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All Outputs (65)

Interactions between defining, explaining and classifying: The case of increasing and decreasing sequences (2016)
Journal Article
Alcock, L., & Simpson, A. (2017). Interactions between defining, explaining and classifying: The case of increasing and decreasing sequences. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 94(1), 5-19. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-016-9709-4

This paper describes a study in which we investigated relationships between defining mathematical concepts — increasing and decreasing infinite sequences — explaining their meanings and classifying consistently with formal definitions. We explored th... Read More about Interactions between defining, explaining and classifying: The case of increasing and decreasing sequences.

University students’ perceptions of summative assessment: the role of context (2016)
Journal Article
Iannone, P., & Simpson, A. (2017). University students’ perceptions of summative assessment: the role of context. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 41(6), 785-801. https://doi.org/10.1080/0309877x.2016.1177172

We report on a mixed-method study that compared students’ perceptions of summative assessment across two distinct disciplines – education and mathematics, at two research-intensive institutions in the UK. The disciplines chosen represent opposing pos... Read More about University students’ perceptions of summative assessment: the role of context.

Teaching and Learning Mathematics and Statistics (2015)
Book Chapter
Iannone, P., & Simpson, A. (2015). Teaching and Learning Mathematics and Statistics. In H. Fry, S. Ketteridge, & S. Marshall (Eds.), A Handbook for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. Routledge

The Surprising Persistence of Biglan's Classification Scheme (2015)
Journal Article
Simpson, A. (2015). The Surprising Persistence of Biglan's Classification Scheme. Studies in Higher Education, 1520-1531. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2015.1111323

Within higher education systems, different institutions deliver different patterns of disciplines. A simple analysis of the structure of that pattern of disciplines across institutions in one higher education system uncovers a surprising relationship... Read More about The Surprising Persistence of Biglan's Classification Scheme.

The Anatomy of a Mathematical Proof: Implications for Analyses with Toulmin's Scheme (2015)
Journal Article
Simpson, A. (2015). The Anatomy of a Mathematical Proof: Implications for Analyses with Toulmin's Scheme. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 90(1), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-015-9616-0

A model solution to a proof question on an examination is explored and subjected to a detailed analysis in terms of Toulmin’s scheme of argumentation. In doing so, the ways in which the scheme has been variously used in the mathematics education and... Read More about The Anatomy of a Mathematical Proof: Implications for Analyses with Toulmin's Scheme.

Assessment and its outcomes: the influence of disciplines and institutions (2015)
Journal Article
Simpson, A. (2016). Assessment and its outcomes: the influence of disciplines and institutions. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 41(6), 917-937. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2015.1052369

Existing research provides evidence at the module level of systematic differences in patterns of assessment, marks achieved and distributions of marks between different disciplines. This paper examines those issues at the degree course level, and sug... Read More about Assessment and its outcomes: the influence of disciplines and institutions.

Mathematics lecturers’ views of examinations: tensions and possible resolutions (2014)
Journal Article
Iannone, P., & Simpson, A. (2015). Mathematics lecturers’ views of examinations: tensions and possible resolutions. Teaching Mathematics and its Applications: An International Journal of the IMA, 34(2), 71-82. https://doi.org/10.1093/teamat/hru024

If assessment drives learning and the closed book examination dominates the pattern of assessment for undergraduate mathematics (as it does in the UK), lecturers need to ensure that examinations reflect the learning they value. This article uses a mi... Read More about Mathematics lecturers’ views of examinations: tensions and possible resolutions.

Students’ views of oral performance assessment in mathematics: straddling the ‘assessment of’ and ‘assessment for’ learning divide (2014)
Journal Article
Iannone, P., & Simpson, A. (2015). Students’ views of oral performance assessment in mathematics: straddling the ‘assessment of’ and ‘assessment for’ learning divide. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 40(7), 971-987. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2014.961124

This paper explores the views of a group of students who took an oral performance assessment in a first-year mathematics module. Such assessments are unusual for most subjects in the UK, but particularly within the generally homogenous assessment die... Read More about Students’ views of oral performance assessment in mathematics: straddling the ‘assessment of’ and ‘assessment for’ learning divide.

