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<div data-externalstyle="false" dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Calibri', 'Segoe UI', 'Meiryo', 'Microsoft YaHei UI', 'Microsoft JhengHei UI', 'Malgun Gothic', 'sans-serif';font-size:12pt;"><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;">ICMI NEWSLETTER NOVEMBER 2014</div><div dir="ltr"><div><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;"> </div><div><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;">Editors: Abraham Arcavi (ICMI Secretary General)<br> Cheryl E. Praeger (ICMI Vice President)</div><div><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;">Email addresses: ICMI_Secretary-General at mathunion.org<br> Cheryl.praeger at uwa.edu.au</div><div><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;">Graphic Design: Lena Koch (ICMI Administrator) </div><div><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;"><br>November 1, 2014</div><div><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;">Contents</div><div><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;">1. Editorial – From the desk of Zahra Gooya, Member-at-Large, ICMI Executive Committee. <br>2. Welcoming the new IMU Executive Committee. <br>3. Michèle Artigue awarded the Luis Santaló Medal <br>4. Nomination of the next ICMI Executive Committee <br>5. CANP Tanzania<br>6. Klein Project Update <br>7. Updates on ICMI Studies <br>8. XIV CIAEM 2015 <br>9. Espaço Matemático em Lingua Portuguesa created <br>10. Emma Castelnuovo Award – Reminder <br>11. Have you read? </div><div><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;"><br>1. MARYAM MIRZAKHANI BROKE THE SPELL AND BECAME THE FIRST<br>FEMALE FIELD MEDALIST. EDITORIAL - FROM THE DESK OF ZAHRA<br>GOOYA, MEMBER-AT-LARGE, ICMI EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE</div><div><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;">At the ICM- 2014 in Seoul, for the first time since<br>the establishment of the Field Medal, a female<br>mathematician; Maryam Mirzakhani with three<br>other young mathematicians (under 40), won this<br>Medal.<br>Ralph Cohen, a professor of mathematics and the<br>senior associate dean for the natural sciences in<br>Stanford's School of Humanities and Sciences,<br>described Professor Mirzakhani’s work in<br>mathematics as "an outstanding example of<br>curiosity-driven research". Despite the potential<br>applications of her work, Mirzakhani enjoys pure<br>mathematics because of the elegance and longevity<br>of the questions she studies (Stanford Report,<br>August 12, 2014.)<br>It is exciting to see a normal human being whom I<br>know become a first class world star! So, I would<br>like to take this opportunity to say a few words<br>about the Maryam who I met and the Maryam that<br>I see today. When in 1997, I invited Miss<br>Mirzakhani - a young undergraduate student of<br>mathematics at Sharif University of Technology -<br>to deliver a talk for more than 1000 high school<br>students at the 2nd gathering of “Mathematics<br>Blossoms” hosted by Shahid Beheshti University in<br>Iran, the audience asked her to talk about the<br>secret recipe for her success in winning two gold<br>medal at the International Mathematics Olympiad<br>(IMO). She talked about her experience as follows:</div><div><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;">It is only in grappling with the process of solving<br>problems that we become interested in mathematics<br>and even if we don’t arrive at the solution, we find<br>other interesting things. Unless we engage with the<br>solution process, we won’t get close to mathematics<br>and we see it as unreachable.</div><div><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;">Amazingly, after 17 years, when she became the<br>first female to win the Fields Medal, in replying to<br>a reporter who asked about her approach to<br>developing new proofs, the spirit of her response<br>was the same: I don't have any particular recipe . . . it<br>is the reason why doing research is challenging as well<br>as attractive. It is like being lost in a jungle and trying<br>to use all the knowledge that you can gather to come<br>up with some new tricks, and with some luck you<br>might find a way out" (Stanford Report, August 12,<br>2014.)<br>Maryam Mirzakhani; the deep, humble and<br>humane undergraduate student of the Sharif<br>Institute of Technology in Tehran, who said she<br>loves reading story books, still enjoys this and now<br>she reads story books for her little daughter!<br>Maryam has broken various spells and myths and<br>I refer to just three of them.</div><div><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;">1. Maryam lived and grew up in Iran, a place<br>where, for some people in the world, it is difficult<br>even to imagine that girls could go to school and<br>climb the ladder! This is one myth and Maryam<br>has broken it.</div><div><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;">2. This phenomenal event has surely dispelled the<br>suggestion that women are inferior to men when it<br>comes to mathematics.</div><div><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;">3. The social image of mathematics as being<br>inaccessible and of mathematicians residing in<br>their ivory tower and being unable to<br>communicate with ordinary people, is still strong.