Mathematics lecturers’ views on the teaching of mathematical modelling

The paper reports on the views and use of mathematical modelling (MM) in university mathematics courses in Norway from the perspective of lecturers. Our analysis includes a characterisation of MM views based on the modelling perspectives developed by Kaiser and Sriraman (2006). Through an online survey we aimed to identify the main perspectives held in higher education by mathematics lecturers and the underlying rationale for integrating (or not) MM in university courses. The results indicated that most respondents displayed a realistic perspective on MM when it came to their professional practice. There was a more varied response when it came to their views on MM in teaching. Regarding conditions influencing the use or non-use of MM in teaching, these mainly concerned the mathematical content and the institutional practices

Developing a ‘leading identity’: the relationship between students’ mathematical identities and their career and higher education aspirations

The construct of identity has been used widely in mathematics education in order to understand how students (and teachers) relate to and engage with the subject (Kaasila, 2007; Sfard & Prusak, 2005; Boaler, 2002). Drawing on cultural historical activity theory (CHAT), this paper adopts Leont’ev’s notion of leading activity in order to explore the key ‘significant’ activities that are implicated in the development of students’ reflexive understanding of self and how this may offer differing relations with mathematics. According to Leont’ev (1981), leading activities are those which are significant to the development of the individual’s psyche through the emergence of new motives for engagement. We suggest that alongside new motives for engagement comes a new understanding of self—a leading identity—which reflects a hierarchy of our motives. Narrative analysis of interviews with two students (aged 16–17 years old) in postcompulsory education, Mary and Lee, are presented. Mary holds a stable ‘vocational’ leading identity throughout her narrative and, thus, her motive for studying mathematics is defined by its ‘use value’ in terms of pursuing this vocation. In contrast, Lee develops a leading identity which is focused on the activity of studying and becoming a university student. As such, his motive for study is framed in terms of the exchange value of the qualifications he hopes to obtain. We argue that this empirical grounding of leading activity and leading identity offers new insights into students’ identity development

‘I’m still making dots for them’: mathematics lecturers’ views on their mathematical modelling practices

Using Cultural-Historical Activity Theory, we analyse lecturers’ views on the aims and teaching practices of mathematical modelling (MM) education in Norway and England. We aim to expose the tensions that exist within the activity of teaching MM at university, such as those that exist between multiple, sometimes competing, aims for teaching MM, or between the lecturers’ professional identities and the structure of university degrees. Our conceptualisation of these tensions might help lecturers consider how to overcome obstacles in their own contexts

Study Habits and Attainment in Undergraduate Mathematics: A Social Network Analysis

In this article, we argue that although mathematics educators are concerned about social issues, minimal attention has been paid to student–student interactions outside the classroom. We discuss social network analysis as a methodology for studying such interactions in the context of an undergraduate course. We present results on the questions: Who studies with whom? What are students’ study habits, and are these systematically related to the habits of those with whom they interact? Do individual and collaborative study habits predict attainment? We discuss the implications of these findings for research on undergraduate learning and on social issues in mathematics education, suggesting that social network analysis may provide a bridge between mathematics education researchers who focus on cognitive and on social issues