|
|
Dr Colin Foster
I am a Reader in Mathematics Education in the Department of Mathematics Education at Loughborough University, England.
I am Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology and was President of the Mathematical Association 2022-23. My research interests in mathematics education focus on the learning and teaching of mathematics in ways that support students’ conceptual understanding. I am particularly interested in the design and use of rich tasks in the mathematics classroom, and in finding ways to enable students to develop the necessary fluency in mathematical processes to support them in solving mathematical problems. I am also interested in confidence assessment as a tool for formative assessment. I am Co-Director of the ESRC Centre for Early Mathematics Learning. For more details, please click on 'Research interests' above. The four aspects of my work highlighted below may be of interest to teachers and researchers. |
Tweets by colinfoster77 |
|
Mathematical Etudes are creative, imaginative and thought-provoking ways to help learners of mathematics develop their fluency in important mathematical procedures. They are an alternative to traditional, tedious exercises. Click here to take a look. |
This website contains a free collection of over 40 starting points (beginnings) for mathematical activity. They could be used with learners aged around 11 upwards as a part of normal mathematics lessons or as something 'a little different'. Some prompts are provided to help learners find mathematics to work on and some brief teacher's notes are also offered, indicating possible mathematics that could emerge. Click here to take a look.
|
|
This popular series of three books of lesson ideas, published by Nelson Thornes, is now available free. The three volumes address Number and Algebra, Shape and Space, and Data Handling and ICT. Click here to take a look.
|
I have written over 300 articles, including both academic papers and articles for teacher professional journals, as well as 13 books. Many of these contain lesson plans and teaching resources. Click here and here to take a look.
|
 
|
|
“Colin Foster … has now established himself as one of the leading mathematics educationalists in the country.” Editorial (2019). Mathematics in School, 48(3), 1. |
|
Dr
Colin Foster I am a Reader in Mathematics Education in the Department of Mathematics Education at Loughborough University, UK. I am Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology and I am a member of the Editorial Board of Research in Mathematics Education. I am a Director of Shell Publications Ltd and I was President of the Mathematical Association 2022-23.
Previously, I was an Associate Professor and Director of Research in the School of Education at the University of Leicester, and before that I was a Senior Research Fellow and then Assistant Professor in the Centre for Research in Mathematics Education at the University of Nottingham. Before being an academic, I taught mathematics in secondary schools for 12 years. My first degree and PhD are from Magdalene College, Cambridge, and I obtained my PGCE from the University of Cambridge Faculty of Education.
I have been designing mathematical tasks and writing books and articles for mathematics teachers for over 15 years. During 2005-2008, I co-edited the journal Mathematics Teaching, published by the Association of Teachers of Mathematics.
Alongside my research, I direct the Loughborough University Mathematics Education Network, sometimes lecture mathematics to undergraduates and teach pre-service teachers on the PGCE secondary mathematics course at Loughborough University, supervise masters and PhD students and lead professional development for mathematics teachers. I write regularly for the magazine Teach Secondary and for mathematics teacher professional journals, including Mathematics in School, published by the Mathematical Association, and Mathematics Teaching, published by the Association of Teachers of Mathematics. I was a member of the Department for Education Expert Group for the mathematics national curriculum and I am an examiner for Cambridge Assessment.
I am a Chartered Mathematics Teacher, a Fellow of the International Society for Design and Development in Education, a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a member of the British Educational Research Association, the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and the Association of Mathematics Education Teachers.
Before mathematics education, I worked in chemistry. Click here for my thesis and a related paper.
If you are interested in studying for a PhD in an area relating to my research interests, then please email me with your ideas.
|
|
Memberships British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics (BSRLM) British Educational Research Association (BERA) International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (IGPME) Association of Teachers of Mathematics (ATM) Association of Mathematics Education Teachers (AMET) National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM)
Fellowships Fellow of the International Society for Design and Development in Education (ISDDE) Fellow of the Cambridge Philosophical Society Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
|
|
Research
My research interests in mathematics education focus on the learning and teaching of mathematics in ways that support students’ conceptual understanding. I am particularly interested in the design and use of rich tasks in the mathematics classroom, and in finding ways to enable students to develop the necessary fluency in mathematical processes to support them in solving mathematical problems. I am also interested in confidence assessment as a tool for formative assessment.
