1; Carre& Gajdusek, & Wise, 1998). In summary, the

more that metacognitive skills are practiced, the more efficient one will be at applying these

strategies. However, regardless of how automtic this process becomes, it stili orighates

ftom one's effort to exert deliberate control over one's reading comprehension.

Metacognitive strategies in reading require one to be aware of what needs to be

executed in order to effectively perform a particular task, which are comparable to the

strategies used in other topical areas. This evaluation will allow the reader to know what

steps should be taken based on the complexity of the task and their reading skilis. The most

important metacognitive skills for readers to have are knowledge and control. Knowledge

and control refers to the knowledge Leamers have regarding their resources and their reading

reguiation. This encompasses ski.& such as detecting contradictions, the use of different

strategies with dflerent types of texts, and discriminating essential fkom nonessential details

(CarreU et al., 1998).

Block (1 986) conducted a study with first-year university students enroiied in a

remdial reading program for nonproficient readers. The participants included both native and

nonnative English speaking students. Closer examination of this sampie revealed that tbere

were several dserences between the more successful and less successful readers. Block

(1986) descnied these characteristics according to the foilowing categories: the integration of

information (integrators); recognition of aspects of text structure; use of general knowledge,

personal experiences, and associations; and relation to the text in an affective and persona1

manner (reflexive mode) versus an atternpt to understand what the author is trying to Say

(extensive mode). The more successfbl readers were those who integrated information, were

able to recognize aspects of text structure, responded to the text in an extensive mode, and

were consistently and effectively monitoring their understanding of the text. The less

successfùi readers did not demonstrate this same profile. The more successfùl readers made

greater progress in advancing their reading skilis, as weil as theïr general overali acadeniic

skills (cited by Carrell et. al., 1998). Additionally, Ehrlich, Kurtz-Costes, and Loridant (1993)

found that good readers who ako had good metacognitive skïlls and better word recognition

skius, were more likely to attribute their academic success to their ability level.

On a cautionary note, the relationship between strategies and reading comprehension

is of greater complexity. There are also a number of studies to indicate that the use of certain

reading strategies does not insure readuig success, jus as the use of ineffective strategies does

not equate to failure (Carrell et al., 1998). Anderson (1991) did not find a simple correlation

between strategies and reading success. It was found that students with English as a second

language having high and low comprehension did not differ with regard to the types of

strategies they used, but rather with the number of strategies that were applied and the abiiity

to apply these in a strategic manner (Anderson, 199 1). Therefore, knowledge of effective

çtrategies is not sufIicient to produce successful readers; they rrnist also be able to monitor

how and when to apply these strategies.

Sioiilar findings were obtained with students who have English as a first language. It

was found that college students who took a more active role in their reading were more

successful readers than those who were much more passive (Long & Long, 1987). Being an

active reader almost necessitates the use of selfquestionhg strategies. The technique of self-

questioning helps leamers to discem what is not known and assists them in deciding what

strategies should be implemented to improve their understanding of the text. It has also been

found that while others can question readers on material content, the most effective questions

are those that the reader is able to internally generate (Wagner & Sternberg, 1984).

Feieter and HelIekson (1993) conducted a study with at-risk first graders who were

identified as below-average readers. The purpose of the study was to deterrnine ifinstructing

these first graders on paraphrasing and self-verbalization techniques would ïmprove their

reading skills and achievement. Paraphrasing was defined as reflectïng on statements made by

others and restating these words into their own declaration. Further, verbalizing required

them to think out loud under the direction of their teacher. It was hypothesked that increased

use of metacognitive awareness, devetoped by this instruction, would help students be more

effective in attending to discussions, utiliziag problem solMg techniques, and choosing

appropriate reading strategies. Two experimental and one control group were designed to

test these bypotheses. The first treatment group received paraphrasing insmiction throughout

the whole year, the second treatment group received training only in the second semester, and

the third group acted as a control and did not receive any additional instructional training.

The results indicated thaî the treatment groups receiving the metacognitive training were more

effective than the control group that ody received the basic ski11 instruction (Feitler et al.,

1993) .

Further exploration revealed that the second treatment group was more effective than

the first treatment group. This suggests that receiving metacognitive training rnay prove to be

more effective when students alteady have some preexisting reading knowledge or skilis. AU

chiIdren in the experimental group achieved passing scores on the reading test, while only one

child fiom the control group passed. Observations revealed that those children who received

metacognitive training were more iikely to self-correct in oral reading exercises, perfom

better on cloze tasks, and were more independent when engaging in comprehension activities

(Feitler et al., 1993).

Metacornition & Math.

Once students have acquired the basic mathematical skills, the same metacognitive

principles used in reading are applicable when solving mathematical problem. These

metacognitive skills are more global in nature as oppose to subject-specific strategies.

However, math is generaily a subject area that is more easily conceptualized in terms of

problem solving. Mayer (1987) outiined an extensive mode1 that reviewed four types of

processes that individuals mst utilize to solve mathematical problems. These processes

include translation, integration, p 1 a n . g and monitoring, and solution execution. The first

stage requires individu& to comprehend the Linguistics and translate one's factual knowledge.

The second stage involves an integration of the information which is organized into a

mathematical representation necessaiy to approach the problem. The third stage involves

pflaMiog and monitoring that will d o w the individual to employ a step-by-step process that

focuses on the necessary strategies for problem solving. The solution execution is the fuial

stage and requires the individual to draw upon their procedural knowledge to cany out

arithmetic rules and calculations. In sunnnaiy, mdents' abilities to solve problems may be

iiuiluenced by their ability to understand the words, recognize the type of problem, monitor the

process and carry out the calculations (Mayer, 1987).

Schoenfe1d's (1985) observations of how groups of coilege students solve faniiliar

m t h problems revealed that these students would generaily elect a problem solving method

without participating in any form of discussion. Additionally, when the first problem-solvuig

method did not work, these students simply abandoned this thought process without any

retflect ion on the positive and negative aspects of their decision-making process (Sc hoenfeld,

1985). Despite the fact that the students had the necessary skills to solve these problems, they

were unable to solve fkdiar probiems because of their inability to employ the necessary

mietacognitive strategies to assist them in their mathematical problem solving. Many of these

same students were high mathematics achievers, which may Lead us to question how it is

possible that students with high skiii levels were unable to solve famiiiar problems. The

answer to this complex issue is fairly simplistic. Most academic testing is done in individual

units that examine particular skills. This allows students to apply procedures in a mechanical

manner without necessarily having an understanding of when and why such strategies should

be applied (Schoenfeld, 1 985).

Gourgey's (1998) fùidings were consistent with earlier findings, which suggested that

students tend to respond to problems without considering the steps that need to be taken and

the appropnate operations that should be performed. These students found it difficult to

apply metacognitive strategies and had d icu l ty reflecting on their errors without the

provision of extemal resources. Even when these students were provided with questions they

could ask themselves to help direct their thought process, many still began calculations

without stopping to consider their responses or foiiow through on the questions. According

to Gourgey (1998), these students are iike many other leamers. They are passive learners

who do not understand how to be more active and are ofien reluctant to change their work

habits. For this reason, programs intended to improve metacognitive skills would be most

beneficial with the provision of greater initial support, with the gradua1 removal of that

support once students are capable of exerting more self-regdation. This permits students to

obtain a strong grasp of these skills and eventually apply these skills independently.

Leaniing to think independently is an essential component in soiving mathematical

problems, which is ofien problematic for low achievers. Students who are unclear about what

strategies should be executed to find mathematical solutions are also generaily unable to

articulate what steps were used to reach these solutions. Therefore, it is essential for

classroom teachers to emphasize the necessity of planning and monitoring one's learning, as

well engaging in regular assessments of one's knowledge base. These assessrnents should

involve a review of not only what is not known, but also the current knowledge base that can

be drawn upon as a resource (Borkowski, 1987).

Cardelle-Elawar (1 992) conducted a study to examine the effects of metacognitive

mathematicai training with low-ability grade six students. A pivotal part of the metacognitive

instruction involved having teachers provide students with constructive feedback with respect

to their problem-so1.g process. This feedback helped students to idenw errors and

provided direction toward self-correction. Through the use of questioning, teachers

anempted to elicit nom the students what key errors were made, why they were made, how to

avoid these errors, and parts of the process that were done weil or appropriately. It was

found that after receiving training and feedback, these students were better able to understand

how to approach various problems, idente and organize information, recognize various

problem-solving strategies, and how to check or verfi their responses. These findings have

severai substantial implications- It suggests that more emphasis needs to be placed on how

individuai students learn, that they l e m best when provided with positive feedback and

direction, that those with lower ability need more structure, and that increased interaction with

the teacher is beneficial when students begin developing these skilis. The most effective

Iearning takes place when students practice thinking and do not siniply apply procedures in a

rote fashion (Cardelle-Elawar, 1992).

Metaconnition & Wntine,

It has been proposed that there are three major processes involved in writing (Flower

& Hayes, 1980). These processes are comprised of planning, translating, and reviewhg. The

planning stage requires the wrïter to examine or refiect on various aspects of the writing task,

such as their knowledge of the topic, the goals of the task, and how these goals could be

reached. Once the planning is completed, the writer can then transform these thoughts into

written text. Tramforming is a complex process that requires the writer to attend to various

Ievels of writing. Levels could involve basic text, paragraphs, sentences or syntax, and

individual words or spelling. Once the writer has completed an outline or draft of his or her

ideas, reviewing wül help to evaluate how well the goals have been met and c m idente errors

for editing purposes (Flower & Hayes, 1980). The wrïting processes are likely to be enhanced

when approached in a systematic manner that draws upon the individual's reflection and

evduation skills.

Harris and Graham (1985) conducted a shidy to teach students some key aspects of

composing a quality piece of writing. The participants included twelve-year-old learning

disabled students who had signilicant difnculty with writing composition. Engaging in

thinking exercises, practicing tiequently, and obtainuig regular feedback enhanced bo th the

productMty and quality of the students' writing. The object of these activities is to have

students reflect on their writkg practices.

Reflective writïng activities can also assist in the development of metacognitive skiils

in general, Some researchers have chosen to investigate student's metacognitive awareness by

having them engage in journal writing activities. Journal writing cm serve a number of

purposes. Wnting dows others to gain hsight into one's thoughts; however, Mting

activities are ais0 thought to promote and provoke thinking with continual practice. Feathers

and White (1987) found that askhg students to reflect on their academic course work through

writing exercises helped them to become more metacognitively aware of their readiog and

learning practices.

Cultural and FamiIy Influences on Metacornitive - Develo~ment.

Bruno and Men (1992) exarnined metacognitive skills, also known as higher order

thinking skih in the literanire, in a select sample of ethnic minority students in an urban inner-

city high school. The findings indicated that there were several factors involved in their

problem-solving process. Before beginning to solve a problem, the students reviewed their

knowledge and use of processes aimed at helping them to figure out what to do. Students

would then reflect on their weakuesses related to solving the given problem Upon

completion of the problem, the solutions were checked for accuracy. However, it was found

that these students did not rnonitor their actions before or during the problem solving process.

Bruno et al. (1992) attempted to account for the results found with this population of

students. These fidings were based on two premkes: (a) the items on the utilized scale may

not have provided an accurate representation of these monitoring skills or (b) the results may

siniply be a product of the sample. It may be that this manner of responding to problems is

unique to the sample population chosen and explained by factors related to their ethnicity

(Bruno et al., 1992).

Wang (1993) examined cultural-familal predictors of children's metacognitive and

academic pedormance with a sample of Caucasian, Hispanic, and Mcan-Amencan children

in second grade. Fùidings indicated that although the Caucasian and Hispanic students had

higher mean scores than the Afncan-Amencan students, the difference was due to the

students' socio-economic status (SES) and not their ethnicity. This hding is consistent with

earlier Literature that proposed that metacognitive development is largely a product of social

construction in early childhood. Additionally, those chiidren fiom higher SES families were

more iikely to have parental involvement in completing homework tasks. Parental

involvement was also found to be a strong predictor of children's metacognitive development.

This study provides strong support for arguments in favor of providing more explicit

metacognitive experiences within the classroom enviromnt (Wang, 1993). If many young

chiidren do not have the support needed to develop such skills, than educators may k d it

necessary to supplement this support.

Critical Thinkùie & Problem Solviog

Schools are focused on facikathg the development of critical thinking skills which

encourage students to take responsibility for their thinking by becoming cognizant of their

thinking process, as well as that of others. A critical thinker does not passively accept content

material as fact, but rather is able to employ reason and judgment in evaluating material to

determine the content's validity. This process of critiquing material encourages learners to

reject poor reasoning and accept strong reasoning through the use of a number of identifiable

skills (Paul, Binker, Jensen, Kreklau, 1987). Such skills would include: discounting reasons

and evidence that are irrelevant to the conclusion; actively making underlying assumptions

explicit and evaluating them; rejecting unwarranted inferences; and distinguishing what is

known fkom what is suspected to be true. This is carried out by making use of the best and

most complete information available, &g relevant distinctions, and clar@ïng any

misconceptions. In contrast, students who do not employ critical thinking ski& often accept

or reject conclusions without assessing or understanding the basis of their decisions (Paul et

al., 1987).

