The impact of Mathematics and Statistics Support at the Academic Learning Centre, Central Queensland University

IF 1.1 Q3 EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

Teaching Mathematics and Its Applications Pub Date : 2020-03-01 DOI:10.1093/teamat/hry016

Michael Dzator;Janet Dzator

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引用次数: 8

Abstract

The Mathematics and Statistics Support Centre (MSSC) at Central Queensland University (CQU), which is part of the Academic Learning Centre (ALC), has been in operation since 1984 as the first MSSC in Australia. The Mathematics Learning Support (MLS) centres have spread to almost every university in Australia currently. The MSSC at CQU offers free support services for students who need mathematics and statistics help or advice for their courses. In this study we analyse the differences of the impact of mathematics and statistics support services on mature age students and secondary school-leaver (traditional) students study habits, confidence and opinion towards mathematics and statistics, using data collected from students who used the ALC at CQU in the second half of 2016. The results suggest a positive impact of mathematics and statistics support on mature age students’ study habits, confidence and opinion towards mathematics and statistics. Chi-squared tests have shown that there are differences in the proportion of mature students and traditional students who have changed their study habits, increased their confidence levels and changed their opinion on mathematics with p values of 0.001, 0.009 and 0.023, respectively. The study also shows that the majority of students are satisfied with the services provided at the MSSC and believe that the services provided helped them to solve or minimize difficulties in working through mathematics- and/or statistics-related learning activities at CQU. Based on the findings of the current study we conclude that the use of learning support centres is an effective way to solve or minimize difficulties associated with mathematics and statistics learning at a tertiary institution.

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中央昆士兰大学学术学习中心数学和统计支持的影响

中央昆士兰大学（CQU）的数学与统计支持中心（MSSC）是学术学习中心（ALC）的一部分，自1984年以来一直作为澳大利亚第一个数学与统计中心运营。数学学习支持（MLS）中心目前已扩展到澳大利亚几乎每一所大学。CQU的MSSC为需要数学和统计学帮助或课程建议的学生提供免费支持服务。在这项研究中，我们使用2016年下半年在CQU使用ALC的学生收集的数据，分析了数学和统计支持服务对成年学生和中学毕业生（传统）的学习习惯、信心和对数学和统计的看法的影响差异。研究结果表明，数学和统计学支持对成年学生的学习习惯、对数学和统计学的信心和看法有积极影响。卡方检验表明，成熟学生和传统学生改变学习习惯、提高信心和改变数学观点的比例存在差异，p值分别为0.001、0.009和0.023。研究还表明，大多数学生对MSSC提供的服务感到满意，并认为所提供的服务帮助他们解决或最大限度地减少了在CQU进行数学和/或统计相关学习活动的困难。根据目前的研究结果，我们得出结论，使用学习支持中心是解决或尽量减少高等院校数学和统计学学习困难的有效方法。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Teaching Mathematics and Its Applications EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH-

CiteScore

2.40

自引率

25.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： The journal provides a forum for the exchange of ideas and experiences which contribute to the improvement of mathematics teaching and learning for students from upper secondary/high school level through to university first degree level. A distinctive feature of the journal is its emphasis on the applications of mathematics and mathematical modelling within the context of mathematics education world-wide. The journal"s readership consists of mathematics teachers, students, researchers and those concerned with curriculum development and assessment, indeed anyone concerned about the education of users of mathematics.