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<div><br></div>
<div>ICMI News 9: April 2009</div>
<div><br>
A Bimonthly Email Newsletter from the ICMI-International Commission on
Mathematical Instruction</div>
<div>Editor: Jaime Carvalho e Silva, Dep. Matematica, Universidade de
Coimbra, Portugal</div>
<div><br>
CONTENTS<br>
</div>
<div>1. Editorial: The Relevance of Mathematics Education in
India</div>
<div>2. ICMI Study 20: Educational Interfaces between Mathematics and
the Industry (EIMI)</div>
<div>3. ICMI Study 20: Discussion document (short version)</div>
<div>4. ICMI has a new website!</div>
<div>5. Exhibition "Experiencing Mathematics" in southern
countries</div>
<div>6. Calendar of Events of Interest to the ICMI Community</div>
<div>7. Historical vignettes: David Eugene Smith, the proponent of
ICMI</div>
<div>8. Subscribing to ICMI News</div>
<div><br>
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></span>---</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>1. Editorial: The Relevance of Mathematics Education in
India<br>
</div>
<div>I am from India, a country of more than one billion people. It is
a country which exhibits all shades - from substandard to sublime - in
any given field. I consider myself as a teacher of mathematics at the
Univerity level and I shall confine myself with some of the
achievements and woes faced by us in the field of teaching
mathematics.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>As the reader may know, India has produced some very brilliant
mathematicians and has a very large pool of mathematicians. In spite
of this, most of us (in India) in the educational field feel that
there is an acute shortage of qualified competent teachers especially
at undergraduate and graduate level.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>The problem starts perhaps at the undergraduate level. There are
about 5000+ undergraduate colleges in India. All of them are
affiliated to 300+ universities and follow the curriculum laid down by
the University. The examinations are conducted by the universities to
award the degrees. The sad fact is that the teaching at the
undergraduate level is the weakest link in higher education. Most of
the teachers are masters' degree holders who passed their examination
by learning by rote. When they join undergraduate colleges as
faculties, they are given teaching duties which, at the least, are 16
hours per week along with innumerable other duties which their
employers expect from them as part of their duties. So even those who
want to spend time to learn well so that their teaching is effective
are left with hardly any time to improve their knowledge.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>To remedy this situation, the Universities Grants Commision, the
statutory body, has introduced the so-called Refresher Courses for
College/University teachers. While some results are being seen, a lot
needs to be done.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>At primary and secondary school level, there is the Homi Bhabha
Center for Science Education, an arm of Tata Institute, Mumbai, which
is carrying out impressive studies in the field of science (including
Mathematics) education. Based on their research and studies, they have
brought out textbooks at school level. However, these books are not
adopted by the statutory bodies and most of the teachers are not even
aware of their existence.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>The nation has not realized the importance of Mathematics
Education as a discipline. So, I think the main challenges that face
us are to look for answers on how Mathematics Education as a
discipline (i) can help develop a good curriculum, (ii) what are the
issues taken up for study of various problems faced by teachers of
mathematics especially in developing countries and the recommendations
or solutions offered for these (iii) at which places these
recommendations were implemented and what was the outcome and more
directly (iv) how mathematics education can have a direct impact on
the quality of mathematics teaching.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>At present, the general feeling in India, as in many places, is
that we need a lot of teachers whose background knowledge is sound so
that they can do a competent job in teaching, but some are skeptical
about the ways mathematics education research can help improve the
situation. The ICMI Executive Committee hopes that ICMI Study 15
Volume on the professional education and development of teachers of
mathematics, just coming out, may contribute to change such views and
really help improve the quality of teacher preparation all over the
world.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>S. Kumaresan, Member-at-large, ICMI-EC, University of Hyderabad,
Hyderbad, India, kumaresa@gmail.com</div>
<div><br></div>
<div
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></span>----</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>2. ICMI Study 20: Educational Interfaces between
Mathematics and the Industry (EIMI)</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>The International Commission on Mathematical Instruction (ICMI)
and the International Council for Industrial and Applied Mathematics
