[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-206869-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":75,"doc-detail-206869-en":125},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":68,"head_meta":70,"extra_data":72,"updated_unix":74},105,"en","how-guided-reflection-supports-gcse-mathematics-resit-students-problem-solving-skills-research-study","How Guided Reflection Supports GCSE Mathematics Resit Students’ Problem-Solving Skills - Research Study","","This research investigates how guided reflection influences engagement among GCSE Mathematics resit students and how that engagement can translate into stronger problem-solving skills and greater confidence. Students completed individual problem-solving tasks, followed by group discussion and reflective journaling. Qualitative data analysis identified themes and grouped students by engagement level. Fully engaged students showed behavioural, emotional, and cognitive engagement linked to positive outcomes, while partially engaged students reflected peer thinking, and disengaged students retained barriers.",{"@graph":14,"@context":67},[15,34,50],{"@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 & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/how-guided-reflection-supports-gcse-mathematics-resit-students-problem-solving-skills-research-study/206869/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"author":36,"headline":10,"publisher":39,"fileFormat":42,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":43,"datePublished":44,"encodingFormat":42,"isAccessibleForFree":45,"interactionStatistic":46},"DigitalDocument",{"name":37,"@type":38},"Theodore","Person",{"url":19,"name":40,"@type":41},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-09-08","2026-09-05",true,{"@type":47,"interactionType":48,"userInteractionCount":22},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":49},"ViewAction",{"@type":51,"mainEntity":52},"FAQPage",[53,59,63],{"name":54,"@type":55,"acceptedAnswer":56},"What intervention did the study use with GCSE Mathematics resit students?","Question",{"text":57,"@type":58},"Students completed individual problem-solving tasks, then took part in group discussion and wrote reflective journal entries.","Answer",{"name":60,"@type":55,"acceptedAnswer":61},"What did the research find about fully engaged students?",{"text":62,"@type":58},"Fully engaged students showed positive behavioural and appropriate emotional engagement, which supported cognitive engagement and led to positive outcomes.",{"name":64,"@type":55,"acceptedAnswer":65},"How did partially engaged and disengaged students differ in their engagement?",{"text":66,"@type":58},"Partially engaged students could recognize peers’ thinking and used this awareness to apply mathematical knowledge more flexibly, while disengaged students attended infrequently or participated minimally and maintained barriers to progressing.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":69,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":40,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":71,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":73,"site_id":7},206869,1788596428,{"code":4,"msg":76,"data":77},"success",[78,82,86,90,95,100,105,109,114,117,121],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":79,"show_sort_weight":80,"slug":81},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":83,"show_sort_weight":84,"slug":85},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":87,"show_sort_weight":88,"slug":89},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":91,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":92,"show_sort_weight":93,"slug":94},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":96,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":97,"show_sort_weight":98,"slug":99},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":101,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":107,"slug":108},8,30,"research-report",{"id":110,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":111,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":112,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":115,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":116},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":118,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":119,"show_sort_weight":118,"slug":120},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":122,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":123,"show_sort_weight":91,"slug":124},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":76,"data":126},{"doc_id":73,"user_id":127,"nickname":37,"user_avatar":128,"doc_module":4,"category_id":106,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":129,"file_id":130,"file_url":131,"file_type":132,"file_size":133,"view_count":22,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":96,"language":134,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":135,"faqs":136,"seo_title":137,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":74,"read_time":138},7971461740886,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_3d24733baf745e90a7e4bdd5f77d97b2","How can guided reflection help GCSE resit students develop their problemsolving skills?  \nSandy Mackay  \nRichmond Upon Thames College, UCL Institute of Education  \nThis research explored how GCSE Mathematics resit student engagement during a guided reflection intervention could contribute to their problemsolving skills and confidence. Students were involved in individual problem-solving tasks followed by group discussion and reflective journaling. Themes emerged from a grounded approach to the analysis of the qualitative data and led to the theoretical grouping of students with similar levels of engagement. The fully engaged students demonstrated positive behavioural and appropriate emotional engagement, leading to cognitive engagement. This resulted in positive outcomes, supporting the literature. There was evidence in student journals that the partially engaged participants were aware of the thinking abilities of their peers and that this could lead to an understanding of how to use their mathematical knowledge and skills in more flexible and strategic ways. Disengaged students, who attended infrequently or participated minimally, maintained existing barriers to progressing their understanding of mathematics.  \nKeywords: GCSE; resit; problem-solving; engagement  \nIntroduction  \nThe researcher is an experienced mathematics teacher in a ‘General Further Education (FE) College’ for older students (aged 16-19 years), where English government policy in recent years has significantly impacted the number of students enrolled to (usually, re-)study GCSE Mathematics. The students involved in this study were from three post- 16 GCSE Mathematics resit classes. After five years of secondary school mathematics, they had achieved only a grade 3 and so were required to enrol for the GCSE Mathematics course alongside their chosen vocational course. Grade 4 (formally grade C) is considered a pass grade and the participants in this study missed this target by one grade.  \nGCSE Mathematics pass rates and student numbers  \nNational Joint Council for Qualifications (2021) data shows that since 2015 the summer pass (grade 4+) rate for GCSE Mathematics candidates aged 16 or under has been around 70% . This represents the rate for almost-universal secondary student GCSE entries. The pass rate for candidates aged 17+ has varied from 21.2%(2019) up to 38.6%(2021) . As the 17+ pass rate includes mature students who have a higher pass rate than 16-18 year olds, progress for 16-18 year olds in FE colleges remains slow with only 18.2% achieving at least GCSE grade 4 in 2019 (Noyes & Dalby, 2020, p. 12) . This is an unsatisfactory situation as the purpose of the government policy was to underpin the importance of mathematics and English in helping young people progress in their education and employment (Higton et al., 2017) . Key findings from Higton et  \nal. included reporting that motivation is low for many students and the importance of cultivating more positive student attitudes in order to improve students’ motivation and attendance (2017) .  \nGovernment funding requirements linked to GCSE resits have triggered a rise in the number of candidates from 77,501 in 2013 to over 165,000 each year since 2016, with the additional students largely taught in FE Colleges. Further, continuing low resit pass rates mean that most GCSE mathematics college students remain enrolled on GCSE mathematics for their two, and often three, years at college.  \nLiterature review and research question  \nThe cohort of English post-16 students compelled to study GCSE mathematics has existed only since 2014 and while this has enabled research into various aspects of their experience (Higton et al., 2017; Noyes & Dalby, 2020), the evidence base is still limited.  \nInternational research around mathematical problem-solving skills and pedagogy has been a well-established focus across the age ranges of students (Hacker et al., 2009; Quigley et al., 2018), although research is limited","cbCaimggyoK1KHnG","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaimggyoK1KHnG","pdf",310238,"English","# Introduction\n## GCSE Mathematics pass rates and student numbers\n# Literature review and research question\n## Guided reflection and journaling in mathematical learning","[{\"question\":\"What intervention did the study use with GCSE Mathematics resit students?\",\"answer\":\"Students completed individual problem-solving tasks, then took part in group discussion and wrote reflective journal entries.\"},{\"question\":\"What did the research find about fully engaged students?\",\"answer\":\"Fully engaged students showed positive behavioural and appropriate emotional engagement, which supported cognitive engagement and led to positive outcomes.\"},{\"question\":\"How did partially engaged and disengaged students differ in their engagement?\",\"answer\":\"Partially engaged students could recognize peers’ thinking and used this awareness to apply mathematical knowledge more flexibly, while disengaged students attended infrequently or participated minimally and maintained barriers to progressing.\"}]","How Guided Reflection Supports GCSE Mathematics Resit Students’ Problem-Solving Skills - Research Study | PDF",15]