Ennis (1996) discusses critical thinking in t e m of six primary elements. These

elernents include focus, reason, inference, situation, clanty, and o v e ~ e w , which he labeled as

the FRISCO Approach. Although this approach is intended to be a stage theory to critical

thinking, it is recognized that it is not necessary for individuals to move through the stages in

a Iinear fashion. Sometimes the thought process wili be foiiowed through in a sequential

order, but at other times decisions wiii be made by moving in and out of the various stages.

As a generai rule, the stages would be foilowed according to the order provided; however,

this mode1 can ako provide a usefil checklist for cntical thinking. Regardless of the current

stage the individual is in, it may be important to reconsider the focus at various points

throughout this process andor it may be necessary to periodicaliy conduct an overview of the

information known to date in order to keep the facts organkd (Ennis, 1996).

A bnef sumrnary of the elements involved in each of these stages helps to clarify the

thuiking process involved in effective problem solving. In the focus stage of the thought

process, an individuai would aaempt to define the main point, issue, question, or problem to

present a possible conclusion. Ident-g a conclusion right away will be a substantial

component in determining how the argument is progressing, in deciding how the various

pieces of the argument fit together, and in making decisions conceming the relative weight or

importance that should be assigned to each piece of information. The second component of

this mode1 involves the identification of various reasons given in support of the argument,

dong with an evaluation of the merits of these reasons. When m a h g a decision as to the

effectiveness of these arguments, the individual will generate his or her own reasons in a pro

and con format and engage in an evaluation process to find support for the conclusion @mis,

19%).

The inference stage buiids upon the reasoning stage. In this stage, the individuai is

responsible not only for judging whether the reason(s) are acceptable, but once acceptability

has been established, he or she must also judge whether the reason(s) are sufficient to establish

the conclusion. Ennis (1996) has suggested that the inference stage should be conducted in

terms of asking oneseifif there is a plausible alternative tci the conclusion. The situation stage

stresses the contention that individuals must take into account the fact that decisions do not

take place in isolation. Some general situation may exert importance on that decision and

provide some comprehensive niles for making the judgment.

Finaiiy, the fïfth stage involves ch@ïng any points that may possibly be a source of

confusion within the argument. For example, this could involve drawing distinctions between

terms that may have various interpretations to avoid any confllsion, The overvïew stage

requires the individual to review all the information including what he or she has discovered,

decided, considered, leamed, and/or inferred. This stage should enable the individual to piece

together aii of the available information and determine whether it makes sense (Ennis, 1 996).

Educators now recognize that critical thinking skills can be taught and reùiforced;

however, chiidren c m also be taught to passively accept the word of authority without

question. Therefore, it is becoming increasingly apparent to educators that while intellectual

development should be fostered, the process by which students employ their inteliectual skiUs

should not be ignored. Cntical thinking is an important skili for ali children and adolescents to

develop as individuals. Those who passively accept authonty become highly susceptfile to

manipulation, siniply acceptirtg all information without any strong confirmation. Not teaching

individuals to properly apply their intellectual skills runs the nsk that the more successful

students wilI become intelligent manipulators rather than fair-minded thinkers. To prevent

such outcomes, educators need to begin building a healthy foudation in early childhood to

foster the development of children with united cognitive and affective goals who are able to

think for themselves in an ethicaliy responsible way (Paul et al., 1987).

Encouraging critical thinkùig in students requires educators to focus on the

development of attitudes, strategies, and skilis. It is essential that students adopt some very

fiindamental attitudes conceming bow to approach information, such as adopting the belief

that the most effective decisions will resuit from questionhg and evaluating rather than relying

on trial and error methods. This encourages students to evaluate issues in a cntical m e r

and accept conchisions only after behg convinced with facts, valid arguments, and justifiable

conclusions. Students have to be encouraged to carefully evaluate their thoughts,

observations, and activities to ensure that meanin@ data is not overlooked or omitted.

Having an objective attitude is also an important component of leming to think criticaliy.

Examinhg information objectively means that the individuai attempts to gather data without

bias, that is, coilecting data without simply just@ing unreasonably what one wants to believe.

Additionaliy, recogoinng that every effect has a cause and that no effect is present without an

antecedent WU aid students in the critical thinking process. This is referred to as universal

determhism (DeNitto & Strickland, 1987).

Encouraging the development of certain attitudes is consequential but these attitudes

must also be accompanîed by certain thinking strategies. Two such strategy paradigms

discussed in the literature are the Givens-Operations-Goals and the Scientific Method

paradigm. The Givens-Operations-Goals paradigm discusses the use of critical thinking in

three stages. The "Givens" encompass the initial problems which are present in the face of

situational confines and limitations. The "Operations" stage involves solutional paths that iïnk

the problems (givens) to the goal. This mode1 refers to goals in tenns of the desired outcorne.

Although in some instances cntical thinking skiils will be required to define the initial

problems, the majority of these skills wilI be used when develophg solutions to reach the goal.

Some of these skills will involve c1-g the goai, hypothesinng possible solutions, data

gathering, and flexibilty in rno-g and confimring any hypotheses @eNitto & Stnckland,

1987).

The second paradigm, the Scientific Method, is a well known and widely used mode1

of cntical thinking. This is a five step liuear mode1 which helps to conceptualize a cntical

approach to problem solving- These steps include problem identification, the generation of a

possible hypothesis to explain the problem, the gathering of data for a meticulous examination

of the problem and the validity of the generated hypothesis, acceptance or rejection of the

hypothesis, and finally, remedy any possible discrepancies and solve the problem @eNitto &

Strickland, 1987).

A third important component of teaching critical thinking involves teaching thinking

skills. There is an important distinction between thinking strategies and thinking skills, which

can be clarified through an examination of these concepts. Thinking strategies involve generai

plans for moving toward solutions, whiie thinking skills are the mental operations that allow

the individual to move toward and reach the solution. A deeper understanding of critical

thinking entails an understanding of the various skilis involved in such processes (DeNitto &

Strickland, 1987).

Three critical thinking skills which are essential components in moving these solutions

forward include observations, inductive reasoning, and deductive reasoning. Observations are

an intricate part of the critical thinkiug process as they facilitate the problem identification and

definition phase, as well as support ail other aspects of the critical thinking process.

Observing necessitates a more extensive and complex process than sinrply looking at surface

qualities of certain phenomena. Observations require individuals to denve deeper

understanding through an evaluation process that requires one to distinguish between relevant

and irrelevant information, for the purpose of identifjing the information that does and does

not support the solution (DeNitto & Stickland, 1987).

Induction is a s a in which an individual makes an observation and then infers what is

true of that event or phenomena may hold true for all similar events or phenomena The

individual uses a specinc and linrited observation to make a probable conclusion. Unlike

inductive thinking, deduction is not based on direct observations. Deduction begins with a

generalized statement and uses this to move to a specinc logicd conclusion. Individuais using

either methods must be cognizant of the weaknesses involved in using inductive and deductive

reasoning. Being aware of these limitations can reduce the probability of making erroneous

conclusions,

Inductive reasoning can lead to errors if individuals attempt to over-generalize

observations. Over-generalization can occur if too few members or events are observed

and/or by use of a sample that is not representative. Errors in deductive reasoning occurs

when the correct process is utilized but an untrue premise is used as the basis for drawing the

conclusion. For example, an individual could am with a specific generalization that ail birds

fly, then proceed by recognizing that an ostrich is a bird, and therefore concIuding that an

ostrich can fly. Aithough he or she applied the correct strategy for reaching the conclusion,

the wrong conclusion was derived because it was based on an incorrect premise (DeNitto &

Strickland, 1987).

The attainment of critical thinking skilis is important within an academïc setting but

can ako have important implications for making personal and vocational decisions. In today's

job market, many employers are seeking individuals who are effective problem solvers.

Therefore, early development of such skills will be important in effectively preparing young

adolescents to work in such environnients. In fact, there are growing concems froom the

public domain, including prospective employers, that students are not acquiring the skills to

think cnticaily. From this perspective, it is thought that students are being taught to conform

and leam facts that may not be particularly useful or generalized in employment situations

@eNitto & Strïckland, 1987). Critical thinkùig will be important when making critical

decisions. However, regardless of the signifcance of the decision to be made, the best

decisions wiii be made through the generation of a number of possible solutions and the

systematic selection among these choices (Ennis, 1 996).

Hudgins and Edelman (1988) conducted a study with fourth and fifth grade students to

determine how providing training in self-directed thinkuig would influence their problem

solving skills. Foilowing training, it was found that these students were more effective in

attacking new problems, were able to utilize a greater amount of relevant information to

assist them in their probfem solving efforts, and offered better responses than those students

who did not receive the critical tfiinking training. These students were compared to students

of equal ability who did not receive any specialized training in critical thinkiag skiiis (Hudgins

& Edelman, 1988).

Hudgins, Riesemy, Mitchelle, Klein, and Navarro (1994) examined the difference

between elementary school students' problem solving abilities in science in relation to t heû

critical thinlcing skills. The fkst group of students were taught self-directive cntical thinking

skills; the second group were taught science skills under the direction of their teacher; and the

third group acted as a control group and were not taught critical thinking skiils or science

skilis. The purpose of this study was to provide some answers to a long standing debate

regarding the benefits of teaching thinking skills as opposed to emphasizing content matenal.

One extreme position in this debate is that students will l e m to think iike a scientist by

studying science. However, the other position holds that it is more beneficial to teach

students thinking skiils as they cm be applied to any subject area. While this argument is

oversiniplified, it does provide a relative o v e ~ e w of where the extreme positions stand in this I

c o n t i n u ~ ~ ~ l The findings indicated that, when presented with new problems, the students who

were taught self-directive thinlong skills were better able to solve unfhdïar science problems.

However, the group that were provided with the science skills outperformed the control

group when presented with new problems (Hudgins et al., 1994). This suggests that having

an existing knowledge base helps students to acquire new but related forms of information and

cntical thinking skiiis.

Gadzelta, Ginther, and Bryant (1997) used grade point averages to determine how

high achieving university students dEered from Low achieving university students with regard

to seif-regulated leamhg or critical thinking skills. It was predicted that students who were

high achievers or those earning a grade of "A" wouid be more likely to be characterized by

self-regulated learning when compared to Iow achieving or "Cu students, It was found that

critical thinking was the best predictor that discrirninated between the two groups of students.

The A students had higher mean scores on all the Watson-GIaser Critical Thinking Appraisal

and had significantly higher scores on three of the subtests. Students with higher grade point

averages were more accurate in the inference, deductions, and ioterpretations they made f?om

the given information (Gadzella et al., 1997). These findings are consistent with previous

studies suggesting that a positive relationship exists between critical thinking skilis and

achievement (McCuthcheon, Apperson, Hanson, Wynn, 1992).

Gender & Gender Role Identification.

Whiie attaining particular skilis is an important component in academic achievement,

how learners perceive their role also contniutes tu students' achievement levels. There are

many researchers who have examined differences in various academic and nonacademic areas

according to gender. Beyond simply hding differences between males and femaies; some

researchers have sought to explain these dinerences in terms of one's socially created gender

identity. These researchers propose that it is not sufficient to simply explain these differences

in terms of biological sex difierences.

Although gender and sex are ofien used interchangeably, there is an important

distinction that needs to be made between the use of these tenns. Sex refers to two mutualiy

exclusive and unchangeable biological categorîes, namely male and female, whereas gender is

defïned according to social, cultural, and psychological aspects that pertain to the traits,

norms, stereotypes, and roles of women and men (Doyle & Paludi, 1995). The complexhy of

these factors, which combine to define one's gender identity, influences the development of

beliefs and prejudices that can impact upon many aspects of an individual's We, including

one's academic identity. Therefore, exarnining the role that gender plays in academic success

may be a necessary component in understanding achievement, particularly in adolescence

when awareness of sex stereotypes increases (Skaalvik, IWO).

Societal standards often have very different expectations and/or dernands for males

and females. For example, males are typically taught to value qualities such as achievement,

competition, autonomy, and independence while females are taught to value qualities such as

sensitivity, passivity, confomity, and relatedness to others (KIeinplats, Mccarrey, & Kateb,

1992). This is problematic as researchers have found that many of the characteristics

commoniy associated with the masculine stereotypes are more likely to be regarded as

fkvorable, sociaily desirable, or positively valued (Kleinplatz et al., 1992).

