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Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

2015

Science and Mathematics Education

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Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Articles 1 - 9 of 9

Full-Text Articles in Education

Reflections On Math Students’ Circles: Two Personal Stories From Colorado, Diana White, Lori Ziegelmeier Jul 2015

Reflections On Math Students’ Circles: Two Personal Stories From Colorado, Diana White, Lori Ziegelmeier

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Math Students’ Circles provide an opportunity for mathematicians to work in their communities to engage young students in mathematics as a human, aesthetic, and social endeavor. Sometimes referred to simply as Math Circles, these venues give mathematicians experience in introducing children to topics not typically seen in school curricula in an exciting, hands-on format. This article explores two Math Students’ Circles (MSCs) in the state of Colorado from the point of view of two pre-tenure faculty members. One participated in MSCs for four years while working on her Ph.D. in mathematics, the other started an MSC as an offshoot of …

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On Similarities And Differences Between Proving And Problem Solving, Milos Savic Jul 2015

On Similarities And Differences Between Proving And Problem Solving, Milos Savic

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

A link between proving and problem solving has been established in the literature [5, 21]. In this paper, I discuss similarities and differences between proving and problem solving using the Multidimensional Problem-Solving Framework created by Carlson and Bloom [2] with Livescribepen data from a previous study [13]. I focus on two participants’ proving processes: Dr. G, a topologist, and L, a mathematics graduate student. Many similarities between the framework and the proving processes of Dr. G and L were revealed, but there were also some differences. In addition, there were some distinct differences between the proving actions of the …

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Attitudes And Experiences In Liberal Arts Mathematics, Jennifer Clinkenbeard Jul 2015

Attitudes And Experiences In Liberal Arts Mathematics, Jennifer Clinkenbeard

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

For many university students, the last formal experience in a mathematics classroom is a single semester “general education” mathematics class. Traditionally, students in this type of class often hold negative attitudes towards mathematics. Here I study a sample of students from this population (49 students at a large, urban, comprehensive public university enrolled in a “math for liberal arts majors” course) to research whether a positive experience in a freshman-level general education mathematics course correlates with a positive change in the students’ attitude towards mathematics in general. I also explore which specific aspects of such a course contribute most to …

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E-Brock Bugs©: An Epistemic Mathematics Computer Game, Laura Broley, Chantal Buteau, Eric Muller Jul 2015

E-Brock Bugs©: An Epistemic Mathematics Computer Game, Laura Broley, Chantal Buteau, Eric Muller

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Devlin in [7] argues that video games are an ideal medium for the teaching and learning of mathematics, though he points out that very few ’good’ mathematics video games exist. Building on a probabilistic board game developed in the 1980s, we created a mathematics computer game, E-Brock Bugs. The design of the game carefully follows Devlin’s principles of a good mathematics video game, including a well-developed storyline, the selection of an in-game avatar, and an environment where mathematics arises in a natural and meaningful way. As a result, we argue that E-Brock Bugs is an epistemic computer game [1]; …

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On Mathematics And Culture: Insights From An International School, M. Sencer Corlu, Burcu Alapala Jan 2015

On Mathematics And Culture: Insights From An International School, M. Sencer Corlu, Burcu Alapala

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

We explore the factors that influence the relationship between mathematics and culture in the international school context. First, we share some thoughts about international schools in general and the international mathematics curriculum implemented at the middle grades level at our school in particular. Second, we present some interesting snapshots from our culturally-diverse mathematics classrooms.

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How Can Mathematics Students Learn To Play?, Christopher K. Storm, Holly Zullo Jan 2015

How Can Mathematics Students Learn To Play?, Christopher K. Storm, Holly Zullo

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

When we teach mathematics, we strive to teach students to think like mathematicians. In this paper we discuss one particular mathematical habit of mind that students do not naturally display. More specifically our study of voting patterns in data collected from classroom voting questions indicates that the undergraduate students who were in the classes using these questions did not understand the significance of counterexamples to statements, or lacked the ability to construct them, or both. Searching for counterexamples to disprove statements is a natural habit of mind for professional mathematicians. In this paper we give examples, and make some recommendations. …

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Recreational Mathematics – Only For Fun?, Lovisa Sumpter Jan 2015

Recreational Mathematics – Only For Fun?, Lovisa Sumpter

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

In this paper, I explore recreational mathematics from two perspectives. I first study how the concept appears in educational policy documents such as standards, syllabi, and curricula from a selection of countries to see if and in what way recreational mathematics can play a part in school mathematics. I find that recreational mathematics can be a central part, as in the case of India, but also completely invisible, as in the standards from USA. In the second part of the report, I take an educational historical approach. I observe that throughout history, recreational mathematics has been an important tool for …

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Improving Project Success In An Online Mathematics Course, David Shoenthal Jan 2015

Improving Project Success In An Online Mathematics Course, David Shoenthal

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

With more mathematics courses migrating to online environments, it is important to know whether these courses are comparable to their face-to-face counterparts. To that end, in two different years, I taught an online and a face-to-face section of the same finite mathematics course. After analyzing the data regarding differences in the two sections for the first year, I incorporated changes intended to improve the consistency of project success between the two sections as well as the overall success of the class projects in the online section. My main tool was mimicking the interaction of group members and providing immediate instructor …

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On The Persistence And Attrition Of Women In Mathematics, Katrina Piatek-Jimenez Jan 2015

On The Persistence And Attrition Of Women In Mathematics, Katrina Piatek-Jimenez

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

The purpose of this study was to investigate what motivates women to choose mathematics as an undergraduate major and to further explore what shapes their future career goals, paying particular attention to their undergraduate experiences and their perceptions of the role of gender in these decisions. A series of semi-structured, individual interviews were conducted with twelve undergraduate women mathematics majors who were attending either a large public university or a small liberal arts college. This study found that strong mathematical identities and enjoyment of mathematics heavily influenced their decisions to major in mathematics. At the career selection stage, these women …

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