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In this paper, we discuss the results of a staff survey on accessibility barriers to participation and success for disabled students in higher education in the UK and Ireland. We focus on the range and complexity of student difficulties encountered by staff involved either in the lecturing of mathematics or the provision of Mathematics Learning Support. We report on the range of supports available to both staff and students in these situations and their varying levels of awareness and implementation of these supports. We close with a brief overview of how we intend to use the results of this survey to both increase awareness of existing appropriate supports and develop additional services to improve student accessibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study conducted at the Lebanese American University in spring 2018 reports on an inquiry-oriented differential equations class where the course curriculum falls within the realm of Realistic Mathematics Education. The focus of the study is on some curriculum tasks and how they assist students reinvent successfully key mathematical notions covered in most introductory differential equations courses. While the results show remarkable cognitive gains in understanding and thinking, reinventing knowledge was demanding and in some cases required the intervention of the instructor to control and lead the discussion. Results also show that the lack of appropriate mathematical knowledge was sometimes an obstacle for the reinvention process, and the traditional view of mathematical learning a hindrance for accepting that an inquiry-oriented approach can fulfil the course outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of our study is to take what previous research has reported as the benefit of pairing mathematics courses with writing across the curriculum initiatives and the inclusion of writing to learn activities, specifically journaling in calculus courses, and expand upon notions of student perceptions of the benefits of writing in math. Thus, the students in one of our Calculus 1 courses completed ten reflective journal entries, specifically summarizing topics learned and asking questions. Based on feedback in the last journal entry, we present results showing that student response to the journaling project was quite positive, with most the students indicating it helped them to learn calculus better, and about half indicating it made them enjoy the class more and/or have less anxiety. Last, journaling greatly increased communication between students and the professor, improving instruction and learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessment and feedback is an area where mathematical sciences departments have invested significant effort in recent times. Particular challenges have been identified relating to timely and detailed feedback, both of which are important given the widespread use of formative, and typically weekly, problem sheet assessments to aid and structure the mathematical development of learners. Here, we report on a first cycle of action research, linked to the implementation of a revised curriculum in a large UK research-intensive mathematical sciences department, which was designed to enhance the feedback received by students and their subsequent engagement with it. Whilst we draw upon the results of a survey of 74 undergraduate students, we also describe the pilot of a method for providing video-based marking and feedback. Our results show the importance that students within the mathematical sciences place upon feedback as part of their learning experience, but also that amongst those undergraduates surveyed, there was no clear consensus as to whether they had received sufficient feedback upon their work. The findings reinforce the need for students themselves to engage with their mathematical feedback in a meaningful way, and significantly they indicate that the feedback perceived as most valuable involves opportunities to engage in dialogue about their work with either their peers, postgraduate teaching assistants or academic members of staff. As such, the emphasis that departments place upon providing 'detailed written comments' on formative work appears not to be valid, and instead more 'dialogical' or 'interactive' mechanisms for providing feedback in mathematics may have the potential to yield more effective results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using technology to get a graphical representation of functions requires the choice of a suitable viewing window. The literature suggests teachers' knowledge as being central in this process, but does not tell us much about how the teachers should manage this. This study aims to improve understanding about the teachers' choices related to the viewing window on the study of functions. It also intends to illustrate how this analysis can be a useful way to access aspects of teachers' knowledge based on the framework of Knowledge for Teaching Mathematics with Technology (KTMT). The study adopts a qualitative methodological approach, undertaking case studies of two teachers. The findings recognize the importance of carefully sequencing the students' contact with this kind of situation and the impact of the viewing window over the teachers' choices of tasks, pointing to the relevance of considering situations where the students actually face the difficulties. This highlights the relation of teachers' choices of viewing window to their knowledge of different KTMT's domains, and specifically the relevance of knowledge of different ways to change the window; of the difficulties faced by the students; of the most suitable tasks (and required viewing window) at each moment; of the impact of the viewing window on the appearance of a graph and of the different situations associated, from the mathematical point of view. