Search results for "university mathematics"
showing 10 items of 21 documents
Student Partners in Task Design in a computer medium to promote Foundation students' learning of mathematics
2018
International audience; A team consisting of three mathematics education teacher-researchers, four former Foundation students (called Student Partners, SPs), and two analytic assistants worked together to produce mathematical tasks in a computer medium for the mathematical learning of current Foundation students (FSs). We have explored the collaboration between the SPs and researchers, the processes and outcomes of task design, and the contribution of the collaboration to tutorial teaching of FSs. We seek insight into the learning of all concerned of mathematics, mathematics teaching, task design and personal-professional development. The project is ongoing. Here we introduce the project an…
Delineating Aspects of Understanding Eigentheory through Assessment Development
2018
International audience; In this report, we share insights we have gained from developing an assessment for documenting students' understanding of eigentheory. We explain the literature and theory that influenced the assessment's development and share question examples. We frame our results in terms of three eigentheory settings (Ax = λx, (A - λI)x = 0, and eigenspaces) and four interpretations (numeric, algebraic, geometric, and verbal). Results from our analysis include students' reasoning being influenced by setting, insights into students' struggle with understanding eigenspaces, and the importance of making connections between and across various interpretations.
Predictors of performance in engineering mathematics
2018
International audience; Mathematics in university courses was identified as a main obstacle for engineering students in the beginning of their study. Since difficulties with mathematics could lead to a dropout, our research aims to analyse students' profiles referring to individual characteristics that allow identifying possible risks for students' achievement or success in the first year of study. As a first step to identify possibly risky profiles, we started to find possible predictors of students' performance. For this, we give a short overview of the research state and our derived research interest. We discuss theoretical constructs that are possibly crucial characteristics of students…
“Making connections” in the mathematics courses for engineers: the example of online resources for trigonometry
2018
International audience; This paper concerns the teaching of mathematics for future engineers, focusing on the theme of trigonometry. We claim that the use of trigonometry in engineering courses requires different kinds of connections: connecting different domains, different concepts, frames and registers. We use here the concept of connectivity, developed in the frame of e-textbooks analysis, to analyse online courses for future engineers in France. We evidence that these courses propose some connections; but their connectivity is not developed enough to meet the requirements of engineering courses.
Cross-linking maths: Using keynotes to structure a curriculum for future teachers
2018
International audience; The paper gives an outline of a concept for university maths teacher education, that is based on three keynotes, which are central scientific notions, history and language. Amongst other benefits, the keynotes serve as cross-links between the different courses the students go through in their studies.
Study Approaches in Higher Education Mathematics : Investigating the Statistical Behaviour of an Instrument Translated into Norwegian
2019
The revised two-factor study process questionnaire (R-SPQ-2F) has widely been considered valid and reliable in many contexts for measuring students&rsquo
Engaging with feedback: How do students remediate errors on their weekly quiz
2018
International audience; Maths for Business is a first-year mathematics module for approximately 500 non-mathematics specialists. It has continuous assessment consisting of ten weekly quizzes, worth 40% of the final mark. In 2016/17, students who did not receive the maximum five marks on their weekly quiz were offered the opportunity to resubmit their quiz, with correction(s) and an explanation of their error(s), for one additional mark. We refer to this process as ‘remediation'. In this paper, we examine how students remediate their errors in order to identify features of a ‘good' remediation. These features are identification, description, and correction of errors. By analysing a subset of…
A study of transitions in an undergraduate mathematics program
2018
International audience; In this paper, we introduce an in-progress study of the transitions students face as they advance in their mathematics courses. Previous work has discussed the changes that occur in the transition from high school to university. With regards to the knowledge students are expected to learn, however, significant similarities have been noted: to do well in introductory university courses, students can learn to solve a particular subset of tasks through routinized techniques, with limited awareness of the supporting mathematical theory. In contrast, students in advanced courses are required to work with and on that theory. The first stage of our project aims to better un…
Automated Checking of Flexible Mathematical Reasoning in the Case of Systems of (In)Equations and the Absolute Value Operator
2021
We present an approach and a tool for automatically providing feedback on solutions that involve complicated reasoning patterns. Currently the tool supports linear systems of equations and inequations that may also contain the absolute value operator and a restricted form of rational functions. This suffices for designing problems that are laborious to solve with standard mechanical procedures, but much easier using short-cuts that students may find by creative thinking. Earlier research has found that struggling with important mathematics promotes conceptual development. Our goal is to encourage students to such struggling. A crucial feature is to give them great freedom to choose the path…
Analysing tasks for the Flipped Classroom from the perspective of Realistic Mathematical Education
2018
International audience; The advent of Flipped Classroom as a framework for organizing the teaching and learning of mathematics has the potential to revitalize the attention to tasks as a vehicle for meaningful learning in tertiary education. Flipped Classroom is based on the idea of student active learning under close guidance of the university teacher. Due to the possibility to engage the students in meaningful discovery of how mathematics can relate to real-life situations during in-class sessions, the tasks are seen to have a central role in a successful implementation of Flipped Classrooms. This paper explores the realistic mathematics education (RME) as a theoretical framework for task…