[ICMI-News] ICMI News 6: Ocotber 2008
J Carvalho e Silva
jaimecs at mat.uc.pt
Mon Nov 3 02:14:21 CET 2008
ICMI News 6: October 2008
A Bimonthly Email Newsletter from the
ICMI-International Commission on Mathematical
Instruction
Editor: Jaime Carvalho e Silva, Dep. Matematica,
Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal
CONTENTS
1. Editorial: About the ICMI Studies --- and a Call For Proposals
2. Symposium Celebrating the Centennial of the ICMI
3. Proceedings of the Symposium Celebrating the Centennial of the ICMI
4. ICTMA 14
5. New e-journal: Educational Designer
6. Calendar of Events of Interest to the ICMI Community
7. Subscribing to ICMI News
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Editorial: About the ICMI Studies --- and a Call For Proposals
Among the various activities organised or
supported by the International Commission on
Mathematical Instruction, the ICMI Studies
programme stands out as a particularly
interesting component that has acquired over the
years a growing importance and influence on the
field.
The very first ICMI Study Conference was held in
Strasbourg in March 1985, but its origin goes
back to a few years earlier. Geoffrey Howson,
ICMI Secretary[-General] from 1983 to 1990, has
indicated that the idea of "ICMI Studies"
developed from conversations that he had in the
early 1980s with Bent Christiansen, then ICMI
Vice-President since 1975. In his personal
overview after his two terms as ICMI President
(see ICMI Bulletin no. 29, December 1990, p. 3),
Jean-Pierre Kahane refers to a meeting that he
had in Orsay at the end of 1982, just prior to
the beginning of his presidency, with both Howson
and Christiansen --- then respectively incoming
ICMI Secretary[-General] and continuing VP ---,
as well as with Ed Jacobsen, from UNESCO. As
stated by Kahane himself, a large part of the
ICMI activities for the following years was
planned during this meeting, including the
project of ICMI Studies as well as the themes of
the first four Studies. In his first "Message
from the President" (ICMI Bulletin no. 13,
February 1983, pp. 1-2), Kahane mentions these
four themes as "key problems" that ICMI is facing
in its aim of "further[ing] mathematics
education", but insisting that the objective is
not to "seek an 'ICMI approved' solution" to
these problems, but rather "to create conditions
for exchange of views and information, and a
structure for cooperation and extended
communication". Still Kahane in this first
message does not mention the programme of Studies
where these problems will be addressed, and it is
in a report from the Executive Committee
appearing in the following issue of the Bulletin
(No. 14, October 1983, pp. 5-8) --- thus exactly
25 years ago! --- that Geoffrey Howson explicitly
refers publicly to the "four studies which ICMI
is hoping to undertake".
Since then, the ICMI Studies have regularly taken
place at the rhythm of more or less one Study
Conference per year. The variety of the themes
covered in these Studies is rather impressive (I
am providing here shortened wordings of the
topics, with the year of the Study Conference ---
the full versions of the themes are accessible on
the ICMI website):
1-) Influence of Computers and Informatics
(1985); 2-) School Mathematics (1986); 3-)
Service Subject (1987); 4-) Mathematics and
Cognition (no Study Conference); 5-)
Popularisation (1989); 6-) Assessment (1991); 7-)
Gender (1993); 8-) Research (1994); 9-) Geometry
(1995); 10-) History (1998); 11-) University
Mathematics (1998); 12-) Algebra (2001); 13-)
East/West Math Education (2002); 14-)
Applications and Modelling (2004); 15-) Teacher
Education (2005); 16-) Challenges in and Beyond
the Classroom (2006); 17-) Technology (Revisited)
(2006); 18-) Statistics (2008); 19-) Proof and
Proving (2009); 20-) Mathematics and Industry
(2010); 21-) Multilingual Contexts (2010).
Besides the natural collaboration with the
International Mathematical Union, it is of
interest to note that two ICMI Studies have been
organised in collaboration with other
institutions, namely with the International
Association for Statistical Education (IASE ---
Study 18) and with the International Council for
Industrial and Applied Mathematics (ICIAM ---
Study 20). The ICMI Executive Committee is
really enthusiastic at the possibilities offered
by such collaborations.
