A quantitative analysis of the effects of chess instruction on the mathematics achievement of southern, rural, black secondary students

Abstract

This study investigates the effects of chess instruction on the mathematics achievement of a group of southern, rural, black, secondary students. Instruments used included the mathematics section of the CAT (Level 20), Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT), Matrix Analogies Test-Short Form (MAT-SF), Guilford-Zimmerman Spatial Visualization Test (SV), and Guilford Zimmerman Spatial Orientation Test (SO). The treatment group, which received 18 weeks of chess instruction, consisted of 11 females and 8 males. The control group was comprised of 10 females and 10 males. All participants were high school juniors or seniors. Analysis of variance of the pre-tests found no significant differences between the treatment and control groups. Post-test data were analyzed by 2 x 2 MANCOVA which used statistically significant pre-tests as covariates. The treatment group scored significantly higher than the control group on post-test measures of mathematics achievement, F(1, 38) = 4.14, $p \u3c .043;$ field dependence/independence, F(1, 38) = 6.02, $p \u3c .019;$ spatial visualization, F(1, 38) = 14.13, $p \u3c .001;$ and nonverbal reasoning, F(1, 38) = 6.09, $p \u3c .037.$ The control group scored significantly higher on the spatial orientation test, F(1, 38) = 4.22, $p \u3c .048.$ Further analysis by one-way ANCOVA found that only female members of the treatment group scored significantly higher on measures of mathematics achievement. Factor analysis extracted only one variable from the five instruments used in the study. This variable was labeled Spatially Based Cogntion (SBC). One-way ANCOVA of this extracted variable also found that only the treatment group females scored significantly higher than the control group females. No significant difference was found between the treatment group males and control group males for the extracted variable