For the last few months, I have been working towards CeP recognition by the Association for Learning Development in Higher Education. Over the weekend, I discovered I’ve been awarded Certified Practitioner status.
This marks my second formal recognition in consecutive summers having being awarded my HEA Fellowship last summer.
I am pleased to announce that my paper titled “How teachers’ mathematics anxiety affects their students’ mathematics anxiety and mathematics confidence” has been accepted for presentation at the 13th Congress of European Researchers in Mathematics Education (CERME) in July.
The paper investigates the relationship between teachers’ mathematics anxiety and their students’ mathematics anxiety and confidence. The research in my paper found a strong association between teachers’ mathematics anxiety and their students’ mathematics anxiety and confidence. When teachers have high levels of mathematics anxiety, their students are more likely to have higher levels of anxiety and lower levels of confidence in mathematics.
Presenting this paper at the CERME conference, in collaboration with Dr Nikolaos Fotou, is an exciting opportunity to share this research with other educators and researchers in mathematics education. I look forward to sharing my research and learning from others at the conference.
I am pleased to announce that I have been awarded a £500 research grant from the London Mathematical Society [LMS] to present my work with Dr Nikolaos Fotou at the 13th Congress of the European Society for Research in Mathematics Education [CERME13], in Budapest, Hungary.
My presentation at CERME13 will include the first result of my PhD exploring mathematics anxiety and mathematics confidence in secondary education. The grant will cover my travel and accommodation expenses, as well as the conference registration fee. This support is crucial for me to attend CERME13 and share my research findings with the wider mathematics education community.
CERME13 is a highly regarded international conference that brings together researchers, teachers, and practitioners from all over the world to discuss the latest developments in mathematics education. I am excited to participate in this conference and to learn from other researchers and practitioners in the field. I am confident that my research on the impact of technology on mathematics education will contribute to the ongoing discourse on how best to leverage technology for learning in the classroom.
The grant is part of the LMS’s Travel Grants for Early Career Researchers programme and I recommend all PhD students in Maths or Maths Education to apply!
Earlier this week I presented a paper at the 12th Edition of the New Perspectives in Science Education (NPSE) conference alongside my doctoral supervisor Dr Nikolaos Fotou. Our work, reimagining my MRes thesis, continues my work exploring mathematics anxiety, this time in specialists in Mathematics and physics students at the University of Lincoln.
Mathematics knowledge is necessary for academic success in many subjects like Physics and Chemistry and across all levels of education while also being an important thinking and problem-solving skill for efficient functioning in everyday life. However, research [1, 2] has shown nervousness and worry experienced when students across ages are faced with numerical problems during their education [2, 3] or adults in their everyday life [1]. This, in many cases, has been suggested to be the result of mathematics anxiety [4], a negative emotional reaction to mathematics that includes feelings of tension and nervousness that interfere with the manipulation of numbers and the solving of mathematical problems. The impact high levels of mathematics anxiety can have especially on students include decreased mathematics performance, confidence, and motivation [5, 6]. Highly maths anxious students also experience mathematics avoidance at multiple stages including avoidance of mathematics studies when given the option and choosing careers with fewer mathematics components [7, 8]. This mathematics anxiety and impact it has are not an uncommon phenomenon even among college and university students studying academic disciplines that are either primarily mathematical, or are considered branches/subfields of mathematics, or involve mathematics as an integral component of the programme of studies (which has been referred to as STEM or STEM-related disciplines) [8]. This paper reports on the findings of a quantitative study examining this phenomenon of mathematics anxiety in university students studying mathematics and physics at an undergraduate level at a university in the UK. The purpose was to evaluate and test a mathematics anxiety measurement to identify barriers to the learning of mathematics at an undergraduate level. Factor analysis yielded a revised four-factor model of mathematics anxiety comprising an evaluation component, a learning component, a social element, and a novel factor unique to specialist students being a routine component. Results show that mathematics anxiety remains a grave concern and barrier to learning mathematics and the natural sciences, even among undergraduate students, who have chosen to study Physics and degrees with mathematics constituting the major component of their studies. Findings also show that gender differences, often reported in studies with primary and secondary school students, remain consistent in specialist undergraduate students. Recommendations for targeted
Smith, J., & Fotou, N. (2023). Factor Composition of Mathematics Anxiety in Undergraduate Mathematics and Physics Students. In Pixel (ed.), New Perspectives in Science Education 12th Edition (pp. 120-125). Florence, Italy: libreriauniversitaria.it. https://doi.org/10.26352/H316_2384-9509
mathematics anxiety support are also reported.