The following criteria have been developed by the
ICMI EC to guide the selection and setting up of
a Study. An ICMI Study needs
-- to tackle a substantive problem in and for the field
-- to be able to benefit from an international perspective and engagement
-- to be an arena for productive interaction
between mathematics educators, teachers,
mathematicians, curriculum specialists, i.e.
various agents in the field of mathematics
education
-- to be able to build on what has already been
substantial growth over some time in the field,
and so on collective wisdom (with respect to both
research and practice)
-- to be considered as significant, thus calling
for an intellectual higher authority and voice on
the problem
-- to provide possibilities for pro-active outcomes.
The ICMI EC wants the Studies to serve all those
who, having professional interest in mathematics
education, belong to our community. This means
that an ICMI Study should not only or primarily
aim at serving educational researchers, but has
to provide a wider audience access to the
reflections, experiences and research developed
around a given theme, as well as point to its
usefulness. In other words, the finality of an
ICMI Study, in the spirit of the ICMI EC, is not
to produce still another handbook of research in
mathematics education, nor a collection of
brilliant but personal papers. An ICMI Study is
a collective work where the expertise of
individuals is put at the service of a community.
This implies a reflective and critical position,
with specific attention to the language used so
to ensure accessibility. The EC also wishes each
ICMI Study to be a source of inspiration for
educational action through the presentation and
careful analysis of insightful examples, paying
attention to the diversity of educational
contexts and cultures and to the diversity of
social and economic conditions, while allowing
those voices not necessarily easily heard to be
present.
The current ICMI EC is contemplating launching
the 22nd ICMI Study before the end of its term in
December 2009 --- or least providing the incoming
EC with a potential theme. We have been building
over the years a list of possible subjects, which
include topics such as: Connection of mathematics
and other discipline (from primary to
university); Primary school math education;
History of mathematics education; or Designing
and using tasks for pedagogic purposes. But we
feel the need to revamp and enlarge such a list.
The present editorial is thus A CALL FOR
SUGGESTIONS OF THEMES for future ICMI Studies.
These suggestions should be made taking into
account that a Study must focus on a topic or
issue of prominent current interest in
mathematics education.
We have in mind typically adhering to the current
organisational scheme for ICMI Studies, namely
-- after having selected a theme of a new Study,
the ICMI EC appoints an International Programme
Committee whose first task is to produce a
Discussion Document in which a number of key
issues and sub-themes related to the theme of the
Study are identified and described in a
preliminary manner and a call for contributions
is made;
-- on the basis of the submissions received, an
international Study Conference is organised,
constituting a working forum that investigates
the theme of the Study;
-- and finally a Study Volume is prepared,
presenting a state-of-the-art expert report on
the Study theme.
While we have experienced and do appreciate the
merit of this model, we are also open to
suggestions about other possible organisational
frameworks.
The ICMI Studies are an essential component of
the ICMI activities. Comments about the ICMI
Studies programme are most welcome and can be
made to any member of the ICMI Executive
Committee, including myself. To be useful to the
reflections of the current EC, your input should
reach us no later than early 2009.
Bernard R. Hodgson, Secretary-General of ICMI, bhodgson at mat.ulaval.ca
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Symposium Celebrating the Centennial of the ICMI
Symposium Celebrating the Centennial of the ICMI
(International Commission on Mathematical
Instruction) - Rome 5-8 March 2008
In 1908, during the fourth International Congress
of Mathematicians, which took place in Rome from
6 to 11 April, was created the International
Commission on the Teaching of Mathematics
(Commissione Internazionale per l'insegnamento
matematico, Commission Internationale de
l'Enseignement Mathématique, Internationale
Mathematische Unterrichtskommission). The first
to formulate a proposal for the institution of an
organisation of this type was David Eugene Smith,
a professor at Teachers College of New York, who
was profoundly interested in education and in the
history of mathematics. The first president was
Felix Klein, eminent mathematician and promoter
of significant reforms in the teaching of
mathematics in Germany. Klein was an unflagging
and enthusiastic promoter of the commission
during its early period.