(ICIAM) are pleased to announce the launching, as part of the series
of ICMI Studies, of a joint Study on the theme</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Educational Interfaces between Mathematics and the Industry
(EIMI).</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>A recent OECD Global Science Forum on "Mathematics in
Industry" has recognized the intimate connections between
innovation, science and mathematics. In view of these connections,
there is a need for a fundamental analysis and reflection on
strategies for the education and training of students and maybe the
development of new ones. The EIMI Study (ICMI Study no. 20) will seek
to better understand these connections and to offer ideas and
suggestions on how education and training can contribute to enhancing
both individual and societal developments. It will examine the
implications for education at the intersection of these two
communities of practice - industrialists and mathematicians. The
EIMI Study will aim at maintaining a balance between the perceived
needs of industry for relevant mathematics education and the needs of
learners for lifelong and broad education in a globalised
environment.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>The two co-chairs for this Study are Alain Damlamian
(damla@univ-paris12.fr), Université de Paris-Est, France, and Rudolf
Sträßer (Rudolf.Straesser@math.uni-giessen.de),
Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen, Germany. José Francisco
Rodrigues (rodrigue@ptmat.fc.ul.pt), Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal,
is the Local Organiser.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>The Discussion Document for the joint ICMI/ICIAM Study, making a
call for contributions, is available on the study website:</div>
<div> http://eimi.mathdir.org/</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>The DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION OF CONTRIBUTIONS is September 15,
2009.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>The Study Conference of the Study will be held in Lisbon on April
19-23, 2010.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Members of the International Programme Committee:</div>
<div>Alain Damlamian (France, co-chair), Rudolf Sträßer (Germany,
co-chair), José Francisco Rodrigues (Portugal, host country), Marta
Anaya (Argentina), Helmer Aslaksen (Singapore), Gail FitzSimons
(Australia), José Gambi (Spain), Solomon Garfunkel (USA), Alejandro
Jofré (Chile), Henk van der Kooij (Netherlands), Li Ta-tsien
(China), Brigitte Lutz-Westphal (Germany), Taketomo Mitsui (Japan),
Nilima Nigam (Canada), Fadil Santosa (USA), Bernard R. Hodgson (Ex
officio, ICMI), Rolf Jeltsch (Ex officio, ICIAM).</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Bernard R. Hodgson, Secretary-General of ICMI,
bhodgson@mat.ulaval.ca</div>
<div><br></div>
<div
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></span>----</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>3. ICMI Study 20: Discussion document (short version)</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>EIMI STUDY: EDUCATIONAL INTERFACES BETWEEN MATHEMATICS AND
INDUSTRY</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>The International Commission on Mathematical Instruction (ICMI)
and the International Council for Industrial and Applied Mathematics
(ICIAM) are jointly launching the EIMI Study as part of the series of
ICMI Studies. It will seek to better understand the connections
between innovation, science and mathematics and to offer ideas and
suggestions on how education and training can contribute to enhancing
both individual and societal developments.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>The Study will examine the implications for education at the
intersection of these two communities of practice - industrialists
and mathematicians. We wish to emphasise that there should be a
balance between the perceived needs of industry for relevant
mathematics education and the needs of learners for lifelong and broad
education in a globalised environment.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>The Study aims at broadening the awareness: of the integral role
of mathematics in society; of industry with respect to what
mathematics can and cannot realistically achieve; of industry with
respect to what school and university graduates can and cannot do
realistically in terms of mathematics; and of mathematics teachers and
educators with regard to industrial practices and needs with respect
to education.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>The Study also aims: to enhance the appropriate usage of
mathematics in society and industry; to attract and retain more
students, encouraging them to continue their mathematical education at
all levels; and to improve mathematics curricula at all levels of
education.<br>
</div>
<div>To achieve these aims, ten content areas, each one with several
questions, are suggested:<br>
<br>
1. The Role of Mathematics - Visibility & Black Boxes</div>
<div>People are rarely aware of the importance of mathematics in
modern technologies. The use of mathematics in modern society should
be more visible questioning: How can mathematics, especially
industrial mathematics, be made more visible to the public at large?
