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PLEANARY
SPEAKERS
Prof. Paul Ernest
(University of Exeter,
U.K.) [biodata]
What Is Mathematics Education Culture? [abstract]
Prof. Wei Chi Yang
(Radford University,
U.S.A.) [biodata]
Making Mathematics Accessible To Most Through Innovative
Use Of Technology [abstract]
Prof. Noor Azlan Ahmad Zanzali (Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Malaysia)
[biodata]
A Holistic Approach Of Assessment In Mathematics
[abstract]
Prof. Berinderjeet
Kaur (National Institute of Education, Singapore) [biodata]
Teaching And Learning Of Mathematics – What Really
Matters To Teachers And To Students? [abstract]
Prof. Ryosuke Nagaoka
(Japan)
[biodata]
How The Respect For Mathematics Education Can Be
Kept In Societies: A Key Conception To Be Shared Among Mathematics
Teachers [abstract]
Prof. Paul Ernest (University of Exeter, U.K.)
Paul Ernest is a
Professor of the Philosophy of Mathematics Education at Exeter University,
where he directs the international distance learning masters and doctoral
programmes in mathematics education. Well known internationally for his
research and conference contributions, he has over 200 publications ranging
across the field of mathematics education. His books include The Philosophy
of Mathematics Education, Falmer 1991, and Social Constructivism as a
Philosophy of Mathematics, SUNY Press, 1998, and he edits the international
Philosophy of Mathematics Education Journal, <http://www.ex.ac.uk/~PErnest/>. Currently he is working on the semiotics
of mathematics education.
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Plenary Title: WHAT IS MATHEMATICS
EDUCATION CULTURE?
Abstract:
My aim is to deconstruct
the concept of mathematics education culture. Deconstruction analyzes
concepts to show their elements, but also reveals the oppositions and
tensions between them. The two main elements of this culture are the
culture of mathematics teaching and learning, in and out of school, and the
culture of mathematics education research.
The culture of teaching
and learning mathematics includes: teacher cultures; mathematics classroom
practices; books and material resources including information and
communication technologies; student cultures including their attitudes aims
and values, the cultures of schools; societal aims, values, attitudes,
including conceptions of mathematics and of the teaching and learning of
mathematics; overall societal ideologies.
The culture of research
includes: theories of mathematics education, both ‘home-grown’ and drawing
on other disciplines; research findings on teaching and learning; the
individual researchers and institutions of mathematics education research, including
conferences, journals, and other publication channels; links with
government and other social institutions; ideologies of mathematics
education research.
These two elements have a complex
relationship encompassing both supporting consonances and oppositions, such
as: practice vs. theory; realistic present constraints vs. freely imagined
futures; accepted societal values vs. their questioning and interrogation;
measures of effective practice vs. pure knowledge outputs. Such conflicts
are experienced by students in teacher education, both at the Initial
training and professional development stages, as they move between
universities and schools. At the same time, both elements are equally
affected by the globalization of practice and theory in mathematics
education as it steamrollers local cultures and practices.
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Prof. Wei-Chi Yang (Radford University, U.S.A.)
Professor Wei-Chi Yang
currently is working at the Department of Math and Stats at Radford
University, Virginia,
USA. He received his B.S. from
Taiwan, M.S. and Ph.D. from University of California
at Davis.
He was invited as a visiting professor at Universidad Diego Portales,
Chile
in 2005 and received a grant from National Science Council of
Taiwan to give a series of lectures and workshops in the area
of technology and mathematics. He is the founder of the Asian
Technology Conference in Mathematics (ATCM) <http://atcm.mathandtech.org/> and he has been the editor-in-chief of the refereed ATCM Proceedings
for many years. He had co-authored a book 'Exploring Mathematics
with Scientific Notebook'. Professor Yang had traveled around
the world, given over 200 presentations on the innovative use
of technology in teaching, learning and research in Mathematics
for the past 15 years.
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Plenary Title: MAKING MATHEMATICS
ACCESSIBLE TO MOST THROUGH INNOVATIVE USE OF TECHNOLOGY
Abstract:
This paper aims to
share with the audience how mathematics communities around the world had implemented
the use of technology and the impact of such implementation. It also
proposes new areas that technological tools will impact on our teaching,
learning and research in Mathematics.
Geometry and
Analysis have been around for centuries. Recent technological tools will
make impacts in the area of Dynamic Analytical Geometry. In this talk, I
will show why exploring mathematics with technology should be a FACT-Fun,
Accessible, Challenging and Theoretical.
a) Many examples
from calculus to advanced calculus will be demonstrated with the help of
dynamic geometry software and Computer Algebra System (CAS).
b) We will see when
to incorporate various software packages so mathematical problems can be
made accessible to most but challenging to some.
c) We will also see
how to create contents that usable to those learners who don’t have
particular software.
