Education Commons^™

How Much Do Our Incoming First Year Students Know?:Diagnostic Testing In Mathematics At Third Level, Blathnaid Sheridan

Teaching Fellowships

A continuing cause for concern in higher education institutions is the poor core mathematical skills of incoming students. Many institutions now offer mathematics support services such as drop-in centres, online resources and short “refresher courses” in an attempt to alleviate the problem. The majority of third level institutions in Ireland and internationally now make use of diagnostic testing of incoming first year students that both predict subsequent success and select groups for remediation. This project was developed to explore the issues around diagnostic testing and follow up support for incoming students in the College of Sciences and Health. A large …