Lara Alcock is a British mathematics educator. She is a professor in mathematics education at

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public university, public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university sinc ...

, head of the Mathematics Education Centre at Loughborough, and the author of several books on mathematics. Alcock won the Selden Prize for her research in mathematics education and the inaugural John Blake University Teaching Medal in 2021. Alcock is a National Teaching Fellow.

Education

Alcock earned bachelor's and master's degrees in mathematics at the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded in 1965 as part of ...

, and in 2001 completed a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in mathematics education at Warwick. Her PhD research on ''Categories, definitions and mathematics: Student reasoning about objects in analysis'', was supervised by Adrian Simpson.

Career and research

After working as an assistant professor at

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

in New Jersey, she returned to the UK as a teaching fellow at

Essex University The University of Essex is a public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, it is one of the original plate glass universities. The university comprises three campuses in the county, in Southend-on-Sea and ...

. She moved to Loughborough in 2007.Reviews of ''Mathematics Rebooted'':

Publications

Alcock's publications include: * ''Ideas from Mathematics Education: An Introduction for Mathematicians'' (with Adrian Simpson, Higher Education Academy, 2009) * ''How to Study for a Mathematics Degree'' / ''How to Study as a Mathematics Major'' (UK/US; Oxford University Press, 2013); ''Wie man erfolgreich Mathematik studiert'' (translated into German by Bernhard Gerl, Springer Spektrum, 2017) * ''How to Think about Analysis'' (Oxford University Press, 2014) * ''Mathematics Rebooted: A Fresh Approach to Understanding'' (Oxford University Press, 2017) * ''How to Think About Abstract Algebra'' (Oxford University Press, 2021)

Awards and honours

Alcock is the 2012 winner of the Annie and John Selden Prize for research in undergraduate

mathematics education In contemporary education, mathematics education—known in Europe as the didactics or pedagogy of mathematics—is the practice of teaching, learning, and carrying out Scholarly method, scholarly research into the transfer of mathematical know ...

, given by the

Mathematical Association of America The Mathematical Association of America (MAA) is a professional society that focuses on mathematics accessible at the undergraduate level. Members include university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary edu ...

. She was named a National Teaching Fellow by the

Higher Education Academy Advance HE (formerly the Higher Education Academy) is a British charity and professional membership scheme promoting excellence in higher education. It advocates evidence-based teaching methods and awards fellowships as professional recogniti ...

in 2015. Alcock was the inaugural winner of the

Institute of Mathematics and its Applications The Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (IMA) is the UK's chartered professional body for mathematicians and one of the UK's learned societies for mathematics (another being the London Mathematical Society). The IMA aims to advance ...

John Blake University Teaching Medal in 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alcock, Lara Year of birth missing (living people) Living people British mathematicians British women mathematicians British mathematics educators Alumni of the University of Warwick Rutgers University faculty Academics of Loughborough University