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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Maths Sparks: Investigating the impact of outreach on
pupils’ attitudes towards mathematics
Anthony Cronin, School of Mathematics and Statistics, University College Dublin, Dublin,
Ireland. Email: anthony.cronin@ucd.ie
Aoibhinn Ni Shuilleabhain, School of Mathematics and Statistics, University College Dublin,
Dublin, Ireland. Email: aoibhinn.nishuilleabhain@ucd.ie
Emily Lewanowski-Breen, School of Mathematics and Statistics, University College Dublin,
Dublin, Ireland. Email: emily.lewanowski-breen@ucdconnect.ie
Christopher Kennedy, School of Mathematics and Statistics, University College Dublin,
Dublin, Ireland. Email: christopher.kennedy@ucdconnect.ie
Abstract
In this article, we examine the impact of participating in a series of mathematics workshops
on secondary-school pupils’ attitudes towards mathematics. A six-week program, entitled
‘Maths Sparks’, was run by a team of lecturers and students at a research-intensive
university in the Republic of Ireland. The outreach series aimed to promote mathematics to
pupils from schools designated as socio-economically disadvantaged (DEIS - Delivering
Equality of Opportunity in Schools), who are less likely to study mathematics at higher level
than their non-DEIS counterparts (Smyth et al. 2015). Sixty-two pupils participated in the
research and data was generated through pre-post questionnaires based on the Fennema-
Sherman (1976) framework of Attitudes to Mathematics. Findings suggest that while male
students initially had more positive attitudes towards mathematics, there was a narrowing in
this gender gap across several factors on the Fennema-Sherman scale as a result of
participation in the programme. The most prominent of these features were: ‘Attitudes
towards success in mathematics’ and ‘Motivation towards mathematics’. Findings suggest
that the construct and delivery of this Mathematics outreach programme, involving
undergraduate students and academic staff, may provide a useful structure in benefitting
pupils’ attitudes towards mathematics and encouraging their study of the subject.
Keywords: mathematics outreach, widening participation, student-staff collaboration.
1. Introduction
Students from lower socio-economic areas are often disadvantaged in terms of their
mathematics education, when compared with their counterparts in higher socio-economic
areas (Cox & Bidgood, 2002; Schoenfeld, 2002). In the Republic of Ireland (ROI), pupils in
schools designated as disadvantaged (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools – DEIS)
have been found to have lower average scores in overall mathematical skills (Shiel,
Kelleher, McKeown, & Denner, 2015). In addition, a recent report has found that secondary
pupils in DEIS schools are less likely to participate in mathematics at a higher level than their
non-DEIS counterparts (Smyth, McCoy, & Kingston, 2015). It has been suggested that this
lower participation in higher mathematics is due to pupils’ attitudes towards studying
mathematics and their perceived usefulness of studying mathematics at higher level for the
terminal state secondary examination (the Leaving Certificate).
Citation suggestion: Cronin, A., Ni Shuilleabhain, A., Lewanowski-Breen, E., & Kennedy, C.
(2017). Maths Sparks: Investigating the impact of outreach on pupils’ attitudes towards
mathematics. MSOR Connections, 15(3), 4-13
In this paper, we investigate the impact on pupils’ attitudes towards mathematics via
participation in a series of mathematics outreach workshops, known as ‘Maths Sparks’.
Building on results from a previous pilot programme (Ni Shuilleabhain & Cronin, 2015), this
research utilizes the Fennema-Sherman framework of attitudes towards mathematics (1976)
to analyse the impact of participation in this series of workshops on pupils’ attitudes towards
mathematics. In addition, we analyse the impact on pupils’ aspirations to pursue higher level
mathematics as a result of taking part in Maths Sparks.
2. Maths Sparks
‘Maths Sparks’ is a series of mathematical problem solving workshops, based on content
external to the senior-cycle mathematics curriculum. Each workshop is designed to
incorporate contextualized and meaningful mathematical activities which encourage
students’ sense-making and include a range of classroom organizational forms (Schoenfeld,
1992; Verschaffel et al., 1999). A key feature of the workshops is that they are designed by
teams of undergraduate students, who collaborate with academics to develop relevant
mathematical content for participating pupils. Each workshop is presented by the designing
undergraduate team, with pupil learning facilitated by other participating students and
lecturers. This construct encourages collaboration between secondary pupils and
undergraduate mathematics students in exploring mathematical ideas and developing skills
in mathematical thinking.
