An Instrument for Testing the Transferability of Mathematical Skills

Project Leaders:

Sandra Britton (School of Mathematics and Statistics)

 

Manjula Sharma (Physics)

Project Team:

Judy Kay (Computer Science)

 

Peter New (Microbiology)

Aims

  1. To identify those mathematical skills which are essential for success in first year physics, chemistry, computer science, microbiology.
  2. To develop an instrument to test the transferability of mathematical skills across disciplines, based on one or more of the identified skills.
  3. To trial and evaluate the instrument.

Rationale

Science students are required to use mathematics, at various levels, in all their science subjects. Certain mathematical skills are essential for success as an undergraduate student, and in the student?s future career. An ability to transfer the skills learned in mathematics to other disciplines is expected of both undergraduates and graduates. It is important to discover therefore, whether or not students have this ability. The proposed project will develop an instrument to do so.

Research Plan

The study will identify mathematical skills and concepts that science students have used in first semester of their first year. Each investigator will develop some problems, based around the mathematics, but set within the context of their discipline.

For example it may be identified that first year students should be able to draw a straight line graph and calculate slopes and intercepts. The scenario from physics on this aspect may be based on obtaining the acceleration and the initial velocity from a data set containing velocity and time information. The scenario will provide all the physics details, such that a person with the mathematical knowledge but without prior formal training in physics, can solve the problem.

The problems will be moderated by investigators from different disciplines. Preliminary trials will be conducted using higher year students specialising in disciplines different from that in which the problem is set. For example the physics scenarios could be presented to microbiology students. The main trials will occur with first year students with various backgrounds.

The time-frame for this project allows for developing, trialing and evaluating the instrument. If it is found to be successful then it can be used for testing transferability of such skills in future years and with different classes. A similar instrument could be designed for testing transferability of other skills.

Student responses to the problems on the instrument will be categorised in terms of ability to transfer mathematical skills to unfamiliar scenarios. Results will be compared with exam results to determine how representative our sample is. Student attitudes to the instrument will be evaluated via open-ended questions.

Method

An instrument will be developed to test the transferability of mathematical concepts across various scientific disciplines. The instrument will consist of mathematical problems set in various scenarios. The project team will moderate the scenarios to ensure that sufficient discipline specific information is included. The instrument will be trialed with students from higher years, and moderated again in response to their input. The instrument will be trialed with a small group of first year students from the different disciplines.

Dissemination of Results

The results of the research will be made available internally within the University of Sydney and will be presented at appropriate conferences by the investigators. Publication in the "International Journal of Mathematics Education in Science and Technology" is envisaged.