Skip to main content
DORAS
DCU Online Research Access Service
Login (DCU Staff Only)
Using a narrative approach to study the transition to higher-level education

Howard, Fionnán ORCID: 0000-0003-0802-9783, Nic Mhuirí, Siún ORCID: 0000-0001-5008-5573 and O'Reilly, Maurice (2022) Using a narrative approach to study the transition to higher-level education. In: 9th CASTeL STEM Education Research Conferene (SMEC), 24 -25 June 2022, Dublin. ISBN 978-1-911669-41-8

Full text available as:

[img]
Preview
PDF - Requires a PDF viewer such as GSview, Xpdf or Adobe Acrobat Reader
243kB

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a longitudinal study into the mathematical identity of science and engineering students (MISE) in Dublin City University. The goal of the research was to expand on previous mathematical identity research in Ireland by including science and engineering students since they study a significant amount of mathematics at university level. Mathematical identity is considered to be one’s relationship with mathematics, including knowledge of the subject and perception of oneself and others (Eaton & OReilly, 2009, p. 228). This qualitative study was conducted over four years using a narrative approach to mathematical identity (Radovic, Black, Williams & Salas, 2018, p. 29). The study involved 32 participants from science and engineering courses in DCU, including several students of science education who have since qualified as teachers. All participants completed an online open-ended questionnaire on mathematical identity in their first year of university. A further five participants contributed to focus groups and six participants took part in narrative interviews at the final stage of data collection. The conclusions are derived from participants’ mathematical identity narratives which were developed through several stages of data collection involving both thematic and narrative analysis. The findings highlight several issues that affected multiple participants and may affect a broader cohort of students than were included in the study. We also present some unique features of mathematical identity that arose in this context as students transitioned to higher-level education.

Item Type:Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Event Type:Conference
Refereed:Yes
Subjects:Social Sciences > Education
Social Sciences > Teaching
Mathematics
DCU Faculties and Centres:DCU Faculties and Schools > Institute of Education > School of STEM Education, Innovation, & Global Studies
Research Initiatives and Centres > Center for the Advancement of Science Teaching and Learning (CASTeL)
Published in: Proceedings of the 9th CASTeL STEM Education Research Conferene (SMEC). . Dublin City University. ISBN 978-1-911669-41-8
Publisher:Dublin City University
Official URL:https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6953622
Copyright Information:© 2022 The Authors Open Access (CC-BY 4.0)
ID Code:27769
Deposited On:22 Sep 2022 12:41 by Thomas Murtagh . Last Modified 22 Sep 2022 12:41

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

Archive Staff Only: edit this record

  • Student Email
  • Staff Email
  • Student Apps
  • Staff Apps
  • Loop
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy
  • Contact Us