Abstract
Drawing on our projects of transition to mathematically demanding subjects in UK Higher Education and an extension of this work in Norway, we explore the measurement of various pedagogical and learning aspects of students’ transition into Higher Education. We focus on experiences of engagement, and alienation, which we claim can offer an enhanced view on student learning experiences. Our analysis is based on longitudinal surveys of students entering different programmes in UK (N=1778), and Norwegian (N=721) universities. Validation is performed within the Rasch measurement framework, which indicated problems in establishing measurement invariance. Cross-sectional analysis of the two datasets, then, revealed consistent patterns in the process of alienation from mathematics as well as some systemic mechanisms that can help alleviate that.
Highlights
It is well documented that very few students are well prepared and well disposed to continue their studies in mathematically‐demanding courses in Higher Education (HE) institutions
This relates to our earlier work, where we found evidence of a negative effect of transmissionist teaching on students’ mathematics dispositions at the end of their pre‐ university courses, (Pampaka, Williams, Hutcheson, et al, 2012) which for some students meant deciding not to go into STEM subjects
The 11 items of the shortened instrument about students perceptions of the pedagogical experiences they encountered in their maths classes before and during university (Appendix 1) were analysed with the Rasch rating scale model (RSM) as this is the most appropriate model for the case of items that share the same response options
Summary
It is well documented that very few students are well prepared and well disposed to continue their studies in mathematically‐demanding courses in Higher Education (HE) institutions (for more details see Roberts, 2002; Smith, 2004). We aim to further investigate the role of pedagogical experiences and support on students’ transition into HE, as sources of alienation from mathematics and STEM related topics (or even studying at university), as manifested through associations with disposition measures which we consider as subjective experiences of alienation. This will provide valuable insights into mechanisms for keeping students in STEM subjects, and generally in HE, and for students’ educational and socio‐economic life opportunities (Ball, Davies, David, & Raey, 2002; Boaler & Greeno, 2000). We conclude with a discussion of our findings and their implications
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
