Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Humanities, School of Education, 2011 / This study is a located in a foundational undergraduate mathematics course designed to facilitate the transition from school mathematics to advanced mathematics. The focus of the study is on two innovations in the course; the use of practical problems that make links to non-mathematical practices and a learner-centred pedagogy. While these innovations are part of the discourse of the mathematics education community in terms of access to school mathematics, this study investigates the relationship between these innovations and access to advanced mathematics. The texts of three practical problems from the course and texts representing the verbal and non-verbal action of 17 students as they worked collaboratively in small groups on these problems were analyzed. The analysis of these texts is used to describe and explain, firstly, how the practical problems in the foundational course represent the practice of foundational undergraduate mathematics and its relationship to other practices in the educational space (for example, school mathematics, calculus reform, advanced mathematics, and non-mathematical practices). Secondly, the students‟ enabling and constraining mathematical action on the practical problems is described and explained. Answering the empirical questions in this study has required theoretical work to develop a socio-political perspective of mathematical practice. This theoretical perspective is based on Fairclough‟s social practice perspective from critical linguistics, but has been supplemented with recontextualized theoretical constructs used by Morgan, Moschkovich and Sfard in mathematics education. These constructs are used to conceptualize the notion of mathematical discourse and action on mathematical objects in this discourse. The methodological work of this study has involved supplementing Fairclough‟s method of critical discourse analysis with Sfard‟s method of focal analysis to analyze mathematical, discursive, social and political action in a socio-political mathematical practice. The central finding of this thesis is that foundational mathematical practice represents both continuities and disruptions in its relationship to other practices in the space. As a result, participation in the foundational practice is complex, requiring control over the how and when of boundary crossings across practices, social events and texts. On the basis of this complexity, innovative foundational practice is positioned paradoxically in the higher education space. On the one hand, it represents an alternative to the dominant representation of mathematical practice and positioning of the foundational student in higher education. On the other hand, the complexity of foundational practice makes access to advanced mathematics problematic and foundational practice thus reproduces the dominant ordering.

This qualitative research used the tenants of phenomenological research to structure a study that begins to identify faculty coordinator’s decision processes in selecting a general education mathematics course. In this study, I examined the question if a faculty member's experiences or beliefs had any influence on the decision process. The interviews occurred with faculty in degree programs grouped by the following a) no specific mathematics requirements (e.g., Humanities) degree programs, b) mathematics-light degree programs (e.g., Social Sciences) and c) mathematics-intensive degrees (e.g., Computer Science). The results of this study are varied but suggest that faculty tasked making decisions on mathematics should understand current recommendations and trends in mathematics selection.