MORE THAN 40 per cent of students taking higher-level maths took grinds to help them cope with the subject, according to a survey.
The findings show that more resources were required to help students cope with higher maths, according to Engineers Ireland.
The engineers’ representative body polled students who took higher maths in the Leaving Cert and found that while 70 per cent rated their maths teachers as excellent or good, two-fifths of students undertook grinds in the subject.
It also found that while 86 per cent of students believed that taking higher maths would improve their access to desired college places, just 45 per cent of them considered themselves naturally good at maths.
Engineers Ireland released its survey yesterday as almost 56,000 students prepared to receive their Leaving Cert results tomorrow.
“With over 40 per cent of higher-level maths students requiring grinds, more needs to be done at class level to support students,” according to Fionnuala Kilbane of Engineers Ireland.
Many students taking higher maths took grinds, said Dr Sheila Donegan, co-director of Waterford Institute of Technology’s Centre for the Advancement of Learning of Maths, Science and Technology. “For many students it is about getting confidence in higher math.”