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The present paper explores the relationship between attitudes towards mathematics (ATM) and achievement in college calculus in active learning (AL) and lecture-based (LB) classrooms. Previous work on this relationship has mainly been limited to LB instruction, neglecting the impact of innovative approaches such as AL. Less attention has been paid to the roles played in this relationship by gender, year in college, and initial ATM. Results from a sample of 535 undergraduate students enrolled in 9 AL and 9 LB sections are presented. Data included ATMI surveys’ responses, final grades, and demographics. Correlation and multiple regression analyses were conducted. The influence of instruction on students with low ATM was also examined. Gender and year in college were the main demographic variables considered. Achievement in AL was found to be less dependent on initial ATM in terms of correlation. AL showed higher gains in grades than LB, when controlling for ATM and demographic variables. Effect sizes of AL instruction on grades of students with low ATM were larger than those of students with higher ATM. Furthermore, AL courses had a large effect size (d = 0.81) on female students with lower ATM, confirming its role as a gender equalizer. 

A study conducted by the Mathematical Association of America showed that calculus not only has significant effects on students’ decision to pursue STEM fields, but also on their attitudes towards mathematics. Inspired by this large-scale study, the present study sought to deepen the current understanding of the impact of calculus on student attitudes towards mathematics. Results of an implementation of the Modeling Practices in Calculus (MPC) model, an innovative active learning in mathematics (ALM) approach, in Calculus I at a large, urban, research intensive (R1) institution are presented. Using a randomized-control trial research design, stu- dents were randomly assigned to either traditional, lecture-based classrooms, or MPC classrooms. The Attitudes Towards Mathematics Inventory (ATMI) was used to measure student attitudes at the begin- ning and end of the course and results were compared from both MPC and traditional sections. Overall, MPC sections showed improve- ment over traditional instruction by having less negative impact on student attitudes. The enjoyment and self-confidence ATMI sub- scales showed significant differences at course completion for both semesters, when controlling for pre-ATMI score and term. Further- more, the MPC model had a positive impact on female students’ self-confidence as opposed to male students, acting as a gender equalizer. 

As part of the STEP UP 4 Women project, a national initiative to empower high school teachers to recruit women to pursue physics degrees in college, we developed two lessons for high school physics classes that are intended to facilitate the physics identity development of female students. One discusses physics careers and links to students' own values and goals; the other focuses on a discussion of underrepresentation of women in physics with the intention of having students elicit and examine stereotypes in physics. In piloting these lessons, we found statistically significant improvements in students' identities, particularly recognition beliefs (feeling recognized by others as a physics person) and beliefs in a future physics career. Moreover, female students have larger gains than male students in future beliefs (seeing themselves as physicists in the future) from both lessons, which makes it promising to contribute to alleviating the underrepresentation of women in physics. Using structural equation modeling, we test a path model of various physics identity constructs, extending an earlier, established model. In this paper, we also compare a preliminary structural analysis of students' physics identities before and after the career lesson, with an eye towards understanding how students' identities develop over time and due to these experiences.