Keywords
mathematics, quantitative reasoning, value, confidence.
Abstract
Although mathematical and quantitative reasoning skills are an essential part of adult life in our society, many students arrive at post-secondary education without such skills. Taking a standard mathematics course such as calculus may do little to improve those skills. Using a modification of the Tapia & Marsh questionnaire, we surveyed 62 students taking a broad quantitative reasoning course designed to develop quantitative skills, with respect to two broad attitudinal areas: students’ perception of their own ability, confidence and anxiety, and their perception of the value of mathematics in their studies and their lives. Pre- to post-course comparisons were done by both paired t-tests and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests. Our results showed a significant increase in confidence and decrease in anxiety, while perception of the value of mathematics was already high and changed little by the end of the course.
DOI
http://dx.doi.org/10.5038/1936-4660.8.1.9
Recommended Citation
Wismath, Shelly L., and Alyson Worrall. "Improving University Students' Perception of Mathematics and Mathematics Ability." Numeracy 8, Iss. 1 (2015): Article 9. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5038/1936-4660.8.1.9
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
Included in
Higher Education Commons, Mathematics Commons, Science and Mathematics Education Commons