My main research focus is currently as a Co-Director of the Centre for Early Mathematics Learning, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), which is part of UK Research and Innovation. This ESRC Centre will transform understanding of children’s mathematics learning during the early years and design effective educational activities to improve skills and knowledge. Related to this, in my role as Director of the Loughborough University Mathematics Education Network, I am leading a design-research project to construct the LUMEN Curriculum, a completely free, research-informed, full set of mathematics curriculum resources for schools. This builds on a recent Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) project Exploring socially-distributed professional knowledge for coherent curriculum design, carried out in collaboration with Professor Geoff Wake, Dr Fay Baldry and Professor Keiichi Nishimura.
I am continuing to build on my research in the Mathematical Etudes Project, which is a study into the development of mathematical fluency, and also the Confidence Assessment Project, which is exploring how asking students to indicate how sure they are about the answers they give in low-stakes mathematics tests can contribute to formative assessment.
I have twice spoken about my research as a guest on the Mr Barton Maths Podcast: click here and here to listen. I supervise PhD students across a variety of topics within mathematics education. Current
research students Casha Sammut, Melanie (PhD): Gifted and talented students in primary mathematics. Chan, Bobo (PhD): Cognitive load theory. Gleadow, Tanya (PhD): Evaluation and development of a data science curriculum to increase motivation and ambition for further study and careers in computing and STEM. Lewis, Matthew (PhD): Teacher beliefs about research. Mahak, Sheeza (PhD): The role of anxiety, confidence and metacognitive skills in mathematical problem solving. Makri, Depy (PhD): Content-based reflection as a structural part of online workbooks for learning mathematics. O’Brien, Dan (PhD): Extended Reality (XR) in mathematics education. Peters, Caroline (PhD): Manipulatives and maths anxiety. Completed
research students Strauss, Jacob (2023). Developing secondary school students’ procedural fluency with Cover, Copy and Compare. Unpublished PhD dissertation. Loughborough University. Bustang, Bustang (2022). Probability conceptions and metacognitive judgements of Indonesian secondary school students and in-service mathematics teachers. Unpublished PhD dissertation. Loughborough University. Guimarães, Rita Santos (2019). Investigating mathematics teachers’ changes in practice
during a professional development initiative. Unpublished PhD dissertation. University of Nottingham. Barichello, Leo (2018). An investigation into how low-achieving secondary students learn fractions through visual representations. Unpublished PhD dissertation. University of Nottingham. Calleja, James (2018). Learning to teach mathematics through inquiry: A case study of continuing professional development in Malta. Unpublished PhD dissertation. University of Nottingham. McCance, Lorna (2014). How do
students’ solutions to a problem-solving task change after attempting to
understand an algebra-focused sample solution? Unpublished MA dissertation.
University of Nottingham. Peake, Eleanor (2014). When and how do Year 2
pupils use the Bar Model to solve mathematical word problems? Unpublished
MA dissertation. University of Nottingham. Roberts, Katherine (2013). Which
aspects of mathematical problem-solving lessons do pupils value and why?
Unpublished MA dissertation. University of Nottingham.