Students' preferences in undergraduate mathematics assessment (2014)
Journal Article
Iannone, P., & Simpson, A. (2015). Students' preferences in undergraduate mathematics assessment. Studies in Higher Education, 40(6), 1046-1067. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2013.858683

Existing research into students' preferences for assessment methods has been developed from a restricted sample: in particular, the voice of students in the ‘hard-pure sciences’ has rarely been heard. We conducted a mixed method study to explore math... Read More about Students' preferences in undergraduate mathematics assessment.

Students' perceptions of assessment in undergraduate mathematics (2013)
Journal Article
Iannone, P., & Simpson, A. (2013). Students' perceptions of assessment in undergraduate mathematics. Research in Mathematics Education, 15(1), 17-33. https://doi.org/10.1080/14794802.2012.756634

A consistent message emerges from research on undergraduate students' perceptions of assessment which describes traditional assessment as detrimental to learning. However this literature has not included students in the pure sciences. Mathematics edu... Read More about Students' perceptions of assessment in undergraduate mathematics.

A survey of current assessment practices. (2012)
Book Chapter
Ianone, P., & Simpson, A. (2012). A survey of current assessment practices. In P. Iannone, & A. Simpson (Eds.), Mapping university mathematics assessment practices. Norwich: HEA

Oral assessment in mathematics: implementation and outcomes (2012)
Journal Article
Iannone, P., & Simpson, A. (2012). Oral assessment in mathematics: implementation and outcomes. Teaching Mathematics and its Applications: An International Journal of the IMA, 31(4), 179-190. https://doi.org/10.1093/teamat/hrs012

In this article, we report the planning and implementation of an oral assessment component in a first-year pure mathematics module of a degree course in mathematics. Our aim was to examine potential barriers to using oral assessments, explore the adv... Read More about Oral assessment in mathematics: implementation and outcomes.

The summative assessment diet: how we assess in mathematics degrees (2011)
Journal Article
Iannone, P., & Simpson, A. (2011). The summative assessment diet: how we assess in mathematics degrees. Teaching Mathematics and its Applications: An International Journal of the IMA, 30(4), 186-196. https://doi.org/10.1093/teamat/hrr017

Much research and many papers on mathematics pedagogy have discussed assessment and, in particular, the need to provide a varied diet of methods by which students are assessed for the award of their degree. In this article, we explore the mix of asse... Read More about The summative assessment diet: how we assess in mathematics degrees.

Classification and concept consistency (2011)
Journal Article
Alcock, L., & Simpson, A. (2011). Classification and concept consistency. Canadian Journal of Science, Mathematics and Technology Education, 11(2), 91-106. https://doi.org/10.1080/14926156.2011.570476

This article investigates the extent to which undergraduates consistently use a single mechanism as a basis for classifying mathematical objects. We argue that the concept image/concept definition distinction focuses on whether students use an accept... Read More about Classification and concept consistency.

Does generating examples aid proof production? (2011)
Journal Article
Iannone, P., Inglis, M., Mejia-Ramos, J., Simpson, A., & Weber, K. (2011). Does generating examples aid proof production?. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 77(1), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-011-9299-0

Many mathematics education researchers have suggested that asking learners to generate examples of mathematical concepts is an effective way of learning about novel concepts. To date, however, this suggestion has limited empirical support. We asked u... Read More about Does generating examples aid proof production?.

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

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 un... Read More about The thinking styles of university mathematics students.

Conditional inference and advanced mathematical study: Further evidence (2009)
Journal Article
Inglis, M., & Simpson, A. (2009). Conditional inference and advanced mathematical study: Further evidence. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 72(2), 185-198. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-009-9187-z

In this paper, we examine the support given for the ‘theory of formal discipline’ by Inglis and Simpson (Educational Studies Mathematics 67:187–204, 2008). This theory, which is widely accepted by mathematicians and curriculum bodies, suggests that t... Read More about Conditional inference and advanced mathematical study: Further evidence.