Evaluating change in attitude towards mathematics using the 'then-now' procedure in a cooperative learning programme

Area of Science:

• Educational Psychology
• Higher Education Pedagogy

Background:

• Tertiary students often exhibit negative attitudes towards mathematics, linked to low self-efficacy.
• Collaborative teaching methods are proposed to improve these attitudes.
• Assessing attitude shifts requires methods robust against reference frame changes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate if cooperative learning improves mathematics attitudes in undergraduates.
• To determine if traditional pretest-post-test designs detect attitude changes accurately.
• To assess attitude reporting bias using a retrospective pretest ('then-now') procedure.

Main Methods:

• 141 undergraduate students in an educational psychology course participated.
• Multivariate procedures analyzed pretest, post-test, and retrospective pretest data.
• Measures included mathematics self-concept and anxiety within a cooperative learning framework.

Main Results:

• Significant improvements in mathematics self-concept and reductions in mathematics anxiety were observed.
• No significant differences were found between actual and retrospective pretest attitude measures.
• Prior mathematics study level did not influence the observed attitude changes.

Conclusions:

• Cooperative learning appears effective in enhancing tertiary students' mathematics attitudes.
• The retrospective pretest procedure validates findings and controls for response bias.
• This approach strengthens evidence for cooperative learning's benefits in educational settings.