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Colin Foster

@colinfoster77.bsky.social
538 followers 115 following 14 posts

Professor of Mathematics Education in the Department of Mathematics Education at Loughborough University, UK www.foster77.co.uk

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Colin Foster @colinfoster77.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
This short video introduces inverse proportion by contrasting a speedometer with a paceometer: www.twominutemath.org/gallery/inve... Go to the website to view 160+ short videos for school and beginning university mathematics - all free to use however you wish. #MathEd #ukmathschat
twominutemath.org
What is inverse proportion? – 2-Minute Math
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Colin Foster @colinfoster77.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
This short video introduces what pie charts are, and their strengths and weaknesses: www.twominutemath.org/gallery/piec... Go to the website to view 160+ short videos for school and beginning university mathematics - all free to use however you wish. #MathEd #ukmathschat
twominutemath.org
What is a pie chart? – 2-Minute Math
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Colin Foster @colinfoster77.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Another short video, this time presenting a way of introducing the idea of a function by using two people: www.twominutemath.org/gallery/what... Go to the website to view 160+ short videos for school and beginning university mathematics - all free to use however you wish. #MathEd #ukmathschat
twominutemath.org
What is a function? – 2-Minute Math
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Colin Foster @colinfoster77.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Another short video, this time introducing scatterplots and correlation: www.twominutemath.org/gallery/corr... Go to the website to view 160+ short videos for school and beginning university mathematics - all free to use however you wish. #MathEd #ukmathschat
twominutemath.org
What is correlation? – 2-Minute Math
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Colin Foster @colinfoster77.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
This short video uses animations to show that the exterior angle sum for any triangle is 360 degrees: www.twominutemath.org/gallery/exte... Go to the website to view 160+ short videos for school and beginning university mathematics - all free to use however you wish. #MathEd #ukmathschat
twominutemath.org
What is the sum of the exterior angles of a triangle? – 2-Minute Math
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Colin Foster @colinfoster77.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
This short video presents a way of working on solving linear equations by using sticky notes on the board: www.twominutemath.org/gallery/solv... Go to the website to view 160+ short videos for school and beginning university mathematics - all free to use however you wish. #MathEd #ukmathschat
twominutemath.org
How do I solve a linear equation? – 2-Minute Math
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Colin Foster @colinfoster77.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
Are we teaching a cohesive, connected mathematics curriculum, or ticking off a to-do list of processes students need to master? My new post suggests how school mathematics could shift to focusing on Big Mathematical Ideas. 🔗 blog.lboro.ac.uk/cmc/2026/06/... #MathEd @lborodme.bsky.social @ukri.org
blog.lboro.ac.uk
Beyond the ‘To-Do List’ Curriculum: Why School Mathematics Needs to Focus on Big Mathematical Ideas  – Centre for Mathematical Cognition
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Colin Foster @colinfoster77.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
Does school mathematics sometimes feel like a checklist of disconnected procedures? What if instead we focused on five BIG IDEAS? Explore this brand new, comprehensive and completely free website for teachers: bigmathematicalideas.org #MathEd #MathTeacher #BigMathematicalIdeas
Logo for bigmathematicalideas.org, a website for mathematics teachers
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Reposted by Colin Foster
The Psychologist @psychmag.bsky.social · 07/11/2025
Evaluating the evaluation of psychology in UK universities… @lizstokoe.bsky.social @mjinglis.bsky.social @colinfoster77.bsky.social @hugolf.bsky.social @profvicsimms.bsky.social share tales from the Research Excellence Framework. www.bps.org.uk/psychologist...
bps.org.uk
Evaluating the evaluation of psychology in UK universities | BPS
Elizabeth Stokoe, Matthew Inglis, Colin Foster, Hugo Lortie-Forgues and Victoria Simms share tales from the Research Excellence Framework.
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Colin Foster @colinfoster77.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
** NEW ** Open Access article with Eletta Rainsford in @springernature.com found that students' confidence in their answers did not become better calibrated when they received feedback over the course of 9 questions. We found interesting gender effects: doi.org/10.1007/s107...
doi.org
Confidence Assessment, Calibration, and Gender - International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education
This study considers the utility of repeated confidence assessments for improving students’ calibration and investigates whether there are any associations between calibration and gender. Calibration ...
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Reposted by Colin Foster
Elizabeth Stokoe @lizstokoe.bsky.social · 27/10/2025