How can mathematics be made more appealing and exciting to students
and the professionals in industry? How can mathematics serve a
progressive rather than a restrictive role in education and training
for the workplace? To what extent is it necessary or desirable to
describe the inner workings of black boxes? What are the social
implications of not explaining the inner workings of black
boxes?</div>
<div><br>
2. Examples of Use of Technology and Mathematics</div>
<div>Modern workplaces are characterised by the use of different types
of technology including Mathematics in fields as diverse as the
chemical industry, oil exploration, medical imaging, micro- and
nano-electronics, logistics & transportation, finance, information
security, and communications and entertainment. What are insightful
examples of the role of technology in showing and/or hiding
mathematics in the workplace? Does the existence of special types of
technology and the hiding of mathematics from the view of the user
imply a change in the mathematical demands on the user? How? Do old
competencies like estimation of results and reading of different
scales become obsolete when using modern technology? Or, do they
become more important? What are the social and political consequences
of the 'crystallising' and 'hiding' of mathematics in black
boxes?</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>3. Communication and Collaboration</div>
<div>In the workplace, mathematics is seldom undertaken as an
individual activity. Mathematical work, mostly on modelling and
problem solving, is almost always a group activity and frequently the
groups involved are made up of individuals with diverse expertise and
expectations: How to identify which societal and/or industrial
problems should be worked on? How to better communicate within
multi-disciplinary working groups? How to communicate the underlying
mathematics to the problem owners and/or general public? How to
achieve greater quantitative literacy among school leavers, workers,
and the general population?</div>
<div><br>
4. The teaching and learning of Industrial Mathematics - Making
Industrial Mathematics more visible.</div>
<div>Who decides what will be explained and to whom? How to decide the
level of explanation for various groups? How to organise teaching and
learning in order to make industrial mathematics visible - if this
is wanted/necessary? How much is it appropriate to explain for
educational purposes in order to generate interest and excitement
without overwhelming the learner?</div>
<div> <br>
5. Using Technology and Learning with Technology: Modelling &
Simulation</div>
<div>Using a new technology usually requires special efforts to become
acquainted with it, to develop routines and practice. This can be an
obstacle to switching to a more modern technology as long as the older
one still "does the job". On the other hand, change and innovation
are necessary in industry. How should one decide on the level of
detailed mathematics expected to be taught/learned in a given
vocational black box situation? How can mathematics help the transfer
of technological procedures and/or solutions between different fields
of industry? What criteria should be used to judge the appropriateness
of simulation in the teaching & learning of industry related
practice? How can one compensate for the "standardising effects"
of any technology that is in widespread use?</div>
<div><br>
6. Teaching and Learning for Communication and Collaboration</div>
<div>Communication and collaboration form an integral and important
part of the industrial use of mathematics. Because of their importance
in industry, it is desirable to have these skills taught and learned
in all parts of education and training, questioning: What
communication skills are specific to mathematics? Are there specific
skills for use in relation to industrial mathematics? How do we teach
mathematics as a second language?</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>7. Curriculum and Syllabus Issues</div>
<div>A partnership between mathematics and industry requires
adjustments of the mathematics curriculum. This can also impact the
teaching of mathematics in general, questioning: What are the
(dis)advantages of identifying a core curriculum of mathematics for
industry within the general mathematical curriculum at various levels
and for various professions? What are useful ways to introduce
mathematics for industry into vocational education? What are the
(dis)advantages of creating specific courses on mathematics for
industry vs. including the topic in the standard mathematical courses
at various levels? What are the (dis)advantages of treating
mathematics for industry as an interdisciplinary activity or as part
of the traditional mathematics syllabus?</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>8. Teacher Training</div>
<div>Teachers must be trained in new mathematical content, pedagogy
and assessment and to recognise the presence of mathematics in society
and industry. What level of understanding of this new content in
relation to EIMI is appropriate for each grade level? What are good
practices that support this new direction in teacher training? How to
implement these changes in an efficient way?</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>9. Good Practices & Lessons to be Learned</div>
<div>In all sectors of education there are examples of good practice
in relation to the Study. This Study would like to collect good
examples of how to integrate industry into the educational process.
Lessons to be learned from failures are of the same interest as those
from successes.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>10. Research and Documentation</div>
<div>National and trans-national documentation is widely missing in
the field of mathematics and industry. Suggestions and contributions
describing existing and future research and documentation of
activities in the field of Educational Interfaces between Mathematics
and Industry will be most welcome.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div
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></span>----</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>4. ICMI has a new website!<br>
</div>
<div>The Executive Committee of the International Commission on
Mathematical Instruction is pleased to announce the opening of the new
ICMI website. This site is located on the server of the International
Mathematical Union, at Konrad-Zuse-Zentrum in Berlin, and can be
accessed via both url<br>
</div>
<div>http://www.mathunion.org/ICMI/ or
http://www.mathunion.org/icmi/<br>
</div>
<div>The renewal of the ICMI website has been long overdue. The
original site had been launched in 1995 and, besides periodical
updates of information, had undergone rather limited changes over the
years. A total revamping of the site, both in design and in
content, was thus highly necessary and an action in that direction was
undertaken already by the previous Executive Committee of ICMI.
