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This essay, which won the 2018 BSHM undergraduate essay prize, investigates the collaborative mathematical practice of Paul Erdős. It draws on new unpublished primary sources and oral history in both English and Hungarian. It raises the question of whether communal mathematics, or mathematics as a social activity, can lead to individual success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses legal implications of the expansion of practical uses of mathematics in social life. Taking as a starting point the omnipresence of mathematical infrastructures underlying policies, technology and markets, the paper proceeds by attending to relevant materials offered by general philosophy, legal philosophy, and the history and philosophy of mathematics. The paper suggests that the modern transformation of mathematics and its practical applications have spurred the emergence of multiple useful technologies and forms of social interaction but have impoverished access to meanings originating in the lifeworld. The paper also argues that, as part of devices of interest aggregation and expert networks, mathematical infrastructures can be scrutinized by a revised form of legal practice that subjects them to legal critique and reconstruction in order to overcome conditions that have eroded the moral self-awareness of individuals and communities and their existential meanings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers the author's tips for making mathematics enjoyable for kindergartners. She mentions the need for sharing one's experience with the subject and listen to hints on challenges in engaging with mathematical lessons. She also suggests to become involved in a play with fellow educators to induce a joyful atmosphere in the classroom and making math interesting for students.

This essay examines the quantitative aspects of Greco-Roman science, represented by a group of established disciplines that since the fourth century B.C.E. had been called mathēmata or mathēmatikai epistēmai. Among the mathēmata, which in antiquity normally comprised mathematics, mathematical astronomy, harmonics, mechanics, and optics, the essay also includes geography. Using a data set based on The Encyclopaedia of Ancient Natural Scientists, it considers a community of mathēmatikoi (as they called themselves), or ancient scientists (as they are defined for the purposes of this essay), from a sociological point of view, focusing on the size of the scientific population known to us and its disciplinary, temporal, and geographical distribution. A diachronic comparison of neighboring and partly overlapping communities—ancient scientists and philosophers—allows the pattern of their interrelationship to be traced. An examination of centers of science throughout ancient history reveals that there were five major sites—Athens, Alexandria, Rhodes, Rome, and Byzantium/Constantinople—that appeared, in succession, as leaders. These conclusions serve to reopen the issue of the place of mathēmata and mathēmatikoi in ancient society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on achievement gaps by race/ethnicity and poverty status typically focuses on each gap separately, and recent syntheses suggest the poverty gap is growing while racial/ethnic gaps are narrowing. In this study, we used time-varying effect modeling to examine the interaction of race/ethnicity and poverty gaps in math and reading achievement from 1986-2005 for poor and non-poor White, Black, and Hispanic students in three age groups (5-6, 9-10, and 13-14). We found that across this twenty-year period, the gaps between poor White students and their poor Black and Hispanic peers grew, while the gap between non-poor Whites and Hispanics narrowed. We conclude that understanding the nature of achievement gaps requires simultaneous examination of race/ethnicity and income. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study examined the effect of gender-based stereotype threat (ST) on the mathematics performance of high school students in Uganda, East Africa, as moderated by students' stereotype endorsement and/or their perceptions of stereotypic expectancies by others. Participants were 190 ninth grade students (age 14-15, senior 2, in Uganda) from all-female and coed boarding schools. Only perceived stereotypic expectancies by others significantly moderated ST effects on performance. A reminder of cross-gender comparisons led both young women and young men to underperform if they assumed that the researchers expected their own gender to do worse than the other gender. Importantly, students' perceptions of the stereotypic expectancies of authority figures (i.e. researchers) mattered more for predicting their math performance than did students' own endorsement of stereotypes. Collectively, these findings support a basic assumption of ST theory- that knowledge of a cultural stereotype is a prerequisite to the ST experience. Therefore, studies conducted with younger samples and in diverse cultural contexts should establish participants' awareness of the stereotype in question. Also, regarding gender and math stereotypes, it should not be assumed that males will always be immune from stereotype-based performance deficits on quantitative tasks when tested in different cultures. Finally, results suggest that conveying an expectation that young men and young women have equal ability and potential might be important to preventing ST among younger age groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the viral New York Times essay \To Fall in Love with Anyone, Do This", Mandy Len Catron details an experience she and an acquaintance had as they shared responses to psychologist Arthur Aron's thirty-six questions intended to make participants fall in love. She notes that \we all have a narrative of ourselves that we over up to strangers and acquaintances, but Dr. Aron's questions make it impossible to rely on that narrative". In this paper, we claim that we also have narratives of our relationship to mathematics that we over up to ourselves and others. Following, we over a mathematical version on Aron's thirty-six questions, designed to break out of our personal mathematical