The workshops are designed with four aims:
1. To encourage pupils to communicate, reflect on, and build confidence in their
mathematical thinking.
2. To impact pupils’ attitudes towards mathematics to see it as a viable, interesting,
and important subject.
3. To motivate pupils to continue studying mathematics at higher level for Leaving
Certificate.
4. To encourage pupils to study courses related to science, technology, engineering
or mathematics (STEM) at third level through engaging with undergraduates and
graduates of STEM.
The series is aimed towards senior cycle secondary pupils in Transition Year or fifth year
(15-17 year olds) and is offered free of charge to participants.
Information on the Maths Sparks series was shared with DEIS schools through the university
Access & Lifelong Learning Centre, who have responsibility for providing support to school
leavers from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Seventy-two pupils (forty-one
females and thirty-one males) from twelve schools chose to take part in the programme.
The series of workshops took place from March to April in 2016 and introduced 10 topics
(from Game Theory to Cryptography) over the course of the six weeks. Workshops were
held in the university’s Active Learning Rooms (ALE), where the learning environment
supported collaborative activities for pupils. On each of the six evenings, a short concluding
presentation was given by a mathematics lecturer on a topic related to the workshops.
Citation suggestion: Cronin, A., Ni Shuilleabhain, A., Lewanowski-Breen, E., & Kennedy, C.
(2017). Maths Sparks: Investigating the impact of outreach on pupils’ attitudes towards
mathematics. MSOR Connections, 15(3), 4-13
3. Methodology
Prior to the commencement of the series, pupils were invited to be involved in research on
the impact of taking part in Maths Sparks. Permission for pupils’ participation was requested
from parents/guardians and sixty-two pupils (thirty-seven females and twenty-five males)
agreed to take part. Data was generated through pre-post questionnaires, which contained a
mixture of open and Likert-scale questions. Open questions were designed to investigate
pupils’ opinions on studying mathematics and their intentions to study mathematics at higher
level for the Leaving Certificate. Likert scale questions on a 5-point scale ranging from
“strongly disagree” to “strongly agree” were asked on 12 questions over six of the nine
factors of the Fennema-Sherman scale (1976):
1. Mathematics Anxiety (MA),
2. Confidence in Learning Mathematics (CLM),
3. Attitudes Towards Success in Mathematics (ATS),
4. Teacher Scale (TS),
5. Usefulness of Mathematics (UM),
6. Effectance Motivation in Mathematics factor (EMM).
In total, sixty-two pupils (37 females and 25 males) completed the pre-series questionnaire
and fifty pupils (23 females and 27 males) completed the post-series questionnaire.
Statistical analysis incorporated only matching pre-post pupil responses (forty-four pupils)
and qualitative analysis was conducted through a thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006)
of pupils’ responses based on the framework of the six Fennema-Sherman factors (1976).
4. Findings
As might be expected from pupils who had opted to participate in a mathematics outreach
programme, in the pre-series questionnaires the majority of pupils were positive in their
attitudes towards mathematics (all names are pseudonyms):
“I like the satisfaction that comes with it as soon as you solve the puzzle it feels very
rewarding to me and it makes me feel that I have achieved my objective.” – Cora
“I like the challenge associated with it and the feeling of satisfaction when I solve
parts of it.” – Sean
Participants’ negative opinions of mathematics were, however, generally related to their
experiences of learning mathematics at school. Aligning with research from (Lyons, Lynch,
Close, Sheerin, & Boland, 2003) on classroom mathematics practices in the ROI, pupils
reported on learning rules and formulae, with memorization viewed as an important
mathematical skill. In addition, mathematics was often viewed as a topic solely relevant to
school.
“I dislike all the theorems and things that need to be memorized for the Leaving
Cert.” – Lucy
“Some chapters can be tedious. Just putting different numbers into the same formula
repeatedly.” – Michael
Citation suggestion: Cronin, A., Ni Shuilleabhain, A., Lewanowski-Breen, E., & Kennedy, C.
(2017). Maths Sparks: Investigating the impact of outreach on pupils’ attitudes towards
mathematics. MSOR Connections, 15(3), 4-13
When asked if they intended to study mathematics at higher level for their Leaving
Certificate six pupils (all female) reported in the negative and cited a lack of confidence in
their own ability as a reason for this decision.
