The present paper explores the relationship between attitudes towards mathematics (ATM) and achievement in college calculus in active learning (AL) and lecture-based (LB) classrooms. Previous work on this relationship has mainly been limited to LB instruction, neglecting the impact of innovative approaches such as AL. Less attention has been paid…

The area under the curve is a fundamental concept for students to build their understanding of the Definite Integral. This research reveals how students comprehend the area under the curve in given contextual problems and how the Hypothetical Learning Trajectory (HLT) can help students find the concept. This research follows the development…

The topic of this research study is mastery learning, an educational theory that began with the work of John Carrol in 1963. The core principle of this theory is that all students can achieve uniform learning outcomes, but it will take some students longer than others to reach the same performance goals. The problem that this research study…

Contributing to research on undergraduate students' thinking about problem solving tasks, the present study reports on students' reasoning about two initial-value problems i.e. first-order linear ordinary differential equations with initial conditions. A qualitative analysis of task-based interviews and work written by 34 students revealed that…

Numerous studies affirm the importance of students' attitudes for mathematical education. This study uses mathematical autobiographical essays to examine the mathematical experiences and attitudes of undergraduate students enrolled in mathematics classes at a Midwestern University in the United States. The essays of 41 students (20 men, 21 women)…

Background and Context: Computer Science has traditionally had poor student retention, especially among women. Prior work has found that student attitudes are a key factor to retention, especially with "weedout" courses such as Calculus. Objective: To determine how student attitudes towards CS 1 and Calculus change over active-learning…

Students are entering postsecondary institutions without the mathematical skills needed to be successful in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics majors (STEM), leading to a shortage of qualified graduates. Consequently, institutions must identify ways to increase satisfaction and performance in mathematics. Mindset theory, with…

This study explored the lived experiences of eleven transfer students as they described their experiences in Calculus 2 at very high research land grant institutions (R1). This qualitative investigation focused on the psychological phenomenon of transition as the transfer students perceived, reflected, made sense, and understood their transition…

This study aims to address the teaching of integrals in multivariable calculus concerning the role taken by geometry, specifically, geometrical content dealing with boundaries in integrals that appear as curves and surfaces in R[superscript 2] and R[superscript 3]. Adopting the framework of the Anthropological Theory of the Didactic, we approached…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the gender differences in students' attitude toward mathematics and how attitude impacts achievement in the course. The sample consisted of 172 undergraduate health science students (123 women, 49 men) enrolled in mathematics courses at a University in the Midwestern United States. Data were collected…

University Calculus I courses serve as a means of access into high demand STEM fields and large lecture style passive calculus courses can be difficult for students. A mixed methods research design was used to compare a flipped instructional approach to a traditional lecture approach in large section Calculus I courses. The flipped lecture model…

The manuscript describes a community-based mathematical modeling task that was implemented in a Calculus I classroom to engage students in mathematical modeling. Twenty-five undergraduate students engaged in this activity. These students selected a context that they found interesting, posed questions, developed constraints, came up with solution…

This paper introduces a course design for a post-Calculus undergraduate course on mathematical modeling for the life sciences. The course includes differential equations, discrete, and cellular automata approaches (among others) to modeling questions in the life sciences, as well as a variety of biological topics. The course focuses on model…

Learning centers offer academic resources to postsecondary students to aid in their success. Despite deep work examining the efficiency of these learning centers, the field still does not know enough about students' experiences with these learning centers' resources. By understanding the mechanisms and experiences of students as they learn about,…

Greater flexibility with procedures is known to be associated with greater conceptual knowledge of mathematics and vice versa. In parallel, a student's emotional relationship to mathematics -- i.e. their 'affect' -- is known to influence how they learn and perform in mathematics. For example, a confident student may engage more fully with…