Education Commons^™

7th International Conference On Creative Mathematical Sciences Communication (Cmsc`24), Frances A. Rosamond

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

The 7th International Creative Mathematical Sciences Communication (CMSC) conference is scheduled for October 2024 in Trier, Germany. Initiated in Darwin, Australia in 2013, CMSC aims to explore novel methods of imparting computational thinking to diverse audiences including non-specialists, modern citizens, and children. Participants from around the world and from various and interdisciplinary disciplines such as science, education, dance, drama, and visual arts convene to exchange ideas, present experimental approaches, and collaborate on engaging children in the exploration of ongoing, unresolved research challenges.

The Value Of Adding Nothing: A Call For Reform-Oriented Polynomial Division, Jonathan Clark, Jeneva Clark

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

The call to implement reform practices in schools reflects the historical turn away from the behaviorist theory of learning in education. Yet the praxis of this turn remains a significant challenge, particularly within mathematics classrooms where procedural memorization is emphasized. In this article, we show one means of how to advance our pursuit of meaningful mathematics into polynomial division. Building on the literature for reform-based division methods, an alternative to the long division algorithm will be explored that relies solely on adding zero and fundamental algebraic principles.

Building Communities Of Care For Equity, Justice, And Culturally Responsive Practice In Mathematics Education, Nicole Fletcher, B Waid

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Teaching is widely considered one of the “caring professions,” but conceptualizations of care and how care is put into practice in education are not universal. In this article, we draw from a range of perspectives on care that integrate supportive interpersonal relationships, high expectations, and culturally relevant theories of critical care, as well as Queer Theory and Disability Justice, to explore the application of these ideas in mathematics education. We identify key elements for building communities of care in mathematics education contexts: co-constructing community agreements, redefining participation, shifting traditional power structures, collaborative problem solving, and building networks of care beyond …

Sociomathematical Norms And Automated Proof Checking In Mathematical Education: Reflections And Experiences, Merlin Carl

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

According to a widely held view, mathematical proofs are essentially (indications of) formal derivations, and thus in principle mechanically checkable (this view is defended, for example, by Azzouni [3]). This should in particular hold for the kind of simple proof exercises typically given to students of mathematics learning to write proofs. If that is so, then automated proof checking should be an attractive option for math education at the undergraduate level. An opposing view would be that mathematical proofs are social objects and that what constitutes a mathematical proof can thus not be separated from the social context in which …

Mathematical Anxiety In The Turkish Context: Mathematical Experiences Of High School Students, Vahap Yorgun, Serdal Mert

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Although a handful of studies have investigated the prevalence of math anx- iety among Turkish school children and its relationship with several variables like attitudes toward math, gender, self-efficacy, parental style, there is as of now no study focusing on development psychological interventions to cope with math anxiety. Most of the extant studies use quantitative approaches, but in order to develop intervention programs, researchers need to know how math anxiety develops, what kinds of personal variables or factors take place in this process, and what kind of emotional and cognitive reactions hold by students about math. Thus in our research, …

The Conviction Of Miss Prediction, Dane C. Joseph

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Miss Prediction is questioned in a court of law over her involvement in the mischaracterization of linear models when they were inappropriate.

Polygon Quadrature And Dodecagonal Tessellation With Pattern Blocks, Gunhan Caglayan, Ben Kamau

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

The age-old challenge of polygon quadrature involves converting a polygon into a square of equal area. In this educational resource, we utilize pattern blocks, commonly employed instructional aids in K-12 education across the United States, to visually demonstrate the transformation of different equilateral and regular pattern block polygons into squares. This is achieved through the application of the area conservation principle and geometric congruence/similarity reasoning.

Seating Groups And 'What A Coincidence!': Mathematics In The Making And How It Gets Presented, Peter J. Rowlett

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Mathematics is often presented as a neatly polished finished product, yet its development is messy and often full of mis-steps that could have been avoided with hindsight. An experience with a puzzle illustrates this conflict. The puzzle asks for the probability that a group of four and a group of two are seated adjacently within a hundred seats, and is solved using combinatorics techniques.

Undergraduate Mathematics Students Question And Critique Society Through Mathematical Modeling, Will Tidwell, Amy Bennett

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Mathematics can be used as a tool to question and critique society and, in doing so, give us more information about the world around us and how it operates. This however, is not a common perspective that is conveyed to students during their undergraduate mathematics coursework. This paper contributes to the understanding of how undergraduate mathematics students question and critique society via mathematical modeling tasks. In two courses at two universities, 27 mathematics majors and secondary preservice teachers engaged in the modeling process situated in authentic contexts to learn specific concepts and make mathematical connections across domains and disciplines. Both …

Sharing Four Biscuits Between Three People: An Illustrative Example Of How Mathematics Is Intertwined With Human Values, Lovisa Sumpter, David Sumpter

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Despite convincing arguments by mathematicians, philosophers, sociologists and machine learning practitioners to the contrary, there remains a widespread notion amongst many members of the general public (and some practitioners) that mathematics is neutral, that it is free from human values. One reason why this notion persists is that we lack clear-cut examples that demonstrate how mathematics and values are intertwined. In this paper, we offer one such example. In particular, we show that when sharing four biscuits between three people, several possible mathematical and ethical frameworks can be used. We demonstrate that different solutions—hiding one biscuit, arbitrarily sharing the extra …

Finding Your Mathematical Roots: Inclusion And Identity Development In Mathematics, Linda Mcguire

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

This paper details a semester-long course project that has been successfully adapted for use in mathematics courses ranging from introductory level, general-education classes to advanced courses in the mathematics major. Through creating aspirational mathematical family trees and writing mathematical autobiographies, this assignment is designed to help battle belonging uncertainty, to challenge students to self-situate in relation to the history of mathematical and scientific knowledge, and to make visible a student’s developing identity in mathematics and, more broadly, in STEM.

The construction and scaffolding of the project, assignments, examples of student work, foundational readings, assessment and outcomes, and adaptation strategies for …

Gödel's Theorem In The Continuing Education Of Mathematics Teachers, Ana J. Lemes

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

The notion of dépaysement épistémologique (epistemological disorientation) aims to capture the sense of disorientation when a learner is led to question their prior assumptions and understandings, generating uncertainty in a context in which they thought they had certain knowledge. This article describes an activity used with a group of practicing mathematics teachers in Uruguay that integrates elements of the history of mathematics related to Gödel’s incompleteness theorem, with the aim of provoking in the participants the experience of dépaysement épistémologique. Results show that several of the teachers participating in the activity felt dépaysement épistémologique, and this feeling triggered …