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Articles 1 - 9 of 9

Full-Text Articles in Education

My Mathematics, Karen Morgan Ivy Jul 2013

My Mathematics, Karen Morgan Ivy

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

This poem reflects a personal kaleidoscopic perspective into a world of actively engaging others in teaching and learning mathematics.


Selling Mathematics: Service & Quality, Jon Jacobsen Jul 2013

Selling Mathematics: Service & Quality, Jon Jacobsen

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Is there a difference between teaching mathematics and selling mathematics? The author presents his personal experience on the topic and reflects on how this perspective can be used to improve public perception of and engagement with mathematics.


Math Stories: Learning And Doing Mathematics Through Fiction Writing, Frederick Chen, Janna Raley Jul 2013

Math Stories: Learning And Doing Mathematics Through Fiction Writing, Frederick Chen, Janna Raley

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

In this paper, we advocate the writing of mathematical fiction (i) as an aid for students in learning mathematics, and (ii) to engage students in doing mathematics.


Cultural Immersion And Mathematics Teacher Education: Explorations In Morocco And South Africa, Kori L.H. Maxwell, Iman C. Chahine Jul 2013

Cultural Immersion And Mathematics Teacher Education: Explorations In Morocco And South Africa, Kori L.H. Maxwell, Iman C. Chahine

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

This article examines the first author's personal experiences as a mathematics educator studying ethnomathematics and indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) through immersion in indigenous cultures. In describing these encounters, we highlight the importance and impact of cultural immersion experiences on educators' perspectives regarding the nature of mathematical knowledge. We argue that cultural immersion not only builds a well-rounded individual, but also provides educators with the necessary tools to maintain relevance in the diverse and constantly evolving landscape that is the classroom. Insights gained from this study have direct implications in our teaching practices as they remind us to be mindful of …


At The Gate Of Discovery, Jan Nordgreen Jan 2013

At The Gate Of Discovery, Jan Nordgreen

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

This is the story of how a mathematical problem was discovered. Although it was never solved, it gave great joy to the discoverer.


Developing A Healthy Scepticism About Technology In Mathematics Teaching, Peter J. Rowlett Jan 2013

Developing A Healthy Scepticism About Technology In Mathematics Teaching, Peter J. Rowlett

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

A reflective account is presented of experiences which took place alongside a research project and caused a change in approach to be more sceptical about implementation of learning technology. A critical evaluation is given of a previous e-assessment research project, undertaken from a position of naive enthusiasm for learning technology. Experiences of teaching classes and designing assessment tasks lead to doubts regarding the extent to which the previous project encouraged deep learning and contributed to graduate skills development. Investigations of the benefits of another technology – in-class response systems – lead to revelations about learning technology: its enthusiastic introduction in …


Incorporating Pólya’S Problem Solving Method In Remedial Math, Shenglan Yuan Jan 2013

Incorporating Pólya’S Problem Solving Method In Remedial Math, Shenglan Yuan

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

György Pólya’s problem solving method has influenced generations of mathematicians and non-mathematicians alike. Though almost all math teachers have come across Pólya’s problem solving method, his ideas are not regularly implemented in the classroom. Few studies have examined the effectiveness of his approach in teaching remedial math. In this article we revisit this once well-known teaching method and show how it can be used in basic skills math classes to ease student fears of math, and potentially change their common misconceptions of the subject.


Teaching The Complex Numbers: What History And Philosophy Of Mathematics Suggest, Emily R. Grosholz Jan 2013

Teaching The Complex Numbers: What History And Philosophy Of Mathematics Suggest, Emily R. Grosholz

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

The narrative about the nineteenth century favored by many philosophers of mathematics strongly influenced by either logic or algebra, is that geometric intuition led real and complex analysis astray until Cauchy and Kronecker in one sense and Dedekind in another guided mathematicians out of the labyrinth through the arithmetization of analysis. Yet the use of geometry in most cases in nineteenth century mathematics was not misleading and was often key to important developments. Thus the geometrization of complex numbers was essential to their acceptance and to the development of complex analysis; geometry provided the canonical examples that led to the …


Changing The Order Of Mathematics Test Items: Helping Or Hindering Student Performance?, Kristin T. Kennedy, Allison G. Butler Jan 2013

Changing The Order Of Mathematics Test Items: Helping Or Hindering Student Performance?, Kristin T. Kennedy, Allison G. Butler

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

This paper recounts an experiment by a mathematics professor who primarily teaches mathematics majors. The main question explored is whether the ordering of the questions makes a difference as to how students perform in a test. More specifically we focus here on the following research questions:\ (1) Does arranging a math test with easy-to-hard items versus hard-to-easy items impact student performance? and (2) If so, does item order impact male and female mathematics majors and non-majors in unique ways? We examine data collected over multiple semesters with several different classes. We find that for most of the mathematics students who …