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<div><br></div>
<div>ICMI News 12: October 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: ICMI Reflected in Russian Mathematical
education</div>
<div>2. International Congress of Mathematicians - 2010</div>
<div>3. New and recent NISS volumes</div>
<div>4. MILLENNIUM YOUTH CAMP - International science camp for
the young people</div>
<div>5. Proceedings of the Symposium Celebrating the Centennial of the
ICMI</div>
<div>6. New international journal</div>
<div>7. Calendar of Events of Interest to the ICMI Community</div>
<div>8. ICMI encounters: Heinrich Bauersfeld by Paul Cobb</div>
<div>9. Subscribing to ICMI News</div>
<div><br>
---------------------------------------------------------------------<span
></span>---</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>1. Editorial: ICMI Reflected in Russian Mathematical
education<br>
</div>
<div>Education is a relatively slow changing system, experiments over
it are costly and the results are usually controversial. So,
observations, first-hand evaluations and open discussion of the
decisions and outcomes in other countries are the way, effective and
reliable enough, to make our own decisions. In this way we can see
(and foresee) that there are many choices and not only one being
right. I believe that this more then justifies the international
cooperation in the field of mathematical education and explains why
the International Commission on Mathematical Instruction lives
energetic and productive life in its eleventh decade.</div>
<div>We had more evidence for this in Sankt Petersburg this September.
Besides a meeting of our EC there we had an international seminar at
the Euler Institute where the issues of Russian national math
education at pre-university level were discussed in the international
perspective.<br>
Over the last decade Russian education, and, even more specifically,
mathematical education is in the process of radical transformations.
The transformations are induced by the authorities of the country and
generated from inside.</div>
<div>The mostly discussed change in general education is the so called
Single (or Unified) State Examination. Before XXI century the math
exam (after 11-th grade) was organized as a set of 5 to 8 problems
from simple to medium difficulty. These problems were traditionally of
pure mathematical matter (solving equations, calculating of
geometrical values of a configuration, etc.). At the same time
entrance examinations were conducted also by every university with
engineering or science programs. So, high school graduates were
obliged to pass two exams, the second one was pretty tough at some
universities. One of the negative trends in the examinations was the
"narrowing" in the sense that the examination problems were becoming
more and more specially designed 'exam-problems'. In the Single
State Examination this trend was negatively combined with the exam
structure: up to 30 problems, most of which were multiple-choice. The
implementation was far from perfect and suffered from corruption of
different kinds. The essential cause of it was the common interest of
all participants to produce better examination marks. So, we started a
'counter-reform' of the Single Examination and succeeded! The
President of Russia established an ad hoc commission (where different
groups participated). My position in the Commission was supported by
the Rector of Moscow State University Prof. Sadovnichy. Eventually the
changes were supported by President Medvedev and by the Ministry of
Education and Science. Now, the exam of 2010 will be broader its basic
part is understandable for everybody, it includes applications, etc.
And the international context was important for us.</div>
<div>Another novelty in our country is the new Federal Standard for
primary school. We included more visual discrete math, more counting,
manipulation, and mathematical games, more connections and
investigations. This is a result of our more then 20 years work in
hundreds of schools in the country. I shared this vision in the ICMI
events and the reaction was productive for us.</div>
<div>We believe that our experience can be valuable for other
educational communities and appreciate any reaction and sharing
experience from our colleagues in other countries.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>In this article I would like to thank all the members of EC for
activities so important for my country, for the pleasure of human
communication and understanding, and also for the support of EC and
our President Michèle Artigue. This resulted in the decision of
UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova to designate me as a laureate of
the 2009 UNESCO King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa Prize for the Use of
Information and Communication Technologies in Education
(http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=46952&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC<span
></span>&URL_SECTION=201.html).</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Alexei Semenov, Rector of Moscow Institute of Open Education,
Member-at-large, ICMI-EC, alsemenov@umail.ru</div>
<div><br></div>
<div
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></span>----</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>2. International Congress of Mathematicians - 2010</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>India is to host the International Congress (ICM-2010) of the
IMU-International Mathematical Union for the year 2010. The congress
will take place in the city of Hyderabad during August 19-27.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Mathematics is the language of science and India is proud to have
coined one of the most important words of its lexicon - "zero"
- in the distant past; and we have a long tradition of pursuit of
mathematics. India joined the IMU soon after it was revived after the
second world war. The Indian mathematical community feels greatly
honoured that the IMU has accepted our bid to hold the ICM 2010 in
India, thereby extending recognition to our efforts at promoting
mathematics. We look forward to welcoming our colleagues from all over
the world in Hyderabad, the venue of the Congress and expect to learn
a great deal that is new. The Congress will be of great help to us to
raise the level of public awareness about mathematics in our
country.<br>
</div>
<div>India has been a professional destination for many mathematicians
over the last 75 years and more. Many British academics had come to
India to teach mathematics in our colleges during the colonial period.
