Brock Univeristy Professor of Mathematics Chantal Buteau, alongside Professor and Chair of Curriculum Studies and Studies in Applied Linguistics\u00a0George Gadanidis at Western University, are co-hosting a successful online seminar series on programming in mathematics education.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe decided to launch the online seminar series this summer as a response to the cancellation or postponement of many scholarly events, such as the International Congress in Mathematics Education (ICME) 2020 in Shanghai, China, as a result of the pandemic,” says Buteau. “We decided to fight the confinement by instead meeting and sharing ideas online.\u201d<\/p>\n
The series is supported in part by funding from the Mathematics Knowledge Network and through the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSRCH), drawing from Buteau and Professor of Mathematics Education Joyce Mgombelo’s research grant (2017-22) on students\u2019 learning to use programming for authentic pure and applied mathematics investigations.<\/p>\n
Faculty of Mathematics and Science Dean Ejaz Ahmed applauds Buteau\u2019s initiative.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe must continue to find new and exciting ways to educate online,” says Ahmed. “Our ability to reach and teach across the world is more important now than ever before.\u201d<\/p>\n
The series comes at an opportune time as the government has updated the Ontario math curriculum to include coding. The series also naturally finds a home at Brock with the Department of Mathematics and Statistics’ leadership in integrating coding for pure and applied math investigations through its\u00a0<\/span><\/span>unique MICA I-II-III courses since 2001<\/a>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The aim of the online seminar series is to provide a platform to discuss recent research on the integration and use of programming, or computational thinking (CT), more broadly in mathematics programs.<\/p>\n Research addressing related student learning, the nature of exemplary tasks, pedagogical models, instructional materials, and resources and assessment practices are some of the topics slated for discussion.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are delighted with the group of experts who accepted our invitation to the seminar series,” says Buteau. “They have already engaged us with insights into programming in mathematics education.\u00a0Our first event brought Professor’s of Mathematics Education Dame Celia Hoyles and Richard Noss from University College London in the United Kingdom. They are both internationally acknowledged leaders in the field.”<\/p>\n As of publication, the seminar has 215 registrations from 27 countries.<\/p>\n