Too Much Testing Discourages Further Math Study by British Students

November 1, 2007

Researchers from the University of Manchester have found that the pressure of cramming for as many as 12 math exams a year leaves too many British students exhausted — and turned off by mathematics.

Julian Williams and his team, after querying 1,700 students from 40 institutions, found that so-called transmission teaching — instruction heavily based on preparation for tests — is the culprit. Further, after surveying teachers, the researchers identified another problem: Britain's educational system pressures them to teach to the tests. These findings bolster warnings that the Institute of Psychiatry and a group called Rethink issued last spring: The nation's students are suffering from high levels of "exam stress."

"Our results suggest that the present extreme post-16 examination regime supports a strictly traditional, top-down teaching approach that discourages many students," Williams said. "And that form of teaching is having a negative impact on the intentions of students to continue with maths at university."

"This has to be worrying as maths is a crucial element of science and technology," he added. "Indeed the economic significance of mathematics and the shortage of mathematically well-qualified students and graduates has been strongly emphasized by recent reports."

Source: University of Manchester, Oct. 11, 2007.