Science and Mathematics 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 …

Fitting A Covid-19 Model Incorporating Senses Of Safety And Caution To Local Data From Spartanburg County, South Carolina, D. Chloe Griffin, Amanda Mangum

CODEE Journal

Common mechanistic models include Susceptible-Infected-Removed (SIR) and Susceptible-Exposed-Infected-Removed (SEIR) models. These models in their basic forms have generally failed to capture the nature of the COVID-19 pandemic's multiple waves and do not take into account public policies such as social distancing, mask mandates, and the ``Stay-at-Home'' orders implemented in early 2020. While the Susceptible-Vaccinated-Infected-Recovered-Deceased (SVIRD) model only adds two more compartments to the SIR model, the inclusion of time-dependent parameters allows for the model to better capture the first two waves of the COVID-19 pandemic when surveillance testing was common practice for a large portion of the population. We find …

Ode Models Of Wealth Concentration And Taxation, Bruce Boghosian, Christoph Borgers

CODEE Journal

We refer to an individual holding a non-negligible fraction of the country’s total wealth as an oligarch. We explain how a model due to Boghosian et al. can be used to explore the effects of taxation on the emergence of oligarchs. The model suggests that oligarchs will emerge when wealth taxation is below a certain threshold, not when it is above the threshold. The underlying mechanism is a transcritical bifurcation. The model also suggests that taxation of income and capital gains alone cannot prevent the emergence of oligarchs. We suggest several opportunities for students to explore modifications of the model.

Odes And Mandatory Voting, Christoph Borgers, Natasa Dragovic, Anna Haensch, Arkadz Kirshtein, Lilla Orr

CODEE Journal

This paper presents mathematics relevant to the question whether voting should be mandatory. Assuming a static distribution of voters’ political beliefs, we model how politicians might adjust their positions to raise their share of the vote. Various scenarios can be explored using our app at https: //centrism.streamlit.app/. Abstentions are found to have great impact on the dynamics of candidates, and in particular to introduce the possibility of discontinuous jumps in optimal candidate positions. This is an unusual application of ODEs. We hope that it might help engage some students who may find it harder to connect with the more customary …

Just Mathematics: Getting Started Teaching Postsecondary Math For Social Justice, Kenan A. Ince

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Following the summer 2020 civil rights movement and increasing attention to the intersections of mathematics with politics and power, many math educators have reported a desire to implement an antiracist pedagogy and to examine the intersections of their subject with issues of equity, inclusion, and social justice. Many resources exist for K-12 math educators interested in incorporating social justice into their curricula, but resources are comparatively scarce for college and university instructors (though this is changing quickly!). We discuss why one may want to teach mathematics for social justice, how to begin to implement issues of social justice into postsecondary …

Students Arts Participation Increases Stem Motivation Via Self-Efficacy, Stephen M. Dahlem

The STEAM Journal

This work found that there exists a correlation between student motivation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and student participation in the arts during high school with self-efficacy being a mediator. STEM is an important component of student success from a broad, national, perspective, as well as from a domain-specific point of view. The results of this work may provide aid to teachers, parents, administrators, and even students seeking to find ways to increase student motivation and performance in the STEM subjects. Additionally, this work may be of interest to advocates of the arts. This quantitative correlational study was …

Challenge-Based Learning & Steam Curriculum, Diana Lockwood

The STEAM Journal

STEAM education is being integrated into elementary schools as a way to engage more students in creativity, hands-on learning, and problem-based learning also referred to as Challenge-Based-Learning (CBL). This article focuses on elementary educators’ curriculum design for STEAM and presenting students with open-ended questions phrased as a challenge as a way to raise student interest and achievement (DeJarnette, 2018; Hunter-Doniger, 2018). When students received challenges to solve, they felt more open to sharing their ideas since there was more than one potential right answer (DeJarnette, 2018; Drake, 2012). When implementing CBL, teachers act as facilitators using a constructivist approach as …

Collapsing Spaces, Colliding Places: Leveraging Constructs From Humanistic Geography To Explore Mathematics Classes, Valentin A. B. Küchle, Shiv S. Karunakaran, Mariana Levin, John P. Smith Iii, Sarah Castle, Jihye Hwang, Yaomingxin Lu, Robert A. Elmore