W H Young, the British analyst accepted a part-time chair, the
Hardinge Professorship of Pure Mathematics in Calcutta University
which he held from 1913 to 1917. Andre Weil spent two years at an
Indian university as a professor during 1930 - 32.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>R A Fisher spent several extended periods of time at the Indian
Statistical Institute in Kolkata (ISI), his first visit dating back to
1937. ISI also hosted visits by Norber Wiener and A N
Kolmogorov. Many other distinguished mathematicians, mainly
probabilists from the erstwhile Soviet block visited ISI during the
cold war years. In later years, after that institution set up branches
in Delhi and Bangalore, also at the same time broadening its areas of
research, it has had a string of visitors, many of them big names in
mathematics.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>The Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai, too
had a regular stream of visitors almost from its inception in 1945,
many of them spending extended periods of time in Mumbai. Carl
Ludwig Siegel and Laurent Schwartz made several visits each of a
duration of two months and more during the fifties and sixties.
Armand Borel and David Mumford made several visits to TIFR
during the sixties and seventies (and later). The visitors' list to
TIFR includes several Fields Medalists and other renowned
mathematicians. The International Colloquiua held once in every four
years by TIFR have been an important forum for international exchange
at the highest level.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>To mention a few more distinguished visitors who spent extended
periods of time in TIFR during the fifties and sixties: H Rademacher,
H Mass, Eichler, J L Lions, K Yosida, B Malgrange, F Bruhat, J P
Kahane, M Deuring, G de Rham, K Ito, G D Mostow, R Bott, R
Langlands....... Many others have come on shorter visits mainly to
participate in conferences: A Selberg, H Grauert, R Thom, A
Grothendieck, M F Atiyah, L Hormander, J Milnor, I
Pjatetskii-Shapiro, J P Serre, H Furstenberg, G A Margulis, D Kazdan
.....These visits were of course of great help to us in building
mathematics in the country.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Hyderabad the venue of the Congress is home to several IT
companies and rivals Bangalore as an IT hub in the country. The city
is well connected, with many airlines flying to and from it. It was
founded in the 15th century and is steeped in history. It is also
famous for its cuisine. India of course has a lot to offer by way of
tourism catering to a wide range of interests: wild life, scenic
splendour, historical monuments, art and music, great food and sports
as well.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>On behalf of the Indian mathematical community I would like to
urge mathematicians from all over the world to participate in ICM 2010
and help us make it a great success.</div>
<div>For more information: http://www.icm2010.org.in/</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>M.S. Raghunathan, Chairman of the organizing committee</div>
<div><br></div>
<div
>--------------------------------------------------------------------<span
></span>----</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>3. New and recent NISS volumes</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>A NEW NISS VOLUME</div>
<div>I am pleased to inform you that the Study Volume resulting from
