This study aimed to adapt the Get Set2 quiz and design a diagnostic quiz for implementation under assumed knowledge admissions into university science degrees. The GetReady Quiz that was designed, comprised five modules benchmarked against the high school curriculum in Mathematics, Chemistry and Biology. The significance of this study stems from…

Approaches to learning have been identified as crucial factors that influence students' mathematics performance. However, there have been mixed findings on which of the different approaches improve performance in undergraduate mathematics. Thus, this study aimed to unravel the specific effects of prior mathematics knowledge and approaches to…

First-year mathematics instructors at universities across North America and the globe have been noticing a decline in the mathematics skills and preparation of their incoming students, who have been failing out of first-year mathematics courses at alarming rates. Though some universities have implemented placement or diagnostic tests to measure…

A carefully constructed method of assessment using short, formative, invigilated in-tutorial quizzes is investigated to see how successful this method is compared to previous assessment tasks. We look at whether student engagement increased, given that students who enter university often face issues with the transition from school, and engagement…

The transition from school to university is a challenging process for many students which is reflected in high dropout and low examination success rates during the first year at university. Qualitative studies have found hints that students' beliefs play an important role during the transition. Due to their dialectic nature with cognitive as well…

In 2010 a mathematics curriculum was introduced in Irish second level schools entitled 'Project Maths' (PM). It aimed to refocus second level mathematics teaching and learning away from an over emphasis on procedural mathematics towards problem solving and real understanding [Department of Education and Skills (DES). (2010). "Report of the…

Students that classify as having growth mindsets rather than fixed mindsets enjoy greater academic success. This finding has been repeated in a variety of contexts and encourages teachers and researchers to develop growth mindsets in students. However, neutral and negative conclusions from some mindset intervention studies raise questions about…

During the 2020 COVID-19 lockdowns, one of the primary challenges faced by mathematics educators was maintaining assessment integrity when replacing invigilated assessments with online assessments. These assessments presented students with the opportunity to engage in misconduct in a manner that ordinarily would not exist. This was particularly…

In Australian universities, mathematics is often an essential core subject for disciplines such as engineering, information technology and science. These first-year mathematics subjects may have large enrolments of which a significant number fail the subject and repeat. While interventions to retain students are common, those who have failed…

We describe the design and evaluation of an innovative course for beginning undergraduate mathematics students. The course is delivered almost entirely online, making extensive use of computer-aided assessment to provide students with practice problems. We outline various ideas from education research that informed the design of the course, and…

Designed for this study as a conceptual framework comprising particular educational approaches and techniques for mathematics teaching and learning, the Successful Mathematics Classroom (SMC) aimed to promote college students' mathematics self-efficacy, motivation, and achievement. Through using a case study methodology, a range of tests and…

Diagnostic testing on entry to university provides an opportunity for students to ascertain individual strengths and weaknesses and allows course teams to gain insight into the competencies of the whole cohort. Coventry University has been using the same diagnostic test since 1991 and a previous analysis showed students coming to Coventry…

The goal of the present study is to investigate the impact of procedural and conceptual teaching on students' mathematical performance over time. For this purpose, implicit differentiation and integration by parts were taught in two different ways to first-year university students of two different calculus courses: one course with Conceptual…

We examine a group (N = 88) of Swedish first-year engineering students, their motivation, self-efficacy, and beliefs about the nature of mathematics, and how these relate to their task performance in mathematics. In our data, engineering students who emphasized the exact reasoning in their view of mathematics performed significantly better in a…

First-year undergraduates may be particularly prone to experiencing difficulties with facilitating feelings of relatedness, due to the recent shift in educational environments (i.e. from high school to university), which may be unfamiliar. Therefore, the current study aimed to determine whether the implementation of a single pedagogical strategy,…