Kelly Matthews

Putting it into perspective: Mathematics in the undergraduate science curriculum

Mathematics and science are tightly interwoven, yet they are often treated as distinct disciplines in the educational context. This study details the development, implementation and outcomes of a teaching intervention that highlights the links between mathematics and science, in the form of a first-year interdisciplinary course. A mixed method study using surveys and focus groups was employed to investigate undergraduate science students’ perceptions of their experiences. Findings reveal that students bring strong beliefs about the nature of mathematics and science from secondary school, which can impact significantly on the success of interdisciplinary science–mathematics courses at the tertiary level. Despite this, a range of beneficial outcomes can arise from such courses when they are delivered within a framework of analysing real-world issues. However, students with weak mathematical skills derived little benefit from an interdisciplinary approach and are likely to disengage from learning, in comparison with students who enter university with a solid foundation in mathematics.

“I Am Working-Class”: Subjective Self-Definition as a Missing Measure of Social Class and Socioeconomic Status in Higher Education Research

This review provides a critical appraisal of the measurement of students’ social class and socioeconomic status (SES) in the context of widening higher education participation. Most assessments of social class and SES in higher education have focused on objective measurements based on the income, occupation, and education of students’ parents, and they have tended to overlook diversity among students based on factors such as age, ethnicity, indigeneity, and rurality. However, recent research in psychology and sociology has stressed the more subjective and intersectional nature of social class. The authors argue that it is important to consider subjective self-definitions of social class and SES alongside more traditional objective measures. The implications of this dual measurement approach for higher education research are discussed.

Perceptions of science graduating students on their learning gains

In this study, the Science Student Skills Inventory was used to gain understanding of student perceptions about their science skills set developed throughout their programme (scientific content knowledge, communication, scientific writing, teamwork, quantitative skills, and ethical thinking). The study involved 400 responses from undergraduate science students about to graduate from two Australian research-intensive institutions. For each skill, students rated on a four-point Likert scale their perception of the importance of developing the skill within the programme, how much they improved it throughout their undergraduate science programme, how much they saw the skill included in the programme, how confident they were about the skill, and how much they will use the skill in the future. Descriptive statistics indicate that overall, student perception of importance of these skills was greater than perceptions of improvement, inclusion in the programme, confidence, and future use. Quantitative skills and ethical thinking were perceived by more students to be less important. t-Test analyses revealed some differences in perception across different demographic groups (gender, age, graduate plans, and research experience). Most notably, gender showed significant differences across most skills. Implications for curriculum development are discussed, and lines for further research are given.

Early career academic perceptions, attitudes and professional development activities: questioning the teaching and research gap to further academic development

Early career academia is a challenging time, particularly as academics are facing increasing pressures to excel across a range of areas. Boyer argued for the ‘true scholar’ versed in the overlapping areas of scholarship in research, teaching, integration and engagement. Academic developers have an important role to play in assisting the transition to academia, particularly as the diverse pathways leading to academia often mean limited knowledge or skills in curriculum development, teaching or assessment of learning. In a quantitative study, self-identified early career academics from three Australian universities reported attitudes and perceptions of teaching and research, and involvement in academic development. The implications of their responses for academic developers are discussed in terms of institutional and disciplinary differences.

Student Perceptions of Communication Skills in Undergraduate Science at an Australian Research-Intensive University.

Higher education institutions globally are acknowledging the need to teach communication skills. This study used the Science Student Skills Inventory to gain insight into how science students perceive the development of communication skills across the degree programme. Responses were obtained from 635 undergraduate students enrolled in a Bachelor of Science at an Australian research-intensive university. Students rated their perceptions of two communication skills, scientific writing and oral scientific communication, across the following indicators: importance of, and improvement in, developing communication skills; the extent to which communication skills were included and assessed in the degree; confidence in using communication skills; and belief of future use of communication skills. While the majority of students perceived both communication skills to be important and of use in the future, their perceptions of the extent to which those skills were included and assessed were less, with oral communication being included and assessed less than scientific writing skills. Significant differences among year levels were discerned for most indicators, signifying a lack of coherent opportunities for students to learn and develop these skills across year levels. Results are discussed through the lens of progressive development of complex learning outcomes, with suggested areas for curriculum development and future research.

