Outcomes for Mathematical Literacy: Do Attitudes About Math Change? Martha B. Makowski & Erin Wilding-Martin November 19, 2015 AMATYC 2015 Session S023

Mathematical Literacy at Parkland College Erin Wilding-Martin emartin@parkland.edu

Algebra at Parkland Approximately 67-75% of incoming freshmen place into developmental math Success rates of about 50% in beginning, intermediate, and college algebra Approximately 75% of developmental math students are on a non-STEM path!

Gen Ed Math or Intro to Stat College Algebra or Pre-Calculus Old Course Sequence Pre-Algebra Beginning Algebra Intermediate Algebra Gen Ed Math or Intro to Stat College Algebra or Pre-Calculus

Redesign 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

Course Sequence – First Revision Pre-Algebra Math Literacy Intro to Statistics or Gen Ed Math Beginning Algebra Intermediate Algebra College Algebra or Pre-Calculus

Course Sequence – Current Version Pre-Algebra Math Literacy Intro to Statistics or Gen Ed Math Intermediate Algebra College Algebra or Pre-Calculus

http://dm-live.wikispaces.com/

Math Literacy Design Alternate but still challenging path Math in context, focus on numeracy, data analysis, and functions Develop critical thinking and conceptual understanding

This Class is Different! Little to no lecture Group work, active participation required Reading, writing, technology Online skills work outside of class

Problem Solving Skills Collaboration as a tool for problem solving and thinking. Keep calm and carry on: Mathematicians don’t know how to solve every problem immediately. They just know how to start thinking about it.

Productive Struggle Real problems don’t follow cookie-cutter patterns; they take work Take responsibility Persistence will pay off

Group Structure Assigning groups Full participation required 3-4 students per group Mix of abilities Full participation required Students may not opt out of group work Points given for quality participation Assignments Daily lessons Unit projects

Outcomes: Do Attitudes ChanGe? Martha Makowski University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign mmakows2@Illinois.edu

Question Do Mathematical Literacy students change their attitudes towards math while taking the class? Pause and ask the people in the audience what they expect might happen.

Survey Structure Surveyed twice: Asked about: First week of the semester Once during the last two weeks of the semester Asked about: Math attitudes (pre and post) Preferred learning methods (pre and post) Nature of mathematics (pre and post) Demographics (pre) A few other things…

Survey Sample 96 students took the pre-survey 67 took the post survey (69.8% retention) Race Male Female Total White 23 (25.0) 29 (31.5) 52 (56.5) Black 19 (20.7) 10 (10.9) Hispanic (0.0) 5 (5.4) Asian Other 1 (1.1) 43 (46.7) 49 (53.3) 92

Measured Attitudes Mathematical attitudes measured along 4 dimensions: Motivation (9 items) Value (8 items) Confidence (15 items) Enjoyment (8 items) Attitudes were measured with 5 point Likert scale items 5 = Strongly Agree 4 = Agree 3 = Neither agree nor disagree 2 = Disagree 1 = Strongly disagree

Math Attitudes The above reflects the average difference in score (post-score minus pre-score). Scores for each test were created by adding up all the items related to that subscale on each test, for each student, and then scaling it back down to a 5 point scale. Tests were run only on those who took both the pre- and post-survey.

Those kind of look like small changes… Attitude Scale N Pre-survey mean Post-survey mean Average difference (s.e.) p-value (diff ≠ 0) Motivation 60 2.822 2.926 0.104 (0.063) 0.1068 Enjoyment 59 2.919 3.100 0.180 (0.071) 0.0143 Value 54 3.734 3.831 0.097 (0.059) 0.1063 Confidence 49 2.869 3.052 0.182 (0.085) 0.0366