Unfortunately the whole process took longer than expected and it is
only now that the new site can be made accessible to the public.<br>
</div>
<div>During the process of preparation of the new site, IMU decided to
introduce for the maintenance of its own website the use of TYPO3, a
free Open Source Web Content Management System. In the final steps of
its preparation, the new site of ICMI has been transferred to the
TYPO3 environment, which will make its maintenance and updating easier
for the ICMI EC. This has also allowed for a redesign of the
site, in particular as regards the format of the window in which the
site is accessed.<br>
</div>
<div>The site as it now exists is not yet in a final form, as some
pages are still to be introduced or completed. Nonetheless we
believe that the site is now mature enough to serve as a useful tool
for the community. As part of our development goals, we want to
have the site become the entry point to the ICMI Digital Library, a
project of making available in freely downloadable versions various
ICMI publications, including the ICMI Study volumes and the
Proceedings of ICME congresses. We would also wish to have the
ICMI site become a portal to various sources of information on the
teaching and learning of mathematics in all parts of the world.<br>
</div>
<div>It is thus the hope of the ICMI Executive Committee that the ICMI
site will serve as a useful channel of communication, not only about
ICMI and its activities, but also more generally as regards various
issues related to mathematics education considered from an
international perspective. The ICMI EC welcomes comments and
suggestions not only about the current format and content of the site,
but also about its evolution in order to better play such a
role.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Bernard R. Hodgson, Secretary-General of ICMI,
bhodgson@mat.ulaval.ca<br>
</div>
<div
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></span>----</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>5. Exhibition "Experiencing Mathematics" in southern
countries</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>After 5 years the exhibition was presented in more than 100
cities of 35 countries, of which 30 from southern countries.</div>
<div>In 2008, it was presented in 6 countries of Latin America, in
Turkey and Asia (from India to Korea)</div>
<div>See http://www.MathEx.org .</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Since ICME10 more than 600 000 visitors, 20 000 teachers and
class students have visited it.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Since one year, we have added, with the support of UNESCO, a
virtual exhibition, mainly for the secondary teachers of southern
countries (http://www.ExperiencingMaths.org).</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>In 2009-2010, it will be presented in Brazil (10 cities in 7
months), in Korea for one year and in West Africa in 4 countries.<br>
</div>
<div>Michel Darche, Centre.Sciences, mldarche@free.fr</div>
<div><br></div>
<div
>--------------------------------------------------------------------<span
></span>----</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>6. Calendar of Events of Interest to the ICMI Community</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>10th conference Teaching Mathematics: Retrospectives and
Perspectives</div>
<div>Institute of Mathematics and Sciences, Tallinn University,
Tallinn, Estonia, May 14-16, 2009</div>
<div>http://www.tlu.ee/bcmath2009/</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>3rd International Symposium on Mathematics and its Connections to
the Arts and Sciences</div>
<div>Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada, 21st-23rd of May, 2009</div>
<div>http://www.umoncton.ca/freimanv/macas3/index.htm</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>The 3rd International Symposium on the History and Pedagogy of
Mathematics in China</div>
<div>Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China, May 22-25, 2009</div>
<div>Xichi Wang, College of Mathematics & Natural Sciences,
Beijing Normal University</div>
<div>19 Xinjeikouwai St., Beijing, 100875., P. R. of China,
xiciwang@mail.bnu.edu.cn</div>
<div>http://www.shuxueshi.cn</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>5th ICMSA (International Conference on Mathematics, Statistics
and Their Applications)</div>
<div>Department of Mathematics, FMIPA, Andalas University, Indonesia,
June 9 - 11, 2009</div>
<div>http://www.math-unand.org/icmsa/</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>5th Asian Mathematical Conference</div>
<div>Putra World Trade Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, June 22-26,
2009</div>
<div>http://math.usm.my/amc2009/</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>ICTMT-9 - 9th Int Conf on Technology in Mathematics
Teaching</div>
<div>Metz, France, July 6-9, 2009</div>
<div>http://www.ictmt9.org</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Towards a Digital Mathematics Library (DML 2009)</div>
