Author: Reidar Mosvold

IEJME, July 2008

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TMME monograph

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The Montana Mathematics Enthusiast and editor Bharath Sriraman has released a new monograph. This time it is about Creativity, Giftedness, and Talent Development in Mathematics. Here is a copy of the web presentation of the monograph:

Our innovative spirit and creativity lies beneath the comforts and security of today’s technologically evolved society. Scientists, inventors, investors, artists and leaders play a vital role in the advancement and transmission of knowledge. Mathematics, in particular, plays a central role in numerous professions and has historically served as the gatekeeper to numerous other areas of study, particularly the hard sciences, engineering and business. Mathematics is also a major component in standardized tests in the U.S., and in university entrance exams in numerous parts of world.

Creativity and imagination is often evident when young children begin to develop numeric and spatial concepts, and explore mathematical tasks that capture their interest. Creativity is also an essential ingredient in the work of professional mathematicians. Yet, the bulk of mathematical thinking encouraged in the institutionalized setting of schools is focused on rote learning, memorization, and the mastery of numerous skills to solve specific problems prescribed by the curricula or aimed at standardized testing. Given the lack of research based perspectives on talent development in mathematics education, this monograph is specifically focused on contributions towards the constructs of creativity and giftedness in mathematics. This monograph presents new perspectives for talent development in the mathematics classroom and gives insights into the psychology of creativity and giftedness. The book is aimed at classroom teachers, coordinators of gifted programs, math contest coaches, graduate students and researchers interested in creativity, giftedness, and talent development in mathematics.

Limits of a sequence

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Kyeong Hah Roh has written an article that was recently published online in Educational Studies in Mathematics. The article is entitled Students’ images and their understanding of definitions of the limit of a sequence, and here is the abstract:

There are many studies on the role of images in understanding the concept of limit. However, relatively few studies have been conducted on how students’ understanding of the rigorous definition of limit is influenced by the images of limit that the students have constructed through their previous learning. This study explored how calculus students’ images of the limit of a sequence influence their understanding of definitions of the limit of a sequence. In a series of task-based interviews, students evaluated the propriety of statements describing the convergence of sequences through a specially designed hands-on activity, called the ɛ–strip activity. This paper illustrates how these students’ understanding of definitions of the limit of a sequence was influenced by their images of limits as asymptotes, cluster points, or true limit points. The implications of this study for teaching and learning the concept of limit, as well as on research in mathematics education, are also discussed.

Norwegian thesis: Tone Bulien

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Tone Bulien has defended her thesis (dr. polit): Matematikkopplevelser i lærerutdanningen : en fenomenologisk orientert narrativ analyse av studenttekster (in Norwegian). The thesis is freely available as a pdf, and here is the abstract:

The thesis is a study of texts from and interviews with six Norwegian teacher students enrolled in a compulsory course in mathematics. It is a critical constructive descriptive investigation where the aim has been to listen to the students sharing their experiences studying mathematics. The thesis is not intended as an evaluation of the teacher education program, the students’ work or methodology, but rather as a contribution towards defining the didactic challenges teacher training is faced with. The thesis proceeds from a phenomenological perspective, using narratives as an important feature in both the analysis itself and the presentation of the results. Using phenomenologically oriented knowledge sociology and theories of narrative analysis, a description of the students’ perceptions of teaching and learning mathematics, both prior to and in the course of the compulsory course, is made visible through narratives. The methodology employed is narrative analysis. The students’ experiences are divided into four main areas of beliefs: beliefs about mathematics in general, beliefs about themselves as practitioners of mathematics, beliefs about teaching mathematics, and beliefs about how mathematics are learnt. One of the results indicated that the students’ experience of the compulsory course in mathematics did not depend on their previously held beliefs on mathematics education or their attitudes towards mathematics in general. Another result was that about 50% of all the students had higher expectations about their grade at the beginning of the semester than what they actually ended up with at the end. The reason for this remains to be conclusively demonstrated, but it seems likely that the way mathematics is taught in a teacher training program differs from the students’ previous experiences in how to learn mathematics. This should be taken into consideration in prospective mathematics programs, for instance by supervising the students about their own beliefs in a meta-perspective by analyzing their own narratives and how they are subject to alterations during the course.

Real-life connections in Japan and the Netherlands

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One of my own articles have finally appeared in International Journal for Mathematics Teaching and Learning. The article is entitled “Real-life Connections in Japan and the Netherlands: National Teaching Patterns and Cultural Beliefs“. The article is freely available online, and here is the abstract:

The TIMSS 1999 Video Study revealed that Japan had the lowest (of the seven participating countries) amount of real-life connections in the eighth grade mathematics classrooms, whereas the Netherlands had the highest amount of connections with real life. This article examines more closely how these ideas were actually implemented by teachers in these two countries.

PME 32

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The PME conference this year is the 32. version of this annual research conference, and it is a joint meeting between the International Group and the North American Chapter of PME. The conference is held in Mexico. It starts today, and will finish on July 21. The program is downloadable as a pdf, and is voluminous. Take a look at the website, which contains lots of information, and feel free to tell me if you know about people who write about the conference in their blogs, twitter accounts, etc.

HPM 2008

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International Study Group on the Relations between History and Pedagogy of Mathematics (HPM) is arranging their annual satellite meeting of 2008 in Mexico, and it starts the day after ICME 11 has finished. The meeting is held from July 14-18, in Mexico City.

These are the main themes of HPM 2008:

  1. Integrating the History of Mathematics in Mathematics Education.
  2. Topics in the History of Mathematics Education.
  3. Mathematics and its relation to science, technology and the arts: historical issues and educational implications.
  4. Cultures and Mathematics.
  5. Historical, philosophical and epistemological issues in Mathematics Education.
  6. Mathematics from the Americas

Take a look at the program for further information!

ICME 11 – Day 7

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The last day of ICME 11 includes one plenary lecture and the final regular lectures. The plenary lecture, a report of Survey Team 4: “Representations of mathematical concepts, objects and processes in mathematics teaching and learning” is held by Gerald Goldin (USA).

If you know of anyone who has written about ICME 11 in their blogs, twitter accounts, etc., please let me know by posting a comment to this post!

ICME 11 – Day 6

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The penultimate day of ICME 11 starts with a plenary presentation. This presentation includes a report from Survey Team 3: “The impact of research findings in mathematics education on students´ learning of mathematics”. The presentation is held by Angel Gutiérrez (Spain).