Transmaths: Learners - Into University

The transition to university presents a range of challenges for students in general and some specific challenges for those students following mathematically demanding courses because of the nature of the subject and differences in their learning of mathematics prior to, and on entering, university.

We found that students perceived that they benefitted when teaching / support was 'student-led', in the sense that their own mathematics was the focus, and support / teaching was responsive to this and dialogical in nature. The transfer of mathematics and its application to solve problems in subjects and areas that are new to students is not unproblematic and students can meet high cognitive demand of mathematical understanding in their learning outside of mainstream mathematics classes. Overall, to better support mathematics learning for students we recommend the development of connectionist teaching practices and mechanisms that support and develop this.