European Summer University (ESU 6)

Next week, the European Summer University on the History and Epistemology in Mathematics Education (ESU6) will take place in Vienna. I will try to blog about it as it goes along, but thought I should start already...

The programme (available at the ESU6 website) has lots of interesting stuff, often with six events in parallell, so already it is time to lament all the good talks I will miss. However, such is life at big conferences. Here, I'll instead write about what I won't miss:


Uffe

The conference opens on Monday 19th of July. Uffe Jankvist will give the first plenary lecture, which seems to be based on his newly finished PhD (on historical modules in code theory). I will of course be attending this lecture. Afterwards, I will probably choose Masami Isoda's workshop on "Using historial instruments and interactive e-Textbook for experiencing the interpretation of historical textbooks" (although there are particularly many interesting workshops simultaneously). After lunsh, it seems reasonable to attend Uffe's three-hour workshop on "Students' meta-issue discussions of history of mathematics". As if that wasn't enough, there is an evening session of oral presentations, where Gerlinde Faustmann will talk about "Classroom experiences with history of mathematics", yours truly will talk about "History of mathematics in Norwegian - a literature review" (although the title in the program is "Making history of mathematics available to teachers - one page at a time"). And then Po-Hung Liu will speak about "Evolution of College Students' Eopistemological Views of Mathematics (...)". Then, finally, it's eight o'clock, and it's time to find a wiener schnitzel or something...


Kostas and me in Greece last year


Man Keung Siu (with Peter Ransom)

Tuesday will begin with a plenary lecture by Michael N. Fried ("History of Mathematics in Mathematics Education: Problems and Prospects"). Right thereafter, Costas Nikolantonakis and yours truly will have a two-hour workshop on "Historical methods of multiplication". After lunch I will be relieved to be finished with the main part of my obligations at this conference. I will go to Man Keung Siu's three-hour workshop on "Inscribed square in a right triangle". Then, I'll have no choice, as I am the assigned chair of one of the sessions: I will chair three talks on "The use of periodic property through history (...)" (Gabriela Buendía Abalos), a study of a paper by George Boole (Adriana Cesar de Mattos) and "The geometric representation of complex numbers and education" (Gerard E. Grimberg). And as if that was not enough food for thought for one day, I will take part in the meeting of the HPM Advisory Board from 8 o'clock - hopefully accompanied with dinner.

Wednesday will feel like a day off after these 11 hour days. There will be a plenary lecture by Marc Moyon on "Practical Geometries in Islamic Countries" and a panel discussion on "The history of mathematics in school textbooks". The rest of the day is put aside for lunsh and excursions - as well as a cocktail reception in the evening.


Kristín Bjarnadóttir

Then there's Thursday. Michael Glaubitz will give a plenary lecture on "The Use of Original Sources in the classroom - Empirical Research Findings". Michael was one of the editor of the proceedings from the Oberwolfach meeting on original sources some years ago, and it will be interesting to hear him again. The next plenary lecture, by Raffaele Pisano, will contain epistemological reflections on "the cultural and interdisciplinary role played by physical and mathematical sciences", according to the program. My mind will probably be with the next thing on the agenda: the panel discussion on "The role of the history and epistemology of mathematics in pre-service teachers training". I will be one of the participants of the panel, and this will also be my debut in the plenary of such a conference. After that - and lunch - I will attend Kristín Bjarnadóttir's three-hour workshop on "Arithmetic textbooks in 18th century Icelandic manuscripts". I last heard her at the HPM in Mexico City two years ago, and she is always interesting. And finally, I believe I'll listen to José Manuel Matos and Mária Almeida on "Shaping a modern mathematics pedagogical content knowledge: the case of Telescola in Portugal in the middle 1960s" as well as Catarina Mota's "The concept of tangent line: historical and didactical points in its teaching in Portugal".

Which leaves Friday. I may want to skip the plenary lecture on ICMI's first century, as I've heard Fulvia lecture on the topic before. Then I will probably choose Michael Glaubitz's workshop on "Teaching methods for the use of original sources in the classroom". Then I will consider if I want to hang around for the closing ceremony or if I should run to the train that will take me to holiday in Salzburg...

During the conference, I will also try to take lots and lots of photos - they tend to become useful in the context of the HPM Newsletter...

So that's my plans for next week. It will be fun. And interesting. And I will need the holiday afterwards...


