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Research Findings: Children are increasingly using touchscreen technologies at home, which has become a recurring feature within their classroom too. Research has investigated the potential effect of using computer-based tests to assess pupils' performance rather than traditional paper tests. An agreement has still not been formed about the impact of the mode of assessment on pupils' mathematical test scores. A mixed methods design was employed to explore the impact of the testing on young children's mathematical test scores. Thirty-seven children 4-7-years old were recruited from a primary school in England with their parents. A mathematical test on paper and an iPad was administered to each participant which was accompanied by an interview. Data regarding the use of touchscreens at home were explored with an on-line parental questionnaire. The results showed that gender and test type impact mathematical test scores, with females performing the best on the iPad test. The findings also suggested that as tablet usage increased at home, iPad mathematical test scores decreased. The interviews revealed that children rely on different strategies when resolving mathematical problems. Practice or Policy: Digital testing may enable a better investigation of mathematical skills in the first years of schooling and of differences between males and females' responses to solving mathematical questions, which then could be used to tailor the curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving mathematical skills is a priority in England, and a series of policy levers and government change projects have focused on improving mathematical outcomes in further education (FE) in recent years. Yet little is known about the mathematics teacher workforce that supports these students on vocational and technical programmes. This paper addresses this knowledge gap by examining important features of the mathematics teacher workforce in colleges and the implications for recruitment, initial training and ongoing professional development. We report findings from a national survey targeted at all mathematics teachers in around one-sixth (N = 31) of England's general FE colleges. Teachers have transitioned into FE from three main areas: another career, curriculum area, or educational context. We discuss the varied assets and training needs of these three subgroups and argue that the mathematics teacher cohort in FE should be seen as distinct from that in either primary or secondary education. We highlight the bimodal distribution of mathematics qualifications amongst this workforce; those having level 2 mathematics qualifications being more likely to be teaching functional skills mathematics courses than GCSEs. The rapid expansion of the mathematics teacher workforce that followed the changes to the condition of funding in 2014 has come disproportionately from teachers who were previously working in schools. This, together with a trend of funnelling increasing numbers of FE students into academic mathematics rather than functional skills courses, raises important questions about the nature of mathematical education for learners on vocational and technical programmes, and the teachers thereof. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mathematical topics which are of use to geography students are outlined, as are the methods used for teaching mathematical techniques in geography courses at Leeds over the last few years. The concluding section relates practice to goals, and the problems of providing the student with a framework into which he can fit all the pieces of knowledge he has acquired. Possible future developments are reviewed briefly in the light of the development of new mathematical techniques on the one hand, and criticisms of the existing state of the art on the other. The subject matter of the paper is limited to mathematical education, and there is only indirect and brief concern with statistics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The accuracy of the results of the national tests in English, mathematics and science taken by 11-year olds in England has been a matter of much debate since their introduction in 1994, with estimates of the proportion of students incorrectly classified varying from 10 to 30%. Using live data from the 2009 and 2010 administration of the national tests, this paper uses a number of models, drawing on both classical and modern test theories, to explore the relationship between test reliability, and the extent of misclassification when a student’s test score is reported in terms of one of a small number of discrete levels of achievement. The results indicate that across the two cohorts (2009 and 2010) and six models, the averages of classification accuracy of the tests were about 85%, 90% and 87% in English, mathematics and science, respectively. Moreover, the different models yielded very similar results; the standard deviations of the values of classification accuracy generated were 1.9% for English, 1.0% for mathematics and 1.3% for science. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The political importance of mathematics in post-16 education is clear. Far less clear is how mathematics does and should relate to vocational education. Successive mathematics curricula (e.g. core skills, key skills) have been developed in England with vocational learners in mind. Meanwhile, general mathematics qualifications remain largely disconnected from vocational learning. Following a brief historical survey of mathematics within vocational education, the paper presents findings from a nested case study of student groups in three large Further Education colleges in England. The primary unit of analysis herein is student groups learning Functional Mathematics in two vocational areas: construction and hairdressing. We show how approaches to organising teaching, developing connected curricula and classroom pedagogy tend toisolateorintegratemathematics from/with the vocational experience.Integratedapproaches are shown to impact positively on student engagement and attitudes to learning mathematics. The paper concludes by discussing the potential impact of academic qualifications displacing vocationally relevant mathematics. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Is there such a thing as Irish mathematics, as opposed to mathematics which happens to have been done in Ireland or by thoseborn in Ireland? Certainly, Ireland in the nineteenth century was in one of its mathematically richest phases, with such men as William Rowan Hamilton, James MacCullagh, George Salmon, and George Fitzgerald to inspire generations of students and researchers, as well as exporting to England such talented mathematicians as Kelvin, Stokes and Larmor. This paper seeks to explore, through examining the mathematics taught and researched, whether the category of ‘Irish mathematics’ is one that makes sense for this period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2007 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Survey highlighted how attitudes to mathematics had declined sharply for students in many of the high attaining countries in the survey, England being no exception. There is a notable drop in positive attitudes to mathematics between 9 and 14, as well as a remarkable decline for 14 year olds over time. This paper explores survey data collected from over 3000 11-year-olds in 16 schools during 2008 with the goal of exploring possible factors that might be contributing to this attitudinal decline. The association between student-centred teaching and enjoyment of learning mathematics is reported as part of a multi-scale analysis that shows the extent to which student experiences differ between schools and between classes within schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At a time when many countries wish to improve their capacity in terms of scientifically and technologically educated young people, mathematics has an increasingly important role to play in support of this agenda. International studies tend to lead to headlines about performance and achievement, but widening participation in mathematics requires more than this. Fundamentally, we need students to develop positive dispositions towards mathematics and continued study of the subject. The articles brought together in this special issue explore underlying issues reporting on the work of a research project that focused on two different programmes of mathematical study in the first year of post-compulsory study in England. The wide-ranging work that is reported provides timely insights, through both quantitative and qualitative lenses, as students in transition negotiate their identities as young people in general, and in relation to mathematics in particular. