Diagnostic tests: Purposes and two case studies

It is not uncommon to use what are called diagnostic, placement, readiness or competency tests once students arrive at university to gauge their basic skills in mathematics or literacy. This paper begins by discussing diagnostic mathematics tests and identifying the key reasons for which these are run. Two such tests with repercussions for students are discussed. These two tests are for different student cohorts and are run for different reasons. We identify the purposes for which the tests were developed, and actions which eventuated. We identify any additional purposes the tests served beyond those intended. The tests had a positive impact on student learning. It is not uncommon to use what are called diagnostic, placement, readiness or competency tests once students arrive at university to gauge their basic skills in mathematics or literacy. This paper begins by discussing diagnostic mathematics tests and identifying the key reasons for which these are run. Two such tests with repercussions for students are discussed. These two tests are for different student cohorts and are run for different reasons. We identify the purposes for which the tests were developed, and actions which eventuated. We identify any additional purposes the tests served beyond those intended. The tests had a positive impact on student learning.It is not uncommon to use what are called diagnostic, placement, readiness or competency tests once students arrive at university to gauge their basic skills in mathematics or literacy. This paper begins by discussing diagnostic mathematics tests and identifying the key reasons for which these are run. Two such tests with repercussions for students are discussed. These two tests are for different student cohorts and are run for different reasons. We identify the purposes for which the tests were developed, and actions which eventuated. We identify any additional purposes the tests served beyond those intended. The tests had a positive impact on student learning.It is not uncommon to use what are called diagnostic, placement, readiness or competency tests once students arrive at university to gauge their basic skills in mathematics or literacy. This paper begins by discussing diagnostic mathematics tests and identifying the key reasons for which these are run. Two such tests with repercussions for students are discussed. These two tests are for different student cohorts and are run for different reasons. We identify the purposes for which the tests were developed, and actions which eventuated. We identify any additional purposes the tests served beyond those intended. The tests had a positive impact on student learning. 

Year 13 or first-year university - a holistic learning design that attempts to combine elements of secondary and tertiary learning and teaching

For many years, Australian universities have been accepting students into their courses, including Science, with inadequate mathematical backgrounds. In addition to this lack of mathematical preparation, students are illprepared for the demands of independent learning as required by university courses. Thus many students are enrolling in university courses without basic numeracy skills and furthermore, they lack the ability to cope with the requirements of self-directed learning. This results in students being totally overwhelmed by their first few weeks experience at university which can result in significant ‘drop-out’ rates. This report describes a learning design used in the delivery of a firstyear mathematics unit that attempts to remediate numeracy skills and develop the independent learning skills required by the ‘traditional’ university experience

Supporting Engagement or Engaging Support?

The need for learning support in first year mathematics subjects in universities in Australia is increasing as student diversity increases. In this paper we study the use of learning support in a first year mathematics subject for which there is no assumed mathematics knowledge. Many students in this subject have a poor mathematics background, noticeably worse than five years previously. The interplay between learning support and engagement is found to be significant and the use of support can be used as a measure of engagement. The success of support is tied up with the success of engagement, making it difficult to measure the success of learning support. However student outcomes appear to be substantially improved through both mechanisms. We also highlight some concerns and consequences of the declining level of mathematics preparation of incoming students

Supporting engagement or engaging support?

The need for learning support in first year mathematics subjects in universities in Australia is increasing as student diversity increases. We studied the use of two modes of learning support in a first year mathematics subject for which there is no assumed mathematics knowledge. Many students in this subject have a poor mathematics background, noticeably worse than five years previously. Students were offered both online support and face-to-face workshops. Student use of support was tracked for a semester, along with some measures of engagement: tutorial attendance and use of the learning management system. The interplay between learning support and engagement was found to be significant and the use of support can be used as a measure of engagement. The success of support is intertwined with the success of engagement, making it difficult to measure the success of learning support. Hence, if we want to measure the success of support we somehow have to disentangle the effect of learning support from that of student engagement. However, student outcomes appear to be substantially improved through engagement with any learning activities. Engagement with both online support and face-to-face support was generally very poor, however the groups that utilised each mode were largely distinct. This indicates that a variety of support mechanisms, both face-to-face and online, are necessary to maximise the engagement with support. The poor engagement with learning support presents us with a huge challenge for the future, a challenge seen by many others: getting more students engaged in learning support. Though support is generally seen to be successful, few students engage with the support available and so many students are performing far worse than they could be. This has a serious effect on pass rates and can be detrimental to mathematics departments as mathematics academics could be seen poor teachers who are unable to motivate their students

On the number of minimal completely separating systems and antichains in a Boolean lattice

An (n)completely separating system C ((n)CSS) is a collection of blocks of [n] = {1,..., n} such that for all distinct a, b ∈ [n] there are blocks A, B ∈C with a ∈ A \ B and b ∈ B \ A. An (n)CSS is minimal if it contains the minimum possible number of blocks for a CSS on [n]. The number of non-isomorphic minimal (n)CSSs is determined for 11 ≤ n ≤ 35. This also provides an enumeration of a natural class of antichains

MATHBENCH Australia: Does it reach the expectations of both biologists and mathematicians?