Long-standing difEerences exist between women and men with regard to their

participation in various occupational and educational fields. These dgerences pertain to the

types of occupations chosen by men and women and the degree to which each sex is

represented within various occupations. Research indicates that men and womed generaiiy

continue to chose different educational and occupational programs. Women continue to be

underrepresented in many hi&-statu occupational fields especially those fields associated

with physical science, engineering, and applied mathematics ficcles, 1987). Studies that have

examhed occupational choices of gifted students have found that the number of males who

planned to pursue careers in mathematics and science was twice as great as the number of

females with the same occupationai intentions (Benbow, 1988; Benbow & Minor, 1986). This

suggests that even fernales with high levels of ability still tend to concentrate in what have

been deerned predominately female occupations. This trend has lead researchers to question

why men and women chose different occupations.

Enrobent in mathematics and scientific courses increases the breadth of future career

attainment and opportunities. How ever, previous research has in0icat ed that females are less

likely than males to enroll in such courses during their adolescent years. More recently

research has suggested that female enrollment is increasing in math and science related areas,

which have prompted some expectations that efforts to decrease the gender gap have been

successfuL Despite these proniising results, Meece and Jones (1 996) suggest that educators

need to do more than simply increase access to such courses, as a failure to change male

dominated teaching styles will lead fernaIes to pay a high price for their achievement in

mathematics and science classes in tenns of their confidence and self-esteem

Fear of failure is one area which has been examined with regard to fernale

achievement. Fear of faiure is defbed as a feu of not reaching a particular goal and

subsequently affects one's ab* to successfuiiy achieve one's goals. Although both males

and females often experience such fear when faced with situational demands, research

continues to indicate that f e d e s are more often adversely aected in cornparison to their

male counterparts. In fact, males typicaily display more confidence in their achievement

abilities than females. Sherman (1987) found that males exhibit more confidence in their

mathematical and spatial perception skilis. Such confidence promoted their achievement and a

greater willingness to set further goals in mathematics, despite the fact that their achievernent

Level is often overestimated, Males' overestimation and females' underestimation of their

ability in mathematical and science reiated areas are likely influenced by sex role expectations

which accompany these domains (Sherman, 1987). Such hdings are problematic as females'

fear of failure in traditional male domains may negatively impact their ability to set goals in

these areas and limZt their overall achievement levels-

Sometimes, school enviroments c m reinforce such gender-related perceptions. An

examination of classroom dynamics indicate that teachers pose more chalIenging questions to

boys than girls, waft longer for boys to answer, give more encouragement and feedback to

males, are more likely to show recognition for answers provided by male students, initiate

more contact with niale students, and are more likely to call on males to perform classroom

demonstrations (cited by Meece & Jones, 1996). These findings indicate that women are

often treated differently and in ways which may be perceived as unfair. The lack of

encouragement, challenge, and opportunity to express opinions may lead to a decrease in

fermies confidence in their ability to meet academic challenges.

An important cornponent in any leaming environment is the established cornfort level

of students to engage in an interactive leaming environment. Part of this engagement involves

feeling cornfortable to ask questions in such an environment. Questions serve important

educational functions, such as enabling individuals to seek information, obtain clarification,

and receive conformation (Daly, Kreiser, & Roghaar, 1994). This is important as classroorn

environrnents are becoming more interactive and a willingness to ask questions is positively

correlated with academic performance (Ddy, et aL, 1994).

Daly et al. (1994) found a signincant correlation between question-asking cornfort and

gender, with males being more likely than females to engage in question-asking. This places

males in a distinct educational advantage in the classroom Question-asking provides males

with the opportunity to build better interpersonal relationships with their teachers and more

opportunities to actively conf?ont their academic material. Other researchers have suggested

that the effect that gender has on question-asking may be due to the role that self-esteem plays

in this process. However, when Daly et aL (1994) conducted further analysis and controiied

for self-esteem, gender remained statistically significant, although the effect was much smaller.

Eccles (1994) provides a detailed explanation of how the choices are made and the

factors influencing men and women's achievement-related decisions. According to this model,

viewîng gender dBerences in terms of choice requires one to consider the range of possible

choices that are available to individuais. When making choices, individuals rarely consider the

full range of possibilities, perhaps because they are unaware that these choices ex& or the

choices are not viewed as realistic. Misinformation regarding the existence of choices or one's

perceptions of his or her ability to achieve the goal may cause certain options to be viewed as

uarealistic. Choices may also be perceived as unrealistic if they do not fit with one's gender

role schema. Gender role schema are certain characteristics or traits that individuals have

been socialized to believe as being characteristic of one sex (Doyle & Paludi, 1995). It is

thought that individuals will accept activities that are consistent with their gender role schema,

while rejecting those activities that do not fit with their gender role perceptions (Eccles,

1994). At a ver ' young age, chitdren have clearly dehed roles regarding what consists of

appropriate behaviors and traits for each sex and have been found to monitor their behaviors

according to these stereotypes (Huston, 1983).

Literature in the area of gender Merences is diverse, and whiie many studies sight

significant gender diEerences, there are many others that have found no evidence of gender

dserences. Studies that have unveiled gender difEerences generaily indicate that youog males

and females hold different expectations for success in various academic subjects and

occupations (Eccles, Adler, & Meece, 1984; Eccles, 1989; Eccles, Wigfield, Flmagm, Miiler,

Reuman, & Yee, 1989; Eccles, Wigfield, Harold, & Blmenfeld, 1993; Wigfield, Eccles,

MacIver, Reuman, & Midgley, 1991). In contrast, other findings suggested that males and

females do not differ in their perceptions and expectations of competency in various areas

(Dauber, & Benbow, 1990; Benbow & Stanley, 1982; Tidweil, 1980). Although difEerences

between the sexes are not always evident, it is necessary to understand the reasons for

dserences when they have been found to exist in our culture.

The value that an individual attaches to a particular task is thought to influence the

types of educational and vocational choices that are made. The assignment of value to such

tasks has been found to be rnediated by gender perceptions. Eccles et al. (1984) found that

senior high students' decisions to enter advance mathematics courses were influenced by

gender-generated values. These females were inclined to feel that math was iess important,

useful, or enjoyable than the males in their sampk. Another study with elementary school

students indicated that even though males and females rated themselves equaliy in ternis of

expected mathematical success, fernales reported Likuig math less and rated it as less useful

than d e s (Eccles & Harold, 1 992).

Additional studies have also yielded similar hdings. Benbow and S tadey (1 984)

asked gifted boys and girls to iist their occupational interests or coiiege majors and found that

the girls were more likely to value traditional female roles or occupations and males were

more likely to select male-dominated professions. For example, girls rated domestic,

secretaial artistic, biological science, medicai, and social semice professions as more

desirable occupations than d e s . Males generally expressed greater interest in higher-status

and business-related occupations. Additionally, they expressed particular interest in the

physical sciences, engineering, and the &ary (Benbow & Stanley, 1984).

Dauber and Benbow (1990) asked gifted boys and girls to indicate the types of

activities in which they enjoyed partîcipating. Boys indicated that they spent most of their

time engaged in sports, working with machines and tools, and involved with scientific, math-

related and/or electronic hobbies. In contrast, the girls indicated that they spent more t h e

than boys reading, writing, and participating in a variety of activities related to arts and crafis,

domestic skills, and drama (Dauber & Benbow, 1990) . Once again, the choseo activities cm

be organized according to gender related stereotypes.

Eccles and her coileagues suggea that the value assigned to a task is an important

factor in determinhg whether one will chose to engage in a particular activity. This value can

be detemiined by a number of factors, including how the activity fits with one's long-tem

goals, intrinsic interest in the task, how consistent the task is with one's image (attainment

value), and the cost of engaging in the activity. The last two factors are directly influenced by

the value individuals place on them through gender role identification. Attainrnent value refers

to how an activity is able to meet the needs and personal values tbat enable an individual to

fulfill their image of who they are and what tbey would like to be. It is these diffierential

values that are central to the self and may explain Merences in achievement-related choices.

For example, ifhelping people is central to an individuai's image, then that individual is Likely

to place more emphasis on helping rather than non-helping occupations (Eccles, 1994).

Therefore, men and women who m e r in self-images are Iikely to value dif5erent activities,

educational characteristics, and vocational characteristics. They are also more iikely to make

achievement-related decisions that are consistent with their image. If the two sexes have

difEerent self-images, one would expect their choices to also be v e r - different fiom one

another.

The cost of engaging in the activity refers to the fact that time spent on one activity

results in t h e Lost f?om other activities. Choosing among various activities requires one to

determine the degree to which an activity is valued and engage in a cost benefit analysis. For

example, if an individual chooses to engage in activity A, he or she can not engage in activity

B. If activity B is highS valued, then the cost of engaging in A increases (Eccles, 1994).

The way individu& are socialized can influence persona1 values that are central to

their image. One area that can be influenced by socialization is occupational and f d y

values. It has been found that girls often place high value on the importance of making

occupational sacrifices for their family and having a job that allows them to help others and

contniute to society. In contrast, boys place more value on becoming famous, making lots of

money, seeking out chaiienging tasks, and doing work that involves the use of math and

computers (Jozefowicz, Barber, & Eccles, 1993).

Sethg long-term goals require one to deme the activities that are central to the role

that the individual has defhed as successfiil. Individuah are iikely to highly value those

activities that aiiow them to successfully fulfill their role. Traditionaliy, women have been

socialized to value their family role in temis of care and emotionai support, while culture

dictates that men should value fïnancially supporthg their famiy (Eccles, 1994). Jozefowicz

et al. (1993) have found that women rate parenting and spouse support roles as more

important than their professional career roles. Subsequently, wornen were more Iikely then

men to make sacrifices in their professional Me for the needs of their family. How one defines

success in the role is also influenced by gender role expectations. For example, ifmales define

success in the parenting role as hancial support, then they are likely to increase their career

involvement. However, females who define parenting success in te- of high levels of

involvement in their children's h e s are more likely to decrease their career involvement

(Eccles, 1994).

Bell (1989) conducted a study with third to sixth grade gified girls regarding their

achievement perceptions. The findings indicated that there are several gender-related themes

which characterize the various factors that individuals perceive as barriers to education.

These themes include concern over hurting others' feelings with their success, not wanting

pnde to be mistaken for bragging, not wanting to overreact to unsuccessfid experiences,

concern regarding their physical appearance, and not wanting to be perceived as overly

aggressive in the classroom in trying to gain the teacher's attention. These areas presented a

role contlict for the girls. They report that they are often conflicted by the fact that they wish

to do their best, and yet they still want to appear to be ferninine. Identwg themselves as

ferninine involves being perceived as showing concem and caring for others meIl, 1989).

The role of significant others in the sociaiization process plays an intncate role in

shaping this process. Signifcant others cm include many dBerent types of people including

spouses parents, teachers, fi-Îends, etc. These people can ifluence the behaviors and

attitudes of students through their differential feedback regarding students' performance in

various subject areas and the importance of their occupational roles, family roles, and available

oppowties. Authority figures, such as parents and teachers, play a primary role in that they

provide information or feedback that cm lead in opposite directions. Peers are also Iikely to

play a role in the socialization process. If peers reinforce traditional gender roles for males

and femaies, then it is likely that they will engage in difEerent activities (Eccles, 1994).

Research on identity theoiy has examined the effect that identification has on

behavioral choices. Burke (1989) summarized what some of the implications of the research

in this area suggest about students' academic interactions. Individuals tend to choose

behaviors that are consistent with their self-meanings, which may impact student achievement

levels. The environment may play a role in shaping one's identity- For example, some

researchers have suggested that elementary and middle schools have often been characterized

as feminine institutions (Forslund and Huii, 1972; Lipman-Blumen, 1984; cited by Burke,

1989). Based on this research, Burke examined whether individuals would choose behaviors

that were consistent with their gender identity and reject those that were inconsistent.

Additionaiiy, it was explored whether those with more feminine gender identities would

perfom better in what are thought to be feminine institutions. The results indicated that the

average grades of both boys and girls with more feminine gender identities were higher than

boys and girls with masculine gender identities. Examinllig what accounts for gender

merences is a complex process, and while gender identity does not account for all dflerences

in boys' and girls' school performance, it does seem to contribute to these differences (Burke,

1989).