narratives and foster intimacy with mathematics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When a young mathematician faces the prospect of a date, all kinds of mathe- matics ensue. Here we explore her innovative way to keep the conversation going through rolling dice to decide which conversation starter to utilize. In the course of our exploration, we solve an interesting generating function problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For almost three years, I have spent most of my Sunday afternoons doing math with my daughters and a group of their school friends. Below I detail why and how the math club is run. Unlike my day job, which is full of (statistical) learning objectives for my college students, my math club has only the objective that the kids I work with learn to associate mathematics with having fun. My math club has its challenges, but the motivation comes from love of mathematics, which makes it fun, and worth every minute. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Popularization of mathematics plays a significant role in drawing more \friends of mathematics" from the public, which is important for the healthy and pro- sperous development of the discipline. The issue of a suitable balance between entertainment and learning is constantly on the minds of those who put evort into this task. This article discusses this issue in the context of mathematical museums and describes a simple problem involving seven light bulbs to illustrate its main points. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mathematics can help us pursue morally significant ends more efficiently—but it can do more. It can help us elaborate and clarify those ends themselves. For example, while it is not a mathematical theorem that we should deal fairly with one another, mathematics can teach us how best to understand fairness in cases of real consequence. This enlargement of ethical understanding is a social function mathematics shares with literature. As I explore this point of common interest, I will consider three standards for assessing ethical standards: feasibility (a particular concern of Aristotle), testability (a particular concern of John Dewey), and mathematical tractability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article describes use of Realistic Mathematics Education (RME) approach to teach division word problems involving money in the 3rd-grade class in Liberia. This pedagogical strategy uses contextual problems and students' everyday experiences as a foundation forteaching important mathematics concepts and skills. The students who were used to traditional methods of teaching, became active participants and creative in theirthinking as they were exposed to RME model.

Mathematics, as no other school subject, evokes conflicting emotions and contradictory attitudes - from "the gate to a career" and "the queen of science" to the widespread acceptance of mathematical ignorance in society. The process of studying mathematics requires systematic work and patience, as mathematical knowledge has a cumulative nature. In the case of mathematics education, some students abandon mathematics at quite early levels of education and begin to consider themselves "humanists", which results in serious consequences for future educational and career choices. In this paper, I propose a description of the process of escaping from mathematics in the context of students' perceptions of this subject, using the results of two studies - one qualitative and the other quantitative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we argue that the academic fields of critical mathematics education and post-normal science are complementary and can provide mutual benefits for the future. Post-normal science promotes the idea of extended peer communities, through which citizens participate with knowledge and insights in urgent and complex societal issues with conflicting stakes. Meanwhile, critical mathematics education is a philosophy of mathematics education that includes attention to the central role of mathematics in a technological society, the effects of this role, and the need for epistemic dialogue in learning and teaching mathematics. We argue that a mathematics education based on these ideas can prepare students to participate in extended peer communities. We focus particularly on the uncertainty that characterises post-normal situations. Post-normal science distinguishes various characteristics of uncertainty and highlights its centrality to post-normal situations. A critical mathematics education should prepare citizens who are able to deal with the different ways in which uncertainty matters in such situations. We illustrate these ideas through brief descriptions of three classroom studies in which students discuss issues of uncertainty and risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the researcher's personal experiences, ethnographic interviews, observations and literature search, this paper investigates whether the rural elderly Shona people in Zimbabwe believe they possess mathematical knowledge. Second, it investigates and critically analyses how the Shona the Shurugwi County of Zimbabwe use indigenous mathematical knowledge and innovations to solve challenges they meet in their daily lives. And third, it specifically analyses the mathematics involved in building, clay pot making, traditional medicine preparation and mixing ratios and proverbs used in poems and stories. In this, observation and experience show that some of the elderly are reluctant to share their knowledge about local medicine preparation methods, and mixing ratios applied to make some medicines. Hence, as a way forward, the paper recommends the sharing of mathematical indigenous knowledge by rural communities to solve local challenges, thus, academics and researchers should record and formalize indigenous knowledge as it may contribute to a bank of African knowledge suitable for African socio-economic development, and knowledge that may also benefit other people in the world. And in conclusion, it is argued that rural folk hold rich mathematical knowledge, and the use of inexpensive and user-friendly innovations for family upbringing and