Improving Applied Mathematics Education


Book Description

This book presents various contemporary topics in applied mathematics education and addresses both interested undergraduate instructors and STEM education researchers. The diverse set of topics of this edited volume range from analyzing the demographics of the United States mathematics community, discussing the teaching of calculus using modern tools, engaging students to use applied mathematics to learn about and solve problems of global significance, developing a general education course for humanities and social sciences students that features applications of mathematics, and describing local mathematical modeling competitions and their use in providing authentic experiences for students in applying mathematics to real world situations. The authors represent diversity along multiple dimensions of difference: race, gender, institutional affiliation, and professional experience.




Applying Critical Mathematics Education


Book Description

This volume showcases new insights, teaching ideas and new and unique ways of applying critical mathematics education, in areas as diverse as climate change, obesity, decolonisation and ethnomathematics.




Research and Development in University Mathematics Education


Book Description

In the last thirty years or so, the need to address the challenges of teaching and learning mathematics at university level has become increasingly appreciated by university mathematics teachers, and beyond, by educational institutions around the world. Indeed, mathematics is both a condition and an obstacle to success for students in many educational programmes vital to the 21st century knowledge society, for example in pure and applied mathematics, engineering, natural sciences, technology, economics, finance, management and so on. This breadth of impact of mathematics implies the urgency of developing research in university mathematics education, and of sharing results of this research widely. This book provides a bespoke opportunity for an international audience of researchers in didactics of mathematics, mathematicians and any teacher or researcher with an interest in this area to be informed about state-of-the-art developments and to heed future research agendas. This book emerged from the activities of the research project INDRUM (acronym for International Network for Didactic Research in University Mathematics), which aims to contribute to the development of research in didactics of mathematics at all levels of tertiary education, with a particular concern for the development of early-career researchers in the field and for dialogue with university mathematicians. The aim of the book is to provide a deep synthesis of the research field as it appears through two INDRUM conferences organised in 2016 and 2018. It is an original contribution which highlights key research perspectives, addresses seminal theoretical and methodological issues and reports substantial results concerning the teaching and learning of mathematics at university level, including the teaching and learning of specific topics in advanced mathematics across a wide range of university programmes.




Research in Collegiate Mathematics Education III


Book Description

Volume 3 of Research in Collegiate Mathematics Education (RCME) presents state-of-the-art research on understanding, teaching and learning mathematics at the post-secondary level. This volume contains information on methodology and research concentrating on these areas of student learning: Problem Solving; Understanding Concepts; and Understanding Proofs.




How to Solve Applied Mathematics Problems


Book Description

This workbook bridges the gap between lectures and practical applications, offering students of mathematics, engineering, and physics the chance to practice solving problems from a wide variety of fields. 2011 edition.




The Philosophy of Mathematics Education Today


Book Description

This book offers an up-to-date overview of the research on philosophy of mathematics education, one of the most important and relevant areas of theory. The contributions analyse, question, challenge, and critique the claims of mathematics education practice, policy, theory and research, offering ways forward for new and better solutions. The book poses basic questions, including: What are our aims of teaching and learning mathematics? What is mathematics anyway? How is mathematics related to society in the 21st century? How do students learn mathematics? What have we learnt about mathematics teaching? Applied philosophy can help to answer these and other fundamental questions, and only through an in-depth analysis can the practice of the teaching and learning of mathematics be improved. The book addresses important themes, such as critical mathematics education, the traditional role of mathematics in schools during the current unprecedented political, social, and environmental crises, and the way in which the teaching and learning of mathematics can better serve social justice and make the world a better place for the future.




Innovation and Technology Enhancing Mathematics Education


Book Description

This book addresses key issues of Technology and Innovation(s) in Mathematics Education, drawing on heterogeneous ways of positioning about innovation in mathematical practice with technology. The book offers ideas and meanings of innovation as they emerge from the entanglement of the various researchers with the mathematical practice, the teacher training program, the student learning and engagement, or the research method that they are telling stories about. The multiple theoretical or empirical perspectives capture a rich landscape, in which the presence of digital technology entails the emergence of new practices, techniques, environments and devices, or new ways of making sense of technology in research, teaching and learning.




Critical Mathematics Education


Book Description

Mathematics is traditionally seen as the most neutral of disciplines, the furthest removed from the arguments and controversy of politics and social life. However, critical mathematics challenges these assumptions and actively attacks the idea that mathematics is pure, objective, and value?neutral. It argues that history, society, and politics have shaped mathematics—not only through its applications and uses but also through molding its concepts, methods, and even mathematical truth and proof, the very means of establishing truth. Critical mathematics education also attacks the neutrality of the teaching and learning of mathematics, showing how these are value?laden activities indissolubly linked to social and political life. Instead, it argues that the values of openness, dialogicality, criticality towards received opinion, empowerment of the learner, and social/political engagement and citizenship are necessary dimensions of the teaching and learning of mathematics, if it is to contribute towards democracy and social justice. This book draws together critical theoretic contributions on mathematics and mathematics education from leading researchers in the field. Recurring themes include: The natures of mathematics and critical mathematics education, issues of epistemology and ethics; Ideology, the hegemony of mathematics, ethnomathematics, and real?life education; Capitalism, globalization, politics, social class, habitus, citizenship and equity. The book demonstrates the links between these themes and the discipline of mathematics, and its critical teaching and learning. The outcome is a groundbreaking collection unified by a shared concern with critical perspectives of mathematics and education, and of the ways they impact on practice.




International Comparative Studies in Mathematics


Book Description

It argues that the main purpose of educational research is to improve student learning, and that international comparative studies are no exception.




Mathematical Modelling in Education and Culture


Book Description

The mathematical modelling movement in mathematics education at school and university level has been influencing curricula for about 25 years. Lecturers will find material to enhance their teaching and extracurricular activities and educators will find innovative ideas to inform their course design and focus their research, while students will find interesting problems to explore. Helps lecturers enhance their teaching and extracurricular activities Provides educators with innovative ideas to inform their course design and focus their research Students will find interesting problems to explore