Mathematics Education Newsletter

December, 2005

 

 

New Reviews Section Inaugurated with this Issue!

As part of our ever-expanding function, the newsletter team has instituted an occasional series of reviews of provocative and compelling resources for mathematics education. The first review in this series is from Patricia Tresnan, a former graduate student at Arcadia currently teaching mathematics in the Jenkintown School District. Trisha shares her critical reading of Rethinking Mathematics: Teaching Social Justice by the Numbers, edited by Eric Gutstein and Bob Peterson, published by Rethinking Schools in 2005.

 

New Mathematics Education Website Source of Much Information. The new Arcadia Mathematics Education Website (http://gargoyle.arcadia.edu/appelbaum/matheduc/arcadiamathed.htm) continues to provide useful information to members of the Arcadia Mathematics Education Community. We’re still interested in featuring recent graduates of our mathematics education programs. Please send updated information to Peter at appelbaum@arcadia.edu.

 

Graduate Colloquia Promise Intrigue and Opportunity

Each year’s Graduate Colloquium Series brings new ideas and opportunities to those who attend the events. Schedules of the numerous programmed events are available through the Graduate Studies Office (http://www.arcadia.edu/academic/default.aspx?id=1317). Two more mathematics education colloquia are scheduled for this year:

TEACHERS AND MATHEMATICS CURRICULUM MATERIALS: Toward a Theory of Participatory Use

January 31, 2006
Dr. Remillard will discuss and critique the research on teachers’ use of mathematics curriculum materials, present a framework for guiding future studies, and offer recommendations for practice.

 

Janine Remillard, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Education; Co-P.I., MetroMath: The Center for Mathematics in America’s Cities, Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania

MATHEMATICS AND THE EUROPEAN ENLIGHTENMENT

March 7, 2006
European savants of the 1700’s called their own age “The Enlightenment”.  Led by people like Voltaire, John Locke and Thomas Jefferson, people tried to put human affairs on a sound scientific foundation, and to ground science itself in mathematics.  Through the century, one figure, Swiss mathematician and scientist Leonard Euler, stood at the peak of the mathematical and scientific world. Euler, who led the scientific academies of Peter the Great, Frederick the Great and, finally, Catherine the Great, was a modest and pious scholar, yet his mathematics and scientific world view did much to enable our modern ideas of liberty and human rights.  

 

Ed Sandifer, Ph.D., Professor of Mathematics, West Connecticut State University; Secretary of the Euler Society; Columnist, Mathematical Association of America Web site: www.mma.org/news/howeulerdidit.html

 

Spring Courses in Mathematics Education

 

CS409.1     DataStruc/Algo Anal(3) 5:45pm-7:00pm           TR    Staff

CS428E.1    Prg Lang:Vis Basic(3)  5:45pm-7:00pm           TR    Motter

MA422.1     Abstract Algebra(3)    5:45pm-7:25pm           MW    Yoo

MA442.1     Math Statistics I(3)   4:00pm-5:40pm           MW    Wolff

MA431.1     Modern Coll Geometry(3)6:00pm-9:10pm           R     Lee  

 

ED526A.1     Lrng&Assess Ele Math(3)  4:00pm-6:50pm           R    Appelbaum

ED528A.1     Prom Solv/Prob Pos(3)    7:10pm-10:00pm          W    Dugan

ED528B.1     Clinical Math Edu(3)     4:00pm-6:50pm           M    Appelbaum

ED565B.1     Comp& Tech Math Ed(3)    4:00pm-6:50pm           T    Staff

 

Don’t forget the many other courses in education not specifically in mathematics that may be of interest! Check out the course offerings at the Arcadia website: http://www.arcadia.edu, or at “my arcadia”: http://www.my/arcadia.edu

 

These courses are open to students pursuing a degree or certification, and also to folks interested in just taking a course or two. Spread the word! Tell friends and family about the opportunities here at Arcadia.

 

Time to start collecting summer opportunities for your students?

Here’s one of the first to be advertising for Summer 2006: The Michigan Math and Science Scholars program is held at the University of Michigan every summer and its short, 2 week, not-for-credit courses are taught by university professors in a non-threatening, fun environment. For more information including an online application, please visit their website: http://www.math.lsa.umich.edu/mmss/index.html. Please send any info you have on programs for elementary and middle school students! These are harder to find!

 

 

NCTM Rethinking the Algebra Standard: Workshop Deadlines Soon Approaching

Gain an interactive overview of the algebra expectations for each grade-band (PK–2 , 3–5, 6–8, and 9–12 ) as defined in NCTM’s Principles and Standards for School Mathematics. These 90-minute E-Workshops will offer approaches and techniques for integrating algebraic concepts in the classroom, explore selected activities from NCTM’s journals and Navigating through Algebra publications, provide activities for classroom implementation, and include a follow-up session to reflect and discuss the impact of the activities on student learning.

Grades 6-8: http://www.signup4.net/Public/ap.aspx?EID=IMPL70E

Grades 9-12: http://www.signup4.net/Public/ap.aspx?EID=IMPL72E

 

Book Review

Eric Gutstein & Bob Peterson (eds). 2005. Rethinking Mathematics: Teaching Social Justice by the Numbers. Milwaukee, WI: Rethinking Schools. ISBN 0-942961-54-4. Paperback • 180 pages. $16.95. Publisher Info: http://rethinkingschools.org/publication/math/

 

By Patricia Marnien Tresnan, Mathematics Teacher, Jenkintown Schools

 

This book edited by Eric Gutstein and Bob Peterson is a collection of mathematics lessons contributed by a variety of middle school and high school educators that incorporates mathematics into broader discussions of social justice.  The intent of the book is to present teachers with nearly ready-made lessons that expose students to a variety of social issues both in the United States and abroad.  The contributors have written lessons that use mathematics as a tool to uncover, quantify, and understand social injustice, and employ mathematics to create solutions to problems of social, political, and economic inequality. 

