Math in the News Project

Hosted by: Peter Appelbaum, Arcadia University

How can we challenge our students to develop a critical perspective on the media and on social justice issues?

In mathematics education, this is an increasingly popular topic, which I believe stems from its clear social and pedagogical importance. For examples of one teacher’s recent efforts, see the work of Eric Gutstein, who has worked with middle school students in Chicago. Shouldn’t there be a plethora of examples and resources at our disposal? That’s what this webpage is all about.

What to do:

Take a look at the web resources below.
Submit lesson and unit plans that make use of the mathematics you are finding in the media to Peter Appelbaum so that they can be shared with others at this site. Include “Math in the News” in the subject of your email please.
Come back often to see what others have submitted. This website was created in September of 2002, so give it time to generate materials. If you don’t see any lesson and unit plans yet, you have only yourself and your friends to blame for not sending them in!
Maybe your submission will win a prize! (More details to follow.) If you are interested in being on an awards committee, contact Peter.
If you have any advice or criticism, or are interested in supporting this project as part of coursework at another institution, please contact Peter. In particular, Arcadia University actively seeks international and diverse regional collaborations.

Math in the News Resources

Use these resources to cull mathematical discussions of current social justice issues. Be creative in how you might use the news stories, the mathematical representations of the issues involved, the choice by the authors to include certain kinds of data and not others, the style of the argument (is it more persuasive because numbers of mathematical jargon was used?), and so on. Remember that your lessons and units will want to incorporate superb pedagogical practices, including, for example, student choices and decisions as part of their work; varieties of small and large group interaction; collaboration with community members outside of class; action research on related, local, economic, social, ecological, and political themes; opportunities to communicate and present the important work of students in public fora; integration of mathematical topics across the entire mathematics curriculum; etc. Enjoy!

News on the Net:

Dollars & Sense: The Magazine of Economic Justice

http://www.dollarsandsense.org/

The Nation

http://thenation.com/

The National Security Archive

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/

Alternet

http://www.alternet.org/

Common Dreams News Center

http://www.commondreams.org/

ZNet Youthwatch