{"title":"Foundational Mathematical Beliefs and Ethics in Mathematical Practice and Education","authors":"Richard Spindler","doi":"10.5642/jhummath.gosn2205","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5642/jhummath.gosn2205","url":null,"abstract":"Foundational philosophical beliefs about mathematics in the mathematical community may have an unappreciated yet profound impact on ethics in mathematical practice and mathematics education, which also affects practice. A philosophical and historical basis of the dominant platonic and formalist views of mathematics are described and evaluated, after which an alternative evidence-based founda-tion for mathematical thought is outlined. The dualistic nature of the platonic view based on intuition is then compared to parallel historical developments of universalizing ethics in Western thought. These background ideas set the stage for a discussion of the impact of traditional mathematical beliefs on ethics in the practice and education of mathematics in the mathematical community. This is compared to the potential of a belief in evidence-based mathematical foundations on mathematical practice and education.","PeriodicalId":42411,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Humanistic Mathematics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2022-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49360003","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Aleph of Borges and the Paradise of Cantor","authors":"R. Mulas","doi":"10.5642/jhummath.zlib7211","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5642/jhummath.zlib7211","url":null,"abstract":"Synopsis The mathematician Georg Cantor, the writer Jorge Luis Borges, and the protag-onist of Borges’ short story The Aleph , Carlos Argentino Daneri, are seen here as three pieces of a single puzzle. We put these pieces together and we look at the surprising figure that we obtain.","PeriodicalId":42411,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Humanistic Mathematics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2022-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42428859","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Violence in Mathematics Teaching. Reflections Inspired by Levinas’ Totality and Infinity","authors":"Adriano Demattè","doi":"10.5642/jhummath.cjdw2311","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5642/jhummath.cjdw2311","url":null,"abstract":"In mathematics class, violence is carried out in some usually not recognized situations. In this article, I share some reflections on the topic inspired by some passages of Totality and Infinity, work of the French-Lithuanian philosopher Emmanuel Levinas (1906–1995). I find violence by the teacher in not promoting students’ understanding of mathematics, in a distorted use of rhetoric, and in interrupting an ethical relation. This article analyses situations taken from class activities, focusing on the teacher’s presentation of mathematical content and students’ interventions. I also propose that the improvement of interventions in mathematics education is possible and suggest theoretical ideas for acting on situations of violence.","PeriodicalId":42411,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Humanistic Mathematics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2022-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43702860","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nathan Alexander, Carrie Eaton, A. Shrout, Belin Tsinnajinnie, Krystal Tsosie
{"title":"Beyond Ethics: Considerations for Centering Equity-Minded Data Science","authors":"Nathan Alexander, Carrie Eaton, A. Shrout, Belin Tsinnajinnie, Krystal Tsosie","doi":"10.5642/jhummath.ocys6929","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5642/jhummath.ocys6929","url":null,"abstract":"In this paper, we utilize duoethnography — a research method in which practitioners discursively interrogate the relationships between culture, context, and the mechanisms which shape individual autobiographical experiences — to explore what may be beyond ethics in the context of data science. Although ethical frameworks have the ability to reflect cultural priorities, a singular view of ethics, as we explore, often fails to speak to the multiple and diverse priorities held both within and across institutional spaces. To that end, this paper explores multiple perspectives, epistemologies, and worldviews that can collectively push researchers towards considerations of a data science education that is equity-minded both in concept and practice. Through a set of dialogues which examine our positionalities, journeys, ethics, local cultures, and accountabilities, this paper explores the contextual realities rooted in the authors’ educational settings. These conversations focus on the humanity of our students, the communities from which we come from and serve, as well as the unintentional harms and possibilities associated with the development of data science programs across institutional types. We take a set of five core questions to examine how we made, and continue to make, sense of our diverse cultural perspectives on data science education and equity with/in relation to others’ realities. Broadly, this paper seeks to offer reflections on the related but differing functions of ethics and equity in data science education.","PeriodicalId":42411,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Humanistic Mathematics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2022-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44096462","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Doughnut at the End of Space","authors":"Deborah Coy","doi":"10.5642/jhummath.gasu8191","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5642/jhummath.gasu8191","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":42411,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Humanistic Mathematics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2022-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45470078","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A Mini-seminar: Teaching Ethics in Mathematics in an Hour a Week","authors":"Allison Miller","doi":"10.5642/jhummath.xwbz9758","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5642/jhummath.xwbz9758","url":null,"abstract":"This article describes a one-credit class on ethics in mathematics, which met once a week for an hour and discussed topics in cryptography, algorithms, and big data, and the role of mathematics in public life. I offer anecdotal evidence that even a course with relatively little time commitment for both students and faculty can have a significant impact on students’ understanding of and interest in ethics in mathematics. I also collect recommendations and resources in the hopes of encouraging others to consider teaching such a course.","PeriodicalId":42411,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Humanistic Mathematics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2022-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42153243","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Navigating Mathematics Teacher Preparation During A Time of Crisis","authors":"Z. Rahman, Rani Satyam, Younggon Bae","doi":"10.5642/jhummath.gqze5973","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5642/jhummath.gqze5973","url":null,"abstract":"In this paper we highlight the experience of a mathematics teacher educator (MTE) and their preservice teachers (PTs) in a middle school mathematics methods course during the 2020 shift to online instruction due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We believe it is valuable to report how the MTE reflected on their instructional decision-making in response to this massive transition to remote instruction. We also report that PTs needed support and guidance to employ new teaching practices they had learned in the methods course instead of reverting to familiar teaching methods.","PeriodicalId":42411,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Humanistic Mathematics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2022-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44424481","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Calculus III: Under the Influence of Peer Instruction","authors":"Alan Von Herrmann, L. Clark","doi":"10.5642/jhummath.mdfx5309","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5642/jhummath.mdfx5309","url":null,"abstract":"In peer instruction [12], students engage with core course concepts and then explain those concepts to one another in small groups. Unlike in lecture format, peer instruction involves every student in the class. In Spring 2019, the first author began using a modified version of peer instruction in Calculus III classes. He started each class by discussing important Calculus III concepts from three standpoints (the formula, the geometry behind the formula, and the physics behind the formula). During the last 20 minutes of each 50-minute class session, he polled the students using questions in the “Goldilocks Zone” — not too hard and not too easy, but just right for Calculus III students. These questions ignited student-to-student discussions. Students’ attendance and achievement have improved. The paper also describes how peer instruction has influenced the first author’s own instructional practices.","PeriodicalId":42411,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Humanistic Mathematics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2022-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45482207","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Fractal Geometry of Mathematics Classrooms: Navigating Classroom Environments in Factory-Model Schools","authors":"Cacey L. Wells","doi":"10.5642/jhummath.xxva3028","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5642/jhummath.xxva3028","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":42411,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Humanistic Mathematics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2022-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48084272","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}