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past 30 years, there has been a great deal of work directed at, first, understanding students' difficulties in algebra and, second, examining ways of tackling these difficulties. There is a vast research literature detailing successful ways of teaching algebra in experimental and laboratory settings. Yet, there is no clear evidence that this work has had a significant effect in terms of improving either attainment or engagement in algebra in ordinary, or non-experimental, classroom settings. Indeed, in England, current attainment in algebra appears to be no better than that of 30 years ago. In this paper, we analyse the algebra topics from two textbooks currently in widespread use in England, focusing on Grade 7 (ages 12-13). We examine the extent to which these textbooks draw on the research literature to support the teaching of algebra. Finally, we discuss the implications of this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, based on a project funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council considering how people position themselves in relation to popular representations of mathematics and mathematicians, we explore constructions of mathematicians in popular culture and the ways learners make meanings from these. Drawing on an analysis of popular cultural texts, we argue that popular discourses overwhelmingly construct mathematicians as white, heterosexual, middle-class men, yet also construct them as 'other' through systems of binary oppositions between those doing and those not doing mathematics. Turning to the analysis of a corpus of 27 focus groups with school and university students in England and Wales, we explore how such images are deployed by learners. We argue that while learners' views of mathematicians parallel in key ways popular discourses, they are not passively absorbing these as they are simultaneously aware of the cliched nature of popular cultural images. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The National Numeracy Strategy was introduced in England in 1998 to reform mathematics teaching in all primary schools. The strategy has been widely implemented and this paper investigates some of the changes that are evident after the first five years. Reporting a comparison between studies in 1998 and 2003 of pupils’ calculating strategies for division, this study shows a small improvement overall but lack of the uniformity that may be expected from a national Strategy. Structured written recording, progressively developed from more intuitive understanding, was not evident in much of the pupils’ work. In some schools there was success with the new ‘chunking’ written method, identified in the Framework as ‘informal’, while in less successful schools, pupils continued to use various informal and inefficient strategies. While in 1998 success of boys and girls was not significantly different, in 2003 the boys were more successful. The boys made more use of informal working and mental strategies, while the girls relied on more structured written methods and in the schools where girls did better they used mostly the chunking algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a study exploring young people's perceptions of the mathematics involved in five everyday activities. It is based on individual interviews with pupils in Years 7 and 10 in four English secondary schools. Results suggest that young people are more aware of the mathematics embedded in everyday activities than previously thought. There was no evidence to support existing theories that young people have particular difficulties identifying mathematics within practical activities or those traditionally performed by women. However, participants did seem to restrict the label mathematics to activities involving a problem with a single or limited solution, and to activities which require a formal rather than experimental or intuitive approach. Some participants also seemed to relate their discussion of mathematics only to the aspect of each activity which takes most time and attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research shows that attention to pattern and structure is fundamental to mathematical learning and attainment yet early mathematics curricula in England underplay the importance of patterning. In a critical realist notion of powerful knowledge, pattern teaching has the potential to empower children to notice patterns, mathematise their everyday experiences and engage in mathematical sense-making. This study investigated how to harness this potential. It reports on participatory research with ten teachers of three to five-year-old children in England as they developed pattern teaching in their classrooms. Findings indicate that teacher knowledge, pedagogic interactions and pattern-rich environments (all underpinned by an appropriate developmental progression and extended to form a setting-wide shared approach) support the development of patterning praxis in early childhood classrooms. These offer potential priorities for ECE teachers in developing their patterning praxis in order to support children's mathematical learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since policy changes in 2014 about who studies mathematics post-16 in England, the mathematics teaching workforce in further education (FE) colleges has grown and diversified. The question of how best to develop the professional practice of this changing workforce is, however, unresolved. Teachers in a recent national study report the benefits of non-formal learning but the diverse organisational structures of colleges impact on the size and focus of teacher communities and thereby the nature of professional learning. Where mathematics teachers are enabled to meet regularly or work in close proximity, teacher learning communities emerge but their development is constrained by a lack of consensus on the professional identities and competencies of mathematics teachers in FE colleges. Despite these obstacles, we argue that there is considerable potential to enhance professional learning for mathematics teachers in FE through a communities of practice approach and that such a strategy for professional development is a key component of a self-improving further education system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Establishes whether mathematics is a barrier to higher education for adult returnees on Access courses, a project funded by the Higher Education Funding Council at the University of Exeter in England. Influence of social inequalities on participation in educational activities; Review of Access philosophy.