Scientists and mathematicians collaborating to build quantitative skills in undergraduate science

There is general agreement in Australia and beyond that quantitative skills (QS) in science, the ability to use mathematics and statistics in context, are important for science. QS in the life sciences are becoming ever more important as these sciences become more quantitative. Consequently, undergraduates studying the life sciences require better QS than at any time in the past. Ways in which mathematics and science academics are working together to build the QS of their undergraduate science students, together with the mathematics and statistics needed or desired in a science degree, are reported on in this paper. The emphasis is on the life sciences. Forty-eight academics from eleven Australian and two USA universities were interviewed about QS in science. Information is presented on: what QS academics want in their undergraduate science students; who is teaching QS; how mathematics and science departments work together to build QS in science and implications for building the QS of science students. This information leads to suggestions for improvement in QS within a science curriculum.

The Influence of Undergraduate Science Curriculum Reform on Students’ Perceptions of their Quantitative Skills

In this study, the Science Student Skills Inventory was used to gain understanding of student perceptions about their quantitative skills and compare perceptions of cohorts graduating before and after the implementation of a new science curriculum intent on developing quantitative skills. The study involved 600 responses from final-year undergraduate science students across four cohorts in an Australian research-intensive institution. Students rated their perceptions on a four-point Likert scale of: the importance of developing quantitative skills within the programme, how much they improved their quantitative skills throughout their undergraduate science programme, how much they saw quantitative skills included in the programme, how confident they were about their quantitative skills, and how much they believe they will use quantitative skills in the future. Descriptive statistics indicated overall low levels of perceptions with student perception of the importance of quantitative skills being greater than perceptions of improvement, inclusion in the programme, confidence, and future use. Statistical analysis of responses provided by the cohorts graduating before and after the new quantitative skills-intended curriculum revealed few differences. The cohorts graduating after implementation indicated that quantitative skills were included more in the curriculum, although this did not translate into them reporting higher levels of confidence or anticipated future use compared to the cohorts that graduated before the new curriculum was implemented. Implications for curriculum development are discussed and lines for further research are given.

Toward curriculum convergence for graduate learning outcomes: academic intentions and student experiences

Graduate learning outcomes in undergraduate science degrees increasingly are focussed on the development of transferrable skillsets. Research into, and comparisons of, the perceptions of students and academic staff on such learning outcomes has rarely been explored in science. This study used a quantitative survey to explore the perceptions of 640 undergraduate science students and 70 academics teaching into a Bachelor of Science degree program on the importance, the extent to which outcomes were included and assessed, the improvement and likely future use of science graduate learning outcomes. Analysis of findings shed light on potential pathways toward curriculum convergence by arguing the need for shared perspectives of academics and students on graduate learning outcomes and drawing on the planned-enacted-experienced curriculum model. Moving toward coherent curriculum planning that draws on both student and academic perspectives to achieve graduate learning outcomes is the key contribution of this study. Resulting recommendations include: the need to consider the development of each complex graduate learning outcome as distinct from other outcomes in both curricular and pedagogical approach, and the need for a programmatic framework for assessment practices to facilitate the constructive alignment of assessment with learning outcomes.

Graduate learning outcomes in science: variation in perceptions of single- and dual-degree students

Abstract The development of transferrable skillsets, articulated in statements of graduate learning outcomes, is emphasised in undergraduate science degree programmes. Science students enrolled in dual (double) degrees comprise a significant minority of Australian science undergraduates. Research comparing perceptions of single and dual degree students on their science learning outcomes has rarely been explored. The Science Students Skills Inventory was used to compare the perceptions of single (n = 640) and dual (n = 266) degree undergraduate science students. The instrument explored science graduate learning outcomes across six indicators: importance; the extent to which outcomes were included; the extent to which they were assessed; improvement; confidence; and likely future use. Analysis of findings, employing the planned–enacted–experienced curricula framework, offers insight into potential avenues towards coherence of the experienced curriculum by arguing the need for shared perceptions of graduate learning outcomes for single and dual degree science students. The key contribution of this study is a shift towards progressive curriculum development that draws on both single and dual degree student perspectives to achieve graduate learning outcomes. Recommendations include: whole-of-programmes curricular pathways premised on progressive development of learning outcomes that are inclusive of dual degree students, explicit interdisciplinary learning opportunities, and adoption of dual/single status as a demographic variable reported in future research.

Social network perspectives reveal strength of academic developers as weak ties

Social network perspectives acknowledge the influence of disciplinary cultures on academics’ teaching beliefs and practices with implications for academic developers. The contribution of academic developers in 18 scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) projects situated in the sciences are explored by drawing on data from a two-year national project in Australia within a case study research design. The application of a social network lens illuminated the contribution of eight academic developers as weak ties who infused SoTL knowledge within teams. Two heuristic cases of academic developers who also linked across networks are presented. Implications of social network perspective are discussed.