Dr S Day, Dr Evi Viza
No more applications being accepted
Competition Funded PhD Project (European/UK Students Only)
About the Project
Project Ref: PHDED1703. Duncan Lawson (Lawson et al, 2013), a British mathematician, reported about his experience of nearly two decades of mathematics support. He confirmed for the UK that knowledge of incoming students was decreasing. Willcox, K., & Bounova, G. (2004) identified barriers to deep mathematical understanding among engineering undergraduates. Academics and educators recognised the universal fact that over the years there has been an overall decrease in incoming students “mathematical knowledge”. This is known as the “mathematics problem”. Students have less training such that their fluency in dealing with symbols is often lacking. They might have other mathematical competences like modelling but a certain degree of fluency is absolutely necessary for engineering students to follow mathematical derivations in application subjects. There is also a larger diversity now with different routes of access to study courses and this heterogeneity adds to the problem.
An answer to the “mathematics problem” could be contextualisation (Boaler, J, 1993; Dickinson, P & Hough S., 2012). Frigo (1999) suggests that “contextualising mathematics ...means finding ways of providing experiences and strategies in which students can gain meaning and develop the appropriate language that enables them to extend their skills” when researching teaching of Mathematics to specific groups.
The research questions are:
1. Can contextualisation of mathematics at FE/HE level, allow students (regardless of gender) to become more engaged in certain areas such as science, engineering and computing?
2. Can contextualisation of mathematics, encourage more students to progress in the field of STEM, with a firm confidence of the focused mathematics required in their chosen areas?
3. Can the approach of skills-centred study within a contextual mathematics module, and not a results driven one, be the key to improve confidence within the student cohort, in their own mathematical ability.
Funding Notes
UWS is an inspiring, vibrant place to study with a growing research community; an important aspect of which is its outstanding and committed research students.
Successful candidates will receive an annual stipend (currently £14,553) per annum for three years and payment of tuition fees (current value £4200). Applicants are advised that funding will be considered as part of a competitive round and there is no guarantee that it will be awarded. Successful applicants will be expected to contribute up to 6 hours/week to UWS’ academic related activities.
References
How to apply:
Postgraduate Degree by Research Applications should be completed online at
http://www.uws.ac.uk/research/graduate-school/prospective-students/
Applications without all relevant documents will not be considered. Please quote the Project Reference Number.
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