This study primarily attempts to (1) identify the specific adjustment problems anticipated by international students prior to departure from their home countries and those actually experienced while studying in America, (2) compare any significant, differences that may exist between problems as anticipated and as experienced in terms of levels of difficulty, and (3) investigate the discrepancy means between problems as anticipated and as experienced in relation to selected personal variables. The instrument used to gather the needed data is a questionnaire developed by the researcher. The initial questionnaire of 182 problem items was validated by a panel of experts and pretested on a small sample of international students. The revised questionnaire consists of two main sections; Section A contains fourteen items of demographic and personal data on the subjects, and Section B contains seventy-two items on problems that are purposely categorized into the eight related areas of student personnel services of (1) communication and language, (2) academic, (3) social-cultural, (4) psychological-personal, (5) financial, (6) health, (7) housing and food, and (8) international student advising.

This study examines personal problems which a selected group of 1970's college freshmen at North Texas State University considered important to them and investigates significant changes in the nature, configuration, and frequency of these problems from those indicated by selected freshmen of the 1960's and 1950's. None of the wide variety of previous approaches over the years in studying problems of students has presented such a broad time span as this study. The students of the 1950's and 1960's were North Texas State University freshmen enrolled in Education 161, "The Psychology of Social and Personal Adjustment." The 1970's population was taken from basic freshman English courses at North Texas State University. All students were administered the Mooney Problem Check List, and the results were prepared for computer analysis. An analysis-of-variance program was used on eight hypotheses, with a .05 level of significance required for the hypotheses to be retained. The Spearman Rank Order Correlation Coefficient was used in answering two hypotheses. There were 2,809 freshmen from the 1950's, 1,440 from the 1960's, and 695 from the 1970's.

