Colin Foster

  • Reader in Mathematics Education

I am a Reader in Mathematics Education in the Department of Mathematics Education at Loughborough University.

Before Loughborough, I was an Associate Professor and Director of Research in the School of Education at the University of Leicester, and before that I was an Assistant Professor in the Centre for Research in Mathematics Education at the University of Nottingham. Previously, I taught mathematics in secondary schools for 12 years. My first degree and PhD are from Magdalene College, Cambridge, and I obtained my PGCE from the University of Cambridge Faculty of Education.

I am a Chartered Mathematics Teacher, a Fellow of the International Society for Design and Development in Education and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

I was President of the Mathematical Association (2022-23).

For links to my research projects, articles and books, please see my personal website.

My research interests in mathematics education focus on the learning and teaching of mathematics in ways that support students’ conceptual understanding.

I am particularly interested in the design and use of rich tasks in the mathematics classroom, and in finding ways to enable students to develop the necessary fluency in mathematical processes to support them in solving mathematical problems. I am also exploring the use of confidence assessment as a tool for formative assessment.

I am a Co-Director of the ESRC Centre for Early Mathematics Learning.