Mathematics Computer Software Characteristics with Possible Gender-Specific Impact: A Content Analysis

Kelly K. Chappell
Journal of Educational Computing Research, Vol 15 No 1, 1997, p. 25-35

This study analyzes, as a function of grade level, the representation of gender, competition, and violence in seventeen top-selling educational software programs designed for use in the mathematics classroom. The percent of male characters and voices portrayed and the percent of female characters and voices portrayed are reported for each software program. A violence percentage, competition against program percentage, and competition against peer percentage are reported for each program. The results indicate that the mean percentages of violence, mean percentages of competition against the program, and mean percentages of competition against a peer increase across grade level. The mean percentages of female characters and voices portrayed decrease with grade level.

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