This article reports on the results of an empirical study of student expectations and mathematical anxiety among first-year students who must study mathematics as a supporting discipline. The article describes the model of support we have developed mixing, as it does, the more traditional ideas of "filling knowledge gaps" with an exploration of…

In July 2009, an e-mail survey was sent to various UK universities to gain information regarding current practices concerning mathematics diagnostic testing, and to provide an update from the review "Diagnostic Testing for Mathematics" published by the LTSN MathsTEAM Project in 2003. A total of 38 university departments were contacted and the…

This article reports on the mathematical competency of students entering third-level education in the University of Limerick (UL). Data from diagnostic testing, gathered on 5,949 students between the years 1998 and 2008, are used to demonstrate the changes in competency levels of students entering UL. There has been a significant decline in the…

In England and Wales, there has been a significant investment in technology to support teaching and learning in all subjects and school phases since the mid-1990s and a number of training models and approaches have been used, which include the development of online materials to support face-to-face sessions with expert teacher educator support.…

Technology offers ample opportunities to bring reality into the classroom. Students and teachers nowadays have many tools to work in an authentic way with real data in mathematics and science education. However, much research and development are still needed to create a consistent learning trajectory out of the many exciting single activities.…

Taking advantage of pedagogical opportunities afforded by new technology requires appropriately designed lessons. This article reports on the use of "lesson study" to research principles for the design of a lesson aiming to take advantage of multiple representations. The lesson, for year 10 students who had personal access to TI-Nspire, focused on…

The number of students studying university mathematics in the UK has been increasing gradually and linearly since 2002. At the University of Portsmouth, number of students studying mathematics doubled from 30 to 60 between 2002 and 2007, then increased by 240% in just 1 year to over 140 in 2008. This article explains how learning technology has…

A long-term project (2005-2012) was started to test the use of symbolic calculators (SCs) in Bavarian grammar schools (Germany) in Grade 10, 11 and 12. The results showed the necessity of having better diagnostics of the students' ability to understand the mathematics and their ability to work with the SC. How does a student understand particular…

In recent years, there has been a decline in the number of students aged 16-18 studying and being able to access higher level mathematics in schools in the UK. The Further Mathematics Network (FMN) was set up to enable access to such mathematics to all students and to promote and encourage students to study at this level. The FMN has pioneered the…

Following the publication of the results of a survey of classroom teachers conducted by Hyde (2004) 5 years ago, a similar, smaller scale study has been carried out by the author and a study group. The aims of the study are two-fold, firstly to assess what a small group of teachers of mathematics in the UK now consider to be the contribution of…

Students worldwide are gaining access to powerful computing devices and services. They are learning from each other how to find and share information, how to carry out useful tasks such as editing images and video, where to find the best entertainment, etc. Classrooms, especially in the UK, are changing to make better access to computer technology…

A PUBMED search for "mathematical models in medicine" shows more than 15,000 articles covering almost every field of medicine. We designed a course with the goal of developing the students' skills in computerized data analysis and mathematical modelling, as well as enhancing their ability to read and interpret mathematical data analysis. The study…

Research was conducted into first year engineering students' learning of mathematics in a university college during 2005-2007. The aims were to understand better students' confidences and explore which factors affected performance and how these were inter-related. Questionnaires were administered which posed questions regarding previous…

This article reports on a quantitative study carried out into the influence of affective variables, the role of conceptions of mathematics and approaches to learning on students in the transition to Service mathematics at the University of Limerick (UL). Questionnaires were distributed to three groups of first year students on Service mathematics…

We start by visiting the maths section of the web site answers.yahoo.com. Here, anybody can ask a question from anywhere in the world at every possible level. Answers are given by anyone who wants to contribute and then askers/readers rate the responses. A brief look here and it is starkly clear that our young people are struggling and their…