LaTorre, Forth, and Marrache (1983) examined the inqact of gender role adoption

and sex on academic and psychologicai adjustment in junior high school students. This

population was of particular interest due to the perception that entering junior high is a t h e of

transition from a ferninized elementary school environment to a more masciilinized

environment. For example, it is argued that elementary schools have more fernale teachers,

stress obedience, and neatness whereas junior high schools have more male teachers, stress

greater independence, and personal responsibility. AdditionalLy, this is a developmental period

which is often crucial in the emerging gender role identification. Erickson (1955) suggested

that, at this t h e , young adolescents are reaching a developmental milestone in that they are

typically flexi'ble to adopt, reject, or substitute various roles in an effort to establish their

identity. The results appear to provide some support for these proposed dserence in school

ciirnates and need for young adolescence to examine their gender identity. Feminine children

reported being significantly more uncornfortable in this environment shortly after the transition

than students who did not posses these same feminine qualities GaTorre et al., 1983).

Maccoby and Jacklin (1974) reviewed the previous literature on gender roles and

found that personality traits correlate significantly with intellectual performance. From these

studies, it was concluded that optimal inteiiectual development occurs in girls when they are

assertive and active in academic and nonacademic tasks. It is important that they hold

fiindamental beliefs that they can exert control over their actions to influence or effect the

dtimate outcome of their lives (Maccoby et al., 1974).

Rainey and Borders (1997) found that agentic characteristics of young adolescents

(e-g., independence, assertiveness, willingness to take a stand) and the characteristics of their

mothers (e-g., education, employment, agentic characteristics, gender-role attitudes)

contriiuted to the gender-role attitudes of rural early adolescent girls. Of these factors,

matemal characteristics were the strongest predictor of gender-role attitudes, particulariy

matemal education and matemal attitudes toward women, These two fâctors also

simiificant ly influenced adolescents' career aspirations. However, adolescents' agentic

characteristics were the strongest predictor of career aspiration.

Rainey et al. (1997) recognized from these findings that it is necessary to distinguish

betw een career orientation and caeer aspirations. Career orientation refers to traditional

versus nontraditional career choices whereas career aspiration refer to a desire for

advancement within one's chosen career field. Aithough the mîddle school girls in their

sample expressed more interest in traditional than nontraditional careers, they ais0 indicated

that they wished to advance to leadership positions within these career choices. Because

traditional careers are chosen does not mean that these girls have low aspirations. Similarly,

the choice of nontraditional careers does not mean that girls wili necessarily have high

aspirations (Rainey et al., 1997).

In summaiy, several variables were under examination in this study, including gender,

gender identification, metacognition, cntical thinking, and academic achievement. The current

research attempts to combine ail of tbese factors to determine how gender and those roles

with which early adolescents identw predict achievement levels. Addition- it was

examined whether the metacognitive and critical thinking slcills that these adolescence have

acquired will Muence achievement levels. Overali, gender dfierences were examined in

relation to gender-related pnorities and characteristics, career options, and ski11 levels.

Understanding any gender differences that do occur requires an understanding of how males

and females difEer in their attitudes and perceptions. It is these perceptions that form one's

gender identity and therefore may contribute to one's achievement orientations.

Research Questions

1. Do young males and fernales ident* with masculine or ferninine personality characteristics,

according to the characteristics selected fi-om the Bem Sex Role Inventory?

2. DO young d e s and females make occupational and life choices accordiing to traditional or

nontraditional gender roles?

3. Have these early adolescents, who are completing the regular curriculum, acquired

metacognitive and critical thinking skilis?

4. Do males and fernales differ on achievement, metacognitive, and/or critical tliinking

measures?

5. Do metacognition and critical thinking influence achievement leveis?

6. To what degree do gender, metacognition, and critical thinking affect achievement levek?

7. Do the types of occupations that adolescents want to engage in and the types of

occupations they think they will engage in affect achievement levels?

8. Do parental occupations influence the types of occupations that students choose? If so, do

parental occupations affect student achievement levels?

Partici~ants

The participants in the study consisted of a total of one hundred and twenty-two grade

seven and eight students £tom two schools in the Straight Regional District. The sample

involved al1 of the grade seven and eight students within the participating schools who agreed

to participate and were granted permission from their parent(s) or guardian(s) to take part in

the study. Upon the completion of the study, the resource teachers were asked to ident* any

students who were currently receiving resowce assistance. This data was removed and only

the data fiom those students who were completing the curriculum without any f o m of special

support made up this sample.

Instruments

Demographic information was gathered on each student requesting their age, grade,

and sex, as well as additional data regarding parental occupations, student career exploration

and work experience. Students were asked to indicate the types of career exploration

activities they had participated in, such as job fairs or career days, and work experiences they

have bad. This information was intended to determine if these factors would broaden or k t

the types of occupations young adolescents would Like to have and those they think they will

have in the fùture.

A survey was administered that posed a number of questions exploring male's and

fernale's perceptions of occupational and f h l y pnorities, educational expectations,

perceptions of their schoot environment, and traits thought to be characteristic of males or

femdes (Appendix E). These traits were taken fiom the Bem Sex Role Inventory @SRI)

and modified to allow students to indicate the degcee to which they identiQ with each

characteristic (Appendix F). For example, the first trait asked them to identifjr on a six-

point scale whether they would characterize themselves as aggressive or, at the other end,

passive. This survey was intended to determine ifmales and females differ in their

occupational and educational perceptions. It was also intended to determine if males and

females characterize themselves in t e m s of stereotypic gender related traits.

Metacognition was measured using a research instrument (French, 1998) that

elicited information regarding how students approach reading, mathematical, and reading

tasks. This assignrnent required a response to open-ended questions by indicating the types

of strategies cornmonly used, and therefore demonstrated an awareness of how they

approach various academic problerns. A second group of questions was presented in a

multiple choice format that asked students to indicate how ofien they engaged in tasks that

demonstrated high and low rnetawgnitive skills (Appendix G). For example, "1 try

different strategies to help my memory" (hi@ metacognition) or "1 usuaily do not bother

checking my work before 1 turn in my paper" (tow metacognition).

The open-ended responses on the metacognitive scale were scored according to

whether the participant indicat ed that they used effective or ineffective strat egies. The

reading and mathematics tasks both requûed the individuai t o identie strategies which

were indicative ofactive monitoring. Each strategy was given a score of 1 and labeled as

effective or ineffective. The writing task was assigned a value of 1 for indicating that any

part ofthe authorixtg process was used (Le. brainstorming or drafting, etc.) and a value of 2

was @en if al i parts of the authoring process were used. Additionally, any strategies that

were used to monitor their wnting, such as asking questions, rereading or developing a theme,

were assigned a value of one for each strategy iisted. The metacognitive scale was a three-

point Iikert scale in which the participants were asked to circle 1 for "most of the tirne", 2 for

"sometimes", and 3 for "never." If a response of 1 was given for items 3,4,6, 10, 1 1, and 12,

the items were recoded as a 5. Ifa response of 3 was given for items 2, 5,7, 8, and 9, the

items were recoded as a 5. If the opposite response was given on the above mentioned items,

the items were recoded as a O. If a 2 was given for any of these items (a neutrai response), aii

of these responses were recoded as a 3. A total score ranging from O to 60 was calculated for

each participating student .

Students' cntical thinking was measured using the Comell Cntical Thinking Test.

There are two versions to this particular test, which inctude Level X and Level 2. However,

due to the age range of the participants, Level X was deemed more appropriate for the current

study. The Corneil Critical Thinking Test is designed to measure general cntical thinking

skik? including the ability to make deductive inferences or the abiiity to judge the credibility

of a report. Both levels contain multiple choice questions about hypothetical situations, which

take approximately 50 minutes to complete. Level X contains 71 items and is appropriate for

children fiom grade 4 to 14. The questions cover a range of ski& including induction,

deduction, judgments of observation and credibility, and identification of assumptions

(Appendix H). Practical applications or uses of this test include the detection of diferences in

critical thinking ability among groups or assessing whether changes in critical thinking ability

have taken place (Lawrenz & Orton, 1992).

The outcome of these rneasures were compared according to dserences in gender.

Achievement levels, measured in terms of overali grade point average, were also compared in

temis of gender. Exploring various relationships among the numerous survey items may also

provide greater insight into the educational and occupational perceptions of young mal

adolescents.

Desimi and Procedue

Two rural middle schools in Guysborough County were selected as potential

participants for the study. Initial contact was made with the Straight Regional School Board

through a letter explaining the purpose and requirements of the study and requesting the

board's permission to conduct the current study in the chosen schools (see Appendix A).

Once permission had been granted at the district level, the principals of the individuai schools

were contacted (see Appendix B) and provided with the necessary information to gant

informed consent. Mer permission was granted at the school level, the grade seven and eight

teachers were contacted to elicit their assistance in gathering the student consent f o m and

arrange a time to coilect the data (see Appendix C). Students were asked to take home a

Ietter that explained the study and requested parental permission for their son or daughter to

partake in the study (see Appendix D).

Once informed consent has been provided by aU parties involved, the participants

received a general set of directions regarding what was expected of them and then received

more specific directions on the questionnaire concerning what was expected on several of the

items. These directions were administered in both a written and an oral format. The

questionnaires were administered to each class and questions were answered regarding how to

complete the various scales on an as needed basis. The participants had an eighty minute

period to cornpiete the given materials.

Data Analysis

Data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS).

Frequencies and cross-tabs were used to gather descriptive information on the overali sample

and accordhg to gender-specinc results. A senes of Independent Samples T-Tests were

carried out to examine the impact that gender had on the achievement and ski11 measures.

These measures were also used to detemine ifmetacognition and critical thinking were

related to student grade levels. A regression analysis using gender, metacognition, and critical

thinking as the independent variables were used to detemiine the degree to which each

contriiuted to overall achievement leveis. Additionally, a number of exploratory correlations

were conducted to examine how various opinions and perceptions expressed on the

questionnaire related to each other and general achievement.

Limitations of the Studv

1. This was not a randomized sample as the study included all grade seven and eight stu(

fiom one region in northeastem mal Nova Scotia. Therefore, generalizations to the entire

rural school population are limited.

2. The avaüability of the participants were limite& as theïe were only a hundred and twenty-

two students who participated in the study. Thus, this limited sample size may not be

representative of the early adolescent population in this region. However, as there are few

-dies of this nature that have been conducted using a rural population, the research provided

some usefûi data that shodd be m e r explored.

3. The participants were encouraged to exert their best effort. However, completion of the

various instruments required a great deal of time and dedication on the part of those students

who participated. AU students may not have been truthfùl and may not have exerted their best

effort. Particular response patterns and motivational levels rnay affect the results making it

dficult to determine ifthe responses are an accurate reflection of the students' opinions,

perceptions, and skill Ievek

4. Due to the fact that the schools found in this area have a limited number of students, two

different schools had to be utiiized in the sample. While these schools are within close

proximity of one another, it is possible that particular differences exist between these school

cultures. However, an analysis was run to ensure that drastic differences did not exist before

collapsing the data.

Introduction

The results of the quantitative, along with some qualitative analysis of the open-ended

responses relative to the existence of achievement and gender-related dEerences, will be

reviewed in this chapter. The main issues that need to be addressed are whether males and

females differ in attitudes or perceptions, achievement level metacognitive s W , and critical

thinking skills. Further evidence supporting previous fkdings that higher metacognitive and

critical thinking skills are associated with higher achievernent levels (grades) also needed to be

addressed. Additionally, because the participants consisted of an early adolescent age group,

it is also of interest to examine whether they are beguining to think about the future in t e m

of education and employment and explore some of these perceptions.

The research participants were 122 seventh (n = 71,58.2%) and eighth-grade (n = 5 1,

41 -8%) students fiom two rniddie schools in the Straight Regional School Board (see Table

1). Of the total number of students who participated, 58 (47.5%) were female and 64

(52.5%) were male (see Table 2). When the study was conducted, there were 22 students

(1 8.0%) who were 12 years otd, 64 students (52.5%) who were 13 years old, and 36 students

(29.5%) who were 14 years old (see Table 3).

Table 1

Frequencies and Percentages of Students in Each Grade Level.

Seven

Eight 51 (41 -8%)

Table 2

Frequencies and Percentages of Males and Fernales.

Male

Table 3

Frequencies and Percentages of Students' Ages.

Twelve

Fourteen 36 (29.5%)

Merences Controlled for School Influence

Initial statistics indicated that there were some gender-related dserences with regard

to achievement. Further exploration was conducted to determine ifthere were differences

between the two schools, which could impact the overali fkdings. The hdings indicated that

the same gender-related patterns existed, with fernales having overall higher achievement

levels. This signified that the schools were not significantly dflerent fiom one another in this

regard, thus allowing the data to be coilapsed.

Leven's Test for Homo~eneitv of Vanariance

Leven's Test for homogeneity of variance was conducted pnor to running the t-tests to

ensure that the variances between the groups were not significantly different. No significant

Merences were found on these measures. Therefore, the effect of the independent variable

on the dependent variable could be examined assuming equal variances.