Math Attitudes - details Attitude Scale N Pre-survey mean Post-survey mean Average difference (s.e.) p-value (diff ≠ 0) Motivation 60 2.822 2.926 0.104 (0.063) 0.1068 Enjoyment 59 2.919 3.100 0.180 (0.071) 0.0143 Value 54 3.734 3.831 0.097 (0.059) 0.1063 Confidence 49 2.869 3.052 0.182 (0.085) 0.0366 Attitude Scale N* Pre-survey mean Post-survey mean Average difference (s.e.) p-value (diff ≠ 0) Motivation 60 2.822 2.926 0.104 (0.063) 0.1068 Enjoyment 59 2.919 3.100 0.180 (0.071) 0.0143 Value 54 3.734 3.831 0.097 (0.059) 0.1063 Confidence 49 2.869 3.052 0.182 (0.085) 0.0366 So, significant, POSITIVE attitude changes for enjoyment and confidence! Positive attitude shifts for motivation and value, although not significant. The above reflects the average difference in score (post-score minus pre-score). Scores for each test were created by adding up all the items related to that subscale on each test, for each student, and then scaling it back down to a 5 point scale. Tests were run only on those who took both the pre- and post-survey.

Attitudes: Additional Results 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 (non-completers).

Which attitudes changed?

Whose attitudes changed? 21 of the 67 students who took both surveys increased their attitude on three or four of the scales (31.3%) 6 students decreased their attitudes on three or four of the scales (9.0%) Some students did not change their attitudes on some of the subscales.

Nature of Math/Learning Pre-survey mean Post-survey mean Average diff (s.e.) p-value Learning mathematics is mostly memorizing facts 63 3.000 2.937 -0.063 (0.128) 0.621 There is only one way to solve a mathematics problem 66 2.379 1.955 -0.424 (0.143) 0.004 I enjoy working in small groups in math class 64 3.656 3.719 0.063 (0.126) I learn mathematics best when I get to work in a group 3.515 3.455 -0.061 (0.151) 0.689 I learn mathematics best when I work by myself. 2.833 2.894 0.061 (0.140) 0.666 The math I learn in school rarely helps me when I use math in my daily life. 3.125 2.891 -0.234 (0.117) 0.050

Nature of Math/Learning Pre-survey mean Post-survey mean Average diff (s.e.) p-value Learning mathematics is mostly memorizing facts 63 3.000 2.937 -0.063 (0.128) 0.621 There is only one way to solve a mathematics problem 66 2.379 1.955 -0.424 (0.143) 0.004 I enjoy working in small groups in math class 64 3.656 3.719 0.063 (0.126) I learn mathematics best when I get to work in a group 3.515 3.455 -0.061 (0.151) 0.689 I learn mathematics best when I work by myself. 2.833 2.894 0.061 (0.140) 0.666 The math I learn in school rarely helps me when I use math in my daily life. 3.125 2.891 -0.234 (0.117) 0.050

Thank you! Come see our other talks! Making Math Literacy Work: Managing Groups and Student Expectations S139 Saturday, November 21 10:45 – 11:35 Erin Wilding-Martin & Brian Mercer emartin@parkland.edu Student Experiences in a Problem-Centered Developmental Math Class Research Session Thursday, Nov 19 7:00-9:50 pm Martha Makowski mmakows2@Illinois.edu

Gender Differences Attitude Scale N: Male N: Female Average difference (s.e.) p-value (diff≠0) Motivation 22 38 0.283 (0.127) 0.030 Enjoyment 24 35 0.276 (0.142) 0.057 Value 21 33 0.211 (0.119) 0.082 Confidence 27 0.148 (0.171) 0.392

Completers vs. Non-completers

Course evaluation items There were also a few evaluation items on both the pre-post surveys asking about previous math class experiences and about how they like the class. The first three questions were on the pre-survey; the rest were on the post-survey. Here, low scores (1 or 2) correspond with “Agree” and high scores (4 or 5) correspond with “Disagree.”

Some Other Survey Demographics The table below compares the demographics of those who took only the pre-survey (with the assumption that this group closely overlaps with the students in the class who did not complete it) and those who took both surveys (assuming this group closely matches those who did complete the class). The differences between those who only took the pre-survey and who took both surveys is note-worthy in that the students who don’t make it to the end are more likely to be male or black. I’m not sure if these are significant differences—trying to program the correctly into the stats program I am using is taking longer than some of the other tests I have done.