Growth and new directions? Research in tertiary mathematical science education

The chapter on university learners of mathematics in the previous four-yearly review concluded that mathematics learning and teaching was in a "state of flux" (Wood, 2008, p. 91). The research reviewed in that chapter reported contradictory findings: perhaps because there was little attempt to delve beneath the surface features of lectures to inquire into conditions that support student learning. Deficit models of student learning were often implicit in these studies. There was significant interest in teaching with technology, but investigations into the effectiveness of computer hardware and software tended to look at student achievement gains without exploring the nature of the learning that was promoted. Although it was encouraging to see growing interest in university teaching and learning of mathematics, research was being conducted in a piecemeal fashion without the findings being interpreted in the light of theory. Not surprisingly then, the main challenge identified by the last review was building an integrated and theoretically informed body of research.