1. Do young maies and females identify with mascuiine or ferninine personality

characteristics, according to the characteristics selected kom the Bem Sex Role

Inventory (BSRI)?

The characteristics that rnost students identiQ with included being aggressive (60%),

cornpetitive (72%), self-reliant (67%), willing to take risks (85%), utlwilliug to take a stand

(85 %), cheerful(8 8%), compassionate (84%), loyal (95 %), sympathetic (84%), understanding

(89%), and mithfil (86%). None of the stereotypic gender role characteristics were found to

be significant for males or fernales, with the exception of cheerfulness. Females were

significantly more Wcely to rate themselves as cheerful compared to males' ratings, 1 = -.28, p

< -01.

Both males and females rated themselves quite high on the socially desirable qualities

thought to be charactenstically feminine qualities. Females' ratings were slightiy higher on the

feminhe items, but these ratings were not significantly daerent. There was a bit more

diversity on the charactenstically male qualities. Although most participants descnied

themselves as risk takers, they also said they were unwilling to take a stand. This is

interesthg as being wilhg to take a stand is often a nsk-taking behavior. Males were slightly

more likely to rate themselves as being aggressive and self-reliant, although this was not found

to be a significant difference. Males and fernales rated themselves as being equaily

cornpetitive (see Table 4). None of the personality characteristics helped to distinguish high

achievers ff-om low achievers.

Table 4

Percentages of Characteristics Ratings by Males and Fernales.

Personality Characteristics Male Female

Competitive 71.8% 71.9%

Not Competitive 28.1% 28.1%

S elf-reliant 70.4% 63 -8%

Dependent 29.7% 36.2%

Risk Taker 8 1.3% 89.7%

Not a Risk Taker 18.7% 10.3%

Willing to take a Stand 15.9% 13.7%

U n w i h g to take a Stand 84.1% 86.3%

Cheerf'ul 84.4% 93.1%

Not Cheerfd 15.6% 6.8%

Compassionate 80.9% 87.9%

Not Compassionate 19.1% 12.0%

Loyal 95.4% 94.8%

Disloyal 4.7% 5.1%

Sympathetic 82.6% 86.2%

Unsmpathetic 17.5% 13.8%

Understanding 87.6% 91 -5%

Not Understanding 12.5% 8.6%

Truthfûl 86% 86.3%

Untathfiil 14% 13.8%

2. Do young d e s and femaies make occupational and life choiees according to

traditional or nontraditional gender roles?

Males and femaies were asked to rate the foliowing in order of importance to them;

having a high income, children, a job that helps people, a good education, marriage, an

interesthg job, and a leadership role (see Tables 5 & 6). Males were significantly more iikely

than females to rate having a high income as being most important to them, whereas, fernales

were more likely to rate a good education as being most important to them (see Table 5).

Fernales and males did not d s e r significantly on their ratings of importance of children,

marriage, having a job that helps people, an interesting job, and a leadership role.

Table 5

Percentages of Most Important Priority Ratings.

Male Female

Incorne 12.5%

Children 1.8%

Helping Job 5.4%

Education 48 -2%

Marriage 10.7%

Interesthg Job 19.6%

Leadership Role 1.8%

Table 6

Percentages of Least Important Pnonty Ratings.

Male Female

Income 12.5% 2 1.2%

Children 21.8% 13-7%

Heping Job 10.7% 5.9%

Education 5 -4% 0%

Marriage 7.1% 13.7%

liiteresting Job 14.3% 2.0%

Leadership Role 33.9% 43.1%

Although there were more females (25.9%) then males (14- 1%) who indicated that

they wanted to be employed part-tirne, this difEerence was not found to be significant. Almost

ail males and females expected they would be engaged in some fonn of future employment

(see Table 7). An examination of the break down of occupations according to gender

indicated that 8 1 .O% of females said they would like to have a professional career, whereas

only 36.5% of males said they would like to have a professional career. There were 30.8% of

the males who said they wanted to have an unskilled type of occupation and only 4.8% of

females who wanted to work in an unskiiied occupation (see Table 8). When asked what type

of occupation they thought they would end up working in, 66.7% of the females felt they

would have a professional occupation. Only half that nurnber (32.1%) of males felt they

. would have a professional type of occupation. There were 39.3% of males who thought they

would work in an unskiUed occupation and 10.4% of females who thought they would work

in an unski'lled occupation (see Table 9)-

Table 7

Percentages of Employment Expectations.

Male Fernale

Full-Time

Part-Time

Not At Ail

Table 8

Occupations Males and Fermes Would Like to Have. - -

Male Female

Professional 36.5% 8 1 .O%

Vocational 19.2% 7,1%

Unskiiled 30.8% 4.8%

Semi-S killed 13 -5% 7.1%

Table 9

Occupations Males and Females Think They Wili Have.

Male Female

Professionai 32.1% 66.7%

Vocationai 19.6% 14,6%

Unskilled 39.3% 10.4%

S emi-Skilled 8.9% 8.3%

3. Have these early adolescents who are complethg the regulnr curriculum acquired

metacognitive and critical thinking s W ?

The mean metacognitive score for the scale items was 38.98. These scores could

range fkom 12 to 60. Scores ranging fiom approximately 52 to 60 were considered to be

indicative of highly effective student. These students fell below this metacognitive range

according to their self-reported usage. When asked to demonstrate these skilis on the open-

ended metacognitive tasks, these students appeared to have difficuity articuiating how they

use these skilis in everyday tasks. On the reading task, 96% of the students listed O to 2

effective strategies (see Table 10). On the math task, 93% of the students did not Lia any

strategies or listed oniy one effective strategy (see Table 11). On the writing task, 89% of the

students did not list any strategies (see Table 12). Students who were able to kt four or more

strategies would be considered high in metacognitive skius. However, none of the students in

the sampie listed more than three strategies. For the reading task items, 3 1% of the students

listed two effective strategies. In generai, students seemed to either have a better

understanding of or were able to better express how they approached reading passages for

comprehension purposes compared to the math and writing tasks.

Table 10

Percentages of Effective Metacognitive Reading Strategies.

Male Femaie

# of Strategies Used

O 29.7% 22.4%

1 39.1% 37.9%

2 26.6% 36.2%

3 4.7% 3 -4%

Table 11

Percentages of Effective Metacognitive Math Strategies.

Male Female

# of Strategies Used

O 62.5% 46.6%

1 32.8% 44.8%

2 4.7% 6.9%

3 0% 1.7%

Table 12

Percentages of Effective Metacognitive Writing Strategies.

Male Female

# of Strategies Used

O 92.2% 86.2%

1 7.8% 13.8%

The mean cntical thuiking score was 37.13. As points were not deducted for wrong

answers and scored as nght only on the cntical thinking measure, the maximum score that

could be obtained was 71. The range of students' scores were fkom 17 to 56. No normative

data existed on the Cornell Cntical Thinking Test which closely approximated both the

geographic and participant characteristics of this sample. Therefore, this sample was

compared to a sample of students in the same age range. The mean rights-only score for a

sample of grade seven and eight students fiom a central school in upstate New York was

4 1.2. The current sample was within one standard deviation on the normative curve in

comparison to this population. An examination of individual skills on the cntical thinking

measure indicated that there was very little merence between male and females skills in the

various areas. The results also indicate that their inductive and deductive skills are slightly

more developed than their other skili areas (see Table 13 & 14).

Table 13

Individual Critical Tbuiking SkiUs.

Items Total Possible

Correct

Total 3-25,27-50, 71

52-65,67-76

Induction 3-25,48,50 25

Deduction 52-65,67-76 22

Observation 27-50 23

Crediiility 27-50 23

Assumptions 67-76 9

Table 14

Males and Females Mean Critical Thinking Score and Mean Individual Skik.

Male (n = 64) Fernale (n = 58)

M - % Correct - M % Correct

Total 36 51% 38.4 54%

Induction 14.5 58% 15.1 60%

Deduction 11.8 54% 12.6 57%

Observation 10.4 45% 11.4 49%

Crediiility 10.4 45% 11.4 49%

Assumptions 3 -9 43% 4.3 48%

4. DO d e s and fendes M e r o n achievement, metacognitive, and/or critical thinking

meames?

A rimer of T-Tests were conducted to examine ifgender significantly influenced the

attainment of grades, metacognitive skilis, and criticai thinking skills. Students' achievement

levels are signincantly influenced by gender, 1 = - 1.675 (1 20), p < .O 1. Examination of mean

merences between males and females indicated that females tend to have overall higher

grades @f = 82.93) than the male students (M = 80.1 1). The findings suggest that femaies

tend to have higher grades overall, with less disparity arnong the individual students. The

males' grades were not as clustered around the mean, indicating that there were more extreme

values at the high and low ends of the spectrum.

Table 15

Adolescent Achievement Levels.

Gender - M - SD - n

Male 80.11 10.09 64

Female 82.93 8.30 58

Gender did not significantly infiuence the degree to which students acquired or

metacognitive skills, f = - 1 -43 1 (1 18), > .O5 or critical thinking skills, 1 = 1.23 (1 1 8), >

-05. Males and females did not signincantly m e r in their use of metacognitive or critical

thinking skills. This suggests that the difference in achievement between males and females

can not be explained by ciifferences in skill levels. However, there were two items on the

metacognitive scaie that were signincantiy correlated with gender. Males were less likely thm

fernaies to indicate that they usually try other approaches when their first attempt solve a

problem does not work (Somers'd = -202, c .02). Males are significantly more Likely to

report that they do not check their work over before turning in their paper (Somers'd = .26 1, E

< -004)-

5. Do metacognition and critical thinking influence achievement levels?

There was a significant positive relationship between metacognitive skills and grades, 1

= -263, p < -01, and between critical thinking skilis and grades, 1 = -508, g < -01. There was a

positive correlation between these variables indicating that those students with higher

metacognitive and critical thinking skills were more iikely to have higher grades-

6. To what degree do gender, metacognition, and critical thinking affect achievernent

levels?

A regression analysis was performed using achievement as the dependent variable and

gender, metacognition, and critical thinking as the independent variables. Independent

variables were correlated to test for multicolinearity (see Appendix M) and scatter grams were

used to ensure that linear relationships existed berneen the independent and dependent

variables. The analysis indicated that students' critical thinking skills significantly account for

dserences in thek achievement levels, f3 = .466, p < -001. Metacognition, B = -122, p > -05,

and gender, f3 = -08 1, p > -05, did not significantly account for students' achievement levels

(see Table 16).

Table 16

S v of Regression Analysis of Variables

Predicting Adolescent Achievement Levels (N = 1 19).

Variable - B - SE B fi

Gender 1.53 1-50 .O8 1

Critical Thinking 0.49 0.09 .466**

Metacognition 0- 14 0-09 -122

*p < .01.

7. Do the types of occupations that adolescents want to engage in and the types of

occupations they think they wiii engage in affect achievement levels?

T-Tests were conducted which examined the effect that students' occupation choices

have on achievement. The occupations that students would iike to have and those that they

thought they would have were divided into professional and nonprofessional groups. The

type of occupations students said they would [ike to have did not have a significant influence

on their achievement, g = -1.3 17 (92), p > -05. However, those students who thought they

wodd have a professional occupation were more iikely to have higher grades than those

students who thought they would have a nonprofessional occupation, g = -2.646 (102), g <

.01.

8. Do parental occupations inbence the types of occupations that students choose? If

so, do parental occupations affect student achievement levels?

T-Tests were conducted which examined the effect of parental occupation types on

achievement. Parental occupations were divided into professional and nonprofessional

groups. It was found that the type of occupatioris heId by the students' mothers did not have a

signiscant effect on the student achievement, 1 = - 1 -440 (1 1 9 , > -05. However, the type of

occupation held by the students' fathers had a significant effect on the student achievement, 1 =

-2.332 (10 l), E < -05.

Descrime Statistics & Emloratorv Correlations

Career Develoament .

The consideration that young adolescents have given to career development in terms

of forma1 exploration (career days etc.) and idormal exploration (previous work experience)

was examined through a number of questions. Although the examination of occupational

information does not present a direct measure of achievement, it cm comrminicate one aspect

of achievement motivation. The frequency distributions provided information on the number

of early adolescents who have already begun to consider various forms of career development.

These students have done very Little career exploration in terms of job fairs, career days, or

job shadowing, etc. In fact, 83% of the students uidicated that they have not engaged in any

type of career exploration actMty. Of the 17% of the students who have examined various

career options, 12% have done so through "the millionaires program", which is a program that

was offered at these schools to encourage students to become involved in developing their

own business. The only career exploration, in terms of fo&y educating oneself as to the

nature of various occupations, appears to be very practical and primarily related to how these

adolescents can generate fuiancial resources.

