Exploring social patterns of participation in university-entrance level mathematics in England

In recent years in England there has been considerable attention given to a range of apparent crises in mathematics education, one of which has been the long term decline of participation in university-entrance level (Advanced or A) mathematics. Given the negative impact upon mathematics participat...

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Main Author: Noyes, Andrew
Format: Article
Published: Taylor and Francis Group 2009
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/27785/
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author Noyes, Andrew
author_facet Noyes, Andrew
author_sort Noyes, Andrew
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
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description In recent years in England there has been considerable attention given to a range of apparent crises in mathematics education, one of which has been the long term decline of participation in university-entrance level (Advanced or A) mathematics. Given the negative impact upon mathematics participation of Curriculum 2000, together with the government’s emphasis on Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects, the political intent to increase participation in Advanced level mathematics is clear. This paper uses the National Pupil Database (NPD) to develop a descriptive statistical account of how completion of Advanced level mathematics varies along the social axes of SES, ethnicity and gender. The process of working with the NPD is discussed in some depth in order to clarify the processes involved in this type of quantitative analysis and to illustrate how this analysis can be used to raise questions about who is doing what mathematics in the post-16 age-range.
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spelling nottingham-277852020-05-04T16:28:29Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/27785/ Exploring social patterns of participation in university-entrance level mathematics in England Noyes, Andrew In recent years in England there has been considerable attention given to a range of apparent crises in mathematics education, one of which has been the long term decline of participation in university-entrance level (Advanced or A) mathematics. Given the negative impact upon mathematics participation of Curriculum 2000, together with the government’s emphasis on Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects, the political intent to increase participation in Advanced level mathematics is clear. This paper uses the National Pupil Database (NPD) to develop a descriptive statistical account of how completion of Advanced level mathematics varies along the social axes of SES, ethnicity and gender. The process of working with the NPD is discussed in some depth in order to clarify the processes involved in this type of quantitative analysis and to illustrate how this analysis can be used to raise questions about who is doing what mathematics in the post-16 age-range. Taylor and Francis Group 2009-07-22 Article PeerReviewed Noyes, Andrew (2009) Exploring social patterns of participation in university-entrance level mathematics in England. Research in Mathematics Education, 11 (2). pp. 167-183. ISSN 1479-4802 university-entrance level mathematics advanced mathematics participation National Pupil Database http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/14794800903063356 doi:10.1080/14794800903063356 doi:10.1080/14794800903063356
spellingShingle university-entrance level mathematics
advanced mathematics
participation
National Pupil Database
Noyes, Andrew
Exploring social patterns of participation in university-entrance level mathematics in England
title Exploring social patterns of participation in university-entrance level mathematics in England
title_full Exploring social patterns of participation in university-entrance level mathematics in England
title_fullStr Exploring social patterns of participation in university-entrance level mathematics in England
title_full_unstemmed Exploring social patterns of participation in university-entrance level mathematics in England
title_short Exploring social patterns of participation in university-entrance level mathematics in England
title_sort exploring social patterns of participation in university-entrance level mathematics in england
topic university-entrance level mathematics
advanced mathematics
participation
National Pupil Database
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/27785/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/27785/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/27785/