Abstract
There are numerous studies about the teaching and learning of mathematics at different educational levels. In the case of higher education most studies were conducted at pedagogical departments for prospective teachers and mathematical departments. The present study concentrates on university students who attend a course on mathematics as part of a program at the Faculty of Economics and Management. It examines aspects of students’ affective and cognitive behavior in solving representation tasks concerning their understanding of exponential and logarithmic functions. Results confirmed the existence of a comprehensive model with significant interrelations among general beliefs, self-efficacy beliefs and cognitive behaviour about the use of representations in general and, in the case of the specific concept. Regression analysis indicated the predominant role the self-efficacy beliefs play in the use of representations in defining the concept of function and solving recognition and translation tasks. Implications about the teaching of mathematics in higher education are discussed.
Highlights
Mathematics plays an increasing role in many different scientific disciplines in general and in Business Administration and Economics Studies in particular
There are two main different approaches to the mathematics education of students of Business Administration and Economics study programs: a) mathematics courses are offered by Mathematical departments and b) the courses are organized by the Business Administration and Economics department
The results concerning the definition tasks were disappointing, especially in respect to the first task (Q1DEF), which asked them to define the concept of function (20.7%) and explain how they understand that a graphical representation does not represent a function (Q3a, 27.3%)
Summary
Mathematics plays an increasing role in many different scientific disciplines in general and in Business Administration and Economics Studies in particular. The teaching of Economics is based on the use of analytical models that require a high level of understanding mathematics (Barnett, 2009). As Vosskamp (2015) argues many empirical studies about economic issues have gained importance in recent years due to the availability of technical resources offered by Mathematics. Cai, Perry, Wond and Wang (2009) conducted interviews with teachers worldwide and they found out that there was an agreement between them that mathematics is applicable to real life problems and to other. The value of applicability of the mathematical concepts on the discipline of Economics is extremely important in higher education
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