survival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the relation of mathematics performance and gender with seven mathematics-related emotions (enjoyment, pride, anger, anxiety, shame, hopelessness and boredom) among adolescents. Using strict and lenient mathematics performance cut-off scores, respective groups of adolescents with mathematics difficulties (MD,n = 136), low (LA,n = 166) and typical mathematics performance (TA,n = 1056) were identified. Our results revealed that the MD group reported more shame than the LA group. The MD group also reported more negative emotions and less positive emotions than the TA group, with the exception of boredom, for which there was no statistically significant difference. The interaction effect between mathematics performance group and gender on emotions was significant. Only females with MD showed significantly higher levels of hopelessness and shame than females with LA, while males with LA even reported more boredom than males with MD. Concerning gender differences, males reported slightly more pride and enjoyment than females. However, the direction and magnitude of the gender differences showed great variance among mathematics performance groups. The practical implications of the results are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study investigated the antecedents and consequences of children's math anxiety and math attitude. A total of 595 students aged 10 to 15 years (5th to 10th grades) and 1 parent of each (mother or father) participated in the study. The study was conducted in India, with the study sample drawn from schools in South-West Punjab. Math anxiety of parents and their children was measured using the Mathematics Anxiety Scale Short Version (MARS-SV), the Mathematics Anxiety Scale for Elementary School Students (MARS-E), and the Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale for Adolescents (MARS-A). Math attitude was assessed with the Attitude Towards Mathematics Inventory (ATMI). A math achievement test was constructed for each grade level based on their curriculum. Path analyses were conducted to test the suggested conceptual model, and the results indicate that parental math anxiety and math attitude act as precursors to their children's math anxiety and math attitude and further influence the math achievement of their children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) has recently drawn additional attention to 'mathematical literacy' as an important influential factor for individuals' life chances. High levels of mathematical literacy have thereby been linked to using mathematics in daily and working life frequently. In this paper, based on the data from Germany, we focus on the construct 'use of mathematics' in two ways: First, we analyze in depth how it can be utilized to describe different groups of adults. Second, we investigate its role as predictor of mathematical competence and mediator of other relevant background variables. Results show that three groups of adults can be distinguished that use mathematics differently in daily and working life. However, the construct can sensibly be described as unidimensional. In a path model, 'use of mathematics' turns out to be the strongest predictor of mathematical competence. In addition, it mediates effects of the mathematical requirements of the job, duration of education, and gender. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on the French natural philosopher, mathematician, physicist, and author, Émilie du Châtelet, in 1706-1749, wherein it states that she's an outstanding intelligent woman. It mentions the most outstanding philosophers and scientists women during her time including Marie de Gournay, Anne Dacier, and Madeleine de Scudery.

Prior research has shown that students from low socio-economic status (SES) families are at greater risk for mathematics education and achievement, and these factors in turn, may impact their long-term well-being. This paper investigates differences in mathematics achievement by SES, using clinical interview (CI). Students in Kindergarten to Grade 3 were studied using cross-sectional and longitudinal data to examine differences in mathematics accuracy, strategy use, and profiles. Results indicate minor differences in overall accuracy and in overall profile scores. At the subtest level, differences were found for accuracy for all grade levels. There were significant differences in mathematics performance by SES. In particular, larger differences by SES were found in mathematics accuracy than in sensible strategy use. For profile scores, significant differences were found by SES using cross sectional data; moreover, students' profile scores differed by subtests and sections of the CI. Longitudinal data analysis indicated significant changes in students' profile scores; however, there were no differences in profile scores by SES over time. Curricular and assessment implications are discussed, with directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents results of a study about the interpretations of elementary school students of arithmetic mean in different situations. The participants were 08 students from 5th grade and 08 students from 9th grade. They answered a diagnostic test with conceptual elements of arithmetic mean in research situations denominated: family context, media, interpreting graphs and averaging. Their responses were categorized into four levels: preestructural, uniestructural, multiestructural and relational. Students from both school years had an improvement of their levels of responses, but 9th grade students had an improvement more substantial, thus putting in evidence the importance of the educational process in the construction of the concept of arithmetic mean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to the oft-repeated story, the theory of social choice was invented by the eighteenth century French mathematicians: Borda. Condorcet, and Laplace. After their contributions, the subject is said to have fallen into oblivion. The aim of this article is to challenge this narrative by reviewing a nineteenth century discussion on the merits of different voting rules. In that discussion the social choice results had a central role. The participants