<div>Ontario, Canada, July 8-9th, 2009</div>
<div>http://www.fi.muni.cz/~sojka/dml-2009.html</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Computer Algebra and Dynamic Geometry Systems in Mathematics
Education</div>
<div>RISC, Castle of Hagenberg, Austria, July 11-13, 2009</div>
<div>http://www.risc.uni-linz.ac.at/about/conferences/cadgme2009/</div
>
<div><br></div>
<div>First International GeoGebra Conference 2009</div>
<div>RISC, Castle of Hagenberg, Austria , July 14-15, 2009</div>
<div
>http://www.geogebra.org/en/wiki/index.php/GeoGebra_Conference_2009</div
>
<div><br></div>
<div>PME33 - 33rd Annual Meeting of the International Group for the
Psychology of Mathematics Education</div>
<div>Thessaloniki, Greece, July 19-24, 2009</div>
<div>http://www.pme33.eu</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Bridges Banff - Mathematics, Music, Art, Architecture,
Culture</div>
<div>The Banff Centre, Banff, Alberta, Canada, July 26-29, 2009</div>
<div><u>http://bridgesmathart.org/bridges-2009/</u></div>
<div><br></div>
<div>CIEAEM61 - Commission internationale pour l'étude et
l'amélioration de l'enseignement des mathématiques</div>
<div>Université de MONTRÉAL, Montréal, Québec, Canada, July
26-31, 2009</div>
<div>http://www.cieaem.net/</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>ICTMA 14 - 14th International Conference on the Teaching of
Mathematical Modelling and Applications</div>
<div>University of Hamburg, Germany, July 27-31, 2009</div>
<div>http://www.ictma14.de/</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>SEMT '09 - 10th bi-annual conference on Elementary Mathematics
Teaching,</div>
<div>"The development of mathematical understanding"</div>
<div>Prague, August 23-28, 2009</div>
<div>http://kmdm.pedf.cuni.cz</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>4th general meeting of European Women in Mathematics (EWM)</div>
<div>University of Novi Sad, Serbia, August 25-28, 2009</div>
<div>http://ewm2009.wordpress.com/</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>"Models in Developing Mathematics Education"</div>
<div>The Mathematics Education into the 21st Century Project</div>
<div>Dresden, Saxony, Germany, September 11-17, 2009</div>
<div><a
href="mailto:arogerson@inetia.pl">alan@rogerson.pol.pl</a></div>
<div><br></div>
<div>ICREM4 - The 4th International Conference on Research and
Education in Mathematics 2009</div>
<div>K u a l a L u m p u r , M a l a y s i a, October
2 1 - 2 3 , 2 0 0 9 </div>
<div>http://einspem.upm.edu.my/icrem4/</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>CoSMEd -Third International Conference on Science and Mathematics
Education</div>
<div>Improving Science and Mathematics Literacy: Theory, Innovation
and Practice</div>
<div>Penang, Malaysia, November 10-12, 2009</div>
<div>http://www.recsam.edu.my/cosmed/</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>SRD'09 - Southern Right Delta'09</div>
<div>7th Southern Hemisphere Conference on the Teaching</div>
<div>and Learning of Undergraduate Mathematics and Statistics</div>
<div>Gordons Bay, South Africa, 29 November-4 December 2009</div>
<div>http://www.delta2009.co.za</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>"Numeracy: Historical, philosophical and educational
perspectives"</div>
<div>St Anne's College, Oxford, England, December 16-18, 2009</div>
<div>benjamin.wardhaugh@all-souls.ox.ac.uk</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>10th Islamic Countries Conference on Statistical Sciences
(ICCSS-10)</div>
<div>Cairo, Egypt, December 20-23, 2009</div>
<div>http://www.iccs-x.org.eg/</div>
<div><br></div>
<div
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></span>----</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>7. Historical vignettes: David Eugene Smith, the proponent of
ICMI</div>
<div><br>
David Eugene Smith, born on 21 January 1860 in Cortland, New York, and
educated at normal schools, studied from 1877 on at Syracuse
University. During his undergraduate years there, his interests were
marked by travelling, collecting objects and presenting his ideas. In
the summer of 1879, he undertook a two-month trip to Europe - the
first of his overseas travels. Smith was still far from mathematics
education: after receiving a Bachelor of Philosophy degree in July
1881, he entered his father's second profession: he apprenticed in his
father's law office. He also continued his academic studies, by
travelling twice a week to Syracuse and being advised there in
graduate work in the disciplines of history, modern languages and
mathematics. Eventually, in 1884, he was admitted to the bar and
awarded a Master of Philosophy degree. A promising career as a lawyer
seemed to be open for him.</div>
<div><br>
In that same year, however, an event changed his life entirely. He
began to teach mathematics at the Cortland Normal School, at first by
chance, in order to 'help out' by substituting a missing teacher.