|
Papers and articles For my academic papers, professional articles and other writing, please go to www.foster77.co.uk/papers.html. |
Books For my books, please go to www.foster77.co.uk/books.html. |
Conferences and seminars
|
17 June 2024 |
IOE, UCL's Faculty of Education and Society, London. Guest Lecture: Using the LUMEN Curriculum. |
|
13 May 2024 |
The National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics, Online. Research seminar: Designing a coherent school mathematics curriculum. |
|
5 April 2024 |
Joint Conference of Mathematics Subject Associations, Stratford. The LUMEN Curriculum: Free, Editable Research-Informed Teaching Resources for the Whole of Key Stage 3. |
|
21 March 2024 |
IOE, UCL's Faculty of Education and Society, London. Using representations coherently in a school mathematics curriculum. |
|
2 March 2024 |
British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics, Online. Mathematics educator beliefs - early findings from a survey. With Matt Lewis and Hugo Lortie-Forgues. |
|
17 November 2023 |
Kent Maths Conference, Ashford, Kent. Keynote: Learning multiplication tables through systematic connections. |
|
16-21 July 2023 |
46th Conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education, Haifa, Israel. Using a Comparative Judgement approach to assess the problem-solving skills of primary school pupils. With Patrick Barmby, Ian Jones, Joel Kelly and Jasmina Milinkovic. |
|
6 July 2023 |
Ark Maths Network Day, Keynote, Online. Can we teach mathematical problem solving? |
|
12 June 2023 |
Mathematics Education meets the Philosophy of Mathematical Practice Conference, Loughborough University. Teaching problem solving in school mathematics. |
|
4 April 2023 |
Joint Conference of Mathematics Subject Associations 2023, Mathematical Association Presidential Address, University of Warwick. Less is more. |
|
4 March 2023 |
British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics, IoE - Faculty of Education and Society, University College London. Mathematics ability in high-functioning autism: a systematic review and meta-analysis. With Sheeza Mahak and Kinga Morsanyi. |
|
25 January 2023 |
The National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics: 7-11 Coherence Project Work Group Leads, Online. Coherent Task Design From Years 7 to 11. |
|
30 November 2022 |
Maths Anxiety Trust, Church House, Westminster, London. What is a maths anxious teacher supposed to do? |
|
17 November 2022 |
Coop Academies Trust, Head of Mathematics Event, Angel Square, Manchester. Evidence-based mathematics instruction. |
|
5 November 2022 |
British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics, IoE - Faculty of Education and Society, University College London. Mathematically gifted and talented primary students: Identification, Provision and Challenges. With Melanie Casha Sammut and Ian Jones. |
|
5 November 2022 |
British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics, IoE - Faculty of Education and Society, University College London. The questions teachers ask & the questions researchers answer. With Tom Francome, Ian Jones, Ouhao Chen, Hugues Lortie-Forgues, Chris Shore, Jacob Strauss and Beth Woollacott. |
|
5 November 2022 |
British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics, IoE - Faculty of Education and Society, University College London. Comparative judgement of problem-solving skills of primary pupils. With Patrick Barmby, Ian Jones, Joel Kelly and Jasmina Milinkovic. |
|
11 October 2022 |
Mathematical Association webinar, online. Butterfly effects when designing and adapting tasks. |
|
9 July 2022 |
Association of Teachers of Mathematics / Mathematical Association meeting, UCL Institute of Education, London. There are no boring mathematics topics! |
|
8 July 2022 |
West Midlands Maths Hubs Secondary Conference, University of Wolverhampton (Walsall Campus). Keynote: Using mathematical etudes instead of exercises. |
|
20 May 2022 |
The National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics, Origin Maths Hub, A-level Pedagogy Group, Tudor Grange Academy, Solihull. Using mathematical etudes in A-level mathematics. |
|
9 May 2022 |
School of Education, University of Nottingham. Lesson study in Initial Teacher Education: Maximising gains whilst navigating tensions. With Fay Baldry. |
