{"title":"The evolutionary course of mathematics literary writings: A case study","authors":"Tzu-Shan Chang","doi":"10.1007/s12564-024-09969-y","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Attention to the disconnection between culture and mathematics has been addressed then and now (Wilder (in: Graves et al., Proceedings of the international congress of mathematicians, American Mathematical Society, 1950; Liu in Taiwan Journal of Mathematics Education, 8:79–88, 2021b). Recently, studies, workshops, and contests about an approach to relating culture and mathematics, such as incorporating mathematics history or mathematics writings in class, have emerged. However, although the effectiveness of such an approach was proved, employing it as instruction was still significantly ignored, not to mention the approach to creating mathematics literary writings—the goal that the Mathematics-Literature Contest aimed to achieve. Additionally, no empirical studies have systematically assessed the contest, especially from the cultural perspective. Through teachers’ and students’ perceptions, this qualitative case study aims to examine the impact of mathematics literary writings on the development of mathematics teaching/learning and the mathematics culture represented in the contest. Ten teachers and 20 students were interviewed. Data were analyzed by following Yin’s five phases (2016). The study visualizes an evolutionary model of the contest, signifying the development of mathematics culture simultaneously. Results demonstrated that the contest caused teachers and students, who constituted the internal force, to consolidate the mathematics culture, which was enriched by the external force—to reinterpret the connection between mathematics as well as culture and the reform of general education. The developed mathematics culture included elements other than mathematics, such as the Chinese writings and their interactions with mathematics and life experiences. The findings hold implications for mathematics and general education: An interdisciplinary curriculum design can help cultivate teachers’ and students’ intellectual acumen; higher education communities worldwide must follow the trend.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":47344,"journal":{"name":"Asia Pacific Education Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3000,"publicationDate":"2024-05-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Asia Pacific Education Review","FirstCategoryId":"95","ListUrlMain":"https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12564-024-09969-y","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Attention to the disconnection between culture and mathematics has been addressed then and now (Wilder (in: Graves et al., Proceedings of the international congress of mathematicians, American Mathematical Society, 1950; Liu in Taiwan Journal of Mathematics Education, 8:79–88, 2021b). Recently, studies, workshops, and contests about an approach to relating culture and mathematics, such as incorporating mathematics history or mathematics writings in class, have emerged. However, although the effectiveness of such an approach was proved, employing it as instruction was still significantly ignored, not to mention the approach to creating mathematics literary writings—the goal that the Mathematics-Literature Contest aimed to achieve. Additionally, no empirical studies have systematically assessed the contest, especially from the cultural perspective. Through teachers’ and students’ perceptions, this qualitative case study aims to examine the impact of mathematics literary writings on the development of mathematics teaching/learning and the mathematics culture represented in the contest. Ten teachers and 20 students were interviewed. Data were analyzed by following Yin’s five phases (2016). The study visualizes an evolutionary model of the contest, signifying the development of mathematics culture simultaneously. Results demonstrated that the contest caused teachers and students, who constituted the internal force, to consolidate the mathematics culture, which was enriched by the external force—to reinterpret the connection between mathematics as well as culture and the reform of general education. The developed mathematics culture included elements other than mathematics, such as the Chinese writings and their interactions with mathematics and life experiences. The findings hold implications for mathematics and general education: An interdisciplinary curriculum design can help cultivate teachers’ and students’ intellectual acumen; higher education communities worldwide must follow the trend.
文化与数学之间的脱节问题在当时和现在都受到了关注(怀尔德(Wilder)(见 Graves et al:Graves et al., Proceedings of the international congress of mathematicians, American Mathematical Society, 1950; Liu in Taiwan Journal of Mathematics Education, 8:79-88, 2021b)。近年來,有關文化與數學關係的研究、工作坊及比賽相繼出現,例如在課堂上加入數學歷史或數學著作。然而,尽管这种方法的有效性已得到证实,但将其作为教学方法仍被严重忽视,更不用说创作数学文学作品的方法--数学-文学竞赛旨在实现这一目标。此外,没有任何实证研究对竞赛进行过系统的评估,尤其是从文化角度进行评估。本定性案例研究旨在通过教师和学生的看法,探讨数学文学作品对数学教学发展的影响以及竞赛所代表的数学文化。共采访了 10 位教师和 20 名学生。数据分析遵循殷氏的五个阶段(2016 年)。研究将竞赛的演化模型可视化,同时标志着数学文化的发展。研究结果表明,竞赛促使构成内力的教师和学生巩固了数学文化,而数学文化又在外力的作用下得到了丰富,从而重新诠释了数学以及文化与普通教育改革之间的联系。发展起来的数学文化包括数学以外的元素,如中国文字及其与数学和生活经验的互动。研究结果对数学和通识教育具有启示意义:跨学科的课程设计有助于培养教师和学生的知识敏锐性;全球高等教育界必须顺应这一趋势。
期刊介绍:
The Asia Pacific Education Review (APER) aims to stimulate research, encourage academic exchange, and enhance the professional development of scholars and other researchers who are interested in educational and cultural issues in the Asia Pacific region. APER covers all areas of educational research, with a focus on cross-cultural, comparative and other studies with a broad Asia-Pacific context.
APER is a peer reviewed journal produced by the Education Research Institute at Seoul National University. It was founded by the Institute of Asia Pacific Education Development, Seoul National University in 2000, which is owned and operated by Education Research Institute at Seoul National University since 2003.
APER requires all submitted manuscripts to follow the seventh edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA; http://www.apastyle.org/index.aspx).