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Humanistic geographers distinguish between space and place: “What begins as undifferentiated space becomes place as we get to know it better and endow it with value” (Tuan, 1977, page 6). In this essay, we seek to demonstrate how mathematics education researchers and mathematics instructors may find space and place illuminating for understanding important aspects of students’ learning experiences during the coronavirus pandemic—and possibly beyond. Specifically, after introducing the terms and relating them to the context of a university mathematics class, we exemplify how home and class places collided for three undergraduate mathematics students forced to deal with the abrupt …

Drawing Parallels In Art Science For Collaborative Learning: A Case Study, Karen Westland

The STEAM Journal

This research paper explores drawing as a tool to facilitate interdisciplinary practice. Outlined is the personal experience of PhD researcher [name removed] in their physics/craft research project, combined with thoughts and opinions from collaborators gathered through group discursive interviews. Interdisciplinary projects face interpersonal and conceptually ambiguous challenges which can be addressed through adopting drawing techniques for educational purposes. Findings highlight that drawing can assist across a breadth of applications as a learning tool for everyone, regardless of drawing ability, to improve the functionality of collaborative projects. Specifically, drawing combined with other communication techniques develops a performative communicative approach that enriches …

The Mathematics Of Gossip, Jessica Deters, Izabel P. Aguiar, Jacquie Feuerborn

CODEE Journal

How does a lie spread through a community? The purpose of this paper is two-fold: to provide an educational tool for teaching Ordinary Differential Equations (ODEs) and sensitivity analysis through a culturally relevant topic (fake news), and to examine the social justice implications of misinformation. Under the assumption that people are susceptible to, can be infected with, and recover from a lie, we model the spread of false information with the classic Susceptible-Infected-Recovered (SIR) model. We develop a system of ODEs with lie-dependent parameter values to examine the pervasiveness of a lie through a community.

The model presents the opportunity …

Symmetry And Measuring: Ways To Teach The Foundations Of Mathematics Inspired By Yupiaq Elders, Jerry Lipka, Barbara Adams, Monica Wong, David Koester, Karen Francois

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Evident in human prehistory and across immense cultural variation in human activities, symmetry has been perceived and utilized as an integrative and guiding principle. In our long-term collaborative work with Indigenous Knowledge holders, particularly Yupiaq Eskimos of Alaska and Carolinian Islanders in Micronesia, we were struck by the centrality of symmetry and measuring as a comparison-of-quantities, and the practical and conceptual role of qukaq [center] and ayagneq [a place to begin]. They applied fundamental mathematical principles associated with symmetry and measuring in their everyday activities and in making artifacts. Inspired by their example, this paper explores the question: Could symmetry …

Find, Process, And Share: An Optimal Control In The Vidale-Wolfe Marketing Model, Michael C. Barg

CODEE Journal

The Vidale-Wolfe marketing model is a first-order, linear, non-homogeneous ordinary differential equation (ODE) where the forcing term is proportional to advertising expenditure. With an initial response in sales as the initial condition, the solution of the initial value problem is straightforward for a first undergraduate ODE course. The model serves as an excellent example of many relevant topics for those students whose interests lie in economics, finance, or marketing. Its inclusion in the curriculum is particularly rewarding at an institution without a physics program. The model is not new, but it was novel to us when a group of students …

Ecoscience + Art Initiative: Designing A New Paradigm For College Education, Scholarship, And Service, Changwoo Ahn

The STEAM Journal

The paper presents a new initiative, EcoScience + Art, which blooms at George Mason University. The creator explains the background, history, and recent activities of the initiative, and also introduces an on-going special project called “The Rain Project”, a student participatory project to design, construct, and monitor a green infrastructure (i.e., floating wetland) for sustainable stormwater management on campus. The special project is geared to design and present a new paradigm to integrate college education, scholarship, and service. The relevance of the initiative and the special project to STEAM education is discussed.