<br>Many believe that mathematicians do not have<br>broad interests, and thus are mainly isolated and<br>rarely have friends except their colleagues in the<br>same field. Maryam challenged this myth as well,<br>since most of her classmates relied on her<br>friendship and devotion, as well as her sweet and<br>gentle personality.</div><div><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;">Maryam reads stories, goes hiking and cycling,<br>and takes part in other sports. She likes poetry,<br>enjoys travelling, and is a superb mom! Changing<br>the image of the world about mathematics was one<br>of the three main goals of the World Mathematics<br>Year 2000 initiated by UNESCO, and Maryam has<br>contributed immensely to this goal.<br>Last but not least, I feel that when Maryam<br>survived a horrible accident in 1997 that claimed<br>the lives of seven young mathematics students,<br>God had a plan for her! She had to survive to<br>become a torchbearer for female mathematicians<br>world-wide!</div><div><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;"><br></div><div><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;">2. WELCOMING THE NEW IMU EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE</div><div><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;">The Executive Committee of ICMI warmly<br>welcomes the new Executive Committee of the<br>IMU, recently elected for the period 2015-2018,<br>at the ICM in Seoul:<br>Shigefumi Mori, President<br>Helge Holden, Secretary General<br>Alicia Dickenstein Vice-president<br>Vaughan Jones Vice-president<br>Members-at-large<br>Benedict H. Gross, Hyungju Park, Christiane<br>Rousseau, Vasudevan Srinivas, John Toland,<br>Wendelin Werner.</div><div><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;">The ICMI community would express its<br>gratitude to the outgoing committee, and<br>especially to President Ingrid Daubechies and to<br>Secretary Martin Grötschel for their ongoing<br>support throughout their tenure. We are<br>confident that the close relationships between<br>IMU and ICMI will go on with the new<br>Executive Committee.<br>The new CDC members can be found here:<br><a href="http://www.mathunion.org/cdc/about-cdc/members-cdc/" target="_parent">http://www.mathunion.org/cdc/about-cdc/members-cdc/</a><br>ICMI EC member Angel Ruiz (Costa Rica)<br>continues as the CDC member appointed by the<br>ICMI Executive Committee.</div><div><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;"><br></div><div><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;">3. MICHÈLE ARTIGUE AWARDED THE LUIS SANTALÓ MEDAL</div><div><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;">The Executive Committee of the Inter-American<br>Committee on Mathematics Education<br>(<a href="http://ciaem-iacme.org" target="_parent">http://ciaem-iacme.org</a>) announced its decision<br>to award the Luis Santaló Medal to the French<br>Researcher and Educator, Michèle Artigue, past<br>President of ICMI.<br>This medal is the most important international<br>recognition awarded by IACME. It carries the<br>name of Luis Santaló, who was a Spanish-<br>Argentinian mathematician and educator,<br>President of IACME, and who contributed<br>significantly to the teaching and learning of<br>Mathematics in Latin America. It is presented<br>every four years to someone who has provided<br>considerable support to the actions of IACME and<br>to Mathematics Education in the Americas. The<br>medal will be presented on May 3, 2015 during the<br>inaugural ceremonies of IACME XIV<br>(<a href="http://xiv.ciaem-iacme.org" target="_parent">http://xiv.ciaem-iacme.org</a>) in the city of Tuxtla<br>Gutiérrez, Chiapas (México). On that occasion<br>Michèle will give the opening plenary address.</div><div><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;"><br></div><div><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;">4. NOMINATION OF THE NEXT ICMI EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE</div><div><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;">According to ICMI’s regulations, the process for<br>the nomination of the next Executive Committee<br>(which will take office on January 1st. 2017)<br>should start about two years before the next ICMI<br>General Assembly convenes in Hamburg,<br>Germany, in July 2016 (immediately before the<br>opening of the ICME 13) to elect the next EC. The<br>task of the Nomination Committee is to propose<br>the candidates.<br>ICMI reiterates its invitation to select, in<br>consultation with the Adhering Organisations of<br>the member countries, one candidate for the<br>Nomination Committee. Submission of<br>candidacies should be sent to the ICMI Secretary<br>General before December 1st, 2014. The members<br>will be randomly selected from the whole pool of<br>candidates submitted by the country<br>representatives. For details about the process of<br>formation of the Nomination Committee and its<br>functioning, please see:<br><a href="http://www.mathunion.org/icmi/icmi/executive-committee/recent-and-forthcoming-elections/" target="_parent">http://www.mathunion.org/icmi/icmi/executive-committee/recent-and-forthcoming-elections/</a></div><div><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;"><br></div><div><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;">5. CANP