|
20 April 2022 |
Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge. Designing a coherent school mathematics curriculum. |
|
7 April 2022 |
School of Mathematics, University of Edinburgh. Making things harder than they need to be? |
|
24 March 2022 |
Department of Education, University of Oxford. Teaching problem-solving strategies in school mathematics. |
|
31 January 2022 |
The National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics, Origin Maths Hub, Local Leaders of Maths Education Conference, Tudor Grange Academy, Solihull. How can busy teachers make the best use of research? |
|
26 January 2022 |
MathemAgora, King's Maths School, London, Online. Teaching problem solving in mathematics. |
|
17 January 2022 |
The National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics, Online. Research seminar: Coherence in the learning of mathematics. With Geoff Wake. |
|
4 November 2021 |
The International Conference on Maritime Education 2021, Raja Ali Haji Maritime University, Tanjungpinang, Kepulauan Riau Province, Indonesia, Online. Keynote: Developing fluency with procedures without using traditional exercises. |
|
9 July 2021 |
STEM education research Seminar, University of Exeter and Hiroshima University, Japan, Online. Publishing in mathematics education research journals. |
|
25 June 2021 |
The National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics, Mathematical Thinking National Collaborative Project Leads Conference, Online. Mathematical Thinking: System 1 and System 2. |
|
8 June 2021 |
Association of Teachers of Mathematics / Mathematical Association meeting, Cambridge Branch, Cambridge, Online. Procedural fluency and problem solving: friends or enemies? |
|
5 June 2021 |
British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics, Webinar. Using comparative judgement to measure pupils' attitudes to mathematics. With Patrick Barmby, Ian Jones, Joel Kelly and Jasmina Milinkovic. |
|
10 April 2021 |
Mathematical Association Annual Conference, Online. Opening Keynote: Can we teach ‘understanding’? |
|
8 April 2021 |
Association of Teachers of Mathematics Annual Conference, Online. Developing a coherent mathematics curriculum. With Geoff Wake, Fay Baldry and Jacqueline Mann. |
|
24 March 2021 |
International Society for Design and Development in Education Virtual Conference, Webinar. Designing a fully-resourced, coherent, research-informed school mathematics curriculum. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsFxwIhaSe8 |
|
17 March 2021 |
Centre for Research in Mathematics Education, University of Nottingham, Webinar. The Future of Teacher-Led Collaborative Lesson Research. With Geoff Wake. |
|
14 November 2020 |
British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics, University of Edinburgh, Webinar. Using a comparative judgement approach to assess the problem-solving skills of primary school pupils. With Patrick Barmby, Ian Jones and Jasmina Milinkovic. |
|
14 November 2020 |
British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics, University of Edinburgh, Webinar. Lecturers' use of questions in undergraduate mathematics lectures. With George Kinnear. |
|
11 November 2020 |
Mathematics Education Centre, Loughborough University. Students’ confidence when answering diagnostic questions. With Simon Woodhead, Craig Barton and Alison Clark-Wilson. |
|
16 July 2020 |
School of Mathematics, University of Edinburgh, Webinar. Using confidence assessment in formative assessments. |
|
21 April 2020 |
Centre for Research in Mathematics Education, School of Education, University of Nottingham, Webinar. Understanding and addressing low attainment in lower secondary mathematics. With Jeremy Hodgen. |
|
6 March 2020 |
Mathematics Education and Lesson Study in Europe, University of Nottingham, UK. Curriculum design through lesson study. With Geoff Wake. |
|
6 February 2020 |
Effective Learning: Assessment and Feedback for the Learning of Mathematics, Loughborough University, UK. Using confidence assessment in low-stakes assessments. |
|
24 January 2020 |
Swiss Group of International Schools Mathematics Conference, International School of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland. Keynote: Developing fluency by using mathematical etudes. |
|
24 January 2020 |
