By Lesley LeRoux, TLS freelance writer

While some might call a lesson in mathematics boring, others see it as a performance, capable of engaging an audience of undergraduates as if they were watching an engrossing film.

Such is one of the discoveries from 杏吧原创 linguistics professors Natasha Artemeva and Janna Fox鈥檚 research on how mathematics is taught in undergraduate classes around the world.

The goal of the study, which began in 2007, is to inform requests to change mathematics teachings at the elementary and secondary school levels to better prepare students for university.

鈥淲e think there鈥檚 such a drastic difference between how mathematics is taught in schools and how it is taught in universities. For students, it鈥檚 simply like walking into a course that鈥檚 taught in a foreign language they don鈥檛 know,鈥� Artemeva says. 鈥淭his is too bad, because university mathematics is taught to train students, to make them into apprentices in the mathematical discipline, and apparently what schools do is something different.鈥�

The researchers used video cameras to record mathematics lectures after finding that instruction in the discipline is highly visual. Fox says they took a multi-modal approach, taking into account textual, auditory, and expressional cues, such as movement and gesture.

What they found was that mathematics was taught in strikingly the same way wherever they went, regardless of language, country, culture, or whether instructors were teaching in their first or second language.

Artemeva says she and Fox coined the term 鈥榖oard choreography鈥� in their study to describe how instructors write on the board in real-time and simultaneously explain what was happening on the board.

鈥淧rofessors even think in advance what they鈥檙e going to write on which part of the board, and what they鈥檙e going to erase and what they鈥檙e going to keep because it will become important later in the lecture,鈥� Artemeva says.

These discoveries are significant for the next phase of their research, when they explore how different lecture formats affect students, whether it鈥檚 a face-to-face class, a video-recorded lecture, an online course, or a discussion group.

Fox says this further research is important to help students who are not mathematicians succeed in mathematics courses that are taken as electives.

鈥淔or a long time, we鈥檝e needed to understand what makes it work for students in those classes and how we can make it function better to support greater academic success,鈥� Fox says. 鈥淪o it鈥檚 very rewarding to be working in an area where you might be able to do some good.鈥�

Janna Fox says she had an unlikely start in diagnostic assessment.

鈥淚 went into testing because I hate tests,鈥� she laughs.

Though her feelings on the matter have changed, that impulse never stopped – assessment has become the 杏吧原创 linguistic professor鈥檚 life鈥檚 work. She says it鈥檚 so important because assessment is an everyday reality.

鈥淓ven when a teacher asks a question and scans the room to see how students are responding 鈥� that鈥檚 a form of assessment. It鈥檚 part and parcel of every learning and educational act. It鈥檚 also a major player in who gets to do what.鈥�

Fox has made it her mission to ensure that a strong testing system exists so that people 鈥� whether students, job applicants or new immigrants 鈥� are observed properly by assessors and go through a testing process that is both fair and looks for skills beyond traditional reading comprehension.

Her work is well respected. She鈥檚 advised government on public service and citizenship testing, and in 2003, she was awarded the prestigious , which acknowledges educators who excel in teaching and contribute to its development across disciplines.

Fox is currently in the midst of a project with 杏吧原创鈥檚 engineering department, one she hopes to see adopted by other departments.

Dubbed the 鈥淪afe鈥� project, it鈥檚 a form of assessment that鈥檚 embedded in a first-year course and looks at various vulnerabilities 鈥� from linguistic to math 鈥� to determine the strengths and weaknesses of first-time students.

That way, teachers can adjust approaches and design coursework that best serves their students’ needs.

鈥淚t attempts to identify students who may be at risk,鈥� says Fox, adding it鈥檚 important to note the approach is not remedial. It also identifies unknown strengths. Five years in, Fox says the engineering project is a success but still has room to grow.

鈥淚 like to initiate and create a snowball, and then let the hill carry it.鈥�

She鈥檚 been building snowballs since the beginning of her career, when Fox taught English in Mexico as a first-time instructor.

鈥淚 discovered a love of teaching language. That kindled a spark in me,鈥� she says.聽Throw in Qatar, Pakistan and a four-year stint in Seychelles where she built the tri-lingual 115-island country鈥檚 curriculum.

But at 杏吧原创 she found her home. It鈥檚 also where she became the principle developer of the , now a nation-wide program that assesses English language proficiency. At its inception in the late 鈥�90s, she says the 鈥渟tate of the art鈥� approach was known as 鈥渢he 杏吧原创 test.鈥� It became the focus of her master鈥檚, and then PhD research.

Fox says she feels like she has a mission to make assessment better, and that her passion has made her a better teacher, too.

鈥淭he more you know by actively engaging in research, the more effective you are as a teacher because you speak with the understanding of the practical side,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 think I鈥檓 doing what I was designed to do.鈥