This paper considers school factors that contribute to a successful transition from high school to first-year university Physics courses at the University of British Columbia by employing a two-level hierarchical model. It is assumed that there is a relationship between student performance and the high school they graduated from. It is shown that…

This article reports on an international study of the teaching of undergraduate mathematics in seven countries. Informed by rhetorical genre theory, activity theory, and the notion of Communities of Practice, this study explores a pedagogical genre at play in university mathematics lecture classrooms. The genre is mediational in that it is a tool…

The arithmetic mean is a fundamental statistical concept. Unfortunately, social science students rarely develop an intuitive understanding of the mean and rely on the formula to describe or define it. According to constructivist pedagogy, educators that have access to a variety of conceptualizations of a particular concept are better equipped to…

This is a preliminary study of (community) college mathematics instructors. Through interviews of twelve instructors we explore each individual's educational background and path to the college, as well as his/her preparation for and feelings about teaching. The purpose of this study is to add to the emerging research on college mathematics…

We have been investigating university student conceptions of mathematics over a number of years, with the goal of enhancing student learning and professional development. We developed an open-ended survey of three questions, on "What is mathematics" and two questions about the role of mathematics in the students' future. This…

In this article we explore aspects of a dynamic university mathematics department and focus on its undergraduate mathematics programmes. We propose that such a department is vital, exhibits a culture that is mutually supportive and that faculty, teaching assistants and their supervisors, administrative staff and students all work towards a set of…

This submission contains the Proceedings of the 2015 Annual Meeting of the Canadian Mathematics Education Study Group (CMESG), held at the Université de Moncton in Moncton, New Brunswick. The CMESG is a group of mathematicians and mathematics educators who meet annually to discuss mathematics education issues at all levels of learning. The aims of…

In June 2018 the Canadian Mathematics Education Study Group/Groupe Canadien d'étude en didactique des mathématiques (CMESG/GCEDM) held its 42nd meeting in the idyllic setting of Squamish, British Columbia. This meeting marked the first time CMESG/GCEDM had been in British Columbia since 2010 and the first time it had been held at Quest University.…

This Ontario-based qualitative study examined secondary school and college textbooks' treatment of trigonometric representations in order to identify potential sources of student difficulties in the transition from secondary school to college mathematics. Analysis of networks, comprised of trigonometric representations, identified numerous issues…

Research has shown a strong connection between birth weight and future outcomes. We ask how health problems after birth affect outcomes using data from public health insurance records for 50,000 children born between 1979 and 1987 in the Canadian province of Manitoba. We compare children to siblings born an average of three years apart. We find…

This paper presents a qualitative case study of statistical practice in a university-based statistical consulting centre. Naturally occurring conversations and activities in the consulting sessions provided opportunities to observe questions, problems, and decisions related to selecting, using, and reporting statistics and statistical techniques…

This submission contains the Proceedings of the 2014 Annual Meeting of the Canadian Mathematics Education Study Group (CMESG), held at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta. The CMESG is a group of mathematicians and mathematics educators who meet annually to discuss mathematics education issues at all levels of learning. The aims of the…

This study investigated the benefits of all-girls' classroom instruction in math and/or science during Grades 9 and/or 10, within the context of a public co-educational high school. There were 118 participants in this longitudinal investigation: 26 girls in the all-girl classes, as well as 42 girls and 50 boys in the regular co-educational…

There is not just one mathematics taught at university level, nor is there one group of students. Mathematics is taught differently depending on the discipline and the perceived background of the student. There is engineering mathematics for the students heading towards engineering degrees, life science mathematics for those heading towards…

The main objective of this study was to gauge preparedness in math with achievement in first semester math for the fall 2005 intake of Manufacturing Sciences Division post-secondary program students. The data used to measure this level of preparedness was gleaned from students' high school Grade 12 (new and old curriculum) or Ontario Academic…