A large percentage of these students (80%) have some kind of previous work

experience including labor work, child care, etc. The students were also asked sorne

questions regarding their expectations for fùture employment. The participants were asked to

indicate whether they would iike to be employed fidi-tirne, part-the, or not at au. The

findings indicate that 80% of the students want to be employed full-the in the future.

The lack of career exploration rnay have been due to a kick of exposure or opportunity

to engage in such f o m l programs, rather than simply a lack of interest in increasing their

understanding and knowledge of a range of career choices. In an attempt to separate interest

fkom opportunity, students were asked if they would change their occupational choice if

provided with the opportunity to leam more about other types of occupations. Only 17%

responded that they would defïnitely be interested in leaming more about different types of

occupations. There were also 6 1 % who said that they would consider changing their

occupational choice if they had more exposure to difEerent types of careers. The most

common reasons &en for wanting to l e m more about other occupations include wanticg to

leam about other interesthg occupations and discover more about higher paying jobs.

However, the interest demonstrat ed in formal exploration appears t O be somewhat limited.

Educational As~üations.

Exploration into these students' educational aspirations indicated that 83% of young

adolescents expect to go to university. The responses to expectations of engaging in some

kind of technical, vocational, or trade related training were m c h more diverse. The largest

proportion of students were unsure of whether they expected to take a trade related program

(42%), the second greatest proportion were those indicating that expected to take a trade

(3 1%), and the W e s t proportion of students indicated that this was not a friture expectation

(26%). Even when university is being considered, these students expect that they may also

need to engage in other types of educational training. Males are significantly more Wcely than

females to expect to take technicai, vocational, or trade related training, Somers' d = -.355, Q

< -00 1. When asked whether education is intended to help people get jobs or expose students

to different ideas, 50% of the sarnple indicated that the purpose of education was for the

atta-nt of work while 49% said it was for exposure to ideas. Only one person did not

respond to this question. There was almost no difference in these perceptions. When examine

closer, it was found that these perceptions did not affect student achievement levels, 1 = -385

(1 19), 2 > . O 5

Students' Perceptions of Their Roles.

Overail, students appear to hold f&y positive attitudes conceming their role within their

school environment. The majority of the students indicated they feel fiee to ask questions

when they do not understand something (80%) and feel that, overail, their teachers hold

positive perceptions of their fûture achievement (92%). However, while most students

indicated that they feel cornfortable to ask questions, 74% felt that teachers discouraged them

fkom expressing their own opinions. Of the male participants, 95% responded that their

teachers think they will do well in Life whereas 90% of females felt teachers held positive

perceptions of them Males and fendes (73%) were equaiiy likely to indicate that their

teachers discowaged them fiom expresshg their own opinions.

CIZAPTER V

SUMMARY, DISCUSSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

SUMMARY

This study uivestigated the assumption that males and females idente with gender-

specific choices and characte~stics. The purpose of conducting this investigation was to

determine if such stereotyped beliefs impacted mai snidents' grades, metacognitive skilis, and

cntical thinkiag skills. An examination of student perceptions provided some interesthg

exploratory data regarding career development, educatiooal and occupational expectations,

and priority distinctions. This study also examined whether metacognitive and critical

tbinking skills were related to student achievement. Findy, the data was examined to

determine the extent to which gender, metacognition, and critical thinking contributed to

student achievement .

DISCUSSION

These findings appear to indicate that identification with traditional gender roles is

breaking down. Males and females both iden* themselves as being aggressive, competitive,

self-reliant, and willing to take nsks. These are ali qualities which would be considered

masculine according to the BSRI (Bem, 1974). They also both identified themselves as

cheerful compassionate, loyal, ma the t i c , and understanding. These are ali iisted as

ferninine qualities on the BSRI. Both sexes indicated that they were ~1wiUing to take a stand,

which is the opposite of the masculine charactenstic listed on the BSRI. This character trait

WU be discussed in more deta& as it relates to student perceptions. Independently, males and

females do not appear to view themselves as being significantly different in terms of character

traits. However, it may be interesthg to fiuther explore this issue by having participants rate

themseives as ifthey were the other gender, to determine if they perceive the other sex as

being significantly dflerent according to these traits.

It is plausible that these students are not strongly sex-typed individuals and that they

ident@ themselves with androgynous characteristics. Androgyny refers to the adoption of

both masculine and ferninine characteristics (Bem, 1974). Although some research suggested

that those individuals with masculine traits were more Wrely to be successfù~ Bem (1974)

suggested that these individuais may be Linnted in the range of behaviors available to them

Strongly sex-typed individuals may be quite competent in some areas, while finding it difficult

to generalize these skik fkom one situation to another. Perhaps a combination of these

personality qualities is necessary for success in a variety of Me's domains. It is dificuit to

draw any specific conclusions from the current data based on personaliq characteristics, as

there was very Little distinction among the sample participants, and the results may siniply

reflect sociaily desirabie ratings. Therefore, an examination of pnority ratings may be more

informative.

Kit is expected that traditional standards are still moderately evident in today's

females, based on previous research that has been conducted in the area of occupational

choices, one would expect that females continue to highly value their roles as wives and

mothers. However, an examination of their priority levels indicated that these young girls do

not rate their parenting and spousal roles as more important to them than tbeir professional

roles, as was suggested in previous studies (Jezefowicz, 1993; Eccles, 1994). When asked to

select their first pnority among several choices, these females signifïcantly rated getting a

good education as their fim pnority. None of the other priorities thought to be male or

fernale dominated choices were found to be of significant importance for the young

According to traditional standards, one would not expect women to select education as theù

fist priority. In fact, educationai activities are thought to be characterized by high

achievement and competition, which are qualities males are taught to value (Kleinplats et al.,

1992). Therefore, education would be considered a more traditional choice for males.

Prior to the Women's Liberation Movement in the 1960's, education was viewed as

inappropriate and wecessary for females. Even when working outside the home gained

greater social acceptability, women continued to make educational and occupationai sacrifices

to fulfill their perceived role as a wife and mother in most cases. The priority ratings suggest

that young girk are placing Iess value on their spousal and child rearing roles and expanding

their options beyond their household responsibilities. These are promising resuits as they

suggest that the socialization of young girIs may not be as restricting, and could actually be

encouraging young girls to expand their options.

Aithough insignificant within this saniple, it is interesting that a greater number of

males than females rated mariage as most important. It is conceivable that just as females are

pIacing greater importance on their professional rather than their family roles, a reversed trend

may be observed for males. Males may be beginning to place more emphasis on their famiy

roies.

It was found that females' educational aspirations were compatible with their

aspirations to be employed in professional types of occupations. This is consistent with the

predictions of Eccles and her coileges (1994) who suggested that, the greater the value one

assigned to a particular activity, the more likely it was that he or she would engage in that

activity* In fact, they were more likely to chose careers that required higher education levels.

Their interest in obtainhg a worthwhîle education may partiaily explain the difference between

male and fernale grade levels. It is possible that higher grade levels may be partially explained

by student motivation levels. High achievement-related goals and expectations are likely to

influence students' grades.

AU female participants indicated that they would like to be employed in some capacity.

This is consistent with eariier research which discussed that the current issue is not solely

whether women wili be employed, but rather what types of careers are chosen and what

factors are influencing these choices (Rainey & Borders, 1997). In fact, there were very few

fernaies who indicated that they wished to be employed part-time. This finding could be

indicative of several factors. It rnay be that fewer females expect to make occupational

sacrifices in terms of working hours to fiilfill the needs of their family. However, it is also

possible that many of these young adolescents have not yet given consideration to balancing

the various dernands in their iïves. Further, few males indicated that they would like to be

employed only part-the, which could suggest that they do not anticipate that they wiii

directly share in the child rearing responsibilties at the expense of their occupations.

However, comparable to females, it is ais0 possible that males' lack of consideration for these

fàctors rnay be a greater product of their developmental age, rather than deep rooted beliefs

and expectations.

Similar to Jezefowicz et a1.k (1993) findings, the males in this sample indicated that

havùig a high income was significantly more important to them than it was to the fernale

participants. Contrary to earlier findings, however, they did not indicate that obtaining a

leadership position or a high status occupation was significantly important to them. In fact,

they were more likely than females to uidicate that they thought they would be working in a

nonprofessional type of occupation. Although having a high income was important to them,

they did not appear to COMW greater educational and occupational attainment as a means of

reaching this goal. Perhaps as a result of the culture in this rural area, young boys stüi expect

that there are jobs that require very Little education, such as forestry or fishing, that will aiiow

them to acquire a sufEcient income. Females, however, appear to recognize that without a

good education, employment possLbilities are Limited,

The results indicate that early adolescents already appear to be quite confident in their

occupational choices, despite their limited exploration of various opportunïties. However, the

results also indicate that there is some wiiüngness on the part of most students to expand their

knowledge ifprovided with the opportunity- This raises an important issue for consideration.

Although such decisions do not have to be made at this early age, the data suggests that early

adolescents appear to be fairly confident in these choices. This is somewhat problematic as it

lends support to arguments that when making achievement-related decisions, individuals rarely

consider the full range of possibilities (Eccles, 1994). Parents and educators typically

recognize the importance of focusing on such occupational decisions in late adolescence.

Nonetheless, it may be necessary to provide adolescents with information earlier so informed

decisions c m be made. From the data gathered, it is unclear whether these decisions are made

because it is believed that other options are wealistic or because they are unaware that other

choices exist. Perhaps both factors play a role in infiuencing the choices of these young

adolescents. Regardless of how such decisions are made, it is of great importance that young

adolescents are equipped with accurate and extensive information that enables them to make

effective decisions regarding their future.

Occupational choices may be beneficial if they iinprove motivational levels, by giving

adolescents a goal to work toward, thus indirectly increasing achievement levels. However,

strictly fixed choices may also have negative connotations if these choices lead them to make

friture decisions that are hnithg. For example, a student who has akeady resolved that he or

she wants to be a social worker may make firture choices based on this decision. If this

student assumes that math and science courses are not necessary to obtain this goal, he or she

rnay decide not to engage in advance level science and math courses. Upon entering post-

seconclary education, this student may want to change their occupational choice, but discover

that earlier choices have left him or her without the necessary courses.

In addition to student perceptions, the skills that students have obtained cm influence

achievement and related behaviors. This study also set out to explore students' metacognitive

and critical thinking skills. It was found that these students had more well developed critical

thinking skilis than metacognitive skills. Similar to other findings, high achieving students do

not necessarily have high metacognitive and cntical thinking skilis. In a study conducted by

Schoenfeld (1985), it was concluded that despite the fact that participants had high

mathematical skilis, they were unable to solve familiar problems. The explanation given for

these findings involves the nature of academic testing. Testing examuies individuai skiUs, and

provided these units are mastered, individuais do not have to know why and when certain

strategies should be applied. As these skills are not deemed essential to success in the school

environment, the students mst have acquired skilis that have enabled them to be successful.

Perhaps, as has been suggested by some researchers, the attainment of rote memory skia may

be critical to their success in these environrnents. However, this is problernatic as these skills

typically do not generalize weii to nonacademic environrnents @eNitto & Strickland, 1987).

The ultimate goal of adequately preparing young adolescents for employment may require that

edunitors closely examine the skills that are being obtained through the instruction of content

materid,

Examination of the metacognitive responses suggested that students found it dficult

to articulate how they approach various tasks. Being able to put into writing how one would

approach these tasks may place additionai ta& demands on these students beyond the use of

metacognitive skills. When asked to indicate how they approached tasks in a multiple choice

format, they indicat ed that a rnoderate degree of metacognitive monitoring was O ften initiated

in everyday tasks. This does not appear to be a product of response bias. If students were

suirply providing socially desirable responses, it would be expected that they would have been

more likely to indicate that they engaged in many beneficial educational actîvities. For

example, they would indicate that they typically attempt various memory strategies, or that

they never tum in a paper without first checking their work. These students did not always

respond to such questions in a positive m e r . Therefore, it would appear that while

students do engage in some metacognitive practices, they have diEculty expressing these

practices in an open-ended written format. These results suggest that many students may

benefit fCom engaging in journal wrïting exercises. This may improve their metacognitive

knowledge in addition to developing their general writing skilis.

It's interestirtg that students had a better understanding of how they approached

reading tasks than mathematical and Mting tasks. Based on the review of the literature, it

seems that math and wrîting exercises could be more easily conceptualized as a step-by-step

process that needs to be carried out in order to complete the task. However, students had

difficulty articulating these steps. For example, when descn%ing the writing task, vely few

shidents listed wnting practices such as brainstorming, clrafting, and editing. Most -dents

indicated what they would write about, but often negiected to discuss the approach they

would use to clearly articulate theu thoughts.

It is possible that it was easier to descnie reading approaches as many of the strategies

listed, although sornetimes effective, involved what could be considered passive strategies.