From Stem To Steam: Reframing What It Means To Learn, Nicole M. Radziwill, Morgan C. Benton, Cassidy Moellers

The STEAM Journal

Although involvement in art and design have been shown to play an essential role in catalyzing STEM research, true integration is still an area of active research. The realization of STEM education via STEAM lends itself to interactive and participatory dialogic art; this juncture provides a nonjudgmental space to cultivate the question-making aspect of inquiry, the ability to comfortably hold uncertainty, and a sensitivity to the process of discovery. Even though STEM education can (and often is) inquiry-based, assessments still tend to focus on whether knowledge or skills have been obtained, and this is no different than the current general …

Merging Science And Art: The Bigger Picture, Natasha Hall

The STEAM Journal

It has been stated that artists comprehend and chronicle the completeness of the visible world (Wallach & Bret, 1987), defining Art as the creative expression of knowledge about the visual world. But to what extent does that awareness extend into a scientific appreciation of the world? The acronym STEAM is an abbreviation of Science, Technology, Electronics, Arts and Mathematics. Weaving interactions between Science and Art, have been shown by Clarke and Button (Clarke & Button, 2011), to intensify interconnections between nature, with Landscape, and ultimately with sustainability.

Getting Real About The E In Steam, James Catterall

The STEAM Journal

STEM and STEAM are in the news. Researchers and educators in my field (cognition, art, and creativity) argue reasons for adding the A to STEM. While I visit this below, my focus is elsewhere. In this brief essay, I want to explore the meaning and importance of the E appearing in both STEM and STEAM. What’s engineering doing in this mix? And what are some reasons for affirming the arts when the role of engineering is clarified?

A Workshop To Introduce Concepts Of Moral Math, Sarah Voss

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

"Moral Math" refers to the study of ideas drawn from mathematics which can positively impact moral decision-making and social behavior. This essay describes a workshop designed to introduce these ideas to interested individuals of varying degrees of mathematical and theological sophistication. Created by a retired minister and former math professor, the workshop details five sets of interactive exercises culled from game theory, theoretical complexity, fuzzy logic, basic algebra, and simple arithmetic. Exercises are user-friendly, interactive, and easily related by analogy to various social issues.

Popular Cultural Portrayals Of Those Who Do Mathematics, Carmen M. Latterell, Janelle L. Wilson

Humanistic Mathematics Network Journal

This article examines the popular cultural portrayals of mathematicians, but also anyone who does mathematics. Themes occurring in comic strips, television programs, literature, and, especially, in the movies are examined. Implications discussed include that secondary students are not going to be willing to do mathematics, if doing mathematics is not presented as a cultural activity.

Pat's Prologues: Introductions To The First Two Airings Of Math Medley, A Radio Talk Show, Patricia Clark Kenschaft

Humanistic Mathematics Network Journal

No abstract provided.

Book Review: The Teaching Gap By James W. Stigler And James Hiebert, Michael L. Brown

Humanistic Mathematics Network Journal

No abstract provided.

The School/Home Communication Project: A Study Of The Effect Of More Frequent Grade Reporting On The Achievement Of High School Mathematics Students, Robert Dean Rogers

Humanistic Mathematics Network Journal

No abstract provided.

Using Environmental News To Help Teach Mathematics, Barry Schiller

Humanistic Mathematics Network Journal

No abstract provided.

Letter To The New York Times, Arthur B. Powell, Miriam L. Yevick

Humanistic Mathematics Network Journal

No abstract provided.

Natural Math, Maria Droujkova

Humanistic Mathematics Network Journal

No abstract provided.

Manifesto On Mathematical Education, Saunders Mac Lane

Humanistic Mathematics Network Journal

No abstract provided.

The Profit Motive: The Bane Of Mathematics Education, Neal Koblitz

Humanistic Mathematics Network Journal

No abstract provided.

Teaching Global Issues Through Mathematics, Richard H. Schwartz

Humanistic Mathematics Network Journal

No abstract provided.

Introducing Undergraduates To Mathematics Information Resources, Sallie H. Barringer

Humanistic Mathematics Network Journal

No abstract provided.

Patterns Of Emotion Within Mathematics Problem-Solving, Frances A. Rosamond

Humanistic Mathematics Network Journal

There is often a divide between the experience of positive emotions toward math on the part of mathematical educators and negative emotions toward math on the part of students. This paper utilizes psychologist Richard Lazarus's work on the effects of positive emotions in order to highlight their benefits for mathematical pedagogy, to explain the author's experiment applying Lazarus's theory, and to suggest ways this application might support and foster positive emotions in students.