Mathematics for all -

supporting your students with mathematics and statistics

at the transition to university

by

Dr Tony Croft1

Abstract

What is not always appreciated in schools is that a huge proportion of school students will be
required to study mathematics or statistics when they get to university. Apart from the obvious
and traditional users of mathematics such as engineers and physical scientists, increasingly
many other groups, such as nurses, psychologists, biologists, and social scientists are required to
use mathematical and statistical methods too.

Loughborough University has received national recognition for its support of such students
through its highly-regarded Mathematics Learning Support Centre. There are well-developed
strategies for providing mathematics support to students with specific learning difficulties and
additional needs as well as to those from non-traditional backgrounds, aspects that are
particularly important as access to higher education continues to widen. In 2005 the Centre was
awarded the status of Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) by the Higher
Education Funding Council for England.

The Centre has collaborated with staff at Coventry and Leeds Universities, the Higher Education
Academy Mathematics Statistics & Operational Research Subject Centre, and the Educational
Broadcasting Services Trust to provide a wealth of material to support students at the transition to
higher education. Some of these are delivered through the UK mathematics support centre
mathcentre and some through its sister project mathtutor.

This talk describes why it has become necessary to provide mathematics support to students
embarking upon university courses and how this support has been developed at Loughborough. It
will then describe some of the products of its collaborative ventures and demonstrate these with
state of the art and innovative technologies.

[Charts 1-3 appear courtesy of Professor Duncan Lawson]

1
Mathematics Education Centre, Loughborough University, LE11 3TU.
a.c.croft@lboro.ac.uk
1. Why is mathematics support necessary and who needs it ?

For over a decade professional bodies, learned societies and research reports have repeatedly
drawn attention to challenges at the school-university interface in respect of the teaching and
learning of mathematics across a broad range of disciplines.

The report Tackling the Mathematics Problem (London Mathematical Society (1995)) noted

the perception of a marked change in mathematical preparedness even amongst the

very best applicants (p.1).
and
the profound concerns of those in higher education about the mathematical background
of students applying for courses in mathematics, science and engineering (p.1).

Engineering is one discipline for which mathematics is essential and there is evidence that many
students are ill-prepared mathematically for the demands of their courses. The report The
Changing Mathematical Background of Undergraduate Engineers (Sutherland and Pozzi (1995))
notes

Students are now accepted on engineering degree courses with relatively low
mathematics qualifications in comparison with ten years ago (p.5).

In its recent inquiry into undergraduate physics, the Institute of Physics (2001) reported

changes in the nature of mathematics courses at school level have led to students
being less proficient and confident in the mathematical skills required by physics degree
courses (p. 5).

The review SET for Success (Roberts, 2002), drew attention to problems with students transition
to higher education.

These include:
mismatches between school-level physical sciences and mathematics courses
and undergraduate courses in related subjects which prevent some students
making the transition to higher education smoothly (p. 81).

Engineering and the physical sciences have traditionally placed great importance on sound pre-
university mathematics education and so it is to be expected that a lack of preparedness will have
significant consequences for these disciplines. However, there is evidence that many other
disciplines are now experiencing similar problems. Tariq (2002) provides evidence of a decline in
basic numeracy amongst first-year bioscience undergraduates between 1995 and 2000, noting
the high proportion who encountered difficulties with fractions and indices. She also provides
references noting the reduced level of mathematical ability of students entering life science
degrees. In the context of numeracy as a key skill for all graduates Tariq and Cochrane (2003)
note that even when students are confident in their own ability this confidence may be misplaced
since their evidence shows a mismatch between students perception of their ability and actual
levels of competence. They highlight the need for universities to adopt a more holistic, rather
than piecemeal, approach to key skill development. It will be apparent in what follows that this is a
philosophy we would endorse in respect of mathematics support for all students.