The initial goal of the commission was that to
"promote an inquiry and publish a general report
on current trends in secondary teaching of
mathematics in the various countries". From that
time, the Commission, which since 1954 has been
known as the "International Commission on
Mathematical Instruction" (ICMI), has gone
through successive periods of more or less
intense activity (connected with the dramatic
events of the first half of the twentieth
century) before arriving to the end of the 1960s,
when it experienced a veritable renaissance based
on new aims and work methodologies. In the last
quarter of a century its activities and the lines
of research have broadened and diversified, and
have contributed to the construction of a new
discipline, research in the teaching of
mathematics.
To celebrate the Centennial of the founding of
the ICMI, an international symposium, entitled
"The First Century of the International
Commission on Mathematical Instruction:
Reflecting and Shaping the World of Mathematics
Education", was held in Rome, 5-8 March 2008
(http://www.unige.ch/math/EnsMath/Rome2008/). The
International Programme Committee (IPC), was
composed of sixteen members, with Ferdinando
Arzarello as its president, while Marta Menghini
represented the Organising Committee within the
IPC. Palazzo Corsini, home of the Accademia
Nazionale dei Lincei, and Palazzo Mattei di
Paganica, home of the Enciclopedia Italiana, were
the splendid venues for the symposium.
Taking as a point of departure the themes
connected to ICMI activities over the course of
its hundred year history (reforms in teaching of
the sciences, teacher education, relationships
between mathematicians and researchers in
mathematics education, etc.), the symposium
sought to identify the future directions of
research in didactics and possible initiatives
for improving the level of mathematics culture in
the various countries.
The symposium was subdivided into ten plenary
talks, eight talks in parallel, five working
groups. and an afternoon reserved for Italian
teachers, with lectures by scholars from Italy
and abroad, see Menghini et al., 2008; Symposium
Š, 2008). The activities of the "Italian
afternoon" were broadcast via videoconference to
fifty schools throughout Italy.
The talks dealt with a wide variety of topics:
the origins of the ICMI and the roles played by
Klein and Smith; ICMI's renaissance at the end of
the 1960s and the emergence of a new field of
research; the dialectic between rigour and
intuition in the teaching of mathematics; the
relationships between pure and applied
mathematics and the emphasis that should be given
to modelling in teaching and learning of the
mathematics; the interactions between research
and practice; the relationship between centres
and peripheries of the world; teacher training;
the relationships between mathematics and
teaching of mathematics and between mathematics
education and technology, society, and other
disciplines.
Some 200 participants from 43 countries the world
over took part in the congress. The symposium
ended with an excursion which, like a hundred
years ago, took participants to visit the Villa
d'Este at Tivoli and Hadrian's Villa, both rich
in historical grandeur.
The website on the history of ICMI
On the occasion of the congress a website
dedicated to the history of ICMI was created
under the direction of Fulvia Furinghetti and
Livia Giacardi
(http://www.icmihistory.unito.it/). It delineates
the most significant events and key figures of
the life of ICMI through documents, images and
interviews. The site is divided into six
sections: Timeline; Portrait Gallery; Documents;
The Affiliated Study Groups; The International
Congresses on Mathematical Education; Interviews
and Film Clips. The section Timeline marks the
most important moments in the history of the
ICMI, with each fact documented with references
to the original sources. The Portrait Gallery
contains biographic cameos of those who have
passed away, with the aim of making evident their
roles within the ICMI, their contributions to the
study of problems inherent in mathematics
teaching, and their publications that are
expressly dedicated to mathematics teaching. The
sections of the Affiliated Study Groups contains
the short history of these groups, with
particular reference to the motivations and the
circumstances that fostered their creation. The
section International Congresses on Mathematical
Education gathers the main information about the
congresses since the beginning (1969). Some
important witnesses of the most recent events in
the life of ICMI were interviewed. The videotapes
of the interviews are available in the section
Interviews and Film Clips.
