Editorial.The AAMT AAMT American Association for Medical Transcription. Conference in Fremantle Fremantle (frē`măn'təl, frĭm`əntəl), city (1996 pop. 24,276), Western Australia, SW Australia, a suburb of Perth, on the Indian Ocean at the mouth of the Swan River. was inspiring! Many young teachers attended, and many contributed their ideas and experiences. This is hope for the future of mathematics teaching--that it is in good hands: the energetic and innovative! In addition, the optimism of speakers on behalf of the developing National Curriculum led me to feel that this was, indeed, a positive move. It will be interesting to see the effect on the curricula of various states and systems. It does seem at times, however, that the focus on innovative teaching remains much the same as it has for at least a decade, if not longer. Graphics calculators (even ordinary old calculators) promised much, but it seems that their promise has yet to be fully realised. Perhaps it is because advances in computer technology and associated software allow far greater freedom of exploration of mathematical ideas. The huge possibilities afforded by interactive websites and downloadable programs seems unlimited! This does, of course, mean work for teachers to test and differentiate the great sites from the rather ordinary, and to decide how best to use these sites. This is not so different from what teachers have always done when deciding on approaches to topics so that they engage and enthral their students. There are times, however, when it appears that the teaching of mathematics remains firmly rooted in the more traditional frameworks, particularly as students reach the later years of schooling. Yet, the use of real, physical experiences, pictures, informal "proofs" provides accessible contexts for students when they encounter new ideas. They become "novices" once again--as do we all when we encounter new ideas. To see and touch and manipulate manipulate To cause a security to sell at an artificial price. Although investment bankers are permitted to manipulate temporarily the stock they underwrite, most other forms of manipulation are illegal. objects allows learners to literally "get a feel" for the mathematics in the objects or the movement of the objects. Even those who work in arcane ar·cane adj. Known or understood by only a few: arcane economic theories. See Synonyms at mysterious. [Latin arc fields such as hyper-space geometries need to see and manipulate the "real thing." Margaret Wertheim, director of the Institute for Figuring The Institute For Figuring (IFF) is an organization based in Los Angeles, California that promotes the public understanding of the poetic and aesthetic dimensions of science, mathematics and the technical arts. (www.theiff.org), found that the simple art of crochet enabled her to develop and explore figures of hyperbolic space In mathematics, hyperbolic n-space, denoted Hn, is the maximally symmetric, simply connected, n-dimensional Riemannian manifold with constant sectional curvature −1. more effectively, more cheaply and more quickly than could expensive computer programs. Articles in this edition discuss similar approaches to measurement, pattern generalisation Noun 1. generalisation - an idea or conclusion having general application; "he spoke in broad generalities" generality, generalization idea, thought - the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about; "it was not a good idea"; "the thought and chance aspects of mathematics--the use of life-like contexts, models and diagrams to enable access to sophisticated mathematical ideas. It is the younger teachers, those who want to experiment with teaching approaches, who are the future of this discipline. I would encourage these teachers to send in articles for the journal, assisted by more experienced teachers, and writers, who can act as mentors and coauthors. Happy reading, and inspirational in·spi·ra·tion·al adj. 1. Of or relating to inspiration. 2. Providing or intended to convey inspiration. 3. Resulting from inspiration. teaching! Judith Falle University of New England The University of New England can refer to:
<jfalle@une.edu.au> |
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