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    Mathematical Thinking

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    leeks70
    Mathematical thinking is considered special by some for a few key reasons: 1) Those who teach mathematics want society to fund mathematics education and recognize mathematical thinking. 2) Mathematical thinking involves a unique style that can include logical, objective, and structured thinking as well as being creative, intuitive, and involving proof. 3) There are differing views on what makes mathematics and mathematical thinking special, whether it is the content, style of thinking, use of proof, or being about facts or rules regarding abstract concepts and objects.

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    Mathematical Thinking

    Uploaded by

    leeks70
    85 views39 pages
    Mathematical thinking is considered special by some for a few key reasons: 1) Those who teach mathematics want society to fund mathematics education and recognize mathematical thinking. 2) Mathematical thinking involves a unique style that can include logical, objective, and structured thinking as well as being creative, intuitive, and involving proof. 3) There are differing views on what makes mathematics and mathematical thinking special, whether it is the content, style of thinking, use of proof, or being about facts or rules regarding abstract concepts and objects.

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    Mathematical thinking is considered special by some for a few key reasons: 1) Those who teach mathematics want society to fund mathematics education and recognize mathematical thinking. 2) Mathematical thinking involves a unique style that can include logical, objective, and structured thinking as well as being creative, intuitive, and involving proof. 3) There are differing views on what makes mathematics and mathematical thinking special, whether it is the content, style of thinking, use of proof, or being about facts or rules regarding abstract concepts and objects.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as ppt, pdf, or txt
    85 views39 pages

    Mathematical Thinking

    Uploaded by

    leeks70
    Mathematical thinking is considered special by some for a few key reasons: 1) Those who teach mathematics want society to fund mathematics education and recognize mathematical thinking. 2) Mathematical thinking involves a unique style that can include logical, objective, and structured thinking as well as being creative, intuitive, and involving proof. 3) There are differing views on what makes mathematics and mathematical thinking special, whether it is the content, style of thinking, use of proof, or being about facts or rules regarding abstract concepts and objects.

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    of 39

    Mathematical thinking

    is
    of course
    very special
    Why should we care
    about whether it’s
    special?
    Because we’re asking society to fund
    us to teach it.

    Because we want to be able to


    recognise mathematical thinking
    when we see it.

    Because somebody might ask us –


    at a party or in a classroom.
    Because a teacher’s political position
    +
    her general educational philosophy
    +
    her views about nature of mathematics
    and numeracy
    = (sort of)
    her approaches to teaching, and to
    curriculum and accreditation issues
    Based on Ernest, P., 1991, The Philosophy of Mathematics Education,
    Basingstoke, Flamer Press
    What do you really
    hope or believe about
    the “specialness” of
    maths?
    Hopes and beliefs exercise
    What makes maths special?

    •Content?
    •Style of thinking?
    •Style and standards of
    proof?
    Maths is ABOUT something

    It’s about
    numbers or
    shapes or
    symbols or
    mental objects or........
    Bain, I. 1986. Celtic Knotwork. London: Constable
    Bain, I. 1986. Celtic Knotwork. London: Constable
    Zaslavsky, C. 1973 Africa Counts. Westport. Lawrence Hill & Co.
    Zaslavsky, C. 1973 Africa Counts. Westport. Lawrence Hill & Co.
    Zaslavsky, C. 1973 Africa Counts. Westport. Lawrence Hill & Co.
    Zaslavsky, C. 1973 Africa Counts. Westport. Lawrence Hill & Co.
    Deal or No Deal.

    Any mathematical
    thinking going on there?
    OK......

    it’s not about things......

    it’s about FACTS about the things.

    Maths is really a set of facts about the


    world...

    like 1 + 1 = 2
    Or.......

    “for every line, L, and point, P, which


    is not on that line, there exists a
    unique line, M, through P that is
    parallel to L.”

    Is that a fact? A mathematical fact?


    Ok,
    forget content,
    forget facts.

    Maths isn’t a noun, it’s a verb.

    It’s about a style of thinking.


    style of thinking.....
    logical objective challenging
    integrated
    stuck but happy knitting ideas together
    deductive consistent compartmentalised
    creative
    questioning
    step-by-step disciplined rule-generating

    speculating generalising enquiring


    practical abstract well-organised

    rule-following proof refutation algorithmic

    structured by leaps and bounds intuitive


    How about proof?

    If you prove something, you’ve been


    doing mathematical thinking........?

    And if you haven’t proved something, you


    haven’t .......?
    When is a proof really a
    proof?
    Formal ? Algebraic? Computer-
    generated? Visual? Intuition?
    Consensus?

    Proof-building by “incessant improvement


    of guesses by speculation and criticism, by
    the logic of proofs and refutations”
    Lakatos, I. (1976). Proofs and Refutations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    XXXX

    XXXX
    XXXX

    XXXX
    Mathematicians as enquirers
    • Visual
    - thinking in pictures, often dynamic

    • Analytic
    - thinking symbolically, often formalistically

    • Conceptual
    - thinking in ideas, classifying
    Burton, L. (2004). Mathematicians as Enquirers - Learning about
    Learning Mathematics. Dordecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
    And finally.......

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