Jeroen Spandaw

Background 

Jeroen Spandaw is an assistant professor in mathematics at the faculty of Applied Sciences, who is mostly involved in teacher training for the MSc programme Science Education and Communication. He has a background in theoretical mathematics, but also obtained a first degree teaching qualification in mathematics and physics. He has a special interest in peer instruction, problem solving, and mathematical modelling. As Jeroen explains: “Even though the physical space we live in is not itself a mathematical space, we are able to an amazing degree to describe this space in mathematical terms. As Galileo once put it, the book of nature is written in the language of mathematics. The tricky part, however, is how to move between the two, between physical reality on the one hand, and mathematics on the other. This is something that students can really struggle with. One of the things that I spent a lot of time on, is examining where students struggle and what you can do as a teacher to  help them.”

Towards IDEE 

When the call for the IDEE went out, Jeroen felt a strong connection to the theme of Retention of Knowledge and Skills. For Jeroen, the project forms the perfect opportunity to work on a problem that is underlying a common misconception. The misconception being that students struggle with mathematical modelling, because their basic mathematical skills are insufficient. As Jeroen explains, “This is a complaint that I often hear, but I don’t think this is the main cause of students’ difficulties. What students struggle most with is the application part of mathematical modelling. What you are doing is describing an appropriately simplified model of the physical world in mathematical terms, and this requires a deep understanding of the way in which physical and mathematical concepts relate to one another.”

As part of IDEE 

“With IDEE, it would be great if we could make the connections between different disciplines more explicit. This is something that most programmes would benefit from. Having richly connected, meaningful cognitive schema’s of mathematical and engineering knowledge will likely facilitate retrieval, increase retention and enhance transfer.”   

Did you know that ...?

• Jeroen supervises a number of PhDs who investigate peer instruction in mathematics education in secondary and tertiary education. 
• Jeroen is interested in many domains of theoretical mathematics and in fundamental physics.