📚 Resources

Members of the SUMMIT-P consortium are here for you!  For advice at any particular point in your process, feel free to use this directory to find an appropriate contact for help. 

I'm Nirmitha Dissanayaka, a PhD student in the Evaluation, Statistics, and Methodology program at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. I completed my Master of Science in Mathematics at the same university with a study of self-efficacy and perceptions of relevance in undergraduate mathematics using Bayesian modeling.  This project investigated the relationship between undergraduate students' self-efficacy and their perceptions of relevance in mathematics, and it was being conducted under the guidance of Dr. Jeneva Clark. I used Gaussian Process, a nonparametric Bayesian statistical method, to identify the nonlinear patterns in the data without imposing strict linear assumptions. Bayesian cluster analysis, a probabilistic clustering method, was used to sort students into different archetypes based on where they started the semester, how much their attitudes changed, and their exam grades. The data naturally split into two main clusters. About 71.36% of the students entered the course with relatively high self-efficacy and perceptions of relevance. They maintained an exceptionally strong, stable trajectory throughout the term and achieved the highest overall academic performance. About 28.64% of students started the semester with much lower initial self-efficacy and lower perceptions of relevance. However, they were the "hidden success story" of the curriculum, showing massive positive growth by the end of the term. This group of students demonstrates psychological growth can occur even while academic performance is still catching up