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YAL-Math-Attitudes

The Young Adult Study investigates the relationship between learner attributes, such as age and gender, and their attitudes towards learning Mathematics in Work Integrated Learning Programmes. Findings indicate that older adults exhibit the highest math anxiety and lowest confidence, while young adults show the least anxiety and highest confidence. The study suggests targeted interventions to improve math attitudes, particularly for older and female students, and emphasizes the importance of real-world applications to sustain interest.

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Vasudha Singh
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2 views17 pages

YAL-Math-Attitudes

The Young Adult Study investigates the relationship between learner attributes, such as age and gender, and their attitudes towards learning Mathematics in Work Integrated Learning Programmes. Findings indicate that older adults exhibit the highest math anxiety and lowest confidence, while young adults show the least anxiety and highest confidence. The study suggests targeted interventions to improve math attitudes, particularly for older and female students, and emphasizes the importance of real-world applications to sustain interest.

Uploaded by

Vasudha Singh
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Learning Attitudes

Young Adult Study


Work Integrated Learning Programmes
Nov 2024
Background
● Students in WILP differ by gender, age, qualifications, work experience, socio-
economic status, etc.
● Theories such as cognitive learning theory and fuzzy trace theory suggest
that these factors define learners’ epistemological beliefs and learning
attitudes, which in turn affect their learning.
● The Young Adult Study aims to investigate the relationship between such
learner attributes and their epistemological beliefs and learning attitudes.
● This part of the study looks at age and gender and their relation to attitudes
towards learning Mathematics.
Questions
● Do math attitudes change by age-group: young adults (18 to 21 years),
middle group (22- 29 years) and older adults (30+ years)?
● Are there differences in math attitudes based on gender?
● Do math attitudes change over time through the course of the program?
Relevance
● Increased understanding of learners’ math attitudes in our work-integrated
setting.
● Help in choosing/developing instructional strategies better suited for our
learners based on various attributes.
Approach
● Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey (CLASS): standard
instrument used widely at high school and college level to measure beliefs
and attitudes about learning for Physics, Chemistry and Biology
● This study uses CLASS modified for Mathematics
● Survey was circulated among three age-groups of adults: young, middle and
senior
● Exploratory factor analysis was conducted to understand the dimensions of
beliefs and learning attitudes
● Significance tests were conducted to understand if there were significant
differences in these dimensions by age, gender and semester.
Participant Background

Adult Age Range Organization Programme No. of


Group in Years Respondents

Young 18 to 22 HCL BSc Computing and 237


Design

Middle 22 to 29 WIPRO, SAP Integrated MTech: 333


Computing Systems,
Software Systems,
Software Engineering

Senior 30+ NSP MTech: Design 105


Organizations Engineering, Data
Science and Engineering

TOTAL 675
Participant Details

Adult No. of No. of No. of Semester I Semester II


Group Respondents Females Males

Young 237 102 134 35 202

Middle 333 143 190 60 273

Senior 105 21 84 33 47

TOTAL 675 266 408 128 522


Dimensions of Learning Beliefs and Attitudes
1. Math Anxiety and Dependence on Memorization
2. Interest and Real-world Relevance
3. Requiring Effort and Strategy in Problem Solving
4. Doubt and Lack of Confidence in Understanding
5. Desire for Conceptual Understanding
Differences by Age Group
Dimension Statistically Significant Details
Difference Between Age
Groups

Math Anxiety and Dependence on Yes Senior > Middle > Young
Memorization

Interest and Real-world Relevance Yes Senior > Middle


Young ~ Middle
Young ~ Senior

Requiring more effort and strategy in Yes Senior > Middle > Young
problem solving

Doubt and Lack of Confidence in Yes Senior > Middle > Young
Understanding

Desire for Conceptual Understanding Yes Young > Middle > Senior
Differences by Gender
Dimension Statistically Significant Details
Difference Between
Gender

Math Anxiety and Dependence on No Males ~ Females


Memorization

Interest and Real-world Relevance Marginally Males > Females (marginally)

Requiring more effort and strategy in No Males ~ Females


problem solving

Doubt and Lack of Confidence in Yes Females > Males


Understanding

Desire for Conceptual Understanding No Males ~ Females


Differences by Semester
Dimension Statistically Significant Details
Difference Between
Semesters

Math Anxiety and Dependence on Yes Semester I > Semester II


Memorization

Interest and Real-world Relevance Yes Semester II > Semester I

Requiring more effort and strategy in Yes Semester I > Semester II


problem solving

Doubt and Lack of Confidence in Yes Semester I > Semester II


Understanding

Desire for Conceptual Understanding No Semester I ~ Semester II


Interaction Between Factors
○ Older adults in earlier semesters experience the highest math anxiety and
lowest confidence.
○ Younger adults in later semesters show the greatest interest in math and the
strongest confidence in their understanding.
○ Gender, Semester, and Adult Group together do not have a unique combined
impact, but individual and two-factor interactions (e.g., Semester & Adult
Group) are important in shaping math attitudes.
Summary of Findings
● Older Adults: Display most anxiety and doubts and lowest confidence with Math
abilities. Required most effort in problem solving. Interest and real world relevance was
highest for the older adults, however, desire for conceptual understanding was lowest.
● Middle Group: Intermediate levels across most dimensions. Interest and real world-
relevance was lowest.
● Young Adults: Displayed lowest levels of anxiety and doubts and highest confidence
with Math abilities. Required least effort in problem solving, and showed highest desire
for conceptual understanding.
● Females across age-groups showed higher doubts and lower confidence than males.
Female also displayed marginally lower interest and real-word relevance than males.
● Other than desire for conceptual understanding, there was improvement in all
dimensions from Semester 1 to Semester 2 suggesting that Math attitudes improve over
time.
Insights
○ Math-related attitudes are influenced most strongly by Semester and
Age Group, while Gender plays a smaller but specific role in
confidence-related constructs.
○ Progression in semesters leads to reduced anxiety and greater
confidence, but younger students adapt faster and are less
dependent on memorization.
Inferences
For Early Semesters:
■ Provide targeted interventions to reduce anxiety and reliance on memorization.
■ Build confidence in math understanding, especially for older and female students.
For Seniors (Older Adults):
■ Foster support systems to improve confidence and reduce self-doubt.
■ Showcase real-world applications of math to sustain their interest.
For All Students:
■ Focus on reinforcing conceptual understanding to reduce dependence on effort-
intensive strategies and boost problem-solving skills.
■ Showcase real-world applications of math to generate and sustain their interest.
Limitations
● This study focuses on attitudes towards Math only, and is not indicative of
learning attitudes in other subjects.
● Only programs in computing, software, design and data science that had
Math courses as part of the curriculum were selected for this study.
Next Steps
● Analysis of home-grown survey about motivations and habits for the same
population
● Comparison of results of CLASS and home-grown survey

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