Most prospective secondary mathematics teachers in the United States complete a course in real analysis, yet view the content as unrelated to their future teaching. We leveraged a theoretically-motivated instructional model to design modules for a real analysis course that could inform secondary teachers' actionable content knowledge and pedagogy.…

The multiplication principle (MP) is a fundamental aspect of combinatorial enumeration. In an effort to better understand students' reasoning about the MP, we had two undergraduate students reinvent a statement of the MP in a teaching experiment. In this paper, we adopt an actor-oriented perspective (Lobato, "Educational Researcher,"…

This paper presents the development and validation of the 17-item mathematics Graduate Student Instructor Observation Protocol (GSIOP) at two universities. The development of this instrument attended to some unique needs of novice undergraduate mathematics instructors while building on an existing instrument that focused on classroom interactions…

Mathematics is used in the physical sciences to describe and model phenomena, resulting in a unique interface between mathematics and disciplines such as chemistry and physics. This paper focuses on themes emerging from a larger project that investigated how students understand and use mathematics in chemical kinetics, a field of study concerned…

This research commentary argues for more research that attends to the processes of organizational change in mathematics departments. It outlines both the ways that research on organizational change can benefit scholarship in mathematics departments, and how mathematics education researchers are needed to develop theories of change that are…

This study describes how nine university professors managed their teaching when a shift from lecturing to inquiry-based learning was mandated in a large enrollment course, linear algebra for math majors. We describe the tensions that emerged and how they were resolved, in part via the production of worksheets that were used in teaching. We…

College algebra has been noted as a critical course in post-secondary institutions because it serves as a gateway for major selection and college completion. Combinatorial topics like repeatable permutations are often overlooked in K-12 and undergraduate curricula. Likewise, students' achievement and motivation are affected by the type of…

We present a validation study of fifteen new math anxiety scale items designed to augment the widely-used Revised Mathematics Anxiety Scale (RMARS). While the RMARS and other standard instruments measure students' anxiety in response to computation, test situations, and math course activities such as buying a textbook or watching a lecture, the…

Online learning environments are being used for teaching and learning of mathematics at university level. Exploiting the potential of digital technology, these Internet-based environments administer computer-generated homework, assistance and feedback for students. This article presents a case-study of a small group of ?undergraduate engineering…

This study compares the relative influence of syntax, semantics, and pragmatics in university students' interpretation of multiply quantified statements in mathematics, both before and after instruction. Like previous studies, results show that semantics plays a heavy role in student interpretation, especially before instruction. Unlike previous…

In many countries STEM degree programs face high dropout rates, which are often attributed to insufficient mathematical preparation of incoming undergraduates. However, it is largely unclear which mathematical prerequisites universities expect from their new STEM undergraduates. There are hardly official documents and it is even an open question…

Note-taking is one of the most pervasive activities of students in college courses, so it has been the subject of educational research for quite some time. Yet despite the large body research, little is known about the characteristics of note-taking in mathematics. For this reason, this exploratory study examined the note-taking habits of seven…

We engaged five mathematicians who conduct research in the domain of complex analysis or use significant tools from complex analysis in their research in interviews about basic concepts of differentiation and integration of complex functions. We placed a variety of constructivist, social-constructivist, and embodied theories in mathematics…

Introductory group theory provides the foundational course on algebraic structures. Yet, we know little about students' underlying conceptual understandings. In this paper, I introduce the Group Theory Concept Assessment (GTCA), a measure created for the purpose of conducting large-scale studies of student conceptual understanding in group theory.…

Over the last forty years of mathematics education research, a coherent body of knowledge has accumulated regarding the teaching of limits. On this basis, it remains a challenge to identify goals and design tasks compatible with ordinary teaching conditions. This paper reports on a teaching experiment carried out in France with year 12 students,…