References
Menghini, M., Furinghetti, F., Giacardi, L., &
Arzarello, F. (Eds.) (2008). The first century of
the International Commission on Mathematical
Instruction (1908-2008). Reflecting and shaping
the world of mathematics education, Rome:
Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana.
Symposium for the Rome 08 ICMI Centennial (2008). Progetto Alice, 9(25).
Permanent website of the Symposium:
http://www.unige.ch/math/EnsMath/Rome2008/welcome.html
Ferdinando Arzarello, Fulvia Furinghetti, Livia Giacardi, Marta Menghini
------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Proceedings of the Symposium Celebrating the Centennial of the ICMI
ISTITVTO DELLA ENCICLOPEDIA ITALIANA
FONDATA DA GIOVANNI TRECCANI
The First Century of the International Commission
on Mathematical Instruction (1908-2008).
Reflecting and Shaping the World of Mathematics Education
Edited by
M. Menghini, F. Furinghetti, L. Giacardi, F. Arzarello
CONTENTS
Introduction
HYMAN BASS, Moments of the life of ICMI
JEREMY KILPATRICK, The development of mathematics
education as an academic field - Reaction by JEAN
LUC DORIER
DINA TIROSH and PESSIA TSAMIR, Intuition and
rigor in mathematics education - Reaction by ALDO
BRIGAGLIA
MOGENS NISS, Perspectives on the balance between
application & modelling and "pure" mathematics in
the teaching and learning of mathematics -
Reaction by TOSHI IKEDA
JO BOALER, The relationship between research and
practice in mathematics education: International
examples of good practice - Reaction by JOAO DA
PONTE
GERT SCHUBRING, The origins and early incarnations of ICMI
FULVIA FURINGHETTI, MARTA MENGHINI, FERDINANDO
ARZARELLO, LIVIA GIACARDI, ICMI Renaissance: The
emergence of new issues in mathematics education
BIENVENIDO NEBRES, Centres and peripheries in
mathematics education - Reaction by GELSA KNIJNIK
Panel on ICMI's challenges and future: MORTEN BLOMHØJ; MAMOKGETHI SETATI
MICHÈLE ARTIGUE, ICMI: One century at the
interface between mathematics and mathematics
education - Reflections and perspectives
BERNARD R. HODGSON, Some views on ICMI at the dawn of its second century
Short Talks (Coordinators Alan Bishop and Lee Peng Yee)
EILEEN F. DONOGHUE - The inception of ICMI: David
Eugene Smith and the founding of ICTM; ALAN
BISHOP - The past four decades: consolidation and
diversification; DEREK HOLTON - The process of
an ICMI Study: The teaching and learning of
mathematics at university level; FREDERICK K.S.
LEUNG - The significance of the ICMI Study on
mathematics education in East Asia and the West;
UBIRATAN D'AMBROSIO - ICMI and its influence in
Latin America; JILL ADLER - The development of
AFRICME; CLAUDI ALSINA - What is the impact of
hosting an ICME for the organizing country? - The
case of ICME8 in Spain; LIM-TEO SUAT KHOH - ICMI
Activities in East and Southeast Asia: Thirty
years of academic discourse and deliberations
Working Groups - Reports
BILL BARTON & FREDERIC GOURDEAU: Disciplinary
mathematics and school mathematics; DEBORAH BALL
& BARBRO GREVHOLM: The professional formation of
teachers; HILARY POVEY & ROBYN ZEEVENBERGEN:
Mathematics education and society; MARCELO BORBA
& MARIOLINA BARTOLINI BUSSI: Resources and
technology throughout the history of ICMI; GILAH
LEDER & LUIS RADFORD: Mathematics education: An
ICMI perspective.
ORDERING THE VOLUME
The proceedings of the Symposium held on the
occasion of the Centennial of ICMI in Rome, from
March 5th to March 8th, 2008, are now being
published.