(Update: Just for fun, a few days ago I had a look at what countries are participating in this conference. Here's the list:
Algeria (1)
Austria (9)
Belgium (3)
Brazil (9)
Canada (2)
China (1)
Cyprus (1)
Czech Republic (3)
Denmark (3)
France (18)
Germany (13)
Greece (14)
Hungary (1)
Iceland (1)
Iran (1)
Ireland (3)
Israel (5)
Italy (10)
Japan (2)
Morocco (1)
Mexico (2)
Netherlands (5)
Norway (2)
Poland (1)
Portugal (13)
Slovakia (4)
South Korea (2)
Spain (8)
Taiwan (1)
Uganda (1)
United Kingdom (2)
USA (3)
And then there are a few people who are on the programme but not on the list yet - such as the first plenary speaker...)

Mathematics in school May 2010

I see that the May 2010 issue of Mathematics in school is devoted to history of mathematics. It includes articles by for instance Leo Rogers, Peter Ransom and Chris Weeks. Well worth a look...

HPM Newsletter 74

HPM Newsletter 74 is now available.

It is a little thin, but includes information about interesting new books, for instance, so it's still worth a look. (Of course, since I'm one of the editors I would always say that.)

HPM is the "International Study Group on the Relations Between the History and Pedagogy of Mathematics".

Mathematical teaching in North Korea

This blog has been silent lately - but things will get better, as I am planning to blog from the ESU6 conference in Vienna.

However, I just read an interesting article that I would like to tell you about:

Contents or ideology? A case study of mathematical teaching in North Korea. Written by Alexander Karp and Jung Hang Lee, published in Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 30: 1, 1-13.

The article gives the results of an interview study where both teachers and students from North Korea that have now found refuge in South Korea. The article deserves to be read in full, but I still want to mention a few points:

Ideology is a part of mathematics teaching in North Korea. An example mentioned in the article is text problems where collective farms have exceeded their goals "due to the beneficial influence of the Great Leader". In fact, mathematics lessons follow the same sequence as almost everywhere in the world, except for one detail: a 45-minute lesson should include Review, Checking Homework, Reinforcing the Policy of the Party, Delivering New Knowledge and Practice. "Reinforcing the Policy of the Party" is not a standard part of lessons in most countries, and some countries (such as Norway) has also almost done away with the "Checking Homework" part.

We see that Tim Rowland's concept of "contingency" has a part to play also in this context. The authors tell of a new teacher who came to the classroom to find a frog inside a box, with a sign from the frog's neck saying "Let's study math!" The teacher managed to turn this into a teachable moment, telling them about frogs' importance for the crops and telling them that they would, due to the leadership of the Great Leader, produce more crops in the future. (Sadly, we know that the "Great Leader" has mismanaged the country, also when it comes to crops.)

The article does not just tell us about the North Korean system, but reminds us that Stieg Mellin-Olsen long ago told us that mathematics will always include some politics and ideology. The authors also cite Gert Schubring and say that a difference between "what is officially proclaimed and what actually goes on" is nothing special for North Korea.

An interesting article.

Fragments in Beijing

Last week I was a student at Capital Normal University in Beijing. I am taking a course which is a collaboration between Capital Normal University and Oslo University College. The aim of the course is to learn to create database driven websites for education, by means of tools such as HeidiSQL and CodeCharge Studio. Thus, it is a technical course with much to learn for a guy like me who don’t know more about databases and websites than what I’ve learned on my own. But it is also a course about how to create real-life solution that will have an impact on real people. Therefore, creating a website suited for the actual people we want to reach, is crucial.

The hospitality of the staff and students of Capital Normal has been wonderful. We have been taken very good care of, both in terms of the actual teaching and learning processes, the lunches and dinners, the hotel and the social parts of the week. For instance, we all went to the Great Wall together.



It was also a very fruitful week for me and my project. I notice how I tend to be overwhelmed by other work when I’m in my office, not having enough time to either think of or work on the project. Now I do have a bit more confidence in the technical parts as well as a project plan which will take me where I want to go. I have also got a few more good ideas for the project while I’ve been here.

As usual when I go abroad for work, I added a few days for holiday in the end. It is, obviously, much more cost-effective than to go on a holiday to Beijing later. I got to see Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City again. Last time I was here was in the month of December, which was very cold. This time it was possible to sit down and just enjoy the surroundings.

HPM Newsletter 73

HPM Newsletter 73 is now available. This is the newsletter of the HPM community (The International Study Group on the Relations Between the History and Pedagogy of Mathematics).

Articles and notices for future issues are greatly appreciated.

HPM Newsletter 72

The HPM Newsletter (of which I'm the editor together with Chris Weeks), has posted its 72nd issue at the HPM website.