It is well documented that life science students require Quantitative Skills (QS); the ability to apply mathematical and statistical thinking and reasoning, especially in the context of science. However, the relatively low numbers of students completing higher level secondary school mathematics, and the lack of mathematics prerequisites for many Australian university science degrees, has resulted in many students lacking the QS expected by life science academics. This poses a challenge for both life science academics and mathematicians: to raise the level of the QS of students. This lack of QS was targeted by the OLT MathBench project. The recently released online MathBench Australia (http://mathbench.org.au) Biology Modules are Australianised versions of the original US MathBench modules. The MathBench Australia Biology Modules can be used comfortably by Australian life science academics in their science subjects to build the QS of their students. The OLT MathBench project had mathematicians and biologists collaborating from start to finish, to ensure that the content is appropriate and correct from both the life science academics and mathematicians’ viewpoints. The first part of this presentation captures the biologists’ view of the content and use of the MathBench Australia modules. The second part addresses the quantitative aspects of the modules and the fit with reported data on the QS needs of life science students. Aims One aim was to investigate whether the QS that life science academics want in their graduates are covered in MathBench Australia. Another was to find out how the interviewees used MathBench Australia in their subjects, whether they perceived it as useful and how it could be improved. Design and methods Interviews were conducted with the biologists involved in the project. The questions asked included some information about the students, the QS needed for the subject, the delivery, and the appropriateness of content. The QS in MathBench Australia were compared to the previously reported data (Rylands et al., 2013) on the QS needs and requirements of life science students. Results and Conclusion Various MathBench Australia modules were used in life science subjects, and in various different ways. Overall, the biologists were very positive, finding the friendly and conversational tone together with correct scientific language, to be appropriate. Some improvements were proposed. On the whole, the statistics and mathematics was agreed to have been well covered in MathBench Australia, although the modules cover very basic mathematics and statistics, and do not go as far as calculus. References Rylands, L., Simbag, V., Matthews, K., Coady, C., & Belward, S. (2013). Scientists and mathematicians collaborating to build quantitative skills in undergraduate science. International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology, 44(6), 834-845

Nurse education leaders' perspectives on the teaching of numeracy to undergraduate nursing students : a qualitative research study

Aim The aim of this study was to explore the perspectives of nurse education leaders of Australian undergraduate nursing degrees on the teaching of nursing numeracy and how the Australian Nursing & Midwifery Accreditation Standards influence curriculum development. Background Nurses’ numeracy skills are reportedly deficient worldwide, posing a significant threat to patient safety. This is an issue for the education of undergraduate nurses and thus for the nursing profession. The international literature reveals a heterogeneous blend of learning approaches, but it is unclear which approaches are best suited to improve the numerical calculation ability of nurses. In the Australian context, there are no accreditation standards referring to numeracy, therefore, it is important to discover how nurse education leaders’ design and implement the teaching of numeracy. Design A qualitative approach using thematic analysis was employed. The setting was Australian universities that delivered an accredited undergraduate nursing degree leading to nursing registration. Methods Purposive sampling was used to recruit 17 nurse education leaders of Australian undergraduate nursing degrees. Individual, semi-structured virtual interviews were conducted between November 2022 and January 2023. Interview data were analysed using Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six phases of thematic analysis. Findings Five themes emerged from the analysis: (i) indistinct accreditation standards, (ii) teaching basic maths for clinical applications, (iii) a range of bespoke teaching approaches (iv) we’re nurses, not numeracy educators and (v) assumptions about an unprepared cohort. Conclusion The leaders of undergraduate nursing degrees assumed that nursing students would have proficiency in numeracy skills on entering university. However, this was not the case, hence numeracy was an essential skill that needed to be taught to the undergraduate nursing students. Lack of direction from the accreditation council led to the existence of various curricula and an array of approaches to teaching numeracy and medication calculations, which challenged nursing academics who did not consider themselves numeracy educators. This study makes a novel contribution to knowledge, teaching and practice in undergraduate nursing numeracy curricula