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UBC Theses and Dissertations
Mathematics anxiety and the first year university introductory Calculus course Stevens, Pierre
Abstract
Mathematics departments experience large dropout rates among first-year students. Attempts have been made to remedy this attrition by focusing on curriculum reform and teaching-learning techniques. Less effort has gone into exploring the differences in values, beliefs, expectations and experiences of teachers and students in a first year calculus course. The purpose of this study was to identify these differences in an effort to determine the circumstances under which teaching and learning takes place in the classroom. Identification of possible mismatches may provide a beneficial insight towards improving the pedagogy of mathematics education in the first year calculus classroom. To that extent, I conducted open-ended interviews and questionnaires with five faculty members and with five students. The research was carried out at the mathematics department of a Research University in Eastern Canada. Interpretative analysis of the data focused on three spheres of interest: beliefs about: the nature of mathematics, the pedagogy of mathematics education, and the aims of mathematics education and post-secondary university education. It was found that differing perspectives for the first two spheres contribute to mathematics anxiety among first year students. To address mathematics anxiety within the first-year introductory calculus course, the study suggests that there is a need to (I) develop a social constructivist theory of mathematics anxiety, (2) develop within the professional practice of post-secondary mathematics education an awareness of the role of communication, and (3) develop within post-secondary educational institutions an awareness of the benefit of nurturing research among instructors into their individual teaching practices.
Item Metadata
| Title |
Mathematics anxiety and the first year university introductory Calculus course
|
| Creator | |
| Publisher |
University of British Columbia
|
| Date Issued |
1999
|
| Description |
Mathematics departments experience large dropout rates among first-year students.
Attempts have been made to remedy this attrition by focusing on curriculum reform and
teaching-learning techniques. Less effort has gone into exploring the differences in
values, beliefs, expectations and experiences of teachers and students in a first year
calculus course.
The purpose of this study was to identify these differences in an effort to determine the
circumstances under which teaching and learning takes place in the classroom.
Identification of possible mismatches may provide a beneficial insight towards improving
the pedagogy of mathematics education in the first year calculus classroom.
To that extent, I conducted open-ended interviews and questionnaires with five faculty
members and with five students. The research was carried out at the mathematics
department of a Research University in Eastern Canada.
Interpretative analysis of the data focused on three spheres of interest: beliefs about:
the nature of mathematics,
the pedagogy of mathematics education, and
the aims of mathematics education and post-secondary university education.
It was found that differing perspectives for the first two spheres contribute to
mathematics anxiety among first year students. To address mathematics anxiety within
the first-year introductory calculus course, the study suggests that there is a need to (I)
develop a social constructivist theory of mathematics anxiety, (2) develop within the
professional practice of post-secondary mathematics education an awareness of the role
of communication, and (3) develop within post-secondary educational institutions an
awareness of the benefit of nurturing research among instructors into their individual
teaching practices.
|
| Extent |
4881616 bytes
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| Genre | |
| Type | |
| File Format |
application/pdf
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| Language |
eng
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| Date Available |
2009-06-29
|
| Provider |
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
|
| Rights |
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.
|
| DOI |
10.14288/1.0054931
|
| URI | |
| Degree | |
| Program | |
| Affiliation | |
| Degree Grantor |
University of British Columbia
|
| Graduation Date |
1999-11
|
| Campus | |
| Scholarly Level |
Graduate
|
| Aggregated Source Repository |
DSpace
|
Item Media
Item Citations and Data
Rights
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.