Swiss Group of International Schools Mathematics Conference, International School of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland. Workshop: Why ‘closed’ questions can be just as good as ‘open’ questions. |
|
24 January 2020 |
Swiss Group of International Schools Mathematics Conference, International School of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland. Workshop: The challenges of teaching mathematical problem solving. |
|
17 January 2020 |
Active Learning Trust, Littleport and East Cambs Academy, Ely. Developing fluency by using mathematical etudes. |
|
17 January 2020 |
Active Learning Trust, Littleport and East Cambs Academy, Ely. Using confidence assessment in low-stakes tests. |
|
17 January 2020 |
Active Learning Trust, Littleport and East Cambs Academy, Ely. Why ‘closed’ questions can be just as good as ‘open’ questions. |
|
7 December 2019 |
British Educational Research Association Mathematics Education Special Interest Group: Practitioner Research in Mathematics Education, London Mathematical Society, London. Writing for a practitioner audience. With Helen Williams. |
|
9 November 2019 |
British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics, Queen’s University, Belfast. Confidence Assessment to support the learning of mathematics. |
|
18 September 2019 |
SouthWest PD Providers Conference, Sandy Park, Exeter. Keynote: Developing fluency with representations. |
|
17 September 2019 |
Association of Teachers of Mathematics / Mathematical Association meeting, Exeter Mathematics School, Exeter. Using “etudes”, rather than exercises, to develop mathematical fluency. |
|
24 June 2019 |
Jurassic Maths Hub Annual Conference, Taunton Racecourse, Taunton. Main Keynote: Scaffolding the Learning of Problem Solving in Mathematics. |
|
24 June 2019 |
Jurassic Maths Hub Annual Conference, Taunton Racecourse, Taunton. Secondary Keynote: Rich Strategies for Developing Mathematical Fluency. |
|
21 May 2019 |
Mathematics and Statistics Department, Open University, Milton Keynes. Alternatives to exercises for developing procedural fluency. |
|
17 April 2019 |
Association of Teachers of Mathematics / Mathematical Association Joint Conference, Warwick. Pushing calculus to its limits. With Bob Burn. |
|
15 April 2019 |
Association of Teachers of Mathematics / Mathematical Association Joint Conference, Warwick. Opening plenary: Learning from the learners. |
|
23 March 2019 |
ResearchED, Blackpool. Using confidence assessment in low-stakes tests. |
|
20 March 2019 |
Gloucestershire Secondary Mathematics Subject Leader Network Meeting. Developing mathematical fluency for problem solving. |
|
9 March 2019 |
British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics, Open University, Milton Keynes. Didactical tools and their potential role in supporting curriculum coherence. With Geoff Wake. |
|
12 December 2018 |
Mathematics Education Centre, Loughborough University. Confidence assessment in secondary mathematics. |
|
10 November 2018 |
British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics, King's College, London. Standards over time in A level mathematics. With Ian Jones and Jodie Hunter. |
|
10 November 2018 |
British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics, King's College, London. What strategies are effective at addressing low attainment in secondary mathematics? Findings from a systematic review and second-order meta-analysis. With Jeremy Hodgen. |
|
9 November 2018 |
School of Education, University of Leicester. Confidence assessment in mathematics. |
|
6 October 2018 |
Association of Teachers of Mathematics / Mathematical Association meeting, UCL Institute of Education, London. Mathematical etudes as alternatives to exercises. |
|
12 September 2018 |
British Education Research Association Annual Conference, Northumbria University, Newcastle. The effectiveness of strategies aimed at addressing low attainment in secondary mathematics: Findings from a systematic review. |
|
14 June 2018 |
UCL Institute of Education, London. How teachers describe mathematics tasks. |
|
2 May 2018 |
School of Mathematics, University of Edinburgh. Alternatives to exercises for developing mathematical fluency. |
|
6 April 2018 |
British Congress of Mathematics Education: BCME-9, University of Warwick. Investigating Mathematical Attainment and Progress. With Jeremy Hodgen. |