in the heated dispute were both professors at the University of Helsinki: Lorenz Lindelöf (1827-1908) was the Professor of Mathematics, a noted mathematician and statistician, while Johan Wilhelm Snellman (1806-1881) was the Professor of Philosophy and the unofficial intellectual leader of the Finnish national movement. Many of the arguments used by them also appear in modern treatments of social choice theory. Such basic anomalies of social choice as the Borda paradox, the Condorcet paradox, path-dependence, and strategic voting figured in the discussion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethnomathematical techniques and modelling tools allow us to examine systems taken from the real world and offer us insight into forms of mathematics performed in holistic contexts [3]. A pedagogical approach that connects a diversity of cultural forms of mathematics can be implemented by the use of eth- nomodelling, a process of translation and elaboration of problems and questions taken from non-academic systems. Here, we offer examples of studies conducted in Brazil and in the United States that explore this pedagogical approach. Our goal is to broaden the discussion of possibilities for ethnomathematics and associated ethnomodelling perspectives that respect the social diversity of distinct cultural group members with guarantees for the development of understanding of the different ways of doing mathematics through dialogue and respect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay is intended as an example of \moral math", i.e., ideas culled from mathematics which can positively impact social behavior. Specifically, it combines fuzzy logic with the ethical decisions which hospital staff and others are sometimes forced to make about health care (e.g., euthanasia issues following Hurricane Katrina). The assumption is that such decisions involve value-laden choices which lend themselves to \fuzzy" or \smart" protocols. The article discusses the history of fuzzy logic -- what it is, how it is used, and how it might be even better-used as a support basis for making difficult choices in the health care setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article describes the social nature of mathematical reasoning.

Children from low-income and Black and Latino families are often at risk for reading and math difficulties. We examined whether there were differences in Black and Latino Head Start parents' beliefs about reading and math socialization, frequency of children's engagement in reading and math, and children's reading and math skills. There were differences in parents' socialization beliefs, children's reading and math activities, and associations with children's reading and math outcomes. Although reading/math engagement was more limited than what is reported among middle-income families, findings show the importance of parental beliefs and practices for children's reading and math outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Educação Matemática Pesquisa is the property of Pontificia Universidade Catolica de Sao Paulo, Programa de Estudos Pos-Grad. em Educacao Matematica and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Using data from a household-based, stratified random sample of youth and their caregivers from low-income inner-city neighborhoods, this study examined the variability in the academic achievement of Latino youth. The results indicate a significant advantage in reading achievement for first- and second-generation immigrant youth, as compared to the third generation, which persisted even after controlling for important child, parenting, human capital, neighborhood, and demographic covariates. Follow-up analyses within the subsample of the first- and second-generation youth indicate that more recent arrival to the United States predicted higher reading achievement. Yet, there was no evidence of a similar immigrant advantage in math. The implications of these findings, limitations of the present study, and directions for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Contrapontos is the property of Universidade do Vale do Itajai and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Expectancy-value theory (Eccles et al., 1983) is a prominent approach to explaining gender differences in math-related academic choices, with value beliefs acting as an important explanatory factor. Expectancy-value theory defines 4 value components: intrinsic value, attainment value, utility value, and cost. The present study followed up on inconsistencies in research findings on gender differences in math values that might partially be due to differences in the operationalization of the value construct. To this end, we examined if subfacets of the 4 value components could be established empirically and if gender differences could be found on these facets. A total of 1,868 9th-grade students completed a set of 37 items assessing their value beliefs in mathematics. Confirmatory factor analyses supported the conceptual differentiation of value beliefs into a total of 11 value facets. Whereas the factor structure was invariant across gender, there were considerable differences in mean levels favoring boys on some but not all value facets. These gender differences depended not only on the value component but also on the specific facet under consideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eccentricity, though not inevitable, happens. Lightheartedly classifying examples, the author traces it back to factors, like creativity and absorption, essential to mathematical success, and recommends an attitude of amused tolerance towards others as well as to ourselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Math Students' Circles provide an opportunity for mathematicians to work in their communities to engage young students in mathematics as a human, aesthetic, and social endeavor. Sometimes referred to simply as Math Circles, these venues give mathematicians experience in introducing children to topics not typically seen in school curricula in an exciting, hands-on format. This article explores two Math Students' Circles (MSCs) in the state of Colorado from the point of view of two pre-tenure faculty members. One