Independent Variables
The independent variable is the single-gender classroom environment. Students were separated into two classes based on their gender. The author taught three math chapters to the male students (n= 25), and the author’s teaching partner taught the same three math chapters to the female students (n=25). The author desired to see if a single-gender math class has an effect on female’s math achievement and/or attitude toward mathematics. The same independent variables existed for both hypotheses.
Dependent Variables
The two variables that were measured were the achievement levels of the females and the perceptions of the females towards learning math. For the first hypothesis, the females’ achievement levels, which were measured based on average math grades, was the dependent variable. The average math grade was computed by averaging the last three chapter test grades prior to the separation. These averages were then compared with the averages of the three chapter test grades received during separate-gender instruction. The averages were compared in order to determine if an increase had occurred for the females while in single- gender instruction.