This article considers the relationship between policy and practice in the early childhood mathematics curriculum for reception-class (RC) children of five years in England. It explores what the policy requires RC teachers to do in terms of curriculum implementation; what RC teachers’ views and understanding of the early childhood mathematics curriculum are; how RC teachers implement early years mathematics policy; and how RC children respond. A case study design included interviews with elite participants who influenced the policy-making process, survey of RC teachers and a detailed investigation of RC classes on three school sites. As elite interviews underlined, international comparison studies have had an important influence on early childhood mathematics policies by creating top-down pressure for standards. Elites and practitioners drew attention to a tension between a play-based pedagogy and a standards agenda. Tensions in policy text were reflected in mixed and ambivalent views and reported practices by elites and practitioners. RC teachers did not merely receive and implement policy expectations but brought their own values and understandings to practice. The study reveals interplay between local and global influences in a context of changing views of early childhood, early learning and early years pedagogy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article offers an overview of the life and work of Leonhard Euler (1707-83). During 2007 Euler's tercentenary was celebrated by mathematicians around the world. The Open University Centre for the History of the Mathematical Sciences and the BSHM marked the occasion with a meeting in Oxford in June 2007 on Euler's mathematical legacy. Three of the lectures from that meeting have been reproduced in this issue of the Bulletin, beginning here with the opening talk from Jeremy Gray. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MathsAid was established in 2001 as a university‐wide resource for students enrolled on programmes at Kingston University that contain a mathematics or statistics component. Its broad aims are to provide a set of non‐threatening remedial and motivational opportunities in maths and statistics through one‐to‐one tutorial support, peer‐assisted learning (PAL) and ICT products managed through the BlackBoard learning management system. An evaluation of the MathsAid program has found it to aid some students in both their short‐ and long‐term learning objectives but has raised questions of whether it could be adjusted to reach more of the most vulnerable students. This article outlines the MathsAid programme and the evaluation results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the role of resource based learning in the undergraduate curriculum in engineering at Exeter, England. It was recognized from the start in 1965 that the new syllabus proposed for Engineering Science would present pedagogic difficulties. In the view of academic colleagues elsewhere, it was an attempt to cram the contents of traditional civil, electrical and mechanical syllabuses into a single three year course, and as such it was considered impossible to teach. The objective adopted for the new course was to educate students for a competent approach to problems involving innovation or relating to failure situations. The syllabus was divided into five subject-oriented lecture streams with conventional names: 'Electricity', 'Mathematics', 'Materials', 'Mechanics and Structures', and 'Thermofluids.' It is convenient to recognize two natural subdivisions in the resource material: programs that replace lectures and those that support laboratory classes. A program that re places a lecture must allow the student to go at his own pace making his own notes and it must be readily available.

Assesses the performance of engineering students in first year mathematics at the University of Warwick in England. Comparison of students who have different mathematical qualifications on entry; Use of cluster analysis to determine attitude of students; Difficulties experienced by the engineering students in specific subject areas; Usefulness of various teaching methods to students.

The article offers information on the contribution of Leone Burton to the field of mathematics in Great Britain and worldwide. She was appointed Professor of Science and Mathematics Education at the University of Birmingham in England where she managed a legion of doctoral students. She has collaborated with Ann Floyd, Nick James and John Mason of the Open University in developing a mathematics course for teachers named Developing Mathematical Thinking. Burton served as convenor for the International Organization of Women and Mathematics Education (IOWME).

The article focuses on mathematics and its three semiotic systems in London, England. The three semiotic systems are verbal language, algebraic notations and visual forms. The systematic functional linguistics (SFL) have been developed to further understand visual forms. It has been extended to include non-verbal modes. It will aid to investigate what visual representations mean in mathematical texts. Several linguistic approaches have been made to help students analyze geometrical problems through diagrams and shapes. These are Morgan's linguistic approach, Kress and van Leeuwen mutimodality approach and Sfrad's commognition approach. The framework is currently on a pilot stage in the city for analysis.