Table Of ContentFAILURE IN MATHEMATICS OF SELECTED SUPERIOR STUDENTS
A Project
Presented to
the Faculty of the School of Education
The University of Southern California
In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Master of Science in Education
by
Herschel Maria Guss
October 1950
UMI Number: EP46339
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This project report, written under the direction
of the candidate’s adviser and approved by him,
has been presented to and accepted by the Faculty
of the School of Education in partial fulfillment of
the requirements for the degree of Master of
Science in Education.
Date.......................................................................
Adviser
Dean
TABLE OP CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. THE PROBLEM .............................. 1
Introduction .................................. 1
Statement of the problem ..................... 2
Importance of the s t u d y ................ 2
Organization of remainder of the project . . . 3
II. RELATED INVESTIGATIONS .......................... 5
Literature on failure in mathematics ........ 5
Literature on failure of superior students . . 11
Literature on psychological explanations of
fa ilu r e ............................... 19
Su m m a r y ................................. 24
III. THE SUBJECTS STUDIED AND MATERIALS USED . . . . 29
The subjects............................. 29
The materials........................... 30
IV. THE QUESTIONNAIRE R E S UL TS ................ 35
V. CASE STUDIES............................... 4l
Adult case studies...................... 4l
Observations of failing students in Algebra I. 57
Su m m a r y ................................. 62
VI. SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS . . . 65
S u mm ary ................................. 65
Conclusions............ 68
Recommendations .............................. 69
iii
CHAPTER PAGE
BIBLIOGRAPHY.......................................... 71
APPENDIX............................................... 75
LIST OF TABLES
TABLE PAGE
I. Reactions to High School Mathematics of 229
University Students ....................... 37
II. Reactions to High School Mathematics of
Forty-three Students Who Received "D" or "F"
Grades in Mathematics ..................... 38
III. The Amount of Affection and Control Shown by
Parents to the Students Who Received "D" or
"F" Grades in Mathematics................. 39
CHAPTER I
THE PROBLEM
Introduction. We live in an environment which often
requires exactness, split-second decisions, balance sheets
that balance, and bridges that do not collapse. The future
leaders of society are the intelligent young students of
today. An intelligent pupil should not fail. Failure rep
resents needless waste and places school authorities, par
ents, and the individual himself on the defensive. There
has been considerable investigation of the failure of below
average students. There has been less concern for the more
challenging problem, the failure of superior students. "A-
vailable evidence leads to the conclusion that achievement
in mathematics is not so closely related to general intelli
gence as it was once thought to be. It is probably errone
ous to speak of mathematical ability."1
On the average, sixteen to twenty per cent of the
pupils fail to pass mathematics. During the school year,
19^1-19^2, more than eighteen per cent of the pupils failed
mathematics in New York City.^ Mathematics was accorded
1 W . S . Monroe, Encyclopedia of Educational Research
(New York: The Macmillan Company, 1950), p. 722.
^ Committee of Mathematics Chairmen of New York City,
"Study of Failure in Mathematics," High Points, 27:18-33,
April, 19^5.
2
the distinction of having a higher rate of student failure
than any other high school subject.
It Is the continuous concern of educators to furnish ■
a better educational program for their charges. Any insight
into the problem of failure is valuable because It is defi
nitely a school experience to be avoided. The needless (
waste of failure and the psychological damage to the indi- j
vidual encouraged the exploration of the problem.
j
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Statement of the problem. It was the purpose of this
study, primarily, to Investigate the failure in mathematics
of superior students. Grade levels were not respected; that;
is, case studies were made of individuals no longer in
school, inquiries were made of college students, and obser- ;
vatIons of high school students were recorded. Coincidental
ly, failure in mathematics by the average and below average
student was examined. The findings were revealed by means
of a questionnaire and individual case studies. There was
f
i
an attempt, also, to learn more of this phenomenon from a
psychological point of view. j
{
Importance of the study. The problem of failures in ;
i
school is important because of the social, economic, and
j
i
i
■psychological effects upon pupils and the consequent added •
burdens placed upon society by them. One of our educational;
j
aims is the development of individual capacity. It is com- i
J
mon knowledge that -few pupils-work to their capacity. - ThereJ
,is much time and energy wasted in failure, partly because
of this condition.
Probably no other course in the curriculum creates
more misery than mathematics because of lack of understand
ing and success. Academic failure is not limited to those
of low intellectual ability. Pupils who are abundantly en
dowed intellectually fail to meet established academic
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standards and withdraw from school or change their course ;
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■of study. The failure of a student who has a good mentality
should be a danger signal and should call for Immediate in- !
vestigation.
Organization of remainder of the project. Related
studies of other investigators are reviewed in Chapter II.
These include literature on failure in mathematics, failure
of superior students, and failure as a psychological prob
lem.
i
Chapter III presents the procedures, materials, and
subjects, which include a questionnaire of college students
and some case studies of individuals who had failed in math-1
ematics.
Chapter IV sets forth the findings and results of the
questionnaire to over two hundred college students.
Chapter V consists of case studies of superior stu
dents who failed or barely passed mathematics.
Chapter VI contains a summary of the findings, i
conclusions, and recommendations.
