Comparing undergraduates’ conceptions of mathematics with their attitudes and approaches to developing numeracy skills

This paper explores how undergraduates’ conceptions of mathematics, approaches to learning and their attitudes towards numeracy skills are related. The preliminary dataset was obtained using an online survey completed by 174 self-selecting, volunteer undergraduates from four faculties at a post-1992 UK university. Although the responding undergraduates were studying a variety of academic disciplines, all their degree programmes incorporated some mathematical, numerical and/or statistical elements. A positive association was observed between cohesive conceptions of mathematics and deep approaches to the learning of mathematics and the development of numeracy skills. Students possessing cohesive conceptions also held more positive attitudes towards mathematics. Variations due to gender, age, academic discipline (i.e. faculty in which students