the 17th ICMI Study has just appeared in the New ICMI Study Series
(NISS) published by Springer:</div>
<div><br>
Celia Hoyles and Jean-Baptiste Lagrange (Eds.)<br>
"Mathematics Education and Technology - Rethinking the Terrain:
The 17th ICMI Study."<br>
New ICMI Study Series, Vol. 13<br>
Springer, 2010, XIV, 494 p., 50 illus., Hardcover<br>
ISBN: 978-1-4419-0145-3<br>
</div>
<div>Information about the book can be found on the NISS webpage,
inside Springer website:</div>
<div>http://www.springeronline.com/series/6351</div>
<div><br>
<br>
</div>
<div>RECENT NISS VOLUMES<br>
You are reminded that the Study Volumes resulting from the 15th and
16th ICMI Studies have appeared by the end of 2008, also in the NISS
series:<br>
<br>
-- Ruhama Even and Deborah Loewenberg Ball (Eds.)<br>
"The Professional Education and Development of Teachers of
Mathematics: The 15th ICMI Study."<br>
New ICMI Study Series, Vol. 11<br>
Springer, 2009, XII, 280 p., Hardcover<br>
ISBN: 978-0-387-09600-1<br>
<br>
-- Edward J. Barbeau and Peter J. Taylor (Eds.)<br>
"Challenging Mathematics In and Beyond the Classroom: The 16th
ICMI Study."<br>
New ICMI Study Series, Vol. 12<br>
Springer, 2009, XIII, 337 p., 5 illus., Hardcover</div>
<div>ISBN: 978-0-387-09602-5<br>
</div>
<div>ICMI DISCOUNT --- ONLINE ORDERING OF THE NISS VOLUME<br>
I USE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO REMIND YOU THAT MEMBERS OF THE ICMI
COMMUNITY PURCHASING THE NISS BOOKS FOR PERSONAL USE ARE ENTITLED TO A
60% DISCOUNT ON THE HARDBOUND PRICE AND A 25% DISCOUNT ON THE
SOFTBOUND PRICE.<br>
<br>
In order to obtain the society discount granted to ICMI, the
appropriate "SpringerToken" must be entered during the
online ordering process through the Springer NISS website.<br>
<br>
Please visit the ICMI website http://www.mathunion.org/ICMI/
under<br>
<br>
<span
></span
> <span
></span
> <span
></span> Useful Links > NISS
Volumes Discount<br>
<br>
for instructions on how to obtain the ICMI discount.<br>
</div>
<div>Bernard R. Hodgson, Secretary-General of ICMI,
bhodgson@mat.ulaval.ca</div>
<div><br></div>
<div
>--------------------------------------------------------------------<span
></span>----</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>4. MILLENNIUM YOUTH CAMP - International science camp for
the young people</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>MILLENNIUM YOUTH CAMP - International science camp for the young
people, HELSINKI, FINLAND<br>
06-13.6.2010</div>
<div><br>
The targets of the Camp are to network young people from all over the
world together and with top Finnish scientists and Finnish business
life and to increase the awareness of the Millennium Technology
Prize.<br>
</div>
<div>The participants will be 30 young students, 16 to 19-year-old,
keen on natural sciences, mathematics and technology.</div>
<div>The participants will be selected and thus invited on the grounds
of their application. Please, find the application form on the
websites. The Camp is free of charge, including also travelling,
accommodation and dining.</div>
<div><br>
Themes of the camp<br>
Environmental science and technology (climate change, renewable
natural resources, renewable energy, water), information and
communication technology, and digitalization, applied mathematics.<br>
<br>
Organizers<br>
National LUMA Centre, Technology Academy Foundation, Ministry of
Education and The Centre for School Clubs, in cooperation with e.g.
Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, National Board of Education,
University of Helsinki, Helsinki University of Technology, Finnish
Industry and many other organizations.<br>
<br>
More information and the application form on the webpage of Technology
Academy Foundation:</div>
<div>http://www.technologyacademy.fi/millennium-youth-camp-fi.html<br>
</div>
<div>Juha Oikkonen, Juha.Oikkonen@helsinki.fi</div>
<div><br></div>
<div
>--------------------------------------------------------------------<span
></span>----</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>5. Proceedings of the Symposium Celebrating the Centennial of the
ICMI</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>ISTITVTO DELLA ENCICLOPEDIA ITALIANA<br>
FONDATA DA GIOVANNI TRECCANI<br>
<br>
The First Century of the International Commission on Mathematical
Instruction (1908-2008).<br>
Reflecting and Shaping the World of Mathematics Education<br>
<br>
Edited by<br>
M. Menghini, F. Furinghetti, L. Giacardi, F. Arzarello<br>
<br>
CONTENTS<br>
Introduction<br>
HYMAN BASS, Moments of the life of ICMI<br>
JEREMY KILPATRICK, The development of mathematics education as an
academic field - Reaction by JEAN LUC DORIER<br>
DINA TIROSH and PESSIA TSAMIR, Intuition and rigor in mathematics
education - Reaction by ALDO BRIGAGLIA<br>
MOGENS NISS, Perspectives on the balance between application &
modelling and "pure" mathematics in the teaching and
learning of mathematics - Reaction by TOSHI IKEDA<br>
JO BOALER, The relationship between research and practice in
mathematics education: International examples of good practice -
Reaction by JOAO DA PONTE<br>
GERT SCHUBRING, The origins and early incarnations of ICMI<br>
FULVIA FURINGHETTI, MARTA MENGHINI, FERDINANDO ARZARELLO, LIVIA
GIACARDI, ICMI Renaissance: The emergence of new issues in mathematics
education</div>
<div>BIENVENIDO NEBRES, Centres and peripheries in mathematics
education - Reaction by GELSA KNIJNIK</div>
<div>Panel on ICMI's challenges and future: MORTEN BLOMHØJ;
MAMOKGETHI SETATI</div>
<div>MICHÈLE ARTIGUE, ICMI: One century at the interface between
mathematics and mathematics education - Reflections and
perspectives<br>
BERNARD R. HODGSON, Some views on ICMI at the dawn of its second
century<br>
<br>
Short Talks (Coordinators Alan Bishop and Lee Peng Yee)<br>
EILEEN F. DONOGHUE - The inception of ICMI: David Eugene Smith and the
founding of ICTM; ALAN BISHOP - The past four decades: consolidation
and diversification; DEREK HOLTON - The process of an ICMI
Study: The teaching and learning of mathematics at university level;
FREDERICK K.S. LEUNG - The significance of the ICMI Study on
mathematics education in East Asia and the West; UBIRATAN D'AMBROSIO -
ICMI and its influence in Latin America; JILL ADLER - The development
of AFRICME; CLAUDI ALSINA - What is the impact of hosting an ICME for
the organizing country? - The case of ICME8 in Spain; LIM-TEO SUAT
KHOH - ICMI Activities in East and Southeast Asia: Thirty years
of academic discourse and deliberations</div>
<div><br>
Working Groups - Reports</div>
<div>BILL BARTON & FREDERIC GOURDEAU: Disciplinary mathematics and
school mathematics; DEBORAH BALL & BARBRO GREVHOLM: The
professional formation of teachers; HILARY POVEY & ROBYN
ZEEVENBERGEN: Mathematics education and society; MARCELO BORBA &
MARIOLINA BARTOLINI BUSSI: Resources and technology throughout the
history of ICMI; GILAH LEDER & LUIS RADFORD: Mathematics
education: An ICMI perspective.</div>
<div> <br>
ORDERING THE VOLUME</div>
<div>The proceedings of the Symposium held on the occasion of the
Centennial of ICMI in Rome, from March 5th to March 8th, 2008, are now
being published.<br>
The price of the volume comes to 60 Euros (about 90 USD) shipping fees
included.<br>
<br>
Participants of ICME's and of conferences of the affiliated groups of
ICMI, in the period 2004 - 2008, may enjoy a special 33 %
reduction.<br>
</div>
<div>To receive the volume, we ask that you send in the following
request:</div>
<div><br></div>
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<div>#</div>
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<div>For all other information, please use the above addresses.</div>
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<div><br></div>
<div
>--------------------------------------------------------------------<span
></span>----</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>6. New international journal</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>We are pleased to announce the launch of the first issue of the
