What do mathematicians mean by refutation? How do students interpret the notion? This talk will explain tasks used to investigate these questions in the Mathematics Education Centre at Loughborough University. It will cover both general and mathematics-specific reasoning, allowing the audience to reflect on their own understanding of ‘if…then…” statements across multiple contexts. It will then report a research study showing that mathematics students’ interpretations do not always match those of their lecturers, and that their errors are not those that the research literature would lead us to expect.
Dr Lara Alcock is Head of the Mathematics Education Centre and a Reader in Mathematics Education at the University of Loughborough. She completed a BSc and MSc in Mathematics and a PhD in Mathematics Education at the University of Warwick, was an assistant professor in Mathematics and the Graduate School of Education at the Rutgers University in the USA, a teaching fellow at Essex University before taking up her current role at Loughborough in 2007.
Lara has published two research-based books for mathematics students, How to study for a mathematics degree and How to think about Analysis, as well as a popular mathematics book Mathematics Rebooted.
When: Friday 5th June 2020, 18:00-19:00
Where: Sibson Lecture Theatre 3, University of Kent, Canterbury
Who: Dr Lara Alcock, University of Loughborough
Audience: The talk is suitable for a general audience.
Parking at any University of Kent car park is free of charge after 17:00.