Research in mathematics and in physics education has shown that the differences between the mathematics of the mathematics course and the mathematics of the physics course led to difficulties for students, in particular because some of them are unable to transfer the mathematics they have learnt to physics (Taylor & Loverude, 2023). In our work, we adopt an institutional perspective by referring to the anthropological theory of didactics (Chevallard, 2006) and we consider that students experience a permanent transition between mathematics classes and physics classes. During this seminar, we will first present an analysis of the discontinuities present in this transition. We will then analyse the design choices made for the Maths4sciences resources (https://maths4sciences.ens-lyon.fr/): exercises and method sheets organized according to different skills and available on an online platform (Caussarieu, 2022). The aim of these resources is not to suppress the existing gaps, but to raise the awareness of students about them, and to support their use of mathematical knowledge in physics.

Bios

Pauline Hellio is a PhD student in mathematics education at Université Paris-Saclay, France. Her work, under the supervision of Ghislaine Gueudet and Aude Caussarieu, is focused on the transitions between secondary and tertiary education, and between mathematics courses and physics courses.

Ghislaine Gueudet is a professor in mathematics education at Université Paris-Saclay, France. Her research concerns the secondary-tertiary transition, with a focus on students enrolled in scientific courses using mathematics.

Aude Caussarieu is an associated researcher at ENS de Lyon, France. She received her PhD degree in statistical physics from the ENS de Lyon in 2012 and a Master’s in history, philosophy, and didactics of science at Université Lyon 1 in 2014. Her current research interests include optics education, remedial mathematics for physics and engineer students, and education to climate change.