[Maths-Education] Mathematics education seminars at the University of Manchester, 23 November

[Anne Haworth]

Dear Colleagues

You are welcome to attend the following seminars by George Joseph and 
Geoff Wake on Wednesday 23 November, 1400 - 1600 in room B4.3 of the 
Humanities Lime Grove building of the University of Manchester.

George Joseph

The Tale of the Peacock

“East is East and West is West: Never the Twain shall Meet” is a 
well-known quotation of Rudyard Kipling. Does this apply to 
mathematics? In historical terms, the mathematics of Renaissance Europe 
was influenced mainly by Greek mathematics through the media of Arab 
mathematics, while Indian (and also Chinese) mathematics had 
established their own unique traditions. In this talk, I argue that 
some of the differences between mathematical traditions may be 
explained by recognising whether a particular tradition sees the role 
of mathematics to be establishing its claims with absolute certainty or 
whether it sees mathematics as an empirical and practical discipline 
whose principles and notions require only demonstration of 
'plausiblity' in the fashion of modern scientific theories. As we will 
find this rationalist and empiricist biases have profound implications 
for the way mathematics evolved in the two traditions. We will also 
find that when modern mathematics combines the two approaches by 
synthesising the 'rationalist' and 'empiricist' orientations, this 
could help to explain the puzzle described by the Nobel physicist 
Eugene Wigner as “the unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics” in 
modern science.


Geoff Wake

The Tale Wagging the Dog

What makes mathematics functional?

There is increasing recognition that current mathematics curricula do 
not adequately equip people to use and apply mathematics effectively in 
different spheres of their lives, for example, as learners, citizens 
and workers.  The UK is not alone in focusing on this problem and terms 
such as quantitative literacy, mathematical literacy, numeracy, and 
now, in the UK, functional mathematics, have been used to try to 
capture the essence of what might form a new curriculum that ensures 
that people are in future better equipped to use mathematical knowledge 
and skills in a way that empowers them to solve problems and be able to 
make critical and informed choices based on quantitative information.

In this presentation I explore what functional mathematics modules 
might encompass in terms of their curriculum whilst giving some thought 
to the implications for associated teaching/ pedagogy.  In doing so I 
draw on thinking from across the mathematics education community as 
well as the work of our group in Manchester over the last two decades 
in the field of mathematical modelling and applications.

Best wishes

Anne Haworth


Anne Haworth
Secondary PGCE Mathematics and Fast Track
School of Education
University of Manchester
Oxford Road
Manchester
M13 9PL

07973 513 441
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