Joining the University: Creation of an Identity, Participation in a Community of Practice and Construction of Success and Failure in Mathematics

Resumo

Nowadays university dropout and failure in mathematics are considered complex research issues. The literature around these topics advocates for holistic theoretical approaches. Following this suggestion, this article uses Situated Learning Theory for studying the processes through which freshmen students construct their identities while participating in practices of a university community, focusing particularly on the socio-cultural construction of success and failure in mathematics. Using a qualitative methodology, the research was carried out in a Computer Science degree programme, which is characterized by giving special importance to mathematics in the first-year curriculum and by having high dropout and failure rates. Data were collected during six months of ethnographic fieldwork involving six freshmen students and three first-year teachers. Data analysis gave rise to four emergent categories related to success and failure as socio-cultural constructions: labels used to categorise students, teacher-student relations, explanations around dropout, and differences between high school and higher education.