Document Type
Conference Paper
Publication Date
2022
Pages
9 pp.
Conference Name
2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, June 26-29, 2022, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Abstract
This paper shares the experiences of a group of S-STEM scholarship students as they progressed through their first year of undergraduate mathematics education including a math placement exam, a math focused bridge program, and calculus course(s). In addition, connections between student experiences and their math identity development were investigated with the goal of better understanding math identity formation. The authors used a mixed-methods approach to explore the math-related experiences of 12 students over the first year of participation in an NSF-funded S-STEM program. Data includes answers to select survey questions and transcripts of student focus groups. First, each student case was examined to see if/how their responses to math-related survey items changed between pre and post survey administrations. Of particular interest were responses to a math-identity related item, “I see myself as a math person.” Along with this, transcripts from focus group interviews were reviewed for quotes from these same students related to their math experiences, skill development, sense of math identity, and efficacy. Most students’ responses to the math identity survey item either remained the same or changed only slightly however, students’ focus group reflections on their math experiences were wide-ranging. The results of this study provide initial evidence that the summer bridge program is a positive experience for students, but the math placement exam is a barrier to the development of positive math identity, especially for underrepresented students.
Original Publication Citation
Davishahl, J., Brobst, J., Litzler, E., Alqudah, S., & Klein, A. (2022) Exploring the complex relationship between engineering students' math experiences and identity formation [Paper Presentation]. 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, Minnesota. https://peer.asee.org/41931
Repository Citation
Davishahl, J., Brobst, J., Litzler, E., Alqudah, S., & Klein, A. (2022) Exploring the complex relationship between engineering students' math experiences and identity formation [Paper Presentation]. 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, Minnesota. https://peer.asee.org/41931
ORCID
0000-0003-0605-757X (Brobst)
Included in
Higher Education Commons, Other Mathematics Commons, Science and Mathematics Education Commons
Comments
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© 2022 American Society for Engineering Education.
Other scholars may excerpt or quote from these materials with the same citation. When excerpting or quoting from Conference Proceedings, authors should, in addition to noting the ASEE copyright, list all the original authors and their institutions and name the host city of the conference.