Abstract
Mathematics Education courses are increasingly present in university
programmes in Mathematics and in Education. In this chapter, we propose
approaches to teaching and assessment which consider and address some of the
challenges that university teachers face as they welcome students from diverse
communities to Mathematics Education as an academic discipline. To this aim, we
draw on our experiences of design, delivery and assessment of two introductory,
optional courses in Research in Mathematics Education (RME), one to final-year BA Education students in an Education Department and one to final-year BSc Mathematics students in a Mathematics Department. We aim to discuss how such courses can facilitate students’ cross-disciplinary transition (from Mathematics or Education to Mathematics Education). First, we outline the literature and the theoretical underpinnings that ground the design of the two courses and their assessment frame. This frame consists of a typology of four characteristics of engagement with RME discourses which is informed by the Theory of Commognition and has emerged from our prior research with secondary mathematics teachers and university mathematics lecturers: consistency, specificity, reification of RME discourse, reification of mathematical discourse. Subsequently, we outline the two courses and sample one activity and student work from each course to demonstrate the use of our assessment frame and highlight insights emerging from its use (for example, in tracing narratives about mathematics and its pedagogy as students engage with the courses). We conclude with a brief discussion of the pedagogical potential of such
activities – and of the two courses more broadly – for undergraduate students’
introduction to RME.
programmes in Mathematics and in Education. In this chapter, we propose
approaches to teaching and assessment which consider and address some of the
challenges that university teachers face as they welcome students from diverse
communities to Mathematics Education as an academic discipline. To this aim, we
draw on our experiences of design, delivery and assessment of two introductory,
optional courses in Research in Mathematics Education (RME), one to final-year BA Education students in an Education Department and one to final-year BSc Mathematics students in a Mathematics Department. We aim to discuss how such courses can facilitate students’ cross-disciplinary transition (from Mathematics or Education to Mathematics Education). First, we outline the literature and the theoretical underpinnings that ground the design of the two courses and their assessment frame. This frame consists of a typology of four characteristics of engagement with RME discourses which is informed by the Theory of Commognition and has emerged from our prior research with secondary mathematics teachers and university mathematics lecturers: consistency, specificity, reification of RME discourse, reification of mathematical discourse. Subsequently, we outline the two courses and sample one activity and student work from each course to demonstrate the use of our assessment frame and highlight insights emerging from its use (for example, in tracing narratives about mathematics and its pedagogy as students engage with the courses). We conclude with a brief discussion of the pedagogical potential of such
activities – and of the two courses more broadly – for undergraduate students’
introduction to RME.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Practice-Oriented Research in Tertiary Mathematics Education: New Directions |
| Editors | R Biehler, M Liebendörfer, G Gueudet, C Rasmussen, C Winsløw |
| Publisher | Springer |
| Chapter | 15 |
| Pages | 311-327 |
| Number of pages | 17 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 978-3-031-14175-1 |
| ISBN (Print) | 978-3-031-14174-4 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2 Jan 2023 |
Keywords
- MathTASK