“Because I am not good enough.” – Rachel
Following their participation in the Maths Sparks series of workshops, pupils’ were asked if
they felt more confident in their mathematical ability, with the vast majority of pupils
responding positively.
“Yes, because I'm no longer afraid answering questions” – Paul
“Yes, I give up less easily when tackling Maths problems and I see the problems
through - attempt them to the best of my ability” - Nicholas
All pupils in the post-series questionnaires intended to pursue mathematics at higher level in
their Leaving Certificate and, while thirteen pupils (12 females and 1 male) in the pre-series
questionnaire noted they were not considering a STEM related course or career after
secondary school, in the post-series questionnaire this was reduced to five pupils (3 of
whom were female). Pupils also had a broader perspective on the usefulness of
mathematics across a variety of applications and careers:
“I've discovered several different things the students studied in relation to maths that
interested me that I didn't even know I could study.” – Ciara
“My opinion of maths has greatly changed as I thought it was only used in school and
business but I later found out it could be used in game mechanics and measuring
waves.” - John
The quantitative analysis of the data further explores the impact of the Maths Sparks series
on pupils’ attitudes towards mathematics. Following pupils’ participation in Maths Sparks,
there were statistically significant results over three features of the Fennema-Sherman scale
(1976): ‘attitudes towards success in mathematics’, ‘usefulness of mathematics’ and
‘effectance motivation in mathematics’ scales (results are included in the Appendix).
Differences in pupils’ responses across the two genders were evident, with male pupils’
responses differing to those of female pupils in both pre- and post-series questionnaires and
male pupils demonstrating a statistically significant change in their ‘confidence in learning
mathematics’ post series. Differences in gendered responses were, however, reduced
across ‘attitudes towards success’ and ‘effectance motivation’: male responses were
significantly higher at the 5% and 10% level in the pre-survey (p-values for the Mann-
Whitney U test 0.0151 and 0.06832 respectively) and these differences were no longer
significant in the post survey.
Taking one of the features demonstrating a statistically significant change, we consider one
of the twelve questions related towards ‘attitudes towards success in mathematics’. Pupils
were asked to rate their agreement with the statement “I don’t like people to think I’m smart
at maths”. While in the pupils’ pre-series responses thirty pupils greed or strongly
disagreed with this statement, this increased to thirty-six in the post-series response. This
change was related to the additional female pupils who strongly disagreed with this
statement in the post-series questionnaire.
Citation suggestion: Cronin, A., Ni Shuilleabhain, A., Lewanowski-Breen, E., & Kennedy, C.
(2017). Maths Sparks: Investigating the impact of outreach on pupils’ attitudes towards
mathematics. MSOR Connections, 15(3), 4-13
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Figure 1. Responses to the question “I don’t like people to think I’m smart at maths.”
While only male pupils’ responses demonstrated a significant change in their ‘confidence in
learning mathematics’, there was an increase in the numbers of pupils who strongly
disagreed with the statement “For some reason even though I study, maths seems unusually
hard for me”.
Figure 2. Negatively phrased question from CLM factor showing increase in positivity
for the whole cohort
There were also increased numbers of pupils who agreed with the statement “I think I could
handle more difficult maths” (further details included in the Appendix).
Citation suggestion: Cronin, A., Ni Shuilleabhain, A., Lewanowski-Breen, E., & Kennedy, C.
(2017). Maths Sparks: Investigating the impact of outreach on pupils’ attitudes towards
mathematics. MSOR Connections, 15(3), 4-13
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Figure 3: CLM questions showing increased positivity for the whole cohort in the post survey
Returning to pupils’ open responses, participants were asked if their opinion of mathematics
had changed due to their participation in Maths Sparks. Their responses were very positive
and, in the majority, were related to their perceived relevance of the subject:
“It made me admire mathematicians and maths because of how much importance it
has in our world.” - David
In addition, many pupils commented on the contrasting way mathematics was introduced in
the Maths Sparks workshops when compared with their classroom experiences. Pupils also
enjoyed learning new topics outside of the mathematics curriculum.
“Learning the different things to maths. In school, it’s just “Find XYZ”, here there are
millions of different ways to show maths.” - Janette
“Yes. I learned that there are different options in maths. It’s not like the maths we do
in school. You can take the part in maths that you enjoy and find interesting to
study.” - Marion
Many pupils also commented on being more aware of their capacity to work through
problems with different strategies, rather than only having ‘one way’ to do a question:
“I know that I have to look at every question in other ways to get an answer” – Cora
When asked to describe what they enjoyed about Maths Sparks, pupils commented on the
social element of the workshops, where pupils engaged with undergraduate mathematics
students and met and worked with pupils from other schools.
