This paper reports the results of an exploratory study of the perceptions of and approaches to mathematical proof of undergraduates enrolled in lecture-based and problem-based "transition to proof" courses. While the students in the lecture-based course demonstrated conceptions of proof that reflect those reported in the research literature as…

Many undergraduate students have difficulty with the transition to proof-based courses in mathematics. This paper discusses students' beliefs about proof and justification in mathematics just prior to entry into such courses. The paper is based on in-depth interviews with students. The data suggests that some students have beliefs that may in part…

In this article two different accounts are juxtaposed. In one, we use a variety of texts to narrate the story of Joanne, a woman undergraduate student of mathematics. Like many of our mature students Joanne came to the university with a "non-traditional" academic background. We describe how Joanne developed as a learner of mathematics…

This study examined the demographic, pre-college, environmental, and college factors that impact students' interests in and decisions to earn a science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) degree among students attending a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI). Results indicated that Hispanic students were well represented among STEM…

Presents a theoretical framework based on interviews with undergraduate students and written questionnaires to study how undergraduate students cope with abstract algebra concepts. Indicates that students' responses can be interpreted as a result of reducing the level of abstraction. Examines the theme of reducing abstraction based on three…

Expert mathematicians are contrasted with undergraduate students through a two-part analysis of the potential and actual use of visual representations in problem solving. In the first part, a classification task is used to indicate the extent to which visual representations are perceived as having potential utility for advanced mathematical…

Carry Groups are a wonderful collection of groups to introduce in an undergraduate Abstract Algebra course. These groups are straightforward to define but have interesting structures for students to discover. We describe these groups and give examples of in-class group projects that were developed and used by Miller.

It is shown that the bisector of a segment of a geodesic and the bisector of an angle in hyperbolic geometry can be expressed in terms of points which are equidistant from the end points of the segment, and points that are equidistant from the rays of the angle, respectively. An important tool in the approach is that the shortest distance between…

Learning to think logically and present ideas in a logical fashion has always been considered a central part of becoming a mathematician. In this paper we compare the performance of three groups: mathematics undergraduates, mathematics staff and history undergraduates (representative of a "general population"). These groups were asked to solve…

This paper reports on research conducted to understand undergraduate students' ways of reasoning about systems of differential equations (SDEs). As part of a semester long classroom teaching experiment in a first course in differential equations, we conducted task-based interviews with six students after their study of first order differential…

Undergraduate college students in an advanced math class were videotaped as they worked on three mathematical proofs. Findings indicated that both ability and self-efficacy were needed for group success. Members with high levels of self-efficacy served the group by encouraging others to continue working. Groups tended to use a trial-and-error…

This paper addresses the issue of collegiate mathematics achievement of underrepresented minority students as it investigates the impact of a cooperative learning calculus programme on the first-year calculus experience of non-Asian ethnic minority engineering students. The Emerging Ethnic Engineers Programme in the College of Engineering at the…

Symmetry is an aspect of mathematics that is strongly linked to art and design. We chose to explore this connection in the context of a liberal arts mathematics course. Here we present a brief description of this course, including an outline of the curriculum and specific features of the course. We subsequently present the results of a study we…

In this paper, the author looks at some classic problems in mathematics that involve motion in the plane. Many case problems like these are difficult and beyond the mathematical skills of most undergraduates, but computational approaches often require less insight into the subtleties of the problems and can be used to obtain reliable solutions.…

In this article and part 2, the author focuses on how an individual appropriates notions from the socially-sanctioned body of knowledge called mathematics. Specifically, the author is concerned with how students, to a greater or lesser extent, internalise mathematical ideas that exist in the social world (on the chalkboard, in textbooks, in the…