For example, that moa commonly iisted was rereading. This strategy does not require much

forethought or planning with regard to how the task should be approached. Sink, Barnett,

and Hixon (199 1) conducted a study with early adolescents in which they found that planning

ability was a significant predictor of school achievement. Perhaps what distinguishes the

open-ended fkom the muitiple choice responses is the differential planning ability.

However, despite some diflFiculty utilizing their metacognitive skilis, there was a

relationship between these skills and achievernent. Those students with higher metacognitive

and critical thinking skills were more likely to have higher grades. Critical thinking was found

to have a stronger correlation than the students' metacognitive skills. Additionally, when

controlling for the effect of the other variables, critical thinking was found to significantly

predict achievement levels in this s q l e .

While gender was not found to significantly affect the attainment of metacognitive and

critical thinking skills, overaii, it is noteworthy that males and females differed signiflcantly on

their responses to two of the items on the self-report metacognitive measure. Females were

more likely than males to attempt various approaches when engaging in problem-solving tasks

and were more likely to check over their work before subrnission to their teachers. Again,

these self-reported practices may speak to motivation. Since it was found that education was

significantly more valued by female than male students, it is understandable that females may

exert more eEort as task difficulty increases-

Examination of student occupational choices provides some support for suggestions

that differences in achievement may be related to motivation. In addition, comparing these

choices to parental occupations provides some evidence that socialization may also be an

duencing factor. Students who thought they would have a professional occupation were

significantly more likely to be high achievers. The fact that achievement was not af5iected by

the occupations students would like to obtah suggests that students are already making

distinctions between ideal and realistic. This also supports Eccles et al.'s (1987) mode1 which

suggests that student expectations play a roie in influencing student achievement behaviors.

Students are more likely to engage in activities in which they predict success.

Although the occupations held by the student's mothers did not effect student

achievement levels, the type of occupation held by their fathers was found to significantly

effect student achievernent. Those students who had fathers wîth professional occupations

were more lilcely to have higher GPAs.

Further exploration was conducted to explore student's perceptions and attitudes in

relation to their academic role. Students were asked to indicate whether they felt education

was designed to help people get jobs or expose individuais to ideas. It was anticipated that

students who perceived education in terms of exposure to ideas were more Likely to have

higher achievement levels, while those who viewed education in terms of employment were

more likely to have lower achievement levels. However, the participants were divided evenly

on this issue. This finding indicates that there is not a straightforward relationship between

these factors. For example, perhaps those with higher grades perceive high achievement as a

means to an end. They simply strive for high marks in an effort to obtain employment.

However, in some cases the reverse may also be true. Students who value education s@ly

to gain ideas may not always be those who are the highest achievers. Such perceptions are

sometimes related to the school environment and the types of skilis the education system often

promotes inadvertently. Aithough unintentionai, the education system sometimes promotes

the development skills in rote memoiy and discrete skills (DeNitto & Strïckland, 1987).

While these skills can often lead to hi& achievernent levels, they do not always promote

intellectuai curiosity.

Students appear to feel more comfortable in askhg their teachers questions rather then

expressing their ideas. Perhaps these students view the expression of their ideas as a greater

risk than simply asking questions. In fact, their reluctance to express their ideas rnay be

related to their unwillingness to take a stand, as indicated on the character ratings. Expressing

one's ideas most often requires that one takes a position or a stand on an issue and be willing

to provide support for their argument.

Question asking is beneficial to student's acquisition of knowledge (Daly, Kreiser, &

Roghaar, 1994), and it is consequentiai that students feel they are able to engage in this

process. These fhdings are somewhat consistent with earlier hding that indicated that boys

in this age group were more likely to feel comfortable asking questions than girls of the same

age. With a greater number of participants, it would be more evident whether this trend was

significant.

In sumrnary, the results from this study indicated that these early adolescent girls had

higher grades and career aspirations that were associated with higher academic standards.

Although a relationship was found between metacognition and grades, as weil as cntical

thinking and grades, these skius were only slightly influenced by the student's gender. Closer

examination of students' responses to many of the items was required to determine what

accounted for the differences. These discrepancies appear to be a refiection of the importance

placed on education, the ifluence of predicted occupational types, and parental occupational

types. Females were significantly more iikeiy than d e s to rate education as their first

pnority. Many students indicated that they would iike to have a professional occupation,

however, they seemed to distinguish between an ideal occupation and what is conceivably

realistic. Male students were more likely to indicate that they thought they would end up with

a nonprofessional occupation. Finally, parental occupations also appear to be an influencing

factor. Although their mother's occupation type had no effect on student achievement,

students with professional fathers were signiflcantly more ke ly to have higher grades.

There was a significant relationship between metacognition and grades, while there

was also a significant relationship between cntical thinking and grades. When entering these

variables, dong with gender, into a regression analysis, only critical thinking arose as a

significant predictor of achievement. Students with higher metacognitive and cntical thinking

skills also had higher achievement levels. This idocmation is informative in that it helps

establish that those students who have acquired higher skili levek were more successful

however, it is ais0 important that continual attention be focused on the development of these

skilis. At this age, these skills require greater development, thus making it an important issue

for aii school environments to focus on. However, it also needs to be taken into account that

the scores of some students on these instruments, particuiarly the cntical thinking measure,

may have been depressed by a lack of motivation to complete these measures. This being the

case, their skiiis may be siightly higher than what was represented in this study. Future

research in these areas could M e r clari@ the underlying reasons for the gender differences

and how these skiils could be M e r promoted.

Recommendations of Future Research

1. Due to the reiatively s d d e r of students in this study, it is recommended that this

study be conducted using a larger sample size. More extensive data may help clari@ some of

the relationships and therefore improve the validity of the results. Additionally, expanding this

study to encornpass various m a l areas in Nova Scotia may aid in determining whether these

results could be generalized to a wider population.

2. The present study is cross sectional and does not aiiow for comparisons to be made across

various age groups. A longitudinal study conducted with these participants would provide

information as to whether these gender-related trends continue to be apparent in later

adolescence, with the transition to senior high school. It may be possible to determine what

type of educational choices would be made in terms of advanced math and science courses.

Further exploration of how metacognitive and critical thinking skills advance, with an increase

in the studeat's developmental age, would provide educators with greater insight as to how

the skills can be represented within the curriculum guidelines. This provides some reassurance

to friture employers that these students are competent and capable of responding to a variety

of situational demands.

3. In a fiture study, it may be interesting to explore how the culture in these school

environments has influenced these students perceptions, skill attainment and achievement.

Such an investigation would also require some exploration of the culture of the surrounding

. * COmmumes. This may be partkularly informative as the current study has already suggested

that parental involvement has an ïrnpact on student achievement.

4. School environments are placing more emphasis on team work and interaction. There are

many aspects of metacognition that affect student achievement, including social

metacognition. It may be beneficial to explore this reiationship with regard to how these

students interact with others and approach problern-solving situations. This will be

consequential as it is these social skiils that will allow individuals to work collaboratively with

others.

5. A more extensive exploration of how important occupational and educational decisions are

made could provide a wealth of information for parents and educators. The current study

highlighted the importance of providing accurate information for adolescents, and perhaps at

an earlier age than was once deemed necessary. The data ais0 indicated that these decisions

may be made using limited arnounts of information, which may be inaccurate. Further study

may be necessary to detexmine the nature of these misconceptions so that they can be

combated and rep!aced with accurate Iliformation.

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APPENDIX A

Letter Requesting Permission From

the Strait Regional School Board

To Whom It May Concem,

1 am writing to request permission to have several of the schools in your board

pariicipate in a research study 1 am doing in order to complete my Master of Arts in School

Psychology at Mount Saint Vincent University.

The purpose of my study is to investigate the types of factors which contnite to

student's overail achievement levels. The study wili consist of a group administration of

various measures that wiil take approximately two hours to complete. The measures will

require students to consider their self-perceptions in various domains, evaiuate their gender

role expectatioos, examine how they attempt to solve problerns and demonstrate these

abilities, and answer a number of multiple choice questions requiring critical thinking-

1 am asking your permission to contact several principals in the Guysborough County

region. Once your permission is granted, a letter containhg information about the study wiil

be sent to the principals to gain their approval for this study.

In the interest of maintainhg coddentiality, only the researcher and supervisor will

have access to the information obtained in the questionnaires. Additionally, the completed

thesis wiil only contain group data; students will not be identined on an individual buis.

There are no nsks associated with this study, and al1 students will be given the opportunity to

deche or withdraw from participation at any time. Findings will be made available to you

and the participants at the end of the study. Because this study will investigate the various

factors which infiuence students competency as learners, it will be useful overail in assisting

curriculum delivery.

This study has been submitted to my individual Thesis Committee and the Ethics

Cornmittee at Mount Saint Vincent University and has received approval fiom both parties.

Should you have any M e r questions, concems, or require more information

regarding this study, 1 can be reached at 533-3 142. You may also contact 9 supewisor, Dr.

Fred French, at 457-6 186. Thank you for your attention and consideration in this matter.

1 look forward to hearing fiom you,

Yours Sincerely,

Janice Chisholm, B.A (Honours)

School Psychology Graduate Student

Fred French, Ph.D.

Psychologist

APPENDIX B

Letter Requesting Permission From

the Schools' P ~ c i p a l s

Dear Principai,

I am wnting to request permission to have students of your school participate in a

research study 1 am dobg in order to complete my Master of Arts in School Psychoiogy at

Mount Saint Vincent University.

The purpose of my study is to investigate the types of factors which contniute to

student's overall achievement levels. The study will consist of a group administration of

various masures that wïIl take approxïmately two hours to complete. The measures wiil

require students to consider their self-percept ions in various domains, evaluate their gender

role expectations, examine how they attempt to solve problems and demonstrate these

abilities, and answer a number of d t i p l e choice questions requiring critical thinking.

Classroom teachers will be asked to send Mers (see attached) home to parents, and

collect their replies, In addition, they will be involved in identifjiug any children who are

currently receiving resource assistance. Those children will not be chosen to participate due

to the nature of the study.

There are no risks associated with this study, and all children wiil be given the

opportunity to decline or withdraw £tom participation at any tirne. Confidentiaiity of the

individual children is ensured, however, at the end of the study you wiU have access to the

overall results. Because this study will investigate the various factors which infiuence students

competency as Iearners, it wili be usefiil overail in assisting curriculum delivery.

This study has been submitted to my individual Thesis Committee, the Ethics

Committee at Mount Saint Vincent University, and the Straight Regional School Board, and

has received approval in ail three cases.

Please let me know ifyou would be w i h g to allow students fromyour school to

paainpate in my research. If you have any questions or concems regarding this study, 1

would be happy to meet with you, or you cati reach me at 533-3 142, or my supervisor, Dr.

Fred French, at 457-6 1 86.

1 look foward to hearhg fkom you.

Yours Sincerely,

---

Janice Chisholm, B.A. (Honours)

School Psychology Graduate Student

Fred French, Ph.D.

Psychologist

APPENDIX C

Letter Requesting Permission From

Grade Seven & Eight Teachers

Dear Teacher,

I am writing to request your cooperation in having students in your ciass participate in

a research study 1 am doing in order to complete my Master of Arts in Schoo 1 Psychology at

Mount Saint Vincent University.

The purpose of my study is to investigate the types of factors which contribute to

student's overd achievement levels. The study wiU consist of a group administration of

various measures that will take approximately two hours to complete. The measures will

require students to consider their self-perceptions in various domains, evaluate their gender

role expectations, examine how they attempt to solve problems and demonstrate these

abiiities, and answer a number of multiple choice questions requiring critical thinking.

1 am asking you, as the classroom teachers, to send letters (see attached) home to

parents, and collect their replies. In addition, you wiil be involved in identifyiog any children

who are currently receiviog resource assistance. Those children wili not be chosen to

participate due to the nature of the study.

There are no risks associated with this study, and ail children will be given the

opportunity to decline or withdraw f?om participation at any tirne. Confidentiality of the

individual children is ensured, however, at the end of the study you wiil have access to the

overail results. Because this study will investigate the various factors which influence student s

competency as leamers, it wiU be usefûi in assisting in overall curriculum delivery.

This study has been submitted to my individual Thesis Committee, the Ethics

Committee at Mount Saint Vincent University, and the Straight Regional School Board, and

has received approval in ali three cases. Also, your principal is aware of, and has approved,

this research to take place at your school. Finally, the School Psychologist at your school is

aware of this study.

Please send out copies of the attached letters with students as soon as possible, as 1

hope to start my data collection as soon as possible. If you could also put in your agenda to

remind students about the Ietters over the next few days, that would be great. If you have aay

questions or concerns regarding this study, 1 would be happy to meet with you, or you c m

reach me at 533-3 142, or my supervisor, Dr. Fred French, at 457-6 1 86.

