Below is a schedule for year 2000-2001 of colloquia sponsored (or co-sponsored)
by UIC's Institute for Mathematics and Science Education.
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| September 6, 2000 (Wednesday)
Mathematics and Human Memory Gary E. Davis 4:00 - 5:00 pm 636 SEO |
At any given time students exhibit a wide range of mathematical abilities for procedures, facts, problem solving skills, and reasoning abilities. Recent research in the neuropsychology of memory sheds light on how students' brains may be forming, storing and retrieving mathematical memories. This provides some explanations for the divergence of mathematical thinking shown by students, and indicates how teachers of mathematics might assist their students in the formation of productive mathematical memories. Internationally there is considerable concern about how mathematics should be taught, and what sort of mathematics students at all levels of instruction should learn. In the US these concerns have flared recently into the "math wars" with vested interests politicizing the debate. There is a need for scientifically informed debate and research into student learning processes, and how teachers might best utilize those processes. This talk will consider how recent work in the neuropsychology of memory might provide a firm evidential base for student mathematical thought. |
| September 21, 2000 (Thursday)
The Spirit of Research in the Body of High School Mathematics: Teacher Training Courses Michael Keynes 2:00 - 3:00 pm 2087 SEL |
I will discuss two programs to expand future or current mathematics teachers content knowledge. Instead of focusing on deep mathematics outside the classroom, (such as quotient groups or hyperbolic geometry) or classroom lessons that are not valuable to constructing teachers' knowledge, we created challenging units which were based in the mathematics of high school. The problems hoped to foster a spirit of mathematical investigation and answer such fundamental questions as: Why are definitions defined as they are? Why does a certain procedure or proof work? How can it be extended? What happens if I make different assumptions? Is there a bigger idea looming in the background? I'll talk about my experiences with in-service programs in Seattle, my current pre-service course in Berkeley, and I look forward to discussing these issues and hearing your comments and insights. |
| October 16, 2000 (Monday)
Situations that facilitate the development of skepticism Stacy Brown 4:00 pm 636 SEO |
Stepping back from the issue of students' difficulties with proof and justification one might ask, "Under what conditions do students see a need for justification?" This talk will focus on the researcher's attempts to induce skepticism, a prerequisite to justification, during a three-week teaching experiment. In particular, I will discuss (a) the situations that facilitated or failed to facilitate the development of skepticism, and (b) how the developing mathematical skepticism appears to have affected the students' subsequent mathematical activities. The results of this study, the first part of a two-part experiment, indicate that the development of skepticism is facilitated when students: (a) are presented with problematic mathematical situations, (b) are autonomous and goal oriented in their attempts to resolve the situation, (c) develop conjectures that fail to be valid, and (d) have rationale, that may or may not be implicit, for why their conjectures are valid. |
| March 20, 2001 (Tuesday)
The Mathematics & Science Education Doctoral Program in San Diego: A Joint Venture of UCSD and SDSU Barbara Sawrey 2:30 -3:30pm 2087 SEL |
No Abstract available |
| HECA 2001 | Also see HECA
2001
Symposia Series |