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ERIC Number: EJ1351372
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2022
Pages: 17
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0020-739X
EISSN: EISSN-1464-5211
An Activity Theory Approach in Explaining Engineering Students' Difficulties with University Mathematics
Anastasakis, Marinos; Zakynthinaki, Maria; Trujillo-González, Rodrigo; García-Alonso, Israel; Petridis, Konstantinos
International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology, v53 n6 p1571-1587 2022
In this paper we explore the difficulties engineering undergraduates encounter with tertiary mathematics. Results from our survey (N = 71) show that students in our sample face issues mostly related to the challenging nature of university mathematics, the absence of worked examples during lectures and the discontinuity of school and university mathematics curricula. By using third generation Activity Theory, we were able to interpret the identified difficulties as contradictions emerging between the school and university activity systems as well as within the university activity system, and we argue that these difficulties can be treated as stemming from the structural characteristics the two activity systems have.
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Greece
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A