TANZANIA</div><div><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;">CANP (Capacity and Network Project) is a joint<br>project of the International Mathematical Union<br>(IMU) and ICMI, in conjunction with UNESCO<br>and the International Congress of Industrial and<br>Applied Mathematics (ICIAM). CANP aims to<br>enhance mathematics education at all levels in<br>developing countries by developing the<br>educational capacity of those responsible for<br>mathematics teachers, and by creating sustained<br>and effective regional networks of teachers,<br>mathematics educators and mathematicians, also<br>linking them to international support. For more<br>details about the CANP Project please see the<br>ICMI Website (Outreach to Developing Countries)<br>Three CANPs were already held in the past, and<br>recently CANP 4 took place in Tanzania, with 80<br>participants from Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and<br>Tanzania and an international International<br>Program Committee (IPC). It was funded by the<br>International Council for Science (ICSU),<br>UNESCO, ICMI, Aga Khan University and IMUCDC.<br>Anjum Halai and the staff of Aga Khan<br>University in Dar es Salaam were in charge of the<br>organisation. The event consisted of public and<br>plenary lectures, broadcast in different parts of the<br>country, regional presentations, panels and<br>workshops. The meeting had a wide appeal in the<br>media: many articles about it were published in<br>the National newspapers, and some interviews of<br>participants were broadcast on TV.<br>The ICMI EC was represented by its President,<br>Ferdinando Arzarello. He reported that the<br>contributions of the invited people (outstanding<br>Mathematicians and Mathematics Educators from<br>Africa and from the wider IMU-ICMI international<br>community) were excellent and the involvement of<br>participants was very high during the whole<br>period. Some special sessions concerned the state<br>of mathematics teaching in the four countries: they<br>were made possible by intense preparation before<br>the meeting and the resulting papers will<br>constitute the core of a forthcoming book about<br>mathematics education in Eastern Africa. The<br>enthusiastic participation resulted in a resolution<br>to constitute a regional ICMI conference for East<br>Africa.<br><a href="http://www.mathunion.org/icmi/activities/outreach-to-developing-countries/canp-project-2014-east-africa/" target="_parent">http://www.mathunion.org/icmi/activities/outreach-to-developing-countries/canp-project-2014-east-africa/</a></div><div><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;"><br></div><div><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;">6. KLEIN PROJECT UPDATES</div><div><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;">Readers of the ICMI Newsletter will already be familiar with the Klein Project--an ICMI/IMU project to<br>produce easily readable materials for secondary teachers of senior classes on contemporary mathematics.<br>Please see <a href="http://blog.kleinproject.org" target="_parent">http://blog.kleinproject.org</a> or just Google "Klein Blog".<br>Recently we have added many translations of the Vignettes--they are nearly all available in Arabic,<br>English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish, with some available in Portuguese and Mandarin. We<br>have also been posting Book and Site of the month.<br>We are now in the process of converting this site from a Blog into a Website with multiple indexes and<br>new features.<br>We welcome feedback on what teachers would like to have on this website--remembering that the main<br>aim of the Klein Project is mathematics for teachers, not for students.<br>Please contact Bill Barton <a href="mailto:b.barton@auckland.ac.nz" target="_parent">b.barton@auckland.ac.nz</a> with your comments.</div><div><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;"><br></div><div><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;">7. UPDATES ON ICMI STUDIES</div><div><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;">ICMI studies 21 (Mathematics Education and Language Diversity) and 22 (Task Design) are in the last<br>stages of production and will appear in print in 2015. ICMI Study 23 on Primary Mathematics Study on<br>Whole Numbers is ongoing.<br>The Study Conference will convene in Macau, June 3-7, 2015. For more details, please see:<br><a href="http://www.umac.mo/fed/ICMI23/" target="_parent">http://www.umac.mo/fed/ICMI23/</a></div><div><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;"><br></div><div><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;">8. XIV CIAEM 2015</div><div><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;">The 14th Interamerican Conference on<br>Mathematics Education (Conferencia<br>Interamericana de Educación Matemática,<br>CIAEM) will take place in Tuxtla Gutierrez,<br>Chiapas, Mexico, May 3-7, 2015.<br>CIA EM<br><a href="http://www.ciaemiacme.org/?q=en/principal" target="_parent">http://www.ciaemiacme.org/?q=en/principal</a><br>is affiliated with ICMI and its conferences<br>attract participants from the Americas with<br>special guests from all over the world.