Reciprocal Partnership: An intervention to enhance mathematics self-efficacy and achievement of first and second-semester college students
Year: 2016
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Community colleges are calling to support students who are at risk of restricting their career options because they do not have the mathematical groundings to pursue math-related careers. In response, I conceptualize a mathematics intervention program namely, Reciprocal Partnership, which is defined as the collaboration of student dyads to engage in reciprocal learning and teaching under the influence of constructive and collaborative environments that are structured by the Three Learning Situations framework. Reciprocal Partnership is proposed to enrich college students in their mathematical learning and to support their social development during their secondary-tertiary transition for mathematics knowledge and skills are strongly correlated with studentsâ college success and career aspiration. Therefrom, the purpose of this research is to investigate the effect of Reciprocal Partnership on the mathematics self-efficacy and achievement of first- and second-semester college students through a mixed methods approach. It also examines the structure of Reciprocal Partnership to inform the design of effective intervention programs for mathematical learning. Data from final examination grade, and pre- and post-surveys were analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistics, and were used to cross-validate findings from semi-structured interviews. Quantitative results reveal significant effect of Reciprocal Partnership on the mathematics self-efficacy of only students in the first semester, and no significant effect on the mathematics achievement of both students in the first and second semester. However, qualitative results identify a number of benefits for both groups of students such as gains in mathematical knowledge and skill, confidence, motivation, social connection, and comfort. Results from this study suggest the emphasis of mathematics intervention programs on all three learning situations (exploratory, explanatory, and extensional) over only the explanatory situation to maximize learning outcomes.
Source: TSpace (University of Toronto)
Author: Kerry Kwan
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2613591834