[Maths-Education] Anna Sfard seminar at Warwick on 7th November

[Johnston-Wilder, Peter]

Midlands Mathematics Education Seminar at Warwick Institute of Education



7th November 2007 at 5pm

Location: WT0.05, Westwood Teaching Building, Westwood Campus, University of Warwick. 


Details of how to get to Warwick are available on http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/about/visiting/ <https://mywebmail.warwick.ac.uk/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/about/visiting/> .  


The Westwood Teaching Building is number 58 on this page http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/about/visiting/maps/westwood/ <https://mywebmail.warwick.ac.uk/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/about/visiting/maps/westwood/> 


Speaker: Professor Anna Sfard (University of Haifa & Institute of Education, London) 


Title: Thinking as communication and mathematics as discourse 

Abstract: In the domain of mathematics education, the term discourse seems to be these days on everybody's lips. Although traditionally regarded as only auxiliary to thinking, mathematical communication is believed to enhance mathematical learning. In my research, I am going farther than that: I conceptualize mathematics as a special form of communication. By doing this, I promote mathematical discourse from the role of a mere instructional means to that of the object of learning. During the meeting, we shall explore the implications of the communicational perspective for our vision of mechanisms of learning and teaching. To help with the task, I will present in parallel two classroom studies, one devoted to the learning of signed numbers and the other dealing with young children first introduced to school geometry. The analysis of the empirical data will be guided by three queries: (1) The question about mathematics: What is it that is supposed to change in children's discourse in the course of learning? (2) The question about teaching: What is supposed to induce the change? (3) The question about learning: What are the short- and long-term effects of the discourse-molding attempts orchestrated by the teacher? The results of these analyses will compel us to take a critical look on a number of popular pedagogical beliefs. 

Based on: Sfard, A. (2007). When the rules of discourse change, but nobody tells you: Making sense of mathematics learning from a cognitive standpoint. Journal for Learning Sciences, 16, 567-615. 

For details of further seminars in this series, go to http://www.lsri.nottingham.ac.uk/mmes/ <http://www.lsri.nottingham.ac.uk/mmes/>  

 
Peter Johnston-Wilder, MA, MSc, PhD
Associate Professor, Mathematics Education
PGCE Secondary Mathematics Subject Co-ordinator
 
Institute of Education
University of Warwick
Coventry CV4 7AL
 
Tel (Office):  02476522702 
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