On the 16th and 17th of March, I presented a paper alongside Dr. Nikolaos Fotou at the 12th Edition of the New Perspectives in Science Education in Florence, Italy.
Our paper, a reimagining of my MRes thesis, is titled “Factor Composition of Mathematics Anxiety in Undergraduate Mathematics and Physics Students“, and the abstract is below.
The paper has been submitted for publication in the Conference Proceedings, more information to follow later.
Mathematics knowledge is necessary for academic success in many subjects like Physics and Chemistry and across all levels of education while also is an important thinking and problem-solving skill for efficient functioning in everyday life. However, research [1, 2] has shown nervousness and worry experienced when students across ages are faced with numerical problems during their education [2, 3] or adults in their everyday life [1]. This, in many cases, has been suggested to be the result of mathematics anxiety [4], a negative emotional reaction to mathematics that includes feelings of tension and nervousness that interfere with the manipulation of numbers and the solving of mathematical problems. The impact high levels of mathematics anxiety can have especially on students include decreased mathematics performance, confidence, and motivation [5, 6]. Highly maths anxious students also experience mathematics avoidance at multiple stages including avoidance of mathematics studies when given the option and choosing careers with fewer mathematics components [7, 8]. This mathematics anxiety and impact it has are not an uncommon phenomenon even among college and university students studying academic disciplines that are either primarily mathematical, or are considered branches/subfields of mathematics, or involve mathematics as an integral component of the programme of studies (which has been referred to as STEM or STEM-related disciplines) [8]. This paper reports on the findings of a quantitative study examining this phenomenon of mathematics anxiety in university students studying mathematics and physics at an undergraduate level at a university in the UK. The purpose was to evaluate and test a mathematics anxiety measurement to identify barriers to the learning of mathematics at an undergraduate level. Factor analysis yielded a revised four-factor model of mathematics anxiety comprising an evaluation component, a learning component, a social element, and a novel factor unique to specialist students being a routine component. Results show that mathematics anxiety remains a grave concern and barrier to learning mathematics and the natural sciences, even among undergraduate students, who have chosen to study STEM-related degrees with a significant mathematics component. Findings also show that gender differences, often reported in studies with primary and secondary school students, remain consistent in specialist undergraduate students. Recommendations for targeted mathematics anxiety support are also reported.
NPSE Paper Abstract
With the winter cold coming to an end, I look forward to what is hopefully a very busy and very productive Spring and Summer.
NPSE (Florence, Italy)
Next month I will be travelling to the Cradle of the Renaissance to present at the New Perspectives in Science Education alongside my doctoral supervisor Dr Nikolaos Fotou. We are presenting a reenvisioning of my MRes project exploring the principal components of Mathematics Anxiety in Undergraduate Maths and Physics students.
PhD Data Collection Phase B (Lincoln, UK)
April and May will see the second stage of my PhD data collection which will, hopefully, encompass another 1500 responses. This will a much bigger undertaking that Phase A, as I will have to match up each individual response from Phase A to Phase B.
CERME (Budapest, Hungary)
In July I will hopefully be presenting a second research project with Dr Fotou, this time at the 13th Congress of the European Society for Research in Mathematics Education. This will be a summary of the first phase of my PhD research and explores relationships between a mathematics teacher’s mathematics anxiety and their students’ mathematics anxiety and mathematics confidence. Our paper has been submitted for acceptance and is currently undergoing peer-review.
Thank you for your interest in this Mathematics Anxiety research project.
This project is a collaboration between University of Lincoln researchers and multiple secondary schools across Lincolnshire. We are exploring the relationship between teachers’ mathematics anxiety and their students’ mathematics anxiety.
In this post, you will find attached three documents that provide more information about this project. These documents provide identical information but have been written in different styles and formats depending on if you are a student, a parent, or a teacher. You can view/download all of the information sheets below.
If you require further information about this project please contact a member of the research team.
| Jamie Smith | Jamie.Smith@Lincoln.ac.uk |
| Dr Nikolaos Fotou | NFotou@Lincoln.ac.uk |
| Dr Rachael Sharpe | RSharpe@Lincoln.ac.uk |
In March I applied for Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy and wrote about my experience here:
https://jamiesmithphdblog.wordpress.com/2022/03/07/hea-fellowship-application
I have just received confirmation that I have been awarded (D2) Fellowship.
