Proceedings of the 7th International Congress on Mathematical Education / Selected Lectures from the 7th International Congress on Mathematical Education

School Science and Mathematics, Nov 1996 by Prielipp, Bob

Proceedings of the 7th International Congress on Mathematical Education

Editors

Claude Gaulin, Bernard R. Hodgson, David H. Wheeler, and John C. Egsgard

LES PRESSES DE L'UNIVERSITE LAVAL DISTRIBUTION DE LIVRES UNIVERS s.e.n.c.

845, rue Marie-Victorin Saint-Nicolas (Qudbec), Canada GOS 3L0

1994: 495 pages Paperback $45 CAN plus shipping charges of $4.50 CAN for Canada, $6 CAN for USA, and $10 CAN for other countries. (Canadians must add GST(7%) to the total.)

Selected Lectures from the 7th International Congress on Mathematical Education

Editors

David F. Robitaille, David H. Wheeler, and Carolyn Kieran

LES PRESSES DE L'UNIVERSITE LAVAL DISTRIBUTION DE LIVRES UNIVERS s.e.n.c.

845, rue Marie-Victorin

Saint-Nicolas (Qudbec), Canada GOS 3L0

1994: 370 pages

Paperback $45 CAN plus shipping charges of $4.50 CAN for Canada, $6 CAN for USA, and $10 CAN for other countries. (Canadians must add GST(7%Io) to the total.)

Reviewer

Bob Prielipp

Mathematics Department University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Oshkosh, WI 54901-8631

Have you ever wondered what would be discussed at an international conference of mathematics educators? Would the same sorts of things that are talked about at our annual School Science and Mathematics Association meeting, the annual meeting of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, and the annual meeting of the National Science Teachers Association be the main topics of discussion at a gathering of mathematics educators from all over the world? Now you can find the answers to these questions by reading either or both of the books named above.

The 7th International Congress on Mathematical Education (ICME-7) was held at Universitd Laval, Qudbec City, Canada from August 17 - August 23, 1992. The Proceedings include the texts of the four plenary lectures, reports of forty-five groups and of the mini-conference on calculators and computers, and information on other events that took place at ICME-7. Selected Lectures contains the presentations of twentyseven invited lecturers from around the world.

While reading each of these books I couldn't help but envy those who were present at ICME-7. It must have been a very stimulating and educational experience. I found myself underlining numerous passages. Here are just a few of them.

1. "What classes of functions should students study and why? What relative roles do reasoning, evidence, and formal proof have once technology enters the classroom?"

2. "How does one achieve some consistency in grades and assessment when self assessments are applied? How does an instructor factor out the unequal contributions of various group members when the quality of a team project is assessed and grades are to be assigned to individual team members?"

3. "In response to the question of whether mathematics is useful in solving social problems, only 30% of the parents agreed. The students' responses were interesting in that approximately 60% of the fourth and sixth graders agreed but this percentage decreased dramatically as only 25% of the eighth graders agreed and only 12% of the tenth graders agreed."

4. "...the significance of mathematics as a key skill or component in the understanding of how to approach many tasks in adult life and work has been emphasized...-yet a common criticism of mathematics by students is its irrelevance to their lives. This apparent contradiction is strengthened if one examines the current use of school mathematics in all other subject areas at the senior high school level. Usually, apart from some areas of science, no secondary school mathematics is used."

5. "The class can only run successfully if the students accept responsibility for their part in the work of the class."

6. "There is ...a need for more differentiated methods of teaching. Many classes experience a single mode of teaching almost exclusively, whether it be exposition and exercises, discussion or investigation."

7. "Good teaching may look very different in different classrooms."

8. "...more than half of American students assert the belief that learning mathematics is mostly memorization...."

Read these books. You will find that they contain a great deal to think about.

Editor's Note: S. Wali Abdi's address is The University of Memphis, Department of Instruction and Curriculum Leadership, 401 A Ball Hall, Memphis, TN 38152.