Determining the Effect of Font Type and Size on Mathematical Computation Ability

Overview

Objectives/Goals I wanted to determine if font type and size of math problems makes a difference in a person's ability to answer math questions correctly. Methods/Materials I used a computer in making the tests myself. I used the following fonts:Times, Helvetica, and Brush Script MT. I used the following sizes of font: 8, 12, and 16. I tested 100 students (50 female/50 male) and collected all the tests. I corrected all the tests and compared all of my results to the control. Results I found that when math problems are printed in Brush Script MT size 8, students had the highest percentage of questions answered correctly. The lowest were the problems printed in Brush Script MT size 12. The control, Time size 12, was the third lowest percentage out of all nine sections. Conclusions/Discussion When math problems are seen in font and font sizes that students are unfamiliar with and are hard to read, they must focus in on what they are doing and really think about the math problem in order to come up with the correct answer.

Competition history

• CSEF 2005 Behavioral Sciences · Entry J0338

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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