The price of the volume comes to 60 Euros (about
90 USD) shipping fees included.
Participants of ICME's and of conferences of the
affiliated groups of ICMI, in the period 2004 -
2008, may enjoy a special 33 % reduction.
To receive the volume, we ask that you send in the following request:
I would like to receive a copy of the volume:
The First Century of the International Commission
on Mathematical Instruction (1908-2008).
Reflecting and Shaping the World of Mathematics Education
o at the price of 40 Euros, shipping and
handling included; I was a participant of
ICME/PME/HPM...................................................in
the period 2004 - 2008
o at the price of 60 Euros, shipping and handling included
Please send the volume to the following address:
I will be paying by:
o Credit Card
Amount to Charge: Type of Card: __
Name on Card: __ Card Number: __
Expiration Date: __ Signature:
Bank transfer (please send a copy) to: Istituto
della Enciclopedia Italiana
IBAN IT48 L010 0503 2060 0000 0007 699
The request may be sent to
By Mail: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
Ufficio Vendita Diretta
Piazza della Enciclopedia Italiana, 4
I - 00186 Roma (Italia)
By Email: venditadiretta at treccani.it
By fax: +39 06 68982294
For all other infomation, please use the above addresses.
The request form is also available at the Symposium's website:
http://www.unige.ch/math/EnsMath/Rome2008
------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. ICTMA 14
Second Announcement -- Call for papers
The International Community of Teachers of
Mathematical Modelling and Applications (ICTMA)
invites you to participate in the 14th
International Conference on the Teaching of
Mathematical Modelling and Applications (ICTMA14).
The conference will take place at the University
of Hamburg in Germany and is scheduled from
Monday, 27th July to Friday, 31st July 2009.
Invited are experts in the field as well as young
researchers interested in research on the
teaching of applications and modelling in all
areas of mathematics education - primary through
secondary schools, as well as colleges and
universities.
Organising Committee: Professor Gabriele Kaiser
(Chair, University of Hamburg, Department of
Education), Dr. Rita Borromeo Ferri (Co-chair,
University of Hamburg, Department of Education),
Working group on Mathematics Education at the
University of Hamburg, Department of Education
Outline of the Conference Programme
Aim of the conference: The aim of the conference
is to provide a forum for the presentation and
exchange of information, experiences, and ideas
relating to the teaching, learning and assessment
of mathematical modelling, mathematical models
and applications of mathematics at primary,
secondary and tertiary level.
The following issues will be tackled by a variety of activities:
* Pedagogical issues, such as the
understanding of modelling, promotion of
modelling competencies, cognitive aspects;
* Assessment of modelling activities in school and universities;
* Connections to industrial or commercial
practice, mathematics at the workplace;
* Influences of technology;
* Cross-cultural aspects and international studies
Conference programme: The conference programme will include
* Plenary lectures followed by reactions of invited experts in the field
* Paper presentations by conference participants in parallel sessions
* Panel discussion by invited experts on
modelling perspectives around the world
Plenary lectures and reacting experts:
Werner Blum (University of Kassel, Germany)
Can Modelling be Taught and Learnt? Some Answers from Empirical Research.