This study investigates the difficulties that may arise for students as a consequence of differences that exist in mathematics education between different educational systems. The questions asked are when and why difficulties as a consequence of differences in writing or types of student problems may arise and in which way teachers and students attend to these difficulties. The focus is thus on the written parts of mathematics education and the questions are asked within the frame of general upper secondary education.In order to answer these questions, a sociocultural perspective based mainly on Sfard’s (2006) participationist theories together with Vygotsky’s (1999) general theories on development and learning is used. An important analytic tool is the discourse concept which in this context means a type of communication that brings some people together while excluding others from the communication. From this perspective the different rules that govern the way student problems are formulated and the ways of writing that will be accepted, may be described as parts of a specific discourse in the mathematics education rather than universally accepted truths.The study has been based on a qualitative research method and has included observations of lessons and semi-structured interviews with teachers and students. In order to give a global picture, four schools have participated in the study and one week has been spent at each school. The selection has consisted of one international school with IB education, two schools abroad (from different countries) and one Swedish upper secondary school.The study shows that difficulties occur for students and that these are mainly due to differences in the mathematics education between the different educational systems. Partly, the student problems have proved to differ in crucial ways and therefore it is difficult for students to interpret and find solutions to unknown student problems. Besides, the mathematical writing differs in many fields such as text editing, use of mathematical notation and algorithms, and this also causes difficulties. In order to overcome these difficulties, teachers and students use methods which aim at creating habits for the new way of working by showing the practices to the students who then repeat them on their own accord.Apart from the direct answers to the research questions, another great problem for students who start studying mathematics in a new educational system appeared to be lacking basic knowledge, which means that they lack certain essential knowledge and calculation proficiencies that are necessary prerequisites. This problem is specifically preponderant for students with Swedish educational background. Furthermore, it appears that the teachers at the international schools are much conscious of the fact that there exist differences in mathematics education and in general they consider it inspiring to be able to learn more from the knowledge of their students.By interpreting the differences in the mathematics education as representative for different discourses, it has been possible to understand that the difficulties that arise are due to the fact that the student has not yet individualized the new discourse. This means that the student is only able to carry out the discursive routines collectively, with aid from the teacher or the group, which explains the routine creating practices used by teachers and students. When the student has worked within the new discourse it will be individualized and the student will be able to work within the discourse in a deliberate and independent way. For the education, thisimplies that the students will first be able to perform certain routines within the discourse before a comprehension of the rules that govern them will be achieved.Since the problem of lacking basic knowledge is due to a total lack of the students’ necessary prerequisites, it is possible to interpret this problem with help of Vygotsky’s (1999) reasoning. The knowledge assumed by the new discourse does not lie within the zone of proximal development and therefore the conditions for learning are not fulfilled. The positive and reflective attitude of the teachers with respect to differences in the mathematics education differs in a decisive sense from the literature and appears to influence the possibilities to overcome the difficulties in a positive way. / Denna studie undersöker svårigheter som kan uppstå för elever på grund av skillnader som finns i matematikundervisningen mellan olika utbildningssystem. De frågor som ställs är när och varför svårigheter till följd av skillnader i skrivsätt och uppgiftstyper kan uppstå samt på vilket sätt lärare och elever arbetar med dessa svårigheter. Fokus ligger således på de skriftliga delarna av matematikundervisningen och frågorna ställs inom ramen för studieförberedande gymnasieutbildningar.För att besvara dessa frågor används ett sociokulturellt synsätt som huvudsakligen utgår från Sfards (2006) participationistiska teoribildning tillsammans med Vygotskijs (1999) generella teorier om utveckling och lärande. Ett viktigt analysverktyg är begreppet diskurs som i detta sammanhang innebär en typ av kommunikation som för samman vissa människor medan andra exkluderas från kommunikationen. Utifrån detta perspektiv kan de olika reglerna som styr hur uppgifter utformas och vilka skrivsätt som kommer att accepteras, beskrivas som delar av en specifik diskurs i matematikundervisningen snarare än universellt vedertagna sanningar.Undersökningen har utgått från en kvalitativ undersökningsmetodik och har innefattat lektionsobservationer och semistrukturerade intervjuer med lärare och elever. För att ge en övergripande bild har fyra skolor deltagit i studien och en vecka har tillbringats på vardera skolan. Urvalet har utgjorts av en internationell skola med IB-undervisning, två utlandsskolor (från olika länder) samt en svensk gymnasieskola.Studien visar på att det förekommer svårigheter för elever och att dessa framför allt beror på skillnader i matematikundervisningen mellan de olika utbildningssystemen. Dels har det visat sig att uppgiftstyperna kan skilja sig på avgörande sätt och att det därför är svårt för eleverna att tolka och hitta lösningar till obekanta uppgifter. Dessutom skiljer sig det matematiska skrivsättet på flera områden såsom textredigering, notationsanvändning och algoritmer vilket också ger upphov till svårigheter. För att överbrygga dessa svårigheter använder sig lärare och elever av metoder som syftar till att skapa en vana vid det nya arbetssättet genom att läraren visar på arbetsmetoder och att eleverna även repeterar dessa på egen hand.Utöver de direkta svaren på frågeställningarna framkom också att ett stort problem för elever som börjar studera matematik i ett nytt undervisningssystem kan vara bristande baskunskaper, det vill säga att de saknar vissa grundläggande kunskaper eller räknefärdigheter som är nödvändiga förkunskaper. Detta problem är speciellt framträdande för elever med svensk utbildningsbakgrund. Dessutom har det framkommit lärarna på de internationella skolorna mycket väl är medvetna om att det finns skillnader i matematikundervisningen och generellt upplever det som inspirerande att kunna lära sig om dessa genom elevernas kunskaper.Genom att tolka skillnaderna i matematikundervisningen som representativa för olika diskurser, har det varit möjligt att förstå att de svårigheter som uppstår beror på att eleven inte har individualiserat den nya diskursen. Detta innebär att eleven endast klarar av att utföra de diskursiva rutinerna kollektivt, med hjälp av läraren eller gruppen, vilket förklarar det rutinskapande arbetssättet som tillämpas av lärare och elever. När eleven har arbetat i den nya diskursen kommer den att individualiseras och eleven kan arbeta inom den på ett avsiktligt och självständigt sätt. En implikation för undervisningen är här att eleverna först kan utföra vissa rutiner inom diskursen innan en förståelse reglerna som styr dem skapas.Eftersom problemet med bristande baskunskaper grundar sig i att eleverna helt saknar de nödvändiga förkunskaperna är detta möjligt att tolka genom Vygotskijs (1999) resonemang. De kunskaper som den nya diskursen förutsätter befinner sig inte i den närmaste utvecklingszonen varför förutsättningar för lärande inte föreligger. Lärarnas positiva och reflekterade inställning till skillnader i matematikundervisningen skiljer sig på ett avgörande sätt från litteraturen och förefaller påverka möjligheterna till att överbrygga svårigheter på ett positivt sätt.

This study was prompted by serious problems regarding specific teaching and learning problems in calculus at the technikon. The general aims were to identify and analyze particular teaching and learning problems relating to 2nd level engineering courses in calculus and to recommend improvements which could increase student performance in engineering calculus courses. An extensive study revealed world wide concern in calculus reform. The empirical research instruments consisted of structured questionnaires given to staff and students from nine technikons plus interviews. Five serious problem areas were identified: student ability in mathematics, content difficulty, background difficulties, timetable pressures and lecturer's presentation. The impact of training technology on calculus was investigated. Recommendations were that routine exercises can be done on computer with extra tutorial time for computer laboratory projects. Background recommendations suggested that schools give more time to trigonometry and coordinate geometry and that bridging courses at technikons for weaker students be developed. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / M. Ed. (Didactics)

This study was prompted by serious problems regarding specific teaching and learning problems in calculus at the technikon. The general aims were to identify and analyze particular teaching and learning problems relating to 2nd level engineering courses in calculus and to recommend improvements which could increase student performance in engineering calculus courses. An extensive study revealed world wide concern in calculus reform. The empirical research instruments consisted of structured questionnaires given to staff and students from nine technikons plus interviews. Five serious problem areas were identified: student ability in mathematics, content difficulty, background difficulties, timetable pressures and lecturer's presentation. The impact of training technology on calculus was investigated. Recommendations were that routine exercises can be done on computer with extra tutorial time for computer laboratory projects. Background recommendations suggested that schools give more time to trigonometry and coordinate geometry and that bridging courses at technikons for weaker students be developed. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / M. Ed. (Didactics)