International Journal for Studies in Mathematics Education.<br>
</div>
<div>The International Journal for Studies in Mathematics Education
(JIEEM) aims to stimulate reflection on mathematics education at all
levels: to generate productive discussion; to encourage enquiry and
research; to promote criticism and evaluation of ideas and procedures
current in the field.</div>
<div>It is intended for the mathematics educator who is aware that the
learning and teaching of mathematics are complex enterprises about
which much remains to be revealed and understood.<br>
It reflects both the variety of research concerns within the field and
the range of methods used to study them. We accept for submission
articles in Portuguese, English, French and Spanish.<br>
</div>
<div>The journal emphasizes high-level articles that go beyond local
or national interest.</div>
<div>This journal is a semi-annual and peer-reviewed professional
academic research journal.<br>
The first number is on line at
http://periodicos.uniban.br/index.php/JIEEM/index<br>
</div>
<div>Editors,</div>
<div>Janete Bolite Frant jfrant@uniban.br</div>
<div>Alessandro Ribeiro alessandro.ribeiro@uniban.br</div>
<div><br></div>
<div
>--------------------------------------------------------------------<span
></span>----</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>7. Calendar of Events of Interest to the ICMI Community</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>The 15th International Seminar of Mathematics Education on</div>
<div>Talented Children and Creativity Development</div>
<div>Woosuk Univ., Samrye, Korea, February 19-20, 2010</div>
<div>http://society.kisti.re.kr/~ksmed/</div>
<div>foreign participants, contact Prof. Young H. Choe
<ksme_ser_d@yahoo.co.kr></div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Thirteenth Conference on Research in Undergraduate Mathematics
Education</div>
<div>Marriott Raleigh City Center - Raleigh, North Carolina, USA,
February 25-28, 2010</div>
<div>http://rume.org/crume2010/</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>International Consortium for Research in Science and Mathematics
Education - 2010 Consultation</div>
<div>BlueBay Los Angeles Locos Hotel, La Manzanilla, Mexico, March
9-12, 2010</div>
<div>http://ehe.osu.edu/groups/icrsme/</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Educational Interfaces between Mathematics and Industry
(EIMI)</div>
<div>Lisboa, Portugal, April 19-23, 2010</div>
<div>http://eimi.mathdir.org/</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>ICOTS8: 8th International Conference on Teaching Statistics</div>
<div>Data and context in statistics education: towards an
evidence-based society</div>
<div>Ljubljana, Slovenia, July 11-16, 2010</div>
<div>http://icots8.org</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>5th International Conference on Origami in Science, Mathematics
and Education</div>
<div>Singapore Management University, Singapore, July 13-17,
2010</div>
<div>org: Eileen Tan (origamiwolf@gmail.com), Patsy Wang-Iverson
(pwangiverson@gmail.com)</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>ESU-6 - 6th EUROPEAN SUMMER UNIVERSITY ON THE HISTORY AND
EPISTEMOLOGY IN MATHEMATICS EDUCATION</div>
<div>Vienna, Austria, July 19-23, 2010</div>
<div>http://www.algebra.tuwien.ac.at/kronfellner/esu6/</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>EARCOME5 - The Fifth East Asia Regional Conference on Mathematics
Education</div>
<div>Tokyo, Japan, August 18-22, 2010</div>
<div>http://www.earcome5.jp/</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>YESS-5 - FIFTH YERME SUMMER SCHOOL</div>
<div>Palermo, Italy, August 18-25, 2010</div>
<div>http://math.unipa.it/~grim/YESS-5/Home_YESS-5.html</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM)</div>
<div>Hyderabad, India, August 19-27, 2010</div>
<div>http://www.icm2010.org.in/</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>epiSTEME - 4: Fourth international conference to review
research on Science, TEchnology and Mathematics Education</div>
<div>Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (TIFR), Mumbai, India,
January 5-9, 2011</div>
<div>http://www.hbcse.tifr.res.in/episteme4</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>CERME 2011 - Conference of the European Society for Research in
Mathematics</div>
<div>Rzeszow, Poland, February 9-13, 2011</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>ICTMT10 - 10th International Conference on Technology in
Mathematics Teaching</div>
