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Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons™
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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics
College Students’ Images Of Mathematicians And Mathematical Careers, Katrina Piatek-Jimenez, Miranda Nouhan, Michaela Williams
College Students’ Images Of Mathematicians And Mathematical Careers, Katrina Piatek-Jimenez, Miranda Nouhan, Michaela Williams
Journal of Humanistic Mathematics
In this paper we report our findings of college students’ images of mathematicians and we reflect on different methodologies used to assess this information. The study reported in this paper was conducted in two stages. During the first stage, we asked 179 college students to “draw a mathematician” and also asked them to list five characteristics and five careers for a mathematician. In the second stage of the study, we conducted four focus group interviews with a total of twelve college students. During the focus group interviews, we showed the students 16 photos of real people and asked them to …
What Gets Checked At The Door? Embracing Students' Complex Mathematical Identities, Jennifer L. Ruef
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 …