“Interacting with University students and getting to ask them questions.”- Nicolas
“Got to meet and befriend people I wouldn’t normally have got the chance to meet.”-
Karen
Pupils responded positively to both the content and construct of the Maths Sparks
workshops:
Citation suggestion: Cronin, A., Ni Shuilleabhain, A., Lewanowski-Breen, E., & Kennedy, C.
(2017). Maths Sparks: Investigating the impact of outreach on pupils’ attitudes towards
mathematics. MSOR Connections, 15(3), 4-13
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“I really really enjoyed the maths we learned and now enjoy maths again. Thank you
for doing this for us and offering it to us, it was very enjoyable”- Michelle
“It was the best 8 weeks of my school life”- Greg
5. Discussion and Conclusion
Participating in Maths Sparks workshops positively impacted on pupils’ attitudes towards
mathematics and on their intention to pursue mathematics at higher level in their secondary
school studies. Analysis demonstrates that there were statistically significant changes to
pupils’ ‘attitudes towards success in mathematics’, ‘usefulness of mathematics’ and
‘effectance motivation in mathematics’ features of the Fennema-Sherman (1976) attitudes
towards mathematics instrument. In addition, there were statistically significant differences in
male pupils’ responses to their ‘confidence in learning mathematics’. Pupils’ perceptions of
mathematics were impacted and, rather than seeing mathematics as a subject within the
school curriculum, pupils’ responses included the references to applications of mathematics
in the real world and across a number of industries.
Following their participation in the Maths Sparks series, more pupils intended to study
mathematics at higher level in the Leaving Certificate and more pupils were considering
pursuing a career in STEM.
Based on our findings, we consider that Marks Sparks offers the university an innovative
way to attract students from a diverse socio-economic background to mathematics-based
courses.
6. Acknowledgements
We like to thank the undergraduate volunteers and the secondary students who participated
in Maths Sparks 2016 and would also like to acknowledge our undergraduate co-authors
who supported the research as part of a summer internship programme. We would also like
to acknowledge Áine Murphy and the UCD Access and Lifelong Learning Centre for their
support in liaising with all schools participating in the programme.
This research was supported by a SFI Discover grant: number DP15/018
A booklet detailing each of the Maths Sparks workshops has been published and is free to
download at https://www.ucd.ie/mathstat/mathsparks/ for any group wishing to commence a
Maths Sparks programme at their own institution.
Citation suggestion: Cronin, A., Ni Shuilleabhain, A., Lewanowski-Breen, E., & Kennedy, C.
(2017). Maths Sparks: Investigating the impact of outreach on pupils’ attitudes towards
mathematics. MSOR Connections, 15(3), 4-13
7. Appendix: Tables and Charts
Table 1. Summary of testing differences in the median results between and within genders
* Significant at the 5% level
** Significant at the 1% level
[-] This test did not give a result as the median responses for males and females were identical leading to an NA
value for the p-value, the result here is simply that there is zero difference between male and female responses
for Effectance Motivation in the post survey
Table 2. Statistically significant results from testing differences between genders
Factor Test Result p-value
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** significant at the 5% level * significant at the 10% level
Citation suggestion: Cronin, A., Ni Shuilleabhain, A., Lewanowski-Breen, E., & Kennedy, C.
(2017). Maths Sparks: Investigating the impact of outreach on pupils’ attitudes towards
mathematics. MSOR Connections, 15(3), 4-13
Table 3. Results showing males having much higher results in several factors, indicating a
gender divide.
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Test p-value Result
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8. References
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Cox, B., & Bidgood, P. (2002). Widening Participation in MSOR. MSOR Connections, 2(1),
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Citation suggestion: Cronin, A., Ni Shuilleabhain, A., Lewanowski-Breen, E., & Kennedy, C.
(2017). Maths Sparks: Investigating the impact of outreach on pupils’ attitudes towards
mathematics. MSOR Connections, 15(3), 4-13
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Citation suggestion: Cronin, A., Ni Shuilleabhain, A., Lewanowski-Breen, E., & Kennedy, C.
(2017). Maths Sparks: Investigating the impact of outreach on pupils’ attitudes towards
mathematics. MSOR Connections, 15(3), 4-13
