teaching mathematics
Laura Petersen (petersen@lcsc.edu)
Sat, 19 Oct 1996 12:38:19 -0700
I teach remedial mathematics. Many of my students struggle with math
anxiety and math hatred and do not understand why mathematics is part of
the core curriculum. I address these attitudinal barriers by having them
"Read and Reflect" as part of their daily homework assignments -- I've
written 1-2 page readings and questions that accompany them which pertain
to these issues. In one such reading, the students reflect on some math
history -- that sometimes mathematical advances come about because of a
need to solve a problem and sometimes advances occur because of someone's
desire to know or understand more, even if there is no practical
application. I illustrated the process of development of "modern
mathematics" with a diagram which included the contributions of the
Babylonians, Egyptians, Chinese, sub-continent Indians, and the Islamic
cultures as well as the Greeks and European influences. Then, in the
question section, I printed the the traditional "dead white men" time line
of mathematics history which begins with the Greeks, gets lost in the Dark
Ages, rediscovered in the Renassiance, and then blossoms through the end
of the 1800s, beginning of the 1900s through the efforts of European male
mathematicians. I asked my students to explain why they thought the
latter diagram was the one most often found in math history books. Out of
75 students, only TWO perceived it as a lack of a multicultural viewpoint.
The others attributed its inclusion to "its easier to understand," "it
takes up less room," "it is less complicated," etc.
Even though these students have certainly been exposed to multicultural
teaching, particularly in elementary school and junior high, it doesn't
seem to have become part of the thinking that they use when they look at
their world. I wonder why.
I do not know the role that number sense or mathematics played in Native
cultures in this hemisphere except for the Mayans. I have searched my
usual sources and found nothing. Can anyone help?
Incidentally, a good resource for other cultures' contributions is
Multicultural Mathematics: Teaching Mathematics from a Global Perspective
by Nelson, Gheverghese Joseph and Williams. 1993
--Laura
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Laura Petersen petersen@lcsc.edu
Division of Natural Sciences PHONE 208-799-2484
Lewis-Clark State College FAX 208-799-2064
500 8th Avenue
Lewiston ID 83501-2698 USA
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