Education Commons^™

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 …

What Gets Checked At The Door? Embracing Students' Complex Mathematical Identities, Jennifer L. Ruef

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Identity formation is complex, ongoing, and context specific. To be successful in mathematics classes, students must negotiate and navigate the normative identity of the class--what counts as being "good at math" (Cobb, Gresalfi & Hodge, 2009). Within the constraints of normative identity, students must also negotiate a personal doer-of-math identity: who they are within the context of this particular mathematics class. When students are compelled to suppress key aspects of their identity in order to accommodate the normative identity of the class cognitive bandwidth for learning may be impeded (Steele, 1997). Conversely, when students are guided in braiding individual identity …