Yvon Appleby

Mathematical Literacy in Undergraduates: Role of Gender, Emotional Intelligence and Emotional Self-Efficacy.

This empirical study explores the roles that Emotional Intelligence (EI) and Emotional Self-Efficacy (ESE) play in undergraduates’ mathematical literacy, and the influence of EI and ESE on students’ attitudes towards and beliefs about mathematics. A convenience sample of 93 female and 82 male first-year undergraduates completed a test of mathematical literacy, followed by an online survey designed to measure the students’ EI, ESE and factors associated with mathematical literacy. Analysis of the data revealed significant gender differences. Males attained a higher mean test score than females and out-performed the females on most of the individual questions and the associated mathematical tasks. Overall, males expressed greater confidence in their mathematical skills, although both males’ and females’ confidence outweighed their actual mathematical proficiency. Correlation analyses revealed that males and females attaining higher mathematical literacy test scores were more confident and persistent, exhibited lower levels of mathematics anxiety and possessed higher mathematics qualifications. Correlation analyses also revealed that in male students, aspects of ESE were associated with beliefs concerning the learning of mathematics (i.e. that intelligence is malleable and that persistence can facilitate success), but not with confidence or actual performance. Both EI and ESE play a greater role with regard to test performance and attitudes/beliefs regarding mathematics amongst female undergraduates; higher EI and ESE scores were associated with higher test scores, while females exhibiting higher levels of ESE were also more confident and less anxious about mathematics, believed intelligence to be malleable, were more persistent and were learning goal oriented. Moderated regression analyses confirmed mathematics anxiety as a negative predictor of test performance in males and females, but also revealed that in females EI and ESE moderate the effects of anxiety on test performance, with the relationship between anxiety and test performance linked more to emotional management (EI) than to ESE.

Exploring practice – research networks for critical professional learning

This paper discusses the contribution that practice-research networks can make to support critical professional development in the Learning and Skills sector in England. By practice-research networks we mean groups or networks which maintain a connection between research and professional practice. These networks stem from the philosophy of practitioner and action research in education. We use two examples both from higher and further education in England where continuing professional development has become a mandatory requirement for teachers in the Further Education (FE) sector. Our examples suggest that critical professional development can occur and although we are able to begin to identify some of the ways that these networks operate it is less clear which appropriate theories should support our work. The second part of the paper therefore explores some theoretical perspectives that focus on networks operating as systems. We discuss Actor Network Theory and Activity Theory which show how networks are populated by individuals with agency and suggest that a helpful way to contextualise the benefits of networks is provided by the concept of expansive learning providing a different understanding of how professional learning and development take place.

Critical perspectives on practitioner research: introduction to the special edition

This special edition of Studies in the Education of Adults focuses on the theme of practitioner research. The papers within it, each in a different way, explore the significance and dilemmas of doing practitioner research at a time when such research is becoming more accepted and increasingly incorporated within wider educational and development discourses. The collection is based upon the editors’ long-term interest and work in this area. The ideas were developed through conference symposia at the Standing Conference for University Teaching and Research in The Education of Adults (SCUTREA) (Appleby et al 2008) and The Canadian Association for the Study of Adult Education (CASAE) (Hamilton 2007). It therefore reflects and draws upon a much wider body of work and we are grateful to those who contributed to these discussions. The enthusiastic response to our call for papers shows the extent of engagement with practitioner research in the field of education and a strong interest in discussing both its potential and challenges. Selecting the papers to include was not easy, but we were supported by a large team of external reviewers who helped us choose papers that explore the nature and processes of practitioner research and that are underpinned by a critical perspective. Our aim was to create in this collection a space to consider what practitioner research is and how it might be developed, taking into account issues of power and ownership. In our introduction, we address these questions and review the issues raised by the papers included. We look briefly at traditions and terminologies related to practitioner research and at the different contexts where it occurs, including its use as: part of commissioned and funded research; within programmes of professional development both accredited and informal; and within practice-based networks and communities. We consider the differences between voluntary and mandated involvement in practitioner research using the example of our own current context in England. In each case, we question the relationship between the process and product, looking at ownership, support and outcomes.

Knowledge mobilization and educational research. Politics, languages and responsibilities

further be stimulated by joint readings from either volume. If I was to name one shortcoming, it might be the lack of less-experienced voices in the text. I could imagine a student or new supervisor reader experiencing quite a distance between themselves and some of the authors. What we do have, however, is a set of consistently high quality, carefully considered and well-written chapters. They are not to be read lightly, and this perhaps is the main reason I would recommend this book. For methodological rules, simplistic tips, personal narratives, look elsewhere. For those wishing to take on issues of doctoral education through serious engagement with theory, policy and pedagogy, these volumes constitute a distinctive and rarely joint offering.

Mathematical Literacy in Undergraduates: The Role of Gender Emotional Intelligence

This empirical study explores the roles that Emotional Intelligence (EI) and Emotional Self-Efficacy (ESE) play in undergraduates’ mathematical literacy, and the influence of EI and ESE on students’ attitudes towards and beliefs about mathematics. A convenience sample of 93 female and 82 male first-year undergraduates completed a test of mathematical literacy, followed by an online survey designed to measure the students’ EI, ESE and factors associated with mathematical literacy. Analysis of the data revealed significant gender differences. Males attained a higher mean test score than females and out-performed the females on most of the individual questions and the associated mathematical tasks. Overall, males expressed greater confidence in their mathematical skills, although both males’ and females’ confidence outweighed their actual mathematical proficiency. Correlation analyses revealed that males and females attaining higher mathematical literacy test scores were more confident and persistent, exhibited lower levels of mathematics anxiety and possessed higher mathematics qualifications. Correlation analyses also revealed that in male students, aspects of ESE were associated with beliefs concerning the learning of mathematics (i.e. that intelligence is malleable and that persistence can facilitate success), but not with confidence or actual performance. Both EI and ESE play a greater role with regard to test performance and attitudes/beliefs regarding mathematics amongst female undergraduates; higher EI and ESE scores were associated with higher test scores, while females exhibiting higher levels of ESE were also more confident and less anxious about mathematics, believed intelligence to be malleable, were more persistent and were learning goal oriented. Moderated regression analyses confirmed mathematics anxiety as a negative predictor of test performance in males and females, but also revealed that in females EI and ESE moderate the effects of anxiety on test performance, with the relationship between anxiety and test performance linked more to emotional management (EI) than to ESE.