Since he had studied enough mathematics at Syracuse to be effective as
a teacher, the principal asked him to accept the position. Finding the
law profession not especially agreeable, Smith accepted and began thus
his pioneering work for mathematics education in the USA.</div>
<div>During the next three years, he continued not only his
engagements as a lawyer, but also his academic studies. Eventually, in
1887, he was granted the Ph.D. degree by Syracuse University in
history of fine arts. While the courses he taught at Cortland had been
standard - arithmetic, algebra, plane and solid geometry, and
trigonometry -, from 1887 on he introduced courses on history of
mathematics. After seven years of teaching as a mathematics professor
at Cortland Normal School, he obtained the offer of the position of
mathematics professor at the Michigan State Normal School, at
Ypsilanti.</div>
<div><br>
At Ypsilanti, from 1891 on, Smith developed the kernel of his program
for mathematics education. The normal school there, affiliated with
Michigan University, had expanded to provide teacher education for all
types of public schools - not only common schools, but also secondary
schools. Smith, becoming head of the mathematics department, assured
the academic level of teacher education, balancing the professional
and the academic sides of the formation.</div>
<div>Wishing to exert an administrative position, Smith moved in 1898
to Brockport, in the state of New York, as principal of the Normal
School. While not teaching mathematics there, he published his first
seminal contribution to mathematics education: the book The Teaching
of Elementary Mathematics (1900), a methodology for mathematics
teachers. After three years, in 1901, he returned to training
mathematics teachers himself: at Teachers College, New York, the most
prestigious institution in the United States, rivalled only by the
school of Education at the University of Chicago. Originally just
somewhat associated to Columbia University, Teachers College had
evolved to be a professional school of university rank. Its students
had to be college graduates or experienced teachers. By 1910, Teachers
College had raised its status even more, and constituted a graduate
college for professional education within Columbia University. Smith
had been called to Teachers College in order to raise in particular
the mathematics department to this level of quality. In fact, in 1906,
the first Ph.D. degrees in mathematics education were conferred on two
of Smith's students.</div>
<div><br>
Upon the proposal of Smith, the Fourth International Congress of
Mathematicians, Rome 1908, decided to establish an international
committee, the Internationale Mathematische Unterrichtskommission, to
study the situation of mathematics instruction internationally. Also
upon his proposal, Felix Klein, Sir George Greenhill, and Henri Fehr
were elected as the core of this committee, later named its Comitè
Central. Evidently, he was also the dynamic element in the work of the
US national subcommittee, constituted in 1909. His merits were
acknowledged in 1912, when the next ICM in Cambridge elected him to
join the Comité Central; later on, the Comité appointed him to act
as an additional vice-president of IMUK. During World War I, Henri
Fehr, committed to the Allied Powers, tried to eliminate Klein as
president and urged Smith to assume this function. Smith did not
accept these offers and remained vice-president until the dissolution
of IMUK, in 1920. When it was re-established, in 1928, Smith was
elected its president. In 1932, he retired from IMUK activities.</div>
<div>Due to his good relations with the mathematical community in the
States, he served as an effective link between the demands of
mathematicians and the needs of professional teacher training. From
1902 to 1920, Smith served as an associate editor of the Bulletin of
the American Mathematical Society. He also served as an associate
editor of the journal of the Mathematical Association of America, The
American Mathematical Monthly, from 1916 on. He was elected president
of the MAA for the term 1920 to 1921. He helped to organize the
Association of Teachers of Mathematics and was elected its first
president.</div>
<div>His publications were decisive in shaping mathematics education
in the United States. His handbook of 1900 was followed by The
Teaching of Arithmetic in 1909 and by The Teaching of Geometry in
1911. His textbooks in arithmetic, algebra, and geometry and
accompanying handbooks, published since 1904, were dominant during the
1910s.</div>
<div>From his academic activities, Smith had retired already in 1926.
He died at his home in New York City on July 29, 1944, after a long
illness.<br>
<br>
References<br>
<br>
EILEEN F. DONOGHUE 1987, The origins of a professional mathematics
education program at Teachers College, Ed.D. Thesis, Columbia
University New York, Teachers College<br>
LAO GENEVRA L.G. SIMONS 1945, "David Eugene Smith - In
Memoriam", Bulletin of the AMS, 51, 40-50<br>
<br>
Gert Schubring, Bielefeld University, Germany,
gert.schubring@uni-bielefeld.de</div>
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