Toxic Math-masculinity: Changing Harmful Lay Theories of Mathematics to Improve Student Achievement

Students often come into the secondary math classroom with an implicit understanding of mathematics that negatively affects their performance in the classroom. These lay theories often reinforce an entity theory of mathematical ability that views ability as fixed and unchangeable. In turn, this view of mathematical ability influences students’ goal orientations. Research shows the positive benefits of an incremental theory of mathematical ability and a mastery goal orientation on mathematics student achievement. Much of the research literature focuses on describing or quantifying the connection between incremental theories of mathematical ability and student achievement rather than describing effective strategies for changing students’ lay theories. The curriculum designed for this project is designed to address students’ lay theories of mathematics, their lay theories of mathematical ability, and their goal orientation in the early secondary mathematics classroom. The goal of this project is to provide a unit of lessons that can be delivered once a week during the first ten weeks of school to empower students to change their mathematical lay theories and understand the mathematics classroom as a place to pursue mastery goals, improving their achievement and enjoyment in mathematics