Factors influencing the transition to university service mathematics: part 2 a qualitative study

A qualitative study was carried out by the authors into the influence of affective variables, the role of conceptions of mathematics and approaches to learning on students in the transition to service mathematics at the University of Limerick. The study is a follow-up study to an earlier quantitative study. The studies focus on first year Science, Engineering and Technological Mathematics students. This second part of the research, through the use of semi-structured interviews, aims to gain further insight into the impact of the aforementioned factors on students in their first year of university Service mathematics. This article reports on the consequences of the findings and enables us to envisage the problems that may arise in the future for mathematics education in Ireland. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]; Copyright of Teaching Mathematics & its Applications is the property of Oxford University Press / USA and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)