For anyone interested in #psychology, #research assessment and evaluation, how the expert panel rated research submitted to #REF2021 - and especially the fate of #qualitative research - our article in Cogent Psychology is #OpenAccess (link in next post). 1/2
Screenshot of article title, authors, and Abstract
Psychology and research assessment in the United Kingdom
Matthew Inglis,Colin Foster,Hugues Lortie-Forgues,Victoria Simms & Elizabeth Stokoe
Abstract
What can we learn about psychology research in the UK, and its perceived quality, from examining manuscripts submitted to the psychology, psychiatry and neuroscience subpanel of the 2021 Research Excellence Framework (REF2021)? Using a latent Dirichlet allocation topic modelling approach, we identified 33 topics which collectively summarised the content of the journal articles returned to the subpanel. We found that the composition of submissions to the subpanel, in terms of these topics, explained a large proportion of the variance in the quality assessments they received from the expert peer review subpanel. Our model identified topics which were typically associated with receiving higher and lower unit-level quality assessments. In our discussion we pay particular attention to the fate of qualitative research, and discuss possible accounts for why units who returned a large amount of qualitative work tended to receive lower quality assessments than those who did not.
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Colin Foster @colinfoster77.bsky.social · 06/10/2025
** NEW ** Open Access article with Aidan Stannard in @ssma1901.bsky.social found that mathematics teachers who practised predicting students' responses to diagnostic questions diagnosticquestions.com improved dramatically in a short time period. doi.org/10.1111/ssm....
diagnosticquestions.com
Diagnostic Questions
Better results, more confidence, less time
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Colin Foster @colinfoster77.bsky.social · 05/09/2025
** NEW ** Open Access article with Jacob Strauss and Tim Jay in the Canadian Journal of Science, Mathematics, and Technology Education on using the Cover-Copy-Compare technique to develop secondary school students’ mathematical procedural fluency with straight-line graphs. doi.org/10.1007/s423...
doi.org
The Effectiveness of a Cover-Copy-Compare App for Developing Secondary School Students’ Mathematical Procedural Fluency with Straight-Line Graphs - Canadian Journal of Science, Mathematics and Technol...
Cover-copy-compare (CCC) is a simple, self-managed process that enables students to develop fluency in important facts and procedures through modelling, practice and corrective feedback. CCC has been ...
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Reposted by Colin Foster
Jenny Cains @jennycains.bsky.social · 11/04/2025
In #mathstoday, inspired by @colinfoster77.bsky.social’s Mathematical Etudes, we’ve been combining mathematical thinking and fluency practice 😁 lots of rich conversations all round. Not bad for the last day of a very long term! 😴
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Reposted by Colin Foster
Vincent Giampietro @vincentgiampietro.bsky.social · 31/01/2025
Great paper by @colinfoster77.bsky.social and colleagues on applying principles of cognitive science in mathematics curriculum design. Not surprised to read that "Research-based design principles derived from sanitised experimental situations can be difficult to implement in specific real instances"
bera-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
The Curriculum Journal | BERA Journal | Wiley Online Library
There are increasingly frequent calls for school mathematics curricula to be informed by robust research evidence. One approach to achieving this is designing evidence-informed learning and teaching ...
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Reposted by Colin Foster
Natasha Guy @natashacguy.bsky.social · 27/01/2025
**NEW** paper from my fabulously talented colleague @bethwoollacott.bsky.social who’s work aims to bring research and practice in the early years closer together
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Reposted by Colin Foster
Beth Woollacott @bethwoollacott.bsky.social · 27/01/2025
"Effective research communication in education: Early years practitioners' views of research summaries" In my newest paper, I discuss the importance of understanding how early years practitioners engage with research & what I learnt from speaking to them.💡 Free access here: doi.org/10.1002/rev3...
doi.org
Review of Education | BERA Educational Research Journal | Wiley Online Library
For educational research findings to impact educational practice, effective communication is essential. One communication device is a summary that consolidates research literature and presents it in ...
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Reposted by Colin Foster
Loughborough University Department of Mathematics Education, UK @lborodme.bsky.social · 20/01/2025
Free open access article published today @tandfresearch.bsky.social about the challenges faced by Ukrainian refugee students learning mathematics in UK schools: doi.org/10.1080/0305... @colinfoster77.bsky.social
doi.org
Challenges faced by Ukrainian students learning mathematics in UK schools
Previous research on how UK schools can meet the needs of refugee students has not focused on Ukrainian refugee students’ learning of mathematics. This group faces specific challenges, simultaneous...
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Colin Foster @colinfoster77.bsky.social · 27/11/2024
** NEW ** Open Access article in Asian Journal for Mathematics Education on how school students’ mathematical confidence develops across a sequence of low-stakes formative assessments: doi.org/10.1177/2752...
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