[Maths-Education] Seminars in Oxford

[Anne Watson]

Seminars at Oxford with a Mathematics Education theme:

 

You may be interested in these seminars next term.  All take place at 15
Norham Gardens, Oxford OX2 6 PY

 

May 8th 5 p.m.

 

Technologies and the Transformation of Learning: What is the role of
knowledge?

Rosamund Sutherland, Graduate School of Education University of Bristol



Associated with the hype of digital technologies there tends to be an
assumption that all learning could potentially move from more formal
educational sites to the more informal settings of the home and leisure
spaces. However results from the InterActive Education Project
(www.interactiveeducation.ac.uk) suggest that this is not straightforward,
particularly if society values learning within such domains as mathematics
and science (Sutherland, 2004). Within this presentation I will argue that
such learning has to take place within knowledge-generating communities in
which more-knowledgeable others (traditionally teachers) play a significant
role. This presentation will examine the learning of a group of mathematics
students and will focus on the following questions: 

i) How do new technologies transform the relationship between knowledge
production, learning and education?
ii) What is the relationship between informal and formal knowledge within
particular domains?
iii)What is the role of more knowledgeable others in the co-construction of
knowledge?

 

May 18th 3.30 p.m.

 

The Art of Doing Mathematics - Mathematical Thinking approached from a
Theory of Reception perspective

 

Els De Geest

University of Oxford

 

I see Mathematical Thinking as the Art of doing Mathematics, with 'Art'
taken as in its definition of 'branch of creative activity concerned with
imitative and imaginative designs, sounds or ideas'.  But I have a dilemma
with the different sizes and intensities of mathematical thinking. For
example what if a student says "I know 6 x 5 is not 35 because 6 is an even
number and 35 is an odd number, so it must be wrong" or what if a student
says about a pattern "it goes up in 3's".  Is either of these Mathematical
Thinking, the Art?  Or both?  Does Mathematical Thinking have to be a BIG
idea, or can it be little as well?   Looking for similarities in the
literary world, I was inspired by Jauss' reception theory of when Art
happens in literature.  In this session I will review some of the relevant
literature and by using examples of students' work, explore and discuss
these ideas and the transferability of Jauss' theory to mathematics
pedagogy. This session is based on some of the explorations from my
phenomenological doctoral thesis.

 

June 1st 10 a.m.

 

'New' or 'realistic' mathematics education for the 21st century knowledge
society: text, videos and tests.

 

Paul F. Conway

University College, Cork (UCC), Ireland

 

In the context of globalisation, the drive to develop knowledge societies
has led to an unprecedented international comparative focus on certain
curricular areas in that countries are now being held accountable to
international standards in perceived high-yield school subjects. In the case
of mathematics, this has led to debate about the relative merits of the
abstraction-focused 'new/modern' approach to mathematics, dominant in many
countries for the last four decades, compared to the PISA mathematical
literacy framework with its more socially-embedded view of mathematics,
inspired by situated cognition and Realistic Mathematics Education (RME). In
the context of a review of international trends in mathematics education
(Conway and Sloane, 2006), commissioned to support the current review of
post-primary mathematics education in Ireland, this seminar/paper will focus
on the role of textbooks, video studies of mathematics teaching and
tests/examinations in the debate over 'new' and 'realistic' mathematics
education. 

 

 

 

 

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