In Competence in Practice-Based Calculation: Issues for Nursing Education, Sabin (2002) points
out that many studies describe a lack of proficiency in mathematical calculation skills amongst
student nurses and recommends that the relative status of numeracy support within nursing
programmes should be raised and that remedial programmes should be supported by university-
wide facilitation.
Attention has also been drawn to the problem by those responsible for assessing the quality in
higher education. The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) assesses the
quality and standards of teaching and learning at the subject level. In the late 1990s subject
review reports were published for each university following assessment visits. On completion of
each subject assessment cycle, i.e. when all universities offering that subject have been
reviewed, the QAA published subject overview reports. The overview report represents a
distillation of the findings of many reviewers visiting scores of universities and thus provides a
snapshot of the state of health of teaching and learning in that subject. Study of the overall
picture provided by reports in several disciplines reveals a commonly occurring theme: the ill-
preparedness of incoming students for the mathematical demands of university science and
engineering degree schemes, and its consequences (Croft (2001)). For example the subject
overview report on Chemical Engineering, QAA(1996), states:

Mathematics is of particular importance, as it underpins most aspects of the subject. A

source of major concern to providers is the steady decline in the mathematical expertise
of entrants to courses. This has resulted in a requirement for remedial mathematics
tuition, thereby placing great strain on staff delivering already overcrowded curricula
(para.14).

The subject overview report on Electronic and Electrical Engineering, QAA(1998a), states:

Completion rates for undergraduate degree programmes range from 90 per cent to 40
per cent. Many of the reports express concern at relatively high failure rates in the first
two years of undergraduate programmes. Failure is mainly due to the difficulties students
experience in acquiring the essential mathematical skills (p. 3).

Several studies undertaken throughout the 90s tested incoming students on many of the basic
mathematical skills it was assumed they would know and would certainly need whilst at university.
For example, the work of Lawson is often cited. The following graphs from Lawson are indicative
of some of the problems universities are facing.

Chart 1.

G r a d e D C o h o r t s

9 0

D 9 1

8 0

D 9 3

7 0

D 9 5

6 0

D 9 7

5 0

D 9 9

4 0

D 0 1

3 0

A r i t h B _ A l g L & C T r i ' s F _ A l g T r i g C a l c

Chart 1 shows performance over a decade of students with Grade D in A level mathematics on
the same basic skills test. Chart 2 compares performance of students with Grade N in 1991 with a
Grade B in 1999.
 Chart 2.

90
N91
80
70 ?99
60
50
40
Arith B.Alg Lines Tris F.Alg Trig Calc

Chart 3 shows data from an engineering department at York University showing performance of
very well-qualified students taking the same entry test over a twenty year period. The test has
now been discontinued. (Source: Savage M.D. & Hawkes, T. Measuring the Mathematics
Problem, Engineering Council 2000).

Chart 3.

40

35

30

25
Mark (out of 50)

20
79 81 83 85 87 89 91 93 95 97 99

The causes of the problem are many and varied. They include changes in school curricula for
which there had been no planned, consequential changes in university curricula. For example, in
the autumn of 1986 schools began to teach GCSE mathematics for the first time. The first pupils
sat the examination in 1988. Many of these students would enter higher education in 1990. In the
decade prior to 1988 the proportion of students gaining five or more passes at O level was fairly
constant, whereas between 1988 and 1995 the proportion gaining five or more A*-C grades at
GCSE rose from 29.9% to 43.5% (Coe, 1999). In 2005 this had risen to 61.2%.
(source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4182006.stm).
Sutherland and Dewhurst (1999) note

GCSE grade C in mathematics is accepted by some departments as an entrance

requirement. There was genuine surprise about how little mathematics undergraduates
with this qualification are familiar with. It would appear that universities have not taken on
board the difference between GCSE and O-level mathematics (p. 5).

Other causes include shortages of appropriately qualified teachers, widening participation, and
difficulties many universities have in recruiting to subjects like physics and engineering. These
reasons are discussed in the report of the Inquiry into Post-14 Mathematics Education, Making
Mathematics Count (Smith, (2004)).

Universities have responded imaginatively to tackle these challenges including development of

summer schools, bridging mathematics courses and peer-support. An overview can be found in
the LTSN MathsTEAM project (http://mathstore.ac.uk/mathsteam/). One approach is through
mathematics learning support centres which many universities have now established. They vary
in size, from small enterprises involving perhaps only one member of staff on a part-time basis, to
fully-fledged university-wide centres. A review of current provision can be found in Perkin & Croft
(2004).

2. The Support Centre at Loughborough University.

Loughborough University has one of the UKs foremost support centres. It has provided a model
for developments at many other universities. The support centre is housed within the Universitys
Mathematics Education Centre, a HEFCE designated Centre for Excellence in Teaching and
Learning (see http://mec.lboro.ac.uk).