|
5 April 2018 |
British Congress of Mathematics Education: BCME-9, University of Warwick. Mathematical etudes: procedural fluency through rich tasks. |
|
4 April 2018 |
British Congress of Mathematics Education: BCME-9, University of Warwick. What does research say about teaching mathematics at Key Stage 2 and 3? A review of reviews and meta-analyses. With Jeremy Hodgen and Rachel Marks. |
|
28 March 2018 |
Centre for Studies in Science and Mathematics Education, School of Education, University of Leeds. Developing mathematical fluency using rich tasks. |
|
19 March 2018 |
The Prince’s Teaching Institute, Pimlico, London. Lecture: Rich mathematics tasks for deep understanding. |
|
3 March 2018 |
British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics, Centre for Research in Mathematics Education, University of Nottingham. Statistics Working Group: A hands-on introduction to Bayesian statistics. With Matthew Inglis and Ian Jones. |
|
20-21 February 2018 |
Tikka Matematika Conference, Department for Curriculum, Research, Innovation and Lifelong Learning, Floriana, University of Malta. Questions for rich mathematical activity. |
|
20 February 2018 |
Tikka Matematika Conference, Department for Curriculum, Research, Innovation and Lifelong Learning, Floriana, University of Malta. Keynote lecture: Using rich tasks to develop mathematical fluency. |
|
30 November 2017 |
UCL Institute of Education, London. Addressing low attainment in mathematics in lower secondary: What do teachers believe and how do they teach? With Jeremy Hodgen. |
|
24 October 2017 |
Graduate School of Education, University of Exeter. Developing mathematical fluency: exercises or rich tasks? |
|
29 September 2017 |
ESRC Conference: Bayesian Data Analysis in the Social Sciences Curriculum, Nottingham Trent University. Bayes factors show equivalence between two contrasting approaches to developing school pupils’ mathematical fluency. |
|
11 April 2017 |
Association of Teachers of Mathematics Conference, Crowne Plaza, Stratford-upon-Avon. Mathematical fluency without exercises. |
|
10 April 2017 |
Association of Teachers of Mathematics Conference, Crowne Plaza, Stratford-upon-Avon. Investigating Mathematical Attainment and Progress. With Jeremy Hodgen. |
|
8 April 2017 |
Mathematical Association Conference, Royal Holloway, University of London. Mathematical fluency without exercises. |
|
8 April 2017 |
Mathematical Association Conference, Royal Holloway, University of London. Investigating Mathematical Attainment and Progress. With Jeremy Hodgen. |
|
9 March 2017 |
UCL Institute of Education, London. Interventions for low attainment in mathematics: a meta-analysis. With Jeremy Hodgen. |
|
26 July 2016 |
13th International Congress on Mathematical Education, University of Hamburg, Germany. Formative Assessment Lessons for Concept Development and Problem Solving. With Malcolm Swan. |
|
11 June 2016 |
British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics, Mathematics Education Centre, Loughborough University. Developing procedural fluency: exercises or rich tasks? |
|
3 March 2016 |
National Association of Mathematics Advisers Annual Conference, National STEM Centre, York. Opening keynote: Confidence and learning mathematics. |
|
27 February 2016 |
British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics, Faculty of Education, Manchester Metropolitan University. Five decades of mathematics education research. With Matthew Inglis. |
|
19 November 2015 |
University of Oxford, Department of Education. Teachers’ descriptions of mathematical tasks. |
|
21 July 2015 |
International Community of Teachers of Mathematical Modelling and Applications 17, University of Nottingham. Developing boundary objects to support teachers’ teaching and learning of modelling. With Geoff Wake and Malcolm Swan. |
|
10 June 2015 |
University of Cambridge, PGCE workshop. Mathematics task design. |
|
6 June 2015 |
British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics, Durham University. Distinguishing conceptual and procedural understanding in mathematics. With Geoff Kent. |
|
9 May 2015 |
Association of Teachers of Mathematics / Mathematical Association meeting, University of Leicester. Rich mathematics from closed questions. Click here for a blog about this session. |