            The book presents a radical new way of thinking about the teaching of math.  The contributors tell of students being engaged in math class in a way that most teachers dream of.  Math teachers have always sought out examples and applications that appeal to students: examples that indicate how this material can be useful to the students’ future lives.  However, most textbooks and supplemental resources do a woeful job of presenting significantly interesting applications, and teachers struggle to find materials and methods that convince students of the subject’s value.  This book presents several units that are designed not only to engage students in the study of math but to also convince them that they can use mathematics to critically examine their world, and take actions to improve it.  The idea of being able to engage students on such a level is inspiring and thought-provoking, and will set most teachers to thinking about how to implement at least some aspects of these lessons into the curriculum.  The contributions cover such topics as racial profiling, unemployment, wealth distribution, the global labor market, and slavery.  The mathematical topics range from fractions and percents to data collection and integrals. 

            The book will not, of course, take the place of a whole year’s curriculum; but there are lessons that can be fit into or adapted to any math course from the 6th to 12th grades.  However, any lesson taken out of or adapted from this book will take a great deal of thought and planning, both in the mathematics and the discussion of the social topic. Since math teachers are not trained in conducting discussions on social issues, some may be uncomfortable making the transition from talking about mathematics to a discussion that critically analyzes social issues, the ramifications they have on students’ lives, and the possible solutions to correcting the world’s inequities.  Such a shift can be a daunting undertaking. The chapter contributors, teachers who have successfully implemented these lessons in their classrooms,  do an excellent job making suggestions on how to lead such discussions, and also give many examples of common student responses and how to respond to them. 

            The book has come under a great deal of criticism, primarily from the conservative sector.  A vocal critic has been Diane Ravitch, a research professor at New York University, who served as an assistant secretary for educational research and improvement during George W. Bush’s first administration.  Her review of the book appeared in the June 20, 2005, Wall Street Journal.  One reprinting of her review can be found at http://weblogs.elearning.ubc.ca/ross/archives/013899.html .  Ravitch’s curriculum vitae (http://www.dianeravitch.com/) displays a varied and rich career in post-secondary education, which leads one to wonder why she would begin her WSJ review with an insult to all mathematics educators, “It seems our math educators no longer believe in the beauty and power of the principles of mathematics.”  One wonders whether she actually read the book, since it is entirely about the power of mathematics.  Ravitch also makes the tired and age-old comparison of American education to that of other countries, stating, “It seems terribly old-fashioned to point out that the countries that regularly beat our students in international tests of mathematics do not
use the subject to steer students into political action.”  It is also a vast over-simplification of the varying cultural attitudes toward education that account for the radical differences in the way those other countries educate their children. What Diane Ravitch and other conservative groups seem to be upset about is that the book seeks to empower the less powerful, the disadvantaged, the discriminated against.  It may spur them into “political action.” 

            At the end of her review, Ravitch emphasized the importance of mathematics education, saying, “[t]he students who learn this universal language well will be the builders and shapers of technology in the twenty-first century.”  Perhaps Ravitch does not want certain types of students to be the builders and shapers of the 21st century: the ones that may upset the status quo, demand equity, correct social ills caused by unequal wealth distribution, and use math to do it. 

            Ultimately, Ravitch’s fears about the future of mathematics education will be unrealized.  Traditional curriculums will never be completely replaced; there is simply too much mathematics to be learned in too short a time.  However, they can be enriched and made relevant.  They can be better designed to encourage students toward careers in the sciences and in technology, instead of deterring them from such professions.  “Rethinking Mathematics” is one tool to enable teachers to reframe their beliefs of how to teach and how students can perceive the study of math.  It should be seen as such: one tool among many to improve the quality of education for our students. Additional information about math education and other disciplines can be found at www.rethinkingschools.org.

 

Announcements:

  • Problem of the Week Membership Now Required

http://mathforum.org/pow/powstatus.html The Math Forum now requires a membership to access their problem of the week materials. Individual (student and/or teacher/parent) and institutional options are available.

  • Technology Problems of the Week are now available in Spanish

http://mathforum.org/workshops/tpow.html/ Technology Problems of the Week (tPoWs) take advantage of interactive mathematics tools such as Java applets, Geometer's Sketchpad, Fathom, or spreadsheets. Students are invited to use the link "Submit your answer" to share their solutions, and then "self-mentor" using specially designed hints, checks, and suggestions for extensions.

  • EBay Searches using the keyword mathematician always bring up a large number of items

http://search.ebay.com/mathematician_W0QQfromZR40 . Try it and see for yourself!

  • Interested in a competition for the best unit plan based on the film Proof?

View the trailer at http://www.miramax.com/proof/ Contact Peter about ideas for this competition, your willingness to serve on a review board that considers submissions, etc.

 

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Your AdvisorJ

Peter Appelbaum does not have any official office hours between semesters. But call or email because he will likely be in and out of the office most days. 215-572-4476 or appelbaum@arcadia.edu.