Students' mathematical preparation: differences in staff and student perceptions
Article
Article Title | Students' mathematical preparation: differences in staff and student perceptions |
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ERA Journal ID | 40522 |
Article Category | Article |
Authors | Wandel, Andrew P. (Author), Robinson, Clare (Author), Abdulla, Shahab (Author), Dalby, Tim (Author), Frederiks, Anita (Author) and Galligan, Linda (Author) |
Journal Title | International Journal of Innovation in Science and Mathematics Education |
Journal Citation | 23 (1), pp. 82-93 |
Number of Pages | 12 |
Year | 2015 |
Place of Publication | Sydney, Australia |
ISSN | 1836-0858 |
1836-0866 | |
2200-4270 | |
Web Address (URL) | http://openjournals.library.usyd.edu.au/index.php/CAL/index |
Abstract | Surveys of staff and first year students from the Science, Nursing, and Engineering and Built Environment disciplines are compared to ascertain the differences between their perceptions regarding the students' mathematical preparation for their first semester of university. The surveys were conducted after students had received their results from the first semester. Unsurprisingly, the perceived capabilities in the basic topics were generally higher than the advanced topics. In general, staff were pessimistic about the students' capabilities, while students were optimistic. The pessimism of the staff appears to be linked to the diversity of the student cohort, where students who studied the higher levels of mathematics in Year 12 tended to perceive that they were well prepared, while students who studied the lower levels of mathematics (Year 10 and Mathematics A) were likely to perceive that they were inadequately prepared. This raises the possibility that the course content has been targeted below the capabilities of the higher levels of Year 12 mathematics: a prospect which should be further investigated because of its important implications. An important intervention that significantly improved the capabilities of students was the completion of tertiary pre-entry courses: these students had similar confidence to those who completed intermediate level mathematics (Mathematics B). Mandatory completion of such pre-entry courses for under-qualified students could arrest the tendency to reduce the difficulty of the mathematics in first-year university. |
Keywords | mathematics preparation; first year university; perceptions; academic staff; students; higher education research |
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020 | 390303. Higher education |
390109. Mathematics and numeracy curriculum and pedagogy | |
390113. Science, technology and engineering curriculum and pedagogy | |
Public Notes | Copyright Institute for Innovation in Science and Mathematics Education. |
Byline Affiliations | School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering |
Open Access College | |
Learning and Teaching Support Unit | |
School of Agricultural, Computational and Environmental Sciences | |
Institution of Origin | University of Southern Queensland |
https://research.usq.edu.au/item/q2x26/students-mathematical-preparation-differences-in-staff-and-student-perceptions
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