Currently, I am not actively seeking an academic post – I am focusing on my PhD – however, I have been reviewing application packs for jobs I would like to apply for in the future. All of the last 10 academic jobs I considered describe fellowship at either the D1 or D2 levels as expected or desired. Reaching this amazing milestone so early into my PhD it means that when I start the post-doc job hunt, I have one less thing to worry about.
I am greatly indebted to Prof. Waqar Ahmed for originally encouraging me to seek fellowship, and to Laura Pearson, Faye Cleminson, and Lesley Thompson for their support of my application.
Jamie Smith, FHEA
I have recently had an article on the student voice in mathematics and statistics support published in the MSOR Connections in the CETL-MSOR Conference Special Issue. The article is the culmination of a research project with Laura Pearson from the University of Lincoln MASH team, which also included a conference presentation at Coventry University.
Download the article here.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, many Maths and Stats Support (MSS) centres moved to offer wholly online support. By examining student preference scores to different types and deliveries of MSS, insight is gained into what forms of academic support students want going forwards. Students’ mathematics anxiety levels are evaluated in three distinct situations: in general, before online support, and before in-person support. Thematic analysis of student preferences identifies the key themes for students preferring different forms of support. Factors such as accessibility and support logistics are discussed as key features in determining students’ preferred support method.
Smith. J. (2022), Student Preferences for Online Maths and Stats Support and difference on Mathematics Anxiety, MSOR Connections, 20(1), 28-36, https://doi.org/10.21100/msor.v20i1.1291
I have been working with Mr Andrei Zarie (School of Psychology, University of Lincoln) on a doctoral collaborative grant application exploring the Physiological Impacts of Mathematics Anxiety.
We prosed subjecting participants to the Montreal Imaging Stress Test (MIST; Dedovic et al., 2005) and recording changes in several psychological measures. We intended to measure Blood Pressure, Heart Rate and an Electrocardiogram (ECG) to identify biological responses to increased mathematics anxiety. Further, we would take measures of mathematics anxiety using the Mathematics Anxiety Scale–UK (MAS-UK; Hunt et al., 2011) a 23-item scale designed for UK Undergraduates with three components: learning mathematics anxiety, evaluation mathematics anxiety, and observation mathematics anxiety. As there exists some research suggesting an Autism-Mathematics Anxiety link, we considered measuring Autism-Spectrum traits using the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ-10; Allison et al., 2012), a 10-item subclinical scale measuring typical autistic traits.
Unfortunately, we were unsuccessful in securing grant money and therefore the project has been placed on hold until new funding opportunities emerge.
In creating this collaborative proposal, I was able to build and develop my interdisciplinary skills by including elements of a project that span multiple research interests. By combining mathematics anxiety and developmental psychology elements we created a project that would have spanned multiple fields and, in our opinion had great outreach and public potential.
The grant-awarding body decided that the project should have been focused on primary-school children which, in my opinion, is a little ridiculous. Connecting primary-school children to an ECG and deliberately raising their anxiety levels is an extremely serious project that would require years of ethical and legal approval, far beyond the scope of the grant money and time available.
Nevertheless, I learned a great deal about the grant proposal drafting and writing process, skills I hope to use soon to secure funding for future projects.
References:
Dedovic, K., Renwick, R., Mahani, N. K., Engert, V., Lupien, S. J., & Pruessner, J. C. (2005). The Montreal Imaging Stress Task: using functional imaging to investigate the effects of perceiving and processing psychosocial stress in the human brain. Journal of Psychiatry & Neuroscience: JPN, 30(5), 319–325. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1197276
Hunt, T. E., Clark-Carter, D., & Sheffield, D. (2011). The Development and Part Validation of a U.K. Scale for Mathematics Anxiety. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 29(5), 455–466. https://doi.org/10.1177/0734282910392892
Allison, C., Auyeung, B., & Baron-Cohen, S. (2012). Toward brief “Red Flags” for autism screening: The Short Autism Spectrum Quotient and the Short Quantitative Checklist for Autism in toddlers in 1,000 cases and 3,000 controls [corrected]. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 51(2), 202–212.e7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2011.11.003
Jamie Smith 