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Prof. Noor Azlan Ahmad Zanzali
(Universiti Teknologi Malaysia,
Malaysia)
Noor Azlan Ahmad Zanzali is a professor at the
Faculty of Education, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. Being an expert in the field of Mathematics Curriculum
and Instruction, he is well sought by the Malaysian Ministry of Education
to be evaluator for various teacher education courses in the teaching
colleges, as well as in the expert panel of curriculum developers for the
Secondary School Mathematics curriculum. Currently, Prof. Azlan has been appointed as the consultant for a
major research project funded by the Examination Syndicate, Ministry of
Education. This research aims mainly to produce an alternative
non-cognitive assessment for the whole nation.
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Plenary Title: A HOLISTIC APPROACH OF
ASSESSMENT IN MATHEMATICS
Abstract:
Assessment should be
an integral part of teaching and learning mathematics. It is often argued
that assessment practices should be in harmony with the current curriculum
content and goals so as to be able to inform the teaching practices.
Assessment should be able to measure what we value. However, present
practices of assessment do not reflect the above concerns. Thus, there is a
need to develop new assessment practices that will be able to complement
the widely-used traditional techniques. Based on the aims and goals of the
Malaysia mathematics education as an example, this paper addresses this
issue by firstly, examining the differences between the current assessment
practices and what is expected from the stipulated curriculum. These
analyses will then be used as bases for the need to develop a holistic
assessment approach in mathematics. This paper will look at some suggested
standards in mathematics assessment. A project that attempts to help
teachers to use assessment for learning will be discussed. This paper
concludes with some suggested practices that will help to assess students
learning in a more holistic fashion.
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Prof. Berinderjeet Kaur
(National Institute of Education, Singapore)
Berinderjeet Kaur is
an Associate Professor in the Maths & Maths Edn Academic Group at the
National Institute of Education, Nanyang
Technological University. Her primary interest is
the teaching and learning
(pedagogy) of Mathematics.
She has vast experience both locally and internationally in this area. She
has been a consultant to mathematics programmes in several primary and
secondary schools in Singapore.
She has also been involved in numerous international projects on
mathematics attainment and classroom pedagogy. She has given numerous
presentations at conferences held in the region as well as in various parts
of the world. Her publications appear in regional and international
journals. She is also on the editorial boards of several local and
international journals. For her
tireless devotion to the professional development of mathematics teachers
in Singapore
she was awarded the Fellow of Teachers Network in the years 2003 and 2004.
On Singapore’s
41st National Day in 2006 she was also awarded the Public
Administration Medal by the President of Singapore.
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Plenary Title: TEACHING AND
LEARNING OF MATHEMATICS – WHAT
REALLY MATTERS TO TEACHERS AND TO STUDENTS?
Abstract:
As learning is
dependent upon the situations and circumstances in which it is engendered
and the feelings these situations provoke in students, any attempt to
improve mathematics teaching must take into account both teacher practice,
learner practice and their responses to each others practice. The Learners’
Perspective Study (LPS) (Clarke, 2001; 2002), motivated by a strong belief
that the characterization of the practices of mathematics classrooms must
attend to learner practice with at least the same priority as that accorded
to teacher practice, is a comprehensive study that adopts a complimentary
accounts methodology (Clarke, 2001) to negotiate meanings in classrooms
(Clarke, 2001). In Singapore,
to date, three mathematics teachers recognized for their locally-defined
‘teaching competence’ have participated in the study. The comprehensive
sets of data from the three classrooms have made it possible to explore
several premises related to the teaching and learning of mathematics.
During the presentation, data and findings from the three classrooms that
shed light on the practices that really matters to teachers and to students
during mathematics lessons will be presented.
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Prof. Ryosuke Nagaoka (Japan)
Ryosuke Nagaoka is a
professor of Mathematics and Informatics at the University of the Air, the open
and distance learning university in Japan. After studying numerical
analysis of partial differential equation at the University
of Tokyo, he changed his interest
to focus on the philosophy and history of mathematics at the Graduate School
of the University
of Tokyo, where he
submitted his paper on the historical development and philosophical meaning
of the set theory by Georg Cantor. Since then he has become more interested
in mathematical education particularly in the upper secondary and tertiary
level. For the last twenty years he has been a writer of a series of
mathematical textbooks for high school students and now he is the Chief of
the editorial board of a series.
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Plenary Title: How The Respect For
Mathematics Education Can Be Kept In Societies: A Key Conception To Be
Shared Among Mathematics Teachers
Abstract:
There are so many
topics on mathematics education from the theoretical to the practical. But
the most important one is undoubtedly the way to realize really rich
mathematics education or to remove the obstacles to this realization.
Needless to point out, the key factor in rich mathematics education to
general young people is not the material nor the design of subjects, but
the good teachers, because it is only through their teachers that people
learn not only how to solve mathematical problems but also what mathematics
is. However, there is a growing common tendency in the 'developed' or
'advanced' countries that it has been become more and more difficult to get
good mathematics teachers. As a result, mathematics education has met more
and more serious difficulties. But very regrettably, the past 'innovative'
efforts that aim to solve the difficulties yet without the view point of
keeping the good teachers, these problems have become more serious. We
should implement the future mathematics education keeping the serious
boundary condition that we cannot expect teachers too much and the high
ideal that we can and should expect student potential as much as possible.
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