The thinking styles of university mathematics students

Moutsios-Rentzos, A.; Simpson, A.

Abstract

In this paper, we focus on the relationship between studying university mathematics and the ‘thinking styles’ of both undergraduate and postgraduate mathematics students. A crosssectional quantitative study (N = 238) was conducted in a large Greek university, identifying the thinking styles of second, third and fourth year undergraduates, as well as those of students following a postgraduate degree in mathematics. The analysis revealed that the more experienced undergraduates and the postgraduates showed a stronger preference for originality and freedom in thinking, low degrees of structure, high levels of freedom and more complex information processing, combined with non-prioritised thinking. However, the postgraduates combine these preferences with a stronger preference for implementing rules and instructions. A discussion on these findings and on the factors that may account for them is presented.

Citation

Moutsios-Rentzos, A., & Simpson, A. (2010). The thinking styles of university mathematics students. Acta Didactica Napocensia, 3(4), 1-10

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Dec 1, 2010
• Deposit Date: Mar 29, 2011
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 25, 2015
• Journal: Acta didactica Napocensia
• Electronic ISSN: 2065-1430
• Publisher: Babes-Bolyai University
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 3
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 1-10
• Keywords: University mathematics, Thinking styles, Undergraduates, Postgraduates, MSC 97C30.
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1533660
• Publisher URL: http://adn.teaching.ro/