In this paper, we consider the perceived effectiveness of using industry-based transdisciplinary, complex problems as a vehicle for final year undergraduate mathematics students to apply their knowledge and skills in realistic settings, preparing them for the world of work. The discussion centres on a recently designed, implemented and evaluated…

The use of recorded lecture videos (RLVs) in mathematics instruction continues to advance. Prior research at the post-secondary level has indicated a tendency for RLV use in mathematics to be negatively correlated with academic performance, although it is unclear whether this is because regular users are generally weaker mathematics students…

This article is a follow-up to an earlier paper on the mathematics support learning tutorial programme (SLT), an intervention programme at The University of Queensland that targets students considered to be at risk of failing Calculus and Linear Algebra I, the first tertiary level mathematics subject at The University of Queensland. The first…

To explore the mathematics learning experiences of those more likely to come from non-traditional educational backgrounds, ten students studying one or two maths units in the Skills for Tertiary Education Preparatory Studies (STEPS) at CQUniversity Australia were interviewed. The aim was to investigate how these students learnt to become…

Learning analytics dashboards commonly visualize data about students with the aim of helping students and educators understand and make informed decisions about the learning process. To assist with making sense of complex and multidimensional data, many learning analytics systems and dashboards have relied strongly on AI algorithms based on…

Transfer of mathematical learning to science is seen as critical to the development of education and industrial societies, yet it is rarely interrogated in applied research. We present here research looking for evidence of transfer from university mathematics learning in semester one to second semester sciences/engineering courses (n = 1125). A…

Transfer of learning, the application of learning to different contexts over time, is important to all learning for development. As 21st century skills specifically aim to be "generic," there is an assumption that they can be transferred from context to context. We investigate the process of transfer in problem solving, with specific…

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines "transition" as: (a) the passage from one state, stage, subject, or place to another: change; or (b) a movement, development, or evolution from one form, stage, or style to another. The word transition can refer to an active shift of the person in space and time or status, for example; it can also…

First-year engineering students often struggle to see the relevance of theoretical mathematical concepts for their future studies and professional careers. This is an issue, as students who do not see relevance in fundamental parts of their studies may disengage from these parts and focus their efforts on other subjects they think will be more…

In this paper, we report on an experimental activity for discussing the concepts of speed, instantaneous speed and acceleration, generally introduced in first year university courses of calculus or physics. Rather than developing the ideas of calculus and using them to explain these basic concepts for the study of motion, we led 82 first year…

In this article the authors analyze the written solutions of some first year undergraduate mathematics students from Victorian universities as they answered tutorial exercise questions relating to complex numbers and differentiation. These students had studied at least Mathematics Methods or its equivalent at secondary school. Complex numbers was…

School and university mathematics: Do they speak the same language? Our university mathematics students come from amongst the successful school mathematics students, but what difficulties with symbols do their lecturers and tutors observe? In this paper, we report on data from interviews with 21 first-year lecturers and tutors from four…

The University of Wollongong's first locally developed and hosted Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) "The Reluctant Mathematician" was run in the last four weeks of our summer holiday, prior to Autumn session in 2014. It was developed to lift maths skills at our university and also in the community--where maths skills continue to be a…

The aim of the current study was to provide evidence that an abbreviated version of the Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students (ASSIST) was invariant across different languages and educational contexts in measuring university students' learning approaches to statistics. Data were collected on samples of university students attending…

In this paper, we report on developments in the Mastery Learning (ML) curriculum and assessment model that has been successfully implemented in a metropolitan university for teaching first-year mathematics. Initial responses to ML were positive; however, we ask whether the nature of the ML tests encourages a focus on shallow learning of…