Project Links Student Attitude Survey

At the link "View the survey" below, you will find a copy of the second draft of the Project Links Student Attitude Survey. This survey has been developed by the Project Links evaluation team to measure how interaction with the computer modules developed by the project affects the attitudes, beliefs, and expectations of students towards mathematics. The current draft version of the survey includes

• 54 general statements about mathematics and their views of mathematics. Students are asked to agree or disagree with these items on a five point scale
• 6 items specifically rating the module in the class on a 10 point scale.

In addition to finding out how students responded to the specific modules used in the class, the survey was constructed to illuminate student attitudes along about a dozen specific dimensions. These are described briefly in the outline below.

1. Connections
   • Connecting math to the real world
   • Connecting math to other science and engineering classes
   • Awareness and understanding of the modeling process
2. Personal characteristics
   • Perceived personal ability and confidence
   • Learning skills / style
3. Emotional measures
   • Enjoyment and interest
   • Perceived value of math
4. Cognitive approach
   • Independence vs. authority
   • Coherence vs. disconnected facts
   • Concepts vs. formulas
5. Views about the nature of mathematics
6. Attitudes toward technology

It is our intention that these surveys will be distributed at the beginning and end of math courses that use Links Modules extensively to look both for specific responses to the modules and shifts in student attitudes engendered by module use.

The number of items in the survey will be reduced by about 20% for the final version. Changes will continue to be made during the Summer of 1997 in response to comments from the Links group and from collaborative discussions with evaluators in other MATC projects.

Please contribute to the next draft by filling out the survey.

• For each item, first decide if you would be interested in knowing whether your students agreed or disagreed with the given statement.
• If you would like to know what they think, mark the item I (for include). If you have no interest in how they respond to the given item, mark it D (for delete).
• If you mark include, then indicate how you prefer that your students would respond to the item.

View the survey.

For more information on this survey, or to discuss the survey in more detail, contact

RETURNS

University of Maryland	Physics Department	PERG UMD	Project Links