Séance Séminaire

Didactique et Epistémologie des Mathématiques du Supérieur

How can we satisfy students' needs in university mathematics teaching and learning?

n the UK, many students come to university not ready to cope with the abstract and formal nature of mathematics and unprepared for the level of own responsibility that university requires of them. These two factors impose a high level of challenge on students studying mathematics, whether in mathematics courses, or in science, engineering, economics or other courses which require mathematics. In my university we have pioneered Mathematics Support for students across the entire university; in our Mathematics Education Centre we have conducted several research projects to explore modes of teaching and associated collaboration with students to promote the learning of mathematics. I will describe and discuss the nature of these activities and what we have learned from our activity over more than a decade. I will make analyses with relation to the Teaching Triad and particularly to the element of ?Sensitivity to Students? in affective, cognitive, social and cultural dimensions. This will lead to identification of challenges for teaching and raise questions that all university teachers of mathematics need to address.