participated in MSCs for four years while working on her Ph.D. in mathematics, the other started an MSC as an offshoot of a successful professional development program for middle school mathematics teachers. We discuss how and why MSCs have in uenced our professional lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Devlin in [7] argues that video games are an ideal medium for the teaching and learning of mathematics, though he points out that very few 'good' mathematics video games exist.1 Building on a probabilistic board game developed in the 1980s, we created a mathematics computer game, E-Brock Bugs. The design of the game carefully follows Devlin's principles of a good mathematics video game, including a well-developed storyline, the selection of an in-game avatar, and an environment where mathematics arises in a natural and meaningful way. As a result, we argue that E-Brock Bugs is an epistemic computer game [1]; it goes beyond teaching basic facts and skills, and may encourage the players' development of mathematical thinking as `working mathematicians'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Godfrey Harold Hardy (1877-1947), the magnificent analyst who "discovered" the enigmatic Ramanujan and penned A Mathematician's Apology, is most widely known outside of mathematics for his work in genetics. How did Hardy, described by his colleague C.P. Snow as "the purest of the pure," become one of the founders of modern genetics? We explore this question in light of Hardy's own ideas about pure and elegant mathematics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For many university students, the last formal experience in a mathematics class- room is a single semester "general education" mathematics class. Traditionally, students in this type of class often hold negative attitudes towards mathemat- ics. Here I study a sample of students from this population (49 students at a large, urban, comprehensive public university enrolled in a "math for liberal arts majors" course) to research whether a positive experience in a freshman-level general education mathematics course correlates with a positive change in the students' attitude towards mathematics in general. I also explore which specific aspects of such a course contribute most to a positive student experience. The survey results show that while a positive experience in a freshman-level general education mathematics course correlates with positive responses in a student's attitude about several key variable components of attitude (including motivation to do mathematics, perceived usefulness of mathematics, and confidence while doing mathematics), it does not correlate with positive change. The course aspects that most correlate with a positive experience include the teacher/professor, difficulty level of the course, and workload. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the self-perceptions of primary and secondary teachers and their mathematical content knowledge.

‘The unplanned impact of mathematics’ refers to mathematics which has an impact that was not planned by its originator, either as pure maths that finds an application or applied maths that finds an unexpected one. This aspect of mathematics has serious implications when increasingly researchers are asked to predict the impact of their research before it is funded and research quality is measured partly by its short term impact. A session on this topic has been used in a UK undergraduate mathematics module that aims to consider topics in the history of mathematics and examine how maths interacts with wider society. First, this introduced the ‘unplanned impact’ concept through historical examples. Second, it provoked discussion of the concept through a fictionalized blog comments discussion thread giving different views on the development and utility of mathematics. Finally, a mock research funding activity encouraged a pragmatic view of how research funding is planned and funded. The unplanned impact concept and the structure and content of the taught session are described. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, I explore recreational mathematics from two perspectives. I first study how the concept appears in educational policy documents such as standards, syllabi, and curricula from a selection of countries to see if and in what way recreational mathematics can play a part in school mathematics. I find that recreational mathematics can be a central part, as in the case of India, but also completely invisible, as in the standards from USA. In the second part of the report, I take an educational historical approach. I observe that throughout history, recreational mathematics has been an important tool for learning mathematics. Recreational mathematics is then both a way of bringing pleasure and a tool for learning mathematics. Can it also be a tool for social empowerment? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to investigate what motivates women to choose mathematics as an undergraduate major and to further explore what shapes their future career goals, paying particular attention to their undergraduate experiences and their perceptions of the role of gender in these decisions. A series of semi-structured, individual interviews were conducted with twelve undergraduate women mathematics majors who were attending either a large public university or a small liberal arts college. This study found that strong mathematical identities and enjoyment of mathematics heavily in uenced their decisions to major in mathematics. At the career selection stage, these women desired careers that are service-oriented, social in nature, and involved mathematical applications. For those planning to become teachers, the desire to help others predominantly in uenced their career decision. Many of the non-teaching majors were unaware of mathematical careers other than teaching that satisfied these career qualities. Implications of these results with respect to women's participation in mathematics are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista de Educacion y Desarrollo Social is the property of Universidad Militar Nueva Granada, Departamento de Educacion and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)