|
31 March 2015 |
Mengo Senior School, Lubaga, Kampala, Uganda. Solving mathematical problems. |
|
5 February 2015 |
Ninth Congress of European Research in Mathematics Education. Faculty of Education, Charles University, Prague. Re-conceptualising conceptual understanding in mathematics. With Geoff Kent. |
|
1 September 2014 |
Association of Mathematics Education Teachers Conference, Birmingham. Opening plenary: Practice and fluency. |
|
16 July 2014 |
Joint Meeting of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (PME 38) and the North American Chapter of the Psychology of Mathematics Education (PME-NA 36), University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. Mathematical knowledge for teaching problem solving: Lessons from lesson study. |
|
11 June 2014 |
University of Cambridge, PGCE workshop. Mathematics task design. |
|
23 May 2014 |
English Schools Foundation, South Island School, Aberdeen, Hong Kong. Mathematical études: Developing mathematical fluency without exercises. |
|
21–22 May 2014 |
English Schools Foundation, South Island School, Aberdeen, Hong Kong. Rich, open tasks for learning mathematics. |
|
20 May 2014 |
Hong Kong Association of Teachers of Mathematics meeting, Island School, Mid-Levels, Hong Kong. Mathematical tasks for the classroom. |
|
17 May 2014 |
La Salle College, Kowloon, Hong Kong. Rich mathematical problems for deep understanding. |
|
14 May 2014 |
La Salle College, Kowloon, Hong Kong. Teaching mathematical problem solving. |
|
13 May 2014 |
Visiting Scholar, University of Hong Kong. Mathematical problem solving and task design. |
|
6 May 2014 |
E-ACT Academies: Heartlands Academy, Nechells, Birmingham. Responding to the new mathematics national curriculum. |
|
16 April 2014 |
British Congress of Mathematics Education: BCME-8, University of Nottingham. Connected Expressions. |
|
15 April 2014 |
British Congress of Mathematics Education: BCME-8, University of Nottingham. “Can’t you just tell us the rule?”: Teaching procedures relationally. |
|
11 March 2014 |
Centre for Research in Mathematics Education, University of Nottingham. Analysing teachers’ descriptions of mathematical tasks. |
|
1 March 2014 |
British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics, King’s College, London. Analysing teachers’ descriptions of mathematical tasks. |
|
15 February 2014 |
Association of Teachers of Mathematics / Mathematical Association meeting, University of Birmingham. Mathematical études: Developing mathematical fluency without exercises. |
|
9 October 2013 |
International Society for Design and Development in Education Conference, Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California, Berkeley. Designing lessons for problem-solving processes: Experiences from Japanese lesson studies in England. With Malcolm Swan and Geoff Wake. |
|
2 April 2013 |
Association of Teachers of Mathematics Conference, Sheffield. When real life appears in the mathematics classroom: Responding mathematically to unexpected events. |
|
20 June 2012 |
London Borough of Croydon Local Authority ‘Exploring Excellence’ conference. Keynote presentation: Putting problem solving and investigation at the heart of mathematics teaching. |
|
24 March 2012 |
Association of Teachers of Mathematics / Mathematical Association meeting, Tenbury High School, Tenbury Wells. Variety in the learning of mathematics. |
|
21 April 2011 |
Association of Teachers of Mathematics Conference, University of Wolverhampton. Possibility tables. |
|
3 April 2008 |
Association of Teachers of Mathematics Conference, Keele University. Joined-up dots: Isometric graphs. |
|
1 February 2008 |
Becta Hard-to-Teach Mathematics Conference, London. Functions and graphs. |
|
4 April 2007 |
Association of Teachers of Mathematics Conference, Loughborough University. Writing to publish in Mathematics Teaching. With Helen Williams. |
|
11 April 2006 |
Association of Teachers of Mathematics Conference, Edgehill College of Further Education, Ormskirk. Still reading Mathematics Teaching without having written for it yet? With Helen Williams. |
I have also regularly participated in the Institute of Mathematics Pedagogy.
Colin Foster's
Mathematics Education Blog
I posted at blog.foster77.co.uk every fortnight during my year as President of the Mathematical Association (2022-23).
