Many high school students experience "math anxiety," which has been shown to have a negative effect on their learning achievement. Does such an attitude carry over to learning computer skills? A math and computer science researcher at Duquesne University investigated this question and published her results in Educational Technology (May-June 1995). A sample of 1,730 high school students-902 boys and 828 girls-from public schools in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. participated in the study. Using five-point Likert scales, where 1 = "strongly disagree" and 5 = "strongly agree," the researcher measured the students' interest and confidence in both mathematics and computers.
a. For boys, math confidence and computer interest were correlated at r = .14. Fully interpret this result.
b. For girls, math confidence and computer interest were correlated at r = .33. Fully interpret this result.