“I’M NOT A MATH PERSON” AND OTHER MYTHS: WHAT YOUNG ADULT FICTION TELLS US ABOUT MATH MINDSETS
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- How we can raise creative, creative thinkers who can succeed in our society and economy has been one of the most important tasks of education for many years. Mathematics is a discipline full of potential for inspiring and training young minds, but it is also a discipline fraught with performance anxiety, rigid stereotypes, and pronounced gender and racial inequities. The way that mathematics is learned and taught is influenced by many powerful and hidden factors, and while the classroom and curriculum are well-studied sites of research for improving attitudes around mathematics, this thesis instead considers young adult literature as a crucial, overlooked factor in how messages about math are transmitted to students. Through digital humanities methods including word embeddings, topic modeling, and close reading, this research investigates how math and math mindsets are portrayed in young adult literature by analyzing a corpus of over 5,000 young adult novels as well as 30 years of Hornbook guide reviews of young adult fiction. This thesis confirms earlier research, that math is portrayed in overwhelmingly negative and stereotyped ways, and contributes a deeper analysis of the ways that mindset influences these portrayals. In particular, this thesis finds that while both young boys and young girls are portrayed as both performing well and badly in mathematics, portrayals of growth mindset are more highly recommended and more prevalent for young boys than for young girls. In addition, the sentiments and social status surrounding mathematics varies widely throughout the corpus, and math often presents a source of stress and social isolation. Possible explanations for these trends are given, as well as a more detailed investigation of ways that math and mindset are associated with certain words and literary devices. This thesis concludes with a call to action for all educators, librarians, and other guiding forces in young people’s access to literature and development as learners: let’s challenge, complicate, and enliven the math narrative.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Date created | [ca. September 2022 - June 2023] |
| Publication date | June 9, 2023; June 7, 2023 |
Creators/Contributors
| Author | Ge, Karen |
|---|---|
| Advisor | Kelman, Ari |
| Thesis advisor | Levine, Sarah |
Subjects
| Subject | Mathematics > Study and teaching |
|---|---|
| Subject | Young adult literature |
| Subject | Digital humanities |
| Subject | Identity (Psychology) in youth |
| Subject | Identity (Psychology) in literature |
| Subject | Mindset (Dweck, Carol S.) |
| Genre | Text |
| Genre | Thesis |
Bibliographic information
| Related item |
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|---|---|
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.25740/fq517ft9894 |
| Location | https://purl.stanford.edu/fq517ft9894 |
Access conditions
- Use and reproduction
- User agrees that, where applicable, content will not be used to identify or to otherwise infringe the privacy or confidentiality rights of individuals. Content distributed via the Stanford Digital Repository may be subject to additional license and use restrictions applied by the depositor.
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 4.0 International license (CC BY-NC).
Preferred citation
- Preferred citation
- Ge, K. (2023). “I’M NOT A MATH PERSON” AND OTHER MYTHS: WHAT YOUNG ADULT FICTION TELLS US ABOUT MATH MINDSETS. Stanford Digital Repository. Available at https://purl.stanford.edu/fq517ft9894. https://doi.org/10.25740/fq517ft9894.
Collection
Undergraduate Honors Theses, Graduate School of Education
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