“Lost in transition”: Alienation and drop out during the transition to mathematically-demanding subjects at university

Hernandez‐Martinez, Paul

doi:10.1016/j.ijer.2016.02.005

Cited by 19 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 18 publications

(15 reference statements)

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“…Engineering students hold varying beliefs about the relevance of their mathematics coursework to engineering. Belief that mathematics is not relevant to engineering correlates with increased rates of dropout from engineering [115]. Many students believe that mathematics is not connected enough to engineering, and having high relevance beliefs is an important motivational factor to encourage diligent study and learning [116].…”

Section: Previous Work On Why Students' Attitudes About the Relevancementioning

confidence: 99%

Mathematical Maturity for Engineering Students

Faulkner

Earl

Herman

2019

Int. J. Res. Undergrad. Math. Ed.

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This dissertation presents four studies on the mathematical education of engineering students. The first study is a qualitative analysis of the beliefs of engineering faculty at a single institution regarding what constitutes "mathematical maturity" for engineering students. Faculty emphasized the need for mathematical modeling skills, fluent symbolic representation skills, and a combination of effortless algebraic fluency and ability to use computational tools. The second study is an analysis of the beliefs of engineering faculty at a variety of institutions. These faculty also emphasized modeling, representation, and computation, corroborating the results of the first study. The third study is an analysis of the mathematical content of engineering circuits and statics homework problems. Just 8% of statics problems and 20% of circuits problems use calculus, and in a much more limited way than what is taught in calculus. The fourth study presents a quantitative survey of engineering sophomores' perceptions of the relevance of mathematics to their engineering studies. The students have somewhat favorable views of the relevance of mathematics, but some high-performing students view mathematics as irrelevant.ii To David Pierce, for starting me on the path to becoming an educator.And to Caitlin McGuire, for helping me complete that journey.iii

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Section: Previous Work On Why Students' Attitudes About the Relevancementioning

confidence: 99%

Mathematical Maturity for Engineering Students

Faulkner

Earl

Herman

2019

Int. J. Res. Undergrad. Math. Ed.

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“…Similarly, socialization theories were also prevalent (9/88), particularly those focused on situated learning, group theory, and communities of practice (Hernandez-Martinez, 2016;Hug, Jurow, & Chi, 2011;Owen & Rolfes, 2015). Scholars discussed identity in the context of social practices and stages of socialization (or alienation) of students.…”

Section: Theoretical Approaches To Engineering Identity Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Engineering Identity Development: A Review of the Higher Education Literature

Rodriguez

Bartlett

2018

International Journal of Education in Mathematics, Science and Technology

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“…Since the nature of mathematics changes during the transition from school to university, it is not surprising that many students experience a big gap between school and university mathematics (Di Martino & Gregorio, 2019;Hernandez-Martinez, 2016). The experience of this gap can be the result of unfulfilled expectations (Hirst, Meacock & Ralha, 2004) and incongruences between students' established beliefs and the reality they face at university (Andrà, Magnano & Morselli, 2011;Witzke, 2015).…”

Section: Beliefs During the Transition From School To University Mathmentioning

confidence: 99%

“That Wasn’t the Math I Wanted to do!”—Students’ Beliefs During the Transition from School to University Mathematics

Geisler

Rolka

2020

Int J of Sci and Math Educ

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It is a well-known fact that many students struggle during the transition from school to university mathematics. The aim of our quantitative study was to clarify the role of students' beliefs concerning the nature of mathematics for a successful transition. We distinguish between static beliefs (mathematics as a finished system of rules, facts and formula) and dynamic beliefs (mathematics as a dynamic discipline with applications in everyday life). In particular, we examined whether first year students' beliefs are suitable to predict students' exam achievement and their satisfaction (as criteria for a successful transition) and how students' beliefs develop during the transition. Therefore, we used questionnaires at the beginning and in the middle of the first term at university. Our results indicate that dynamic beliefs decrease during transition, whereas static beliefs remain rather stable. This seems problematic since dynamic beliefs turned out to negatively predict students' dropout intention, while static beliefs are a negative predictor of students' achievement in real analysis. Furthermore, the beliefs assessed in the middle of the term had a stronger predictive power than those at the beginning of the term. Based on these results, we discuss implications for the teaching of mathematics during the transition.

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“Lost in transition”: Alienation and drop out during the transition to mathematically-demanding subjects at university

Cited by 19 publications

References 18 publications

Mathematical Maturity for Engineering Students

Mathematical Maturity for Engineering Students

Engineering Identity Development: A Review of the Higher Education Literature

“That Wasn’t the Math I Wanted to do!”—Students’ Beliefs During the Transition from School to University Mathematics

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