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of six online quizzes to support students' study of an introductory mathematics masters module at The Open University is described and their use evaluated. The quizzes were implemented using the STACK online e-assessment system, which is powered by a computer-algebra engine. Evaluation of student feedback and an initial quantitative study of the effect of engaging with the quizzes on the final examinations marks suggest that further development of e-assessment at mathematics masters level is warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Mathematics and Statistics Support Centre (MSSC) at Central Queensland University (CQU), which is part of the Academic Learning Centre (ALC), has been in operation since 1984 as the first MSSC in Australia. The Mathematics Learning Support (MLS) centres have spread to almost every university in Australia currently. The MSSC at CQU offers free support services for students who need mathematics and statistics help or advice for their courses. In this study we analyse the differences of the impact of mathematics and statistics support services on mature age students and secondary school-leaver (traditional) students study habits, confidence and opinion towards mathematics and statistics, using data collected from students who used the ALC at CQU in the second half of 2016. The results suggest a positive impact of mathematics and statistics support on mature age students' study habits, confidence and opinion towards mathematics and statistics. Chi-squared tests have shown that there are differences in the proportion of mature students and traditional students who have changed their study habits, increased their confidence levels and changed their opinion on mathematics with p values of 0.001, 0.009 and 0.023, respectively. The study also shows that the majority of students are satisfied with the services provided at the MSSC and believe that the services provided helped them to solve or minimize difficulties in working through mathematics- and/or statistics-related learning activities at CQU. Based on the findings of the current study we conclude that the use of learning support centres is an effective way to solve or minimize difficulties associated with mathematics and statistics learning at a tertiary institution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last two decades, mathematics support has, increasingly, been seen by higher education institutions as a vital mechanism for helping students enhance their mathematical and statistical skills, particularly as they make the transition to university study. Several studies have shown the growth of mathematics support across the higher education sector within the UK, Ireland and beyond. Others have demonstrated its impact upon learners. However, few have explored the extent to which mathematics support is embedded within institutions or the extent to which it is likely to be sustainable. Such analyses are important for both the institutions themselves and the many colleagues who are working to develop mathematics support into an area of study in its own right. Here, we report on a survey of 47 institutions offering mathematics and statistics support within the UK. Findings show that, within many institutions, mathematics support is now embedded as part of student-focused institutional support provision. Further, its impacts are increasingly extending beyond those students who access the support: there is evidence that mechanisms are in place for feeding findings from mathematics and statistics support into mainstream teaching and learning and curriculum development. Significantly, the analysis shows that mathematics support offers good potential for sustainability such that the legacy of national endeavours to establish it more widely will continue to exist into the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A continuing challenge in mathematics education at the university level is how to create learning environments that give students the opportunity to progress from their informal ways of reasoning to more formal ways of reasoning. This article shows how the emergent models heuristic (Gravemeijer, 1999, Math. Think. Learn, 1, 155–177) provides this opportunity to first-year university students, specifically for them to construct the Linear Algebra concepts of spanning set and span. For this, a design-based research methodology was used. A hypothetical learning trajectory (HLT) was applied, created within the framework of this heuristic. The results provide evidence that the emergent models heuristic support the construction of these concepts of Linear Algebra. Moreover, useful tips are given for using this heuristic to construct mathematical concepts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of angle emerges in numerous forms as the learning of mathematics and its applications advances through the high school and tertiary curriculum. Many difficulties and misconceptions in the usage of this multifaceted concept might be avoided or at least minimized should the lecturers in different areas of pure and applied mathematics be aware of the way their students have learned the concept in their previous studies. The article presents an analysis of the literature on the mathematical and didactical origins of the concept of angle. The purpose of the analysis is to identify the principal characteristics of the concept required in various contexts of pure-mathematical and applied courses, and to trace the way these appearances might have been previously presented. Attentiveness to students' possible lack of mastery of the notion will hopefully help to prevent or at least minimize difficulties related to it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focusses on a programme of research into the teaching and learning of proof inspired by Celia Hoyles. By revisiting the first of a series of projects into justifying and proving in school mathematics developed by Celia in the 1990s and by considering how the innovative research methods adopted as well as the results obtained impacted upon our own subsequent research in Brazil, we explore how her work in this area exemplifies various aspects of her contribution to the field of mathematics education as a whole. We highlight, in particular, how we have been influenced by her commitment to understand the social shaping of mathematical practices and to create mathematical cultures, tools, activities and teaching approaches that make mathematics an attractive and accessible option to the many rather than the few. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]