IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v15y2023i11p8661-d1156817.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Assessment of Students’ Mathematical Skills in Relation to Their Strengths and Weaknesses, at Different Levels of the European Qualifications Framework

Author

Listed:
  • Jacek Stańdo

    (Centre of Mathematics and Physics, Lodz University of Technology, 90-924 Łódź, Poland)

  • Kamil Kołodziejski

    (Institute of Mathematics, Lodz University of Technology, al. Politechniki 8, 93-590 Łódź, Poland)

  • Żywilla Fechner

    (Institute of Mathematics, Lodz University of Technology, al. Politechniki 8, 93-590 Łódź, Poland)

Abstract

Many scientific studies focus on finding the relationship between students’ mathematical skills and socio-economic, demographic, and ontogenetic factors. In this publication, we answer the question of how students’ mathematical skills are achieved in relation to their strengths and weaknesses, also with regard to the use of mathematics in everyday life. In this article, we examine the relationship between the results of the mock final math exam for eighth grade primary school students/final year high school students and additional math classes, the application of math in everyday life and the greatest difficulties with specific areas of taught material. The study was conducted in Poland on almost ten thousand eighth graders and high school leavers who took part in mock exams online, respectively: eighth-grader exam, and school-leaving maturity exam. The participants of these online exams were asked to respond to a survey that pertained to their math grades, attending additional math classes, their perceived most useful mathematical topics in everyday life and future professional work, and identification of their strengths and weaknesses. In the following paper, the relationships between the answers to the survey questions and the results of the mock online exam are analyzed. The results indicate that there are differences in the area of results of the mock exam and answers about strengths and weakness in mathematical literacy. The analysis of answers about use the mathematical knowledge are different for eight-graders and high-school students. Eight-graders indicate the importance of arithmetic operations while high -school students point out more abstract topics like probability, statistics and geometry. The results of the study are compared to the existing results.

Suggested Citation

  • Jacek Stańdo & Kamil Kołodziejski & Żywilla Fechner, 2023. "Assessment of Students’ Mathematical Skills in Relation to Their Strengths and Weaknesses, at Different Levels of the European Qualifications Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-21, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:11:p:8661-:d:1156817
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/11/8661/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/11/8661/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Levine, Phillip B & Zimmerman, David J, 1995. "The Benefit of Additional High-School Math and Science Classes for Young Men and Women," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 13(2), pages 137-149, April.
    2. Jorma Joutsenlahti & Päivi Perkkilä, 2019. "Sustainability Development in Mathematics Education—A Case Study of What Kind of Meanings Do Prospective Class Teachers Find for the Mathematical Symbol “ 2 3 ”?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-15, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Esteban Aucejo & Jonathan James, 2021. "The Path to College Education: The Role of Math and Verbal Skills," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 129(10), pages 2905-2946.
    2. Pia M. Orrenius & Madeline Zavodny, 2015. "Does Immigration Affect Whether US Natives Major in Science and Engineering?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 33(S1), pages 79-108.
    3. Aughinbaugh, Alison, 2012. "The effects of high school math curriculum on college attendance: Evidence from the NLSY97," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 861-870.
    4. Gordon Dahl & Dan-Olof Rooth & Anders Stenberg, 2020. "High School Majors, Comparative (Dis)Advantage, and Future Earnings," NBER Working Papers 27524, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. repec:lan:wpaper:4408 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Hall, Caroline, 2013. "Does more general education reduce the risk of future unemployment? Evidence from labor market experiences during the Great Recession," Working Paper Series 2013:17, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    7. Koedel, Cory & Tyhurst, Eric, 2012. "Math skills and labor-market outcomes: Evidence from a resume-based field experiment," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 131-140.
    8. Han Yu & Naci Mocan, 2018. "The Impact of High School Curriculum on Confidence, Academic Success, and Mental and Physical Well-Being of University Students," NBER Working Papers 24573, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Hall, Caroline, 2016. "Does more general education reduce the risk of future unemployment? Evidence from an expansion of vocational upper secondary education," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 251-271.
    10. Mahdi Gholami & Samuel Muehlemann, 2024. "Math Skills, Selection in Training Firms, and Post-Training Wages," Economics of Education Working Paper Series 0212, University of Zurich, Department of Business Administration (IBW).
    11. Louis-Philippe Morin, 2010. "Estimating the Benefit of High School for College-Bound Students," Working Papers 1002E, University of Ottawa, Department of Economics.
    12. Rajeev Darolia & Cory Koedel & Joyce B. Main & Felix Ndashimye & Junpeng Yan, 2020. "High School Course Access and Postsecondary STEM Enrollment and Attainment," Working Papers 2004, Department of Economics, University of Missouri.
    13. Light, Audrey, 1999. "High school employment, high school curriculum, and post-school wages," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 291-309, June.
    14. Görlitz, Katja & Gravert, Christina, 2015. "The Effects of Increasing the Standards of the High School Curriculum on School Dropout," IZA Discussion Papers 8766, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    15. Biewen, Martin & Schwerter, Jakob, 2019. "Does More Math in High School Increase the Share of Female STEM Workers? Evidence from a Curriculum Reform," IZA Discussion Papers 12236, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    16. Marta De Philippis, 2023. "STEM Graduates and Secondary School Curriculum: Does Early Exposure to Science Matter?," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 58(6), pages 1914-1947.
    17. Nick Adnett & Peter Davies, 2005. "Competition between or within schools? Re-assessing school choice," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(1), pages 109-121.
    18. Dougherty, Shaun & Goodman, Joshua & Hill, Darryl & Litke, Erica & Page, Lindsay C., 2015. "Early Math Coursework and College Readiness: Evidence from Targeted Middle School Math Acceleration," Working Paper Series rwp15-044, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
    19. Morin, Louis-Philippe, 2010. "Estimating the BenefiÂ…t of High School for College-Bound Students," CLSSRN working papers clsrn_admin-2010-3, Vancouver School of Economics, revised 30 Jan 2010.
    20. repec:lan:wpaper:4839 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Kalena E. Cortes & Joshua S. Goodman & Takako Nomi, 2015. "Intensive Math Instruction and Educational Attainment: Long-Run Impacts of Double-Dose Algebra," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 50(1), pages 108-158.
    22. Tobias Meyer & Stephan L. Thomsen, 2016. "How Important Is Secondary School Duration for Postsecondary Education Decisions? Evidence from a Natural Experiment," Journal of Human Capital, University of Chicago Press, vol. 10(1), pages 67-108.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:11:p:8661-:d:1156817. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.