Joanne Lisciandro

This project is funded by an Australian Centre for Student Equity and Success (ACSES) Large Grant 2024-25. It is a multi-institutional project involving four Australian higher education institutions including Murdoch University, and led by Chief Investigator Dr Angela Jones (ECU).

Project summary: Through collaboration across four universities and their partner high schools, this project will examine the models and academic outcomes of school-based enabling programs across Australia, with a focus on impact for equity groups. These insights will inform guidelines for developing effective, portable and scalable school-based programs and university-school partnerships to increase engagement in higher education.

***This project is funded by a Murdoch University Learning and Teaching Scholarship 2023/24***

Adult enabling students tend to have lower self-efficacy, negative attitudes and raised anxiety related to math learning than traditional cohorts. This is often linked to negative past learning experiences and a history of educational disadvantage. Research shows that it is possible to successfully redress long-held negative student attitudes, perceptions and emotions; however, traditional approaches to teaching math are ineffective. Student outcomes are dependent on a teaching and learning experience that attends to the affective, as well as the cognitive needs of the student. In 2023, a new compulsory math unit called Divide and Conquer: Navigating Numeracy in Uni Culture was launched as part of Murdoch University’s OnTrack Flex post-secondary enabling program. A number of innovations were implemented in this unit to attempt to reduce math anxiety and improve student attitudes and confidence in math learning, conceptualised as a three-pronged approach that targets curriculum, learning environment and learning experiences. The effectiveness of these innovations is currently been evaluated via a mixed method approach. Quantitative data on pre- and post- intervention math anxiety, attitudes and self-efficacy is being collected using established survey instruments, as well as data on math performance (grades) and learning behaviours (attendance, participation and/or engagement). Quantitative and qualitative data on the student experience of these interventions is also being collected via post-intervention surveys and focus groups.