<div>University of Portsmouth, July 5-8, 2011</div>
<div>http://www.ictmt10.org/</div>
<div><br></div>
<div
>--------------------------------------------------------------------<span
></span>----</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>8. ICMI encounters: Heinrich Bauersfeld by Paul Cobb</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Heinrich Bauersfeld<br>
</div>
<div>In 1986, I was invited to attend and make a presentation at the
Gordon Research Conference on Cybernetics. The Conference was
held at a small college in New Hampshire during the summer when the
students were absent. All participants were required to share a
room and to eat together in a common dinning room in order to foster
sustained dialogue. As a beginning researcher who had completed
his doctorate three years previously, I was both surprised and
intimidated to find that I was assigned to share a room with Heinrich
Bauersfeld. I knew Bauersfeld by reputation as a primary
intellectual leader of mathematics education as an emerging field of
research. I had also read several of his papers and had been
impressed by the depth of his thinking, particularly the distinction
he drew between the intended curriculum, the implemented curriculum,
and the attained curriculum.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Heinrich exercised his considerable natural charm to put my
initial concerns to rest. In doing so, he engaged me in
discussions of a wide range of topics that included baroque music and
fourteenth century European art as well as issues in mathematics
education. I was appreciative of his generosity of spirit and
fascinated by the scope of his knowledge about a seemingly endless
range of issues. During these conversations, I first learned
about the analyses that Heinrich and his colleagues Gotz Krummheuer
and Jorg Voigt were conducting of mathematics classrooms from a strong
social perspective. At that time, mathematics education research
in the US typically drew almost exclusively on cognitive and
developmental psychology as a source of theoretical ideas.
Viewed against this background, the work that Heinrich and his
associates were conducting was path breaking.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>This encounter played an important role in my development as a
mathematics education researcher. Shortly after the Conference,
Heinrich sent me one of his papers that had been published in
Educational Studies in Mathematics in 1980 titled "Hidden
Dimensions in the So-called Reality of a Mathematics Classroom".
In this paper, he described and illustrated an approach for analyzing
classroom interaction patterns in terms of the largely implicit
obligations that the teacher and students attempt to fulfill in
particular situations, and the expectations that they have for each
other's activity. It was readily apparent this approach had (and
continues to have) considerable explanatory power. As a
consequence, my colleagues Erna Yackel, Terry Wood, and I worked to
develop a social perspective on the classrooms in which we were
conducting teaching experiments by building directly on the
theoretical constructs that Heinrich had developed.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>The ongoing exchange between our two research groups eventually
led to a three-year collaboration that was funded by the Spencer
Foundation. The explicit goal of this collaboration was to
formulate an approach for integrating social and cognitive
perspectives on mathematical learning. To this end, we met for a
week approximately every nine months to try and hammer out theoretical
constructs. The discussions during these meetings typically
continued for several hours and proved to be both provocative and
stimulating. We eventually concluded that it was not possible to
develop a single, overarching set of constructs and instead attempted
to achieve the more modest goal of developing a way of coordinating
social and cognitive perspectives on mathematical learning. This
collaboration resulted in a book that Heinrich and I co-edited that
was published in 1995 and was titled "Emergence of Mathematical
Meaning: Interaction in Classroom Cultures." The
collaboration was particularly valuable to my colleagues and I as it
gave us access to ideas of symbolic interactionism and
ethnomethodology. These ideas proved to be foundational in
orienting the studies we subsequently conducted.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Paul Cobb, paul.cobb@vanderbilt.edu</div>
<div><br></div>
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