Thank you for your cooperation in this matter, and 1 will be in touch with you soon.

Yours Sincerely,

Janïce Chisholm

School Psychology Graduate Student

APPENDIX D

Letter Requesting Pemiission From

Students' Parents

Dear Parents or Guardian~~

1 am wnting to request permission for your child to participate in a research study

that 1 am doing in order to complete my Master of Arts in School Psychology at Mount

Saint Vincent University.

The purpose of my shidy is to look at how -dents view learning and the types of

skiUs they have acquired up to this point in theh education Your chilci, along with the

other students in hk or her cks, will be asked ts fill out s e v d questionnaires that will

look at their school experiences. Students will be asked not to put th& name on anything

they fill out, therefore, it will not be possible to identw individual responses afterwardd

This will ensure the confidentiality of their answers.

There are no risks associateci with thy: study- Your cbild's participation in this

study will be voiuntary, and your child will be given the opportunity to decline or

withdraw fkom participation at any time. At the end of the study, you wiii have access to

the overail d s by wntacting the school for flurther information.

If you have any questions or concems regarding your child's participation in this

study, please contact either my supervisor, Dr. Fred French at 457-6186, or myself at

533-3 142.

Yours Sincerely,

-- -

Janice Chisholm, B. A. (Honours)

School Psychology Graduate Student

Please check the appropriate box, fiU in your child's name and yoin signahire, and r e m

to the classroom teacher as soon as possible.

I give my permission for my child to participate in this research study.

1 do not give m y permission for my child to participate in this research study.

Parent's / Guardïad s Signature

Date ChiId's Teacher

APPENDIX E

Gender Role Identification Survey

Please do not put your name on any of the following pages. Read the directions and each of the following questions carefidly. Please respond to the best of your ability and be as t r u W as possible. There are no right or wrong answers, I am simply interested

Age Grade Gender (M or F) School

in your opinions.

Mother's Occupation Father's Occupation

Have you ever participated &y?

Yes No

in my career exploration act~t ies , such as a job fair or a career

If Yes, please indicate the type of activity.

Do you have any previous work experience? Yes No

If Yes, please indicate the type or types of work expenence you have.

1 Please rank the following, indicating the degree to which each is important to lyou, with 1 beîng what you consider to be most important and 7 being what you [consider to be least important. Ouestion 1

A high income Chiltiren A job that helps people A good education Marriage An interesting job A leadership role in your work

Please check the box that best applies to you and answer the questions to the best of your ability.

(2) In the fbture, would you like to be ... Employed Full-Time E q Io yed Part-Tirne Not be employed at all (if this is your response, skip to question 6)

(3) There are many Merent types of occupations such as, nursing, fishing, secretarial, construction, teaching, forestry, engineers, electrïcian, and carpentry. What type of occupation would you &g to have in the future?

-- - - --

(4) What type of occupation do you think you will be most Likeiy to have in the fùture?

(5) Please check the box that best represents your point of view. 1 have chosen this type of occupation because ... There are jobs available in this type of occupation 1 can have this type of job and live close to home 1 am fai.niliar or know a lot about this job Someone 1 know recommended it 1 would reaily like to do this job It's what my parents or fiiends are doing or tallcing about doing

(6) If you had the opportunity to learn about more occupations, is it iikely that you would change your mhd? Please check one)

Yes No Maybe

Xf yes, your reasons for changing your mind wodd be ...

(7) Do you expect to go to university? (Please check one) Yes No Maybe

(8) Do you expect to take any technical, vocationai, or trade related training? (Please check one)

Yes No Maybe

1 Please indicate which of the following statements best apply to you and then rate 1 [the degree to which each applies.

(9) In generat in school if you do not understand sornething do you ... feel fkee to ask questions if you do not understand something feel uncornfortable asking questions if you do not understand something

1 2 3 4 5 6 Feel Free to Feel Ask Questions Uncornfortable

to Ask Questions

(10) Generaiiy, would you say your teachers ... discourage students fiom expressing their own opinions encourage students to express their own opinion

1 2 Encourage

3 4 5 6 Discourage

(1 1) Overali, do you feel that your teachers ... think you will do weli in life think you will not do well in Life

1 2 3 4 5 6 Do Not Do Weil Weli

(12) Which of the following two statements cornes closest to your opinion ... education should be designed to help people get jobs education should be designed to expose students to different ideas

I 2 3 4 5 6 Jobs Ideas

1 Indicate the degree to which you iden- with the foIlowing characteris tics.

1 2 3 4 5 6 Aggressive Passive

1 2 3 4 5 6 Cornpetitive not

competitive

1 2 3 4 5 6 self-reliant dependent

1 2 u n m g to take risks

1 2 willing to take a stand

I 2 compassionate

6 willing to take risks

6 unwilling to take a stand

6 not cheerfil

6 not coqassionate

6 disloyal

1 2 sympathetic

6 unsympathetic

6 not derstanding

Nok Characta items taka Eom BEM 1974.

APPENDlX F

Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI)

107

Items on the Masculinity, Femininity, and Social Desirability Scales of the BSRI

Masculine items

49. Acts as a leader

46. Aggressive

5 8 - Ambitious

22. Andfical

13. Assertive

10. Athletic

55. Competitive

4. Defends own beliefs

37. Dominant

19- Forcefid

25. Has leadership abilities

7. Iodependent

52. Individuaiistic

3 1. Makes decisions easily

40. Masculine

1. Self-reliant

34. Self"sufficient

16. Strong personality

43. Willing to take a stand

28. W i h g to take risks

Note. The number preçeding ez Inventory.

Feminine items

1 1. Mectionate

5. C h e e f i

50. Cbildlike

32. Compassionate

53. Does not use harsh language

35. Eager to soothe hurt feelings

20. Ferninine

14. Flatterable

59. Gentle

47. Guhible

56. Loves children

17. Loyal

26. Sensitive to the needs of others

8. Shy

38. Soft spoken

23. Sympathetic

44. Tender

29. Understanding

41. Warm

2. Yielding

i item the of each

Neutra1 items

adjective

5 1. Adaptable

36. Conceited

9. Conscientious

60. Conventional

45. Fnendly

15. Happy

3. Helpfùl

48. Inefficient

24. Jealous

39. Likable

6. Moody

21. Reiiable

30. Secretive

33- Sincere

42. Solernn

57. Tactful

12. Theatrical

27. Tmthfiil

1 8. Unpredictable

54. Unsystematic

C

- as it actually appears on the

APPENDIX G

Metacognitive Tasks & Scale

Understanding How I Do My Work

Please complete the following questions.

Please teii how you go about reading a shon passage about the passage.

in order to answer questions

Please tell how you go about solving a problem in mathematics.

Please tell how you would go about wnting a letter descniing your favourite place.

Please circle the number that best represents your view

lmmmmœt of the time 2mm.sometimes 3,,,never

If 1 am not sure of my answers or how to do a question, 1 usually ask someone. 1 2 3

1 often fèel disorganized when a large amount of information is presented to me at one time. 1 2 3

Men takùig an exam, 1 d y work on easy items fist and then go to the more difncuk ones rather than just taking them in order. 3

When my Est attempt at a problem does not work, 1 u d y try a couple of other approaches,

1 usually do not bother checkiag my work before 1 turn in my paper.

1 usualiy break down long problems into shorter parts to be able to understand them better.

1 have a habit of writing down an answer nrst and rereading it only &et if1 notice a mistake.

1 often spent to much time on difficuit questions and neglect other questions that 1 can answer with esse.

1 often do not notice if I have made a mistake.

I'm quick to notice the things I'm asked to do when it is written-

1 try different strategies to help my memory.

1 look for the main point in a story.

French, 1998.

APPENDIX H

Sample of Critical Thinking Items

Level X

Section 1 What happened to the First Group

The k s t job of your group is to find out what happened to the fist group of explorers. Your group has landed on Nicorna and has just discovered the metai huts put up by the first group. From the outside, the huts appear to be in good condition. It is a warm day, and the sun is shining. The trees, rocks, grass, and birds make Nicoma appear like much ofNorth Arnerica.

You and the health officer are the first to arrive at the group of huts. You caii out, but get no answer.

The heaith officer suggests, ''Maybe they 're all dead. " You try to find out if he's right*

Listed below are some of the facts you leam. You must decide whether each fact supports the health officer's idea, or suggests that the health officer's idea is mistaken - or neither.

For each fact, mark one of the foliowing on your answer sheet:

A. This fact supports the health officer's idea that everyone in the first group is dead. B. This fact goes against the health officer's idea. C. Neither: this fact does not help us decide

Here is an example of the kind of problem in this part of the test:

1 1. You go to the first hut. Everything is covered in a thick layer of dust. 1 1s this fact for or against the health officer's idea, or neither? It certainly isn't

enough to prove him right, but it does give some support. Ifa fact supports the health officer's idea, you should mark A on your answer sheet. Mark A for Number 1.

Mark your answer for this next example: 12. Other members of your group discover the first group's rocket ship nearby.

The answer is C. Knowing that the first group's rocket ship bas been discovered doesn't help you decide one way or the other. Since this fact doesn't help you decide whether the health officer is right, C is correct.

APPENDIX 1

Various Types of Student Career

Exploration Activities

Type of career exploration activity . . .

1. Millionaires Program

2, Career Day

3. Baby-sitting Course

4. Participating on a Cornmittee

5 - Business Information Sessions

6. None

7. Millionaires Program & Career Day

8. Miliionaires & Baby-sitting Course

9. Job Shadowing

APPENDIX J

Types of Previous Work Experiences

Listed by Young Adolescents

Type of Previous work experience , , ,

1, Natural Resources 2- Chiid Care 3. Labour Work 4, Trade Reiated 5, Store ClerW Sales Clerk 6. Tourism related 7. Business Development & Operation 8. Cornputer Reiated 9. Delivering Papers or other goods 1 0. Fund raisingl Public Related Volunteer Work 1 1, Waitresd Waiter 12. Animal Care 13. None 14. 1,2,3,4 15. 1,2 16. 1,3 17.3,4 18.2,5 19.2,5,3 20.2,6 21. 1,2,3 22.2,3 (Child care & Labour Work) 23.2,3,7 24.2,8 25.9,3,2 26.2,lO 27-33 28.3,2,7,8 29.7,3,11 30.2,4

APPENDIX K

Occupations Students Would

Like to Obtain, Think They Wiii Obtain,

& Parental Occupations

Mother's & Father's Occupation - Likefïhhk Occupations

1. Don't Know/ Listed Multiple 2. Gov't Employee 3. Teaching 4. Computers 5. P,C.W* 6. Fishing 7. Nursing 8. Doctor 9, Lawyer 10. Construction/ Labour Work 1 1. Forestry 12. Secretary 13. Child care 14. Vet 15, Zoologkt 16, Manager 17. RC.M-P. Officerl Police Officer 1 8. Correctional Officer 19- Store Clerk 20. Mechanic 21. Electrician 22. Carpenter 23. Modeling 24, Entertainment Industry 25. Professional Athlete 26. Therapist 27. Engineer 28. Oceanography 29. Marine Biologist 3 0. Archeologist 3 1. Army or Navy 32. Pilot 33. Meteorologist 34. Security Guard 3 5. Dentist 36, Hairdresser 37. Researcher 38. Sewing/ Tailor 39. Office Job 40. Truck Driver/ Equipment Operator 4 1. Architect 42, Business Owner 43. Physio-therapist

44. Fishplant 45. Homemaker 46. Tourism 47. Baker/ CooW Chef 48. Social Worker 49. School Administrator 50. Student 5 1. Telecomrmrnication 52. Massage Therapist 53. Retired 54. Noue Listed 55. Agriculturist 56. X-Ray Technician 57. Caterer 58. Sales Representative 59. Postal Worker 60- Lab Techniciao 6 1. Bank TeUer 62- Custodiad Janitor 63. Welder 64. Forest Ranger 65. Correctional Officer 66. Linesman 67- Sheet Metal Worker 68. Repair man 69. Safety Officer 70. Marine Trader 7 1. Environmental specialist 72. Artist 73. Professor

APPENDIX L

Reasons Given for Why Students

Would Be Open to Leaming

About Waer Careers

Opportuniv to Leam About More Occupations You Would Because . . .

1. Would Iike to learn more about other interesting occupations

2. Wouid like to eam more money

3, No Response

4. 1 & 2

5. Gan not work at desired job

6. Like to make more money & Closer to Family and Friends

APPENDDC M

Iiit ercorrelations Between

Regression Factors and Achievement

Intercorrelations Between Regression Factors and Achievement

Variables 1 2 3 ?

Students (n = 1 19)

1 - Metacognition

2. Critical Thinking

3. Gender