These 26 posts continue to be available below:
Foster, C. (2022, April 14). Intro-ducing and outro-ducing methods [Blog post]. https://blog.foster77.co.uk/2022/04/intro-ducing-and-outro-ducing-methods.html
Foster, C. (2022, April 28). Tangible contexts for mathematics [Blog post]. https://blog.foster77.co.uk/2022/04/tangible-contexts-for-mathematics.html
Foster, C. (2022, May 12). Learning times tables efficiently [Blog post]. https://blog.foster77.co.uk/2022/05/learning-times-tables-efficiently.html
Foster, C. (2022, May 26). Are two cars better than one? [Blog post]. https://blog.foster77.co.uk/2022/05/are-two-cars-better-than-one.html
Foster, C. (2022, June 9). Motivation for measurement [Blog post]. https://blog.foster77.co.uk/2022/06/motivation-for-measurement.html
Foster, C. (2022, June 23). Lines of not-very-good fit [Blog post]. https://blog.foster77.co.uk/2022/06/lines-of-not-very-good-fit.html
Foster, C. (2022, July 7). A football on the roof [Blog post]. https://blog.foster77.co.uk/2022/07/a-football-on-roof.html
Foster, C. (2022, July 21). Making rounding interesting [Blog post]. https://blog.foster77.co.uk/2022/07/making-rounding-interesting.html
Foster, C. (2022, August 4). Misremembering Goldbach's conjecture [Blog post]. https://blog.foster77.co.uk/2022/08/misremembering-goldbachs-conjecture.html
Foster, C. (2022, August 18). The Differentiator [Blog post]. https://blog.foster77.co.uk/2022/08/the-differentiator.html
Foster, C. (2022, September 1). Interactive introductions [Blog post]. https://blog.foster77.co.uk/2022/09/interactive-introductions.html
Foster, C. (2022, September 15). Always simplify your answer [Blog post]. https://blog.foster77.co.uk/2022/09/always-simplify-your-answer.html
Foster, C. (2022, September 29). Tasks that can't fail [Blog post]. https://blog.foster77.co.uk/2022/09/tasks-that-cant-fail.html
Foster, C. (2022, October 13). How open should a question be? [Blog post]. https://blog.foster77.co.uk/2022/10/how-open-should-question-be.html
Foster, C. (2022, October 27). Butterfly effects when adapting tasks [Blog post]. https://blog.foster77.co.uk/2022/10/butterfly-effects-when-adapting-tasks.html
Foster, C. (2022, November 10). Is area more difficult than volume? [Blog post]. https://blog.foster77.co.uk/2022/11/is-area-more-difficult-than-volume.html
Foster, C. (2022, November 24). Fractions as factors [Blog post]. https://blog.foster77.co.uk/2022/10/fractions-as-factors.html
Foster, C. (2022, December 8). Dividing into thirds [Blog post]. https://blog.foster77.co.uk/2022/12/dividing-into-thirds.html
Foster, C. (2022, December 22). Mixing the dimensions in models of number [Blog post]. https://blog.foster77.co.uk/2022/12/mixing-dimensions-in-models-of-number.html
Foster, C. (2023, January 5). Proportionality [Blog post]. https://blog.foster77.co.uk/2023/01/proportionality.html
Foster, C. (2023, January 19). Is zero really a number? [Blog post]. https://blog.foster77.co.uk/2023/01/is-zero-really-number.html
Foster, C. (2023, February 2). Non-expository video clips [Blog post]. https://blog.foster77.co.uk/2023/02/non-expository-video-clips.html
Foster, C. (2023, February 16). Don't forget the units? [Blog post]. https://blog.foster77.co.uk/2023/02/dont-forget-units.html
Foster, C. (2023, March 2). Are probabilities and inequalities approximate? [Blog post]. https://blog.foster77.co.uk/2023/03/are-probabilities-and-inequalities.html
Foster, C. (2023, March 16). Crocodiles and inequality signs [Blog post]. https://blog.foster77.co.uk/2023/03/crocodiles-and-inequality-signs.html
Foster, C. (2023, March 30). Teaching specific tactics for problem solving [Blog post]. https://blog.foster77.co.uk/2023/03/teaching-specific-strategies-for.html
|
Dr Colin Foster Reader in Mathematics Education Department of Mathematics Education Loughborough University Schofield Building Loughborough LE11 3TU UK
Email c@foster77.co.uk Twitter Follow @colinfoster77 |
orcid.org/0000-0003-1648-7485
© Colin Foster 2024