A study by Marsh (2008) suggests that changing the organizational systems and structures of a classroom could have a positive impact on both students of color and students living in poverty. Changing these structures could have a positive effect on …show more content…
Females tend to have more connections between neurons and increased blood flow in this area. As a result, they may process information more quickly and may be able to respond to information faster than males (Gurian & Stevens, 2010). Additionally, the hippocampus, which converts information from short-term memory into long-term memory, tends to be larger in the female brain. The larger hippocampus may provide females with increased memory storage and the ability to access more information for recall. Female brains may also mature earlier than male brains, as the last step in male brain growth occurs around age 30 (Gurian & Stevens, 2010). “Boys tend to process emotive information from the limbic system to the brain stem; girls tend to process more of it in the upper brain, where complex thought occurs” (Gurian & Stevens, 2010, p. 29). A study by Gur et al. (2014) found that a resting female brain shows the same amount of activity. As a result, the female brain is constantly engaged and processing information, which may give females a learning advantage. Tests such as MRIs and PET scans also show blood flow and neurotransmission varies with a participant’s gender (Verma, …show more content…
Students who do not establish a solid foundation in mathematical concepts often carry these conceptual deficiencies into middle and high school (Nelson, 2014). Little (2009) noted that deficiencies in mathematical concepts usually emerge in elementary school “and continue as students’ progress through secondary school, typically performing over two grade levels behind their peers” (p. 3). Little attributed this phenomenon to poor mathematical instruction that covers too wide a scope of skills and concepts, causing the students to be unable “to achieve a sufficient conceptual understanding of the core concepts that underlie operations and algorithms” (p.3). Conceptual understanding is necessary for problem solving, and students are unable to be academically successful in mathematics without these