Research in Collegiate Mathematics Education. III

Volume 3 of Research in Collegiate Mathematics Education (RCME) presents state-of-the-art research on understanding, teaching and learning mathematics at the post-secondary level. This volume contains information on methodology and research concentrating on these areas of student learning:
Problem solving. Included here are three different articles analysing aspects of Schoenfeld's under-graduate problem-solving instruction. The articles provide new detail and insight on a well-known and widely discussed course taught by Schoenfeld for many years.
Understanding concepts. These articles feature a variety of methods used to examine students' understanding of the concept of a function, selected concepts from calculus and conceptual understanding. The conclusions presented offer unique and interesting perspectives on how students learn concepts.
Understanding proofs. This section provides insight on student understanding from a distinctly psychological framework. Researchers examine how existing practices can foster certain weaknesses. They offer ways to recognize and interpret students' proof behaviors and suggest alternative practices and curricula to build more powerful schemes. The section concludes with a focused look at using diagrams in the course of proving a statement.