It has a superb drop-in centre which is used by students from all Faculties in the University. Well-
qualified and experienced teaching staff are available daily to help students and there is a wealth
of free resources paper-based, textbooks, computer-based etc. There are diagnostic testing
facilities, pre-sessional materials, support for students with special needs, specialist statistical
help, and much more. Further details can be found by visiting the Centres website
http://mlsc.lboro.ac.uk. The centre hosts the national interest group DDIG (Dyscalculia & Dyslexia
Interest Group) for staff providing maths support to students with specific learning difficulties (see
http://ddig.lboro.ac.uk for details).

3. mathcentre and mathtutor -

national mathematics support at the school/university transition

Since 2002 work has gone on to develop a national support framework to ease the transition from
school mathematics to university mathematics in a wide range of disciplines. This support
framework consists of a website, mathcentre, www.mathcentre.ac.uk , and a DVD-Rom disk set,
mathtutor. The site went live in September 2003 and now attracts around 10,000 hits a day. The
mathtutor DVD set was launched in September 2005 and is now also available on a dedicated
website http://www.mathtutor.ac.uk.
 Figure 1. A screen-shot from the mathcentre website.

On all the disks students will find video tutorials with linked, printable text, on important topics in
GCSE, AS and A2 mathematics which are known to cause problems. Feedback from piloting in
schools suggests that what students like about the tutorials is the chance to work at their own
pace, revisit the bit that confused them and take control of what to do next.

Figure 2. A screen shot from the mathtutor algebra disk.

The disk also carries interactive diagnostic and practice exercises, giving students a chance to
check understanding.
 Figure 3. A screen shot from the mathtutor disc showing diagnostic questions.

The mathcentre website

In designing the mathcentre site the project team has recognized that students need to find
exactly what they are looking for and find it fast. If youre an engineer or an economist you want
the maths for your course, nothing else. You want a specific topic; you may want a quick answer
or perhaps you want a full explanation; you may want to check your knowledge with a diagnostic
or perhaps you want to practise. This has been a design challenge and because the site is
dynamic and will grow, the effectiveness of the design and the ease of navigation for the user will
need constant monitoring and adaptation as it grows.

Figure 4 A screen-shot from the mathcentre website.

 Figure 5. An example of a free-standing help leaflet on the mathcentre website.

Delivering Mathematics Support Materials on Video IPods

The team intends to keep ahead of the game with the technology it is able to
utilise to support students in their mathematics. The release of the new iPods
with video playback in October 2005, and subsequent alternative brands of MP4
players, is one technological field that is expected to become popular with
students in the near future. The ability to play MP4 files on the move provides a
great opportunity to make available short video clips for mathematics revision
purposes.

Since the introduction of the video iPod, we have converted the mathtutor video
materials into MP4 files and are segmenting the tutorials into 'bite-sized' chunks.
The animations are now freely available for download to your MP4 player of
choice from the mathtutor website (www.mathtutor.ac.uk), and the tutorials will
be available shortly.

For further details about the Loughborough Support Centre contact Dr Tony Croft. For details
about the mathtutor DVDs contact Dr Jim Stevenson at EBS Trust (jim@ebst.co.uk).

References & Bibliography.

Bamforth, S., Crawford, A., Croft, A.C. and Robinson, C.L. (2005) A pre-sessional course: Retaining
Engineering Students through mathematical
and transferable skills support. International Journal of Electrical Engineering Education 42(1), pp79- 87.

Coe, R. (1999) Changes in Examination Grades over Time: Is the same worth less ?
Proceedings of the 1999 British Educational Research Association Annual Conference. Brighton, UK
September 1999.
Available from http://www.cemcentre.org/research/examchanges/BERA2.html
[Accessed 1st February 2006]

Croft, A. (2000) A Guide to the Establishment of a Successful Mathematics Learning Support Centre,
International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science & Technology. 31(3), pp431-446.

Croft, A. (2001) Following up cycles of QAA subject assessments for non-mathematicians, MSOR
Connections, the newsletter of the LTSN Maths, Stats & OR Network, 2(1). Pp1718. Available on line at
http://www.mathstore.ac.uk/newsletter/may2001/pdf/qaafollowup.pdf (Accessed 1st February 2006).

Croft, A.C. & Robinson, C.L., (2003) The Mathematics Education Centre at Loughborough University, MSOR
Connections, the newsletter of the LTSN Maths, Stats & OR Network, 3(2), pp7-12. Available on line at
http://ltsn.mathstore.ac.uk/newsletter/may2003/pdf/mec.pdf [accessed 28th August 2005].

Institute of Physics (2001) Physics, building a flourishing future Report of the Inquiry into Undergraduate
Physics. London, Institute of Physics. Available from http://policy.iop.org/UPI/index.html [Accessed 6th
July 2004].