Reactor: Marcelo de Carvalho Borba (State
University of Sao Paulo at Rio Claro, Brazil)
Gloria Stillman (Melbourne University, Australia)
Applying Metacognitive Knowledge and Strategies
in Applications and Mathematical Modelling Tasks
at Secondary School
Reactor: Rita Borromeo Ferri (University of Hamburg, Germany)
Helmut Neunzert (Fraunhofer-Institut fuer Techno-
und Wirtschaftsmathematik (ITWM), Kaiserslautern,
Germany)
Mathematical Modelling and a New Role for Mathematics as Key Technology
Reactor: Jens Struckmeier (University of Hamburg,
Germany) - Subject to confirmation
Richard Lesh (Indiana University, USA ), Helen Doerr (Syracuse University, USA)
Models and Modelling: Perspectives on Teaching
and Learning Mathematics for the 21st Century
Chris Haines (City University London, Great Britain)
Drivers for Mathematical Modelling: Pragmatism in Practice
Reactor: Katja Maaß (Educational University Freiburg, Germany)
Panel discussion:
Theme: Modelling perspectives around the world - State-of-the-art
Contributions by:
* Toshikazu Ikeda (Yokohama National University, Japan)
* Peter Galbraith (University of Queensland, Australia)
* Jonei Cerqueira Barbosa (State University of Feira de Santana, Brazil)
* Pauline Vos (University of Amsterdam, Netherlands)
* Bharath Sriraman (University of Montana, USA)
Conference secretary and conference website:
http://www.ictma14.de or http://www.ictma2009.de :
For further information (e.g., personal
invitation letter) please contact the conference
secretary Karen Stadtlander (University of
Hamburg, Department of Education)
ictma at erzwiss.uni-hamburg.de or visit the website
of the conference, which will be updated
regularly.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
5. New e-journal: Educational Designer
ISDDE - International Society for Design and Development in Education
You might like to look at ISDDE's new e-journal
Educational Designer, which has just been
launched.
You will find it at http://www.educationaldesigner.org/
We hope you find this first issue interesting. We look forward to hearing your
comments on it -- and perhaps, in the future, your contributions to it.
Hugh Burkhardt <Hugh.Burkhardt at nottingham.ac.uk>
------------------------------------------------------------------------
6. Calendar of Events of Interest to the ICMI Community
ATCM-13: 13th Asian Technology Conference in Mathematics
Bangkok, Thailand, December 15-19, 2008
http://atcm.mathandtech.org
3rd international conference to review research
on Science, TEchnology and Mathematics Education
Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (TIFR),
Mumbai, India, January 5-9, 2009
http://web.gnowledge.org/episteme3/
CERME 6: Sixth Conference organised by the
European Society for Research in Mathematics
Education
University Lyon 1, France, January 27 - February 1, 2009
http://ermeweb.free.fr/cerme6.php
3rd International Symposium on Mathematics and
its Connections to the Arts and Sciences
Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada, 21st-23rd of May, 2009
http://www.umoncton.ca/freimanv/macas3/index.htm
5th Asian Mathematical Conference
Putra World Trade Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, June 22 - 26, 2009
http://math.usm.my/amc2009/
ICTMT-9 - 9th Int Conf on Technology in Mathematics Teaching
Metz, France, July 4-8, 2009
http://www.ictmt9.org
ICTMA 14 - 14th International Conference on the
Teaching of Mathematical Modelling and
Applications
University of Hamburg, Germany, July 27-31, 2009
http://www.ictma.net
SEMT '09 - 10th bi-annual conference on Elementary Mathematics Teaching,
"The development of mathematical understanding"
Prague, August 23-28, 2009
http://kmdm.pedf.cuni.cz
"Models in Developing Mathematics Education"
The Mathematics Education into the 21st Century Project
Dresden, Saxony, Germany, September 11-17, 2009
<mailto:arogerson at inetia.pl>alan at rogerson.pol.pl
SRD'09 - Southern Right Delta'09
7th Southern Hemisphere Conference on the Teaching
and Learning of Undergraduate Mathematics and Statistics
Gordons Bay, South Africa, 29 November-4 December 2009
http://www.delta2009.co.za
------------------------------------------------------------------------
7. SUBSCRIBING TO ICMI News
There are two ways of subscribing to ICMI News:
1. Click on http://www.mathunion.org/ICMI/Mailinglist with a Web browser
and go to the "Subscribe" button to subscribe to ICMI News online.
2. Send an e-mail to icmi-news-request at mathunion.org with the Subject-line:
Subject: subscribe
In both cases you will get an e-mail to confirm your subscription so
that misuse will be minimized. ICMI will not use the list of ICMI News
addresses for any purpose other than sending ICMI News, and will not
make it available to others.
Previous issues can be seen at:
http://www.mathunion.org/pipermail/icmi-news
=====================================================================
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://www.mathunion.org/pipermail/icmi-news/attachments/20081103/2596c921/attachment.html>
More information about the ICMI-News
mailing list