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Using a mixed-method approach, the study invited 20 mature students to characterise their relationship with mathematics and identify incidents shaping their engagement, presenting a varied set of responses.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & 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personal characterisations of mathematics in the lives of mature students  \nMaria D. Ryan  \nMary Immaculate College  \nLimerick, Ireland  \n\u003C[MariaD.Ryan@mic.ul.ie](MariaD.Ryan@mic.ul.ie)>  \nOlivia Fitzmaurice  \nUniversity of Limerick  \nLimerick, Ireland  \n\u003C[Olivia.Fitzmaurice@ul.ie](Olivia.Fitzmaurice@ul.ie)>  \nPatrick Johnson  \nUniversity of Limerick  \nLimerick, Ireland  \n\u003C[Patrick.Johnson@ul.ie](Patrick.Johnson@ul.ie)>  \nAbstract  \nIncreasing numbers of students attending higher education institutions in Ireland take obligatory mathematics modules – service mathematics – as part of their programmes of study. A dislike of mathematics is frequently expressed among students, particularly mature students, some of whom experience mathematics anxiety. However, despite their experiences with mathematics, mature students demonstrate motivation and resilience in respect of their engagement with mathematics. As part of a mixed methods study, the author endeavoured to explore the mathematics experiences of mature students throughout their lives, and to identify those incidents that have impacted significantly on the students' engagement with mathematics. Twenty mature students were asked to characterise their relationship with mathematics. This paper 1 presents these findings, depicting an interesting variety of responses.  \nKeywords: mature student, service mathematics, mathematics life story, mathematics anxiety  \nIntroduction  \nMature students2 represent a heterogeneous cohort in undergraduate programmes in higher education (Bloomfield & Clews, 1994; Lynch, 1997) . Their challenges can be manifold and can differ considerably from ‘traditional students’ who have completed school and progressed straight to higher  \n1 The present paper stems from the author’s (Ryan) Ph.D. research into the existence of mathematics anxiety among mature students; the paper also builds on the findings of a previous paper presented at ALM-23 and published in 2017 (Ryan & Fitzmaurice, 2017) .  \n2 In the Irish context, a mature student is defined as being 23 years or more on January 1st in the year of entry or re-entry to an approved course ([www.hea.ie](www.hea.ie), 2018)  \neducation (Brady, 1997) . Returning to education as a mature student can be intimidating, as can the exposure to different teaching and learning methods compared to what mature students would have encountered at school (Hadfield & McNeil, 1994; Chinn, 2017) . Service mathematics (Macbean, 2004; Gill & O’Donoghue, 2008) is frequently an obligatory module in undergraduate programmes and may pose a further challenge for the mature student, who may not have associated mathematics as a likely component of their chosen discipline of study (Fitzmaurice et al., 2014) .  \nSome mature students experience mathematics anxiety, defined as “feelings of tension and anxiety that interfere with the manipulation of numbers and the solving of mathematical problems in a wide variety of ordinary life and academic situations”(Richardson & Suinn, 1972: p.551) . However, mature students are highly motivated (Knowles et al., 1998), and any negative issues they have with mathematics are usually dealt with or put aside in order to enable them to engage with mathematics and facilitate progression with their programme of study (Hadfield & McNeil, 1994) . In this regard, mature students tend to seek help with mathematics (Fitzmaurice et al., 2014), frequently availing of mathematics support facilities on campus. Behind the scenes, however, some mature students may have experienced a turbulent past with mathematics, that may be responsible for their approach to and level of engagement with the subject in higher education (Hembree, 1990; Tobias, 1993) , but which may not be disclosed (Tobias, 1993) . To this end the present study endeavoured to uncover the stories behind mature students’ experiences with mathematics in order to get a sense of how they feel about the subject as ex","cbCaim53KWNYoIwT","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaim53KWNYoIwT","pdf",191535,"English","# Abstract\n# Introduction\n## Mature students and service mathematics\n## Mathematics anxiety and motivation\n## Mathematics life stories and personal themes\n# Mixed method research design\n## Phase one: survey using MAS-UK\n## Phase two: semi-structured interviews","[{\"question\":\"What problem does the paper address about mature students and mathematics?\",\"answer\":\"The paper addresses how mature students in Ireland encounter service mathematics, commonly expressing dislike and, for some, mathematics anxiety that can interfere with engagement and progression.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the study investigate mature students’ mathematics experiences?\",\"answer\":\"It uses a sequential mixed-method design: a survey (n=107) using the MAS-UK, followed by semi-structured interviews with 20 mature students who opted in.\"},{\"question\":\"What is the role of mathematics life stories in the research?\",\"answer\":\"Participants share mathematics life stories that culminate in identifying a theme for their relationship with mathematics, supporting interpretation of how they feel about the subject over their lifetimes.\"}]","Divorce, evil, and the regime of terror: personal characterisations of mathematics in the lives of mature students | PDF",1792065953,18]