QUALITATIVELY DIFFERENT EXPERIENCES OF LEARNING MATHEMATICS AT UNIVERSITY

This paper reports research into the conceptions of mathematics, orien tations to studying it and experiences of learning it of first year un iversity students. A questionnaire based on students' conceptions of m athematics was developed. This and other questionnaires which investig ated students' approaches to learning mathematics and their mathematic al experiences were issued to students at the beginning of the year an d after one semester. The results suggest two qualitatively different experiences of learning mathematics. Differences in students' concepti ons of mathematics were shown to be related to their approaches to lea rning mathematics, their experiences of studying the subject and their performance on assessments. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. Ail rights reserved.