Kajander, A., & Lovric, M., (2005) Transition from secondary to tertiary mathematics McMaster University
Experience. International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology 36(2,3) pp149
160.

Lawson, D.A., Halpin, M. & Croft, A.C. (2003) Good Practice in the Provision of Mathematics Support
Centres Second Edition, LTSN MSOR Occasional Publications Series, 3/01. ISSN 1476 1378

London Mathematical Society (1995) Tackling the Mathematics Problem. London, London Mathematical
Society, Institute of Mathematics and its Applications, Royal Statistical Society.

Luk,H.S., The gap between secondary school and university mathematics, International Journal of
Mathematical Education in Science and Technology 36(2,3) pp161174.

MacGillivray, J.L., and Cuthbert, R., Investigating weaknesses in the underpinning mathematical confidence
of first year engineering students, Proc. Australasian Engineering Education Conference (2003) pp358--368,
The Institution of Engineers, Australia.

Perkin, G., & Croft, A.C. (2004) Mathematics Support Centres- the extent of current provision. MSOR
Connections, the newsletter of the LTSN Maths, Stats & OR Network, 4(2), pp14 18. Available on line at
http://mathstore.ac.uk/newsletter/may2004/pdf/supportcentres.pdf [accessed 1st February 2006].

Porkess, R. (2004) The new AS and A levels in Mathematics. MSOR Connections, The newsletter of the
LTSN Maths, Stats & OR Network, 3(4), 13-16. Available on line at
http://ltsn.mathstore.ac.uk/newsletter/nov2003/pdf/asa.pdf [accessed 1st February 2006].

Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (1995) Subject Overview Report: Chemistry Available from
http://www.qaa.ac.uk/reviews/reports/subjectlevel/qo1_96_textonly.htm [Accessed 6th Feb 2006]

Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (1996) Subject Overview Report: Chemical Engineering.
Available from http://www.qaa.ac.uk/reviews/reports/subjectlevel/qo1_96_textonly.htm [Accessed 6th Feb
2006]

Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (1998a) Subject Overview Report:Electrical and Electronic
Engineering. Available from http://www.qaa.ac.uk/reviews/reports/subjectlevel/qo1_96_textonly.htm
[Accessed 6th Feb 2006]

Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (1998b) Subject Overview Report: Materials Technology.
Available from http://www.qaa.ac.uk/reviews/reports/subjectlevel/qo4_98.pdf [Accessed 6th Feb 2006]
Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (1998c) Subject Overview Report: Mechanical, Aeronautical
and Manufacturing Engineering. Available from
http://www.qaa.ac.uk/reviews/reports/subjectlevel/qo11_98.pdf [Accessed 6th Feb 2006]

Roberts, Sir Gareth (2002) SET for Success The report of Sir Gareth Roberts Review HM Treasury.
Available from http://www.hm-
treasury.gov.uk/documents/enterprise_and_productivity/research_and_enterprise/ent_res_roberts.cfm
[Accessed 1st February 2006]

Robinson, C.L., & Croft, A.C. (2003) Engineering Students diagnostic testing and follow-up, Teaching
Mathematics and its Applications, 22 (4), pp177181.

Sabin, M (2002) Competence in Practice-Based Calculation: Issues for Nursing Education. A critical review
of the literature. LTSN Centre for Health Sciences and Practice. Available from
http://www.health.ltsn.ac.uk/publications/occasionalpaper [1st February 2006]

Smith, A. (2004) Making Mathematics Count The report of Professor Adrian Smiths Inquiry into Post-14
Mathematics Education. February 2004, The Stationery Office, 2/04 937764.

Sutherland, R. & Dewhurst, H. (1999) Mathematics Education: Framework for progression from 16-19 to
HE. University of Bristol, Graduate School of Education. ISBN 0 86292 487 1

Sutherland, R. & Pozzi, S., (1995) The Changing Mathematical Background of Undergraduate Engineers.
London, The Engineering Council.

Tariq, V. (2002) A decline in numeracy skills among bioscience undergraduates. Journal of Biological
Education. 36(2), pp76 83.

Tariq, V., & Cochrane, A.C. (2003) Reflections on Key Skills: implementing change in a traditional university.
Journal of Education Policy, 18(5), pp481498.

Thomas, L. (2003) Student retention in Higher Education - the role of institutional habitus. Journal of
Education Policy, 17(4), pp423442.