</div><div><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;">For more details about the event please see <a href="http://xiv.ciaem-iacme.org/index.php/xiv_ciaem/xiv_ciaem" target="_parent">http://xiv.ciaem-iacme.org/index.php/xiv_ciaem/xiv_ciaem</a></div><div><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;"><br></div><div><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;">9. ESPAÇO MATEMÁTICO EM LINGUA PORTUGUESA CREATED</div><div><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;">In July 2014 a new Regional Group of ICMI, the EMeLP (Espaço Matemático em Lingua Portuguesa -<br>Mathematics Space in Portuguese) was created by three ICMI representatives from Portuguese speaking<br>countries, namely Brazil, Portugal and Mozambique. The EMeLP represents significant progress in<br>creating space for collaboration among countries bonded by their affinity with Portuguese language. The<br>concept of EMeLP was first conceived in 2009 through “Projeto Klein de Matemática em português”<br>affiliated to the ICMI- IMU project, The Klein Project for the 21st century, in which researchers from<br>Brazil and Portugal have been contributing to further Mathematics Education.<br>An International Congress of EMeLP, CIEMeLP, is already being planned to be held in Coimbra,<br>Portugal, in October 2015. ICMI EC congratulates the three representatives and expresses wishes that<br>other Portuguese speaking countries appoint representatives to join the EMeLP and collaborate to<br>strengthen the activities of this new group. In case of questions, please contact: ICMI EC member Yuriko<br>Yamamoto Baldin from Brazil: <a href="mailto:yuriko.baldin@uol.com.br" target="_parent">yuriko.baldin@uol.com.br</a></div><div><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;"><br></div><div><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;">10. EMMA CASTELNUOVO AWARD - REMINDER</div><div><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;">The Executive Committee of ICMI created a third<br>award in order to celebrate outstanding<br>achievements in the practice of mathematics<br>education. The new award will be named after<br>Emma Castelnuovo, an Italian mathematics educator<br>born in 1913, in celebration of her 100th birthday and<br>honoring her pioneer work.<br>The Emma Castelnuovo Award seeks to<br>recognize and to encourage efforts, ideas and<br>their successful implementation in the field, as<br>well as to showcase models and exemplars of<br>inspirational practices to learn from.<br>The deadline for receiving nominations is<br>December 15, 2014.</div><div><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;">For more details, see<br><a href="http://www.mathunion.org/icmi/activities/awards/call-for-proposals-for-the-first-emma-castelnuovo-award/" target="_parent">http://www.mathunion.org/icmi/activities/awards/call-for-proposals-for-the-first-emma-castelnuovo-award/</a></div><div><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;"><br></div><div><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;">11. HAVE YOU READ?</div><div><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;">The Encyclopedia of Mathematics Education is a 672<br>page comprehensive reference text, covering every<br>topic in the field with entries ranging from short<br>descriptions to longer pieces where the topic<br>warrants more elaboration. The 163 entries, written<br>by 177 international experts, provide access to<br>theories and to research in the area and refer to the<br>leading publications for further reading. The<br>Encyclopedia is aimed at graduate students,<br>researchers, curriculum developers, policy makers,<br>and people interested in mathematics education.<br>Editor-in- Chief: Steve Lerman,<br>Editorial Board: Michele Artigue, Ruhama Even,<br>Melony Graven, Eva Jablonka, Robyn Jorgensen,<br>Yoshinori Shimizu, Bharath Sriraman.</div><div><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;">For more details, see:<br><a href="http://www.springer.com/education+%26+language/mathematics+education/book/978-94-007-4977-1" target="_parent">http://www.springer.com/education+%26+language/mathematics+education/book/978-94-007-4977-1</a></div><div><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;"><br></div><div><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;">SUBSCRIBING TO ICMI News <br>There are two ways of subscribing to ICMI News: </div><div><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;"><br>1. Click on <a href="http://www.mathunion.org/index.php" target="_parent">www.mathunion.org/index.php</a> with a Web browser and go to the "Subscribe" button to <br>subscribe to ICMI News online. <br>2. Send an e-mail to <a href="mailto:icmi-news-request@mathunion.org" target="_parent">icmi-news-request@mathunion.org</a> with the Subject-line: Subject: subscribe <br>In both cases you will get an e-mail to confirm your subscription so that misuse will be minimised. <br>ICMI will not use the list of ICMI News addresses for any purpose other than sending ICMI News, <br>and will not make it available to others. </div><div><br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;">Previous issues can be seen at: <a href="http://www.mathunion.org/pipermail/icmi-news" target="_parent">www.mathunion.org/pipermail/icmi-news</a> <br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;" data-signatureblock="true"></div>
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