Outcomes for Mathematical Literacy
Outcomes for Mathematical Literacy: Do Attitudes About Math Change?
AMATYC 2015 Session S023
Mathematical Literacy Overview Old Course Sequence
PreAlgebra
Beginning Algebra
Intermediat e Algebra
Gen Ed Math or Intro to Stat College Algebra or Pre-Calculus
Current Course Sequence
PreAlgebra
Intro to Statistics or Gen Ed Math
Math Literacy Intermediate Algebra
College Algebra or Pre-Calculus
Goals Create a new track for gen-ed bound students Keep core algebra content, add data literacy De-emphasize by-hand algebraic simplification Add more applications, exploration, and writing Use technology
Philosophy of Course Problem Solving Math in context, focus on numeracy, data analysis, and functions
Group Work Little to no lecture
Develop critical thinking and conceptual understanding
Collaboration as a tool for problem solving and thinking.
Real problems don’t follow cookie-cutter patterns; they take work
Assigning groups: • 3-4 students per group • Mix of abilities
Students need to take responsibility
Full participation required • Students may not opt out of group work • Points given for quality participation
Persistence will pay off
Active participation required
Diverse Assignments Daily lessons that require: Reading Writing Technology Online skills work outside of class Unit projects
Keep calm and carry on: Mathematicians don’t know how to solve every problem immediately. They just know how to start thinking about it! Questions? Contact Erin Wilding-Martin at [email protected]
1
Outcomes for Mathematical Literacy: Do Attitudes About Math Change?
AMATYC 2015 Session S023
Do Student Attitudes Change? 5
Comparison of Pre- and Post-survey attitudes
4 3
Mathematical Attitudes measured along 4 dimensions using the Attitudes Towards Mathematics Inventory (Tapia & Marsh, 2004):
2 1
Motivation (9 items) Value (8 items) Confidence (15 items) Enjoyment (8 items)
Pre-survey given in first week of class and post-survey given the last two weeks.
0
Motivation Enjoyment Pre-survey mean
Attitude Scale Motivation Enjoyment Value Confidence
N* 60 59 54 49
Value
Confidence
Post-survey mean
Pre-survey mean 2.822 2.919 3.734 2.869
Post-survey mean 2.926 3.1 3.831 3.052
Average difference (s.e.) 0.104 (0.063) 0.180 (0.071) 0.097 (0.059) 0.182 (0.085)
p-value (diff ≠ 0) 0.1068 0.0143 0.1063 0.0366
Note: 5 = Strongly Agree; 4 = Agree; 3 = Neither agree nor disagree; 2 = Disagree; 1 = Strongly disagree. * Each subscale was composed of multiple items for which a student needed complete data in order to have a valid score. As a result, the sample size for each subscale varies depending on how many individual had complete data for the scale.
Men had a significantly higher shift in motivation compared to their female counterparts. There were no significant differences in attitudes on the pre-survey between the students who took both surveys (almost-completers) to those who only took the first one (noncompleters). 120.00
Attitude Changes, by Percent
100.00
80.00
60.00
40.00
9 students increased all of their attitudes towards math, 13 increased on three of the four scales. In contrast, only 3 students did not increase any of their attitude scores. Questions? Contact Martha Makowski at [email protected]
20.00
0.00
Motivation
Enjoyment
Negative Change
Value
No Change
Confidence
Positive Change
Tapia, M., & Marsh, G. E., II (2004). An instrument to measure mathematics attitudes. Academic Exchange Quarterly, 8(2), 16-21.
2
AMATYC 2015 Session S023
Mathematical Literacy Overview Old Course Sequence
PreAlgebra
Beginning Algebra
Intermediat e Algebra
Gen Ed Math or Intro to Stat College Algebra or Pre-Calculus
Current Course Sequence
PreAlgebra
Intro to Statistics or Gen Ed Math
Math Literacy Intermediate Algebra
College Algebra or Pre-Calculus
Goals Create a new track for gen-ed bound students Keep core algebra content, add data literacy De-emphasize by-hand algebraic simplification Add more applications, exploration, and writing Use technology
Philosophy of Course Problem Solving Math in context, focus on numeracy, data analysis, and functions
Group Work Little to no lecture
Develop critical thinking and conceptual understanding
Collaboration as a tool for problem solving and thinking.
Real problems don’t follow cookie-cutter patterns; they take work
Assigning groups: • 3-4 students per group • Mix of abilities
Students need to take responsibility
Full participation required • Students may not opt out of group work • Points given for quality participation
Persistence will pay off
Active participation required
Diverse Assignments Daily lessons that require: Reading Writing Technology Online skills work outside of class Unit projects
Keep calm and carry on: Mathematicians don’t know how to solve every problem immediately. They just know how to start thinking about it! Questions? Contact Erin Wilding-Martin at [email protected]
1
Outcomes for Mathematical Literacy: Do Attitudes About Math Change?
AMATYC 2015 Session S023
Do Student Attitudes Change? 5
Comparison of Pre- and Post-survey attitudes
4 3
Mathematical Attitudes measured along 4 dimensions using the Attitudes Towards Mathematics Inventory (Tapia & Marsh, 2004):
2 1
Motivation (9 items) Value (8 items) Confidence (15 items) Enjoyment (8 items)
Pre-survey given in first week of class and post-survey given the last two weeks.
0
Motivation Enjoyment Pre-survey mean
Attitude Scale Motivation Enjoyment Value Confidence
N* 60 59 54 49
Value
Confidence
Post-survey mean
Pre-survey mean 2.822 2.919 3.734 2.869
Post-survey mean 2.926 3.1 3.831 3.052
Average difference (s.e.) 0.104 (0.063) 0.180 (0.071) 0.097 (0.059) 0.182 (0.085)
p-value (diff ≠ 0) 0.1068 0.0143 0.1063 0.0366
Note: 5 = Strongly Agree; 4 = Agree; 3 = Neither agree nor disagree; 2 = Disagree; 1 = Strongly disagree. * Each subscale was composed of multiple items for which a student needed complete data in order to have a valid score. As a result, the sample size for each subscale varies depending on how many individual had complete data for the scale.
Men had a significantly higher shift in motivation compared to their female counterparts. There were no significant differences in attitudes on the pre-survey between the students who took both surveys (almost-completers) to those who only took the first one (noncompleters). 120.00
Attitude Changes, by Percent
100.00
80.00
60.00
40.00
9 students increased all of their attitudes towards math, 13 increased on three of the four scales. In contrast, only 3 students did not increase any of their attitude scores. Questions? Contact Martha Makowski at [email protected]
20.00
0.00
Motivation
Enjoyment
Negative Change
Value
No Change
Confidence
Positive Change
Tapia, M., & Marsh, G. E., II (2004). An instrument to measure mathematics attitudes. Academic Exchange Quarterly, 8(2), 16-21.
2
