[Maths-Education] Money Counts
Rosalie A. Dance
rdance@uvi.edu
Fri, 03 Nov 2000 19:43:58 -0400
The odd thing about John Truran's message is that it seems to be saying
(his disclaimer notwithstanding) that our teaching should not suggest to
students that mathematics is 'about' anything. That, I believe, is one of
the reasons that so many talented minds from certain demographic groups
demonstrate minimal interest in mathematics. If you see a need to change
something, to make a difference, to make things better for people, and you
have not seen the applicability of mathematics to much of anything, then
you probably won't focus much intellectual effort in the direction of
mathematics. We need a wide range of intellectually engaging
context. Economic issues are very appropriate. And if students get hot
about an issue that is the context of their mathematics learning, we will
have turned a major corner in mathematics education.
............................................................................
Rosalie A. Dance
Division of Science and Mathematics,
University of the Virgin Islands
St. Thomas, VI 00802
phone 340-693-1253
fax 340-693-1245
rdance@uvi.edu