Report on
ICMI activities in 1996
- Contents:
-
1. Organisation
The General Assembly of ICMI held its quadriennial session in
conjunction with the 8th International Congress on Mathematical
Education, ICME-8, held at Reina
Mercedes campus of the Universidad de
Sevilla, Spain, in July 1996. The General Assembly was held on 17th
July 1996. The minutes of
the Assembly are published in the ICMI
Bulletin No. 41, December 1996, pp 3-9.
The Ececutive Committee had its second meeting at
ICME-8 as well. The
EC meeting was devided into three sessions, held on the 13th, 14th,
and 19th July. Beside in meetings, the work in the EC is conducted by
correspondence and electronic communication under the direction of the
President and the Secretary.
In recent years, applications from a number of countries to be
co-opted as non-IMU member states of ICMI have been received by the
EC. At the end of 1996 ICMI decided, with the endorsement of the
International Mathematical Union, to
co-opt Thailand as a non-IMU
member of ICMI. The Adhering Organisation is the Mathematical
Association of Thailand under the Patronage of His Majesty the
King. Other applications were considered by the EC in 1996. Decisions
are likely to be made in 1997.
It is part of ICMI's general policy to encourage member states to
establish National Sub-Commissions of ICMI. In 1996 the EC was not
informed of the establishment of new National Sub-Commissions.
2. ICMEs
The latest of the quadriennial International Congress on Mathematical
Education, ICME-8, was held at
Universidad de Sevilla, Reina Mercedes
campus, 14-21 July. The congress had an attendance of about 3500
delegates from almost a hundred different countries. The programme was
very rich and intensive. Proceedings of the Congress are in
preparation. A novel feature in the ICME series was instigated at
ICME-8. A 10% solidarity tax was
imposed on all registration fees in
order to provide (partial) financial support of the attendance of
about 250 delegates from about 55 different non-affluent
countries. The amount thus generated was distributed by a specially
appointed Grants Committee which worked incognito in order to minimise
potential problems of pressure. The Grants Committee will publish a
separate report of its work.
The next congress, ICME-9, will be held in Makuhari, Chiba, Japan, in
2000. Preliminary dates are 31 July to 7 August. An International
Programme Committee was appointed in 1996. It is chaired by Professor
Hiroshi Fujita,
Meiji University, Tokyo, Japan. The IPC is expected to
begin its work early in 1997.
3. ICMI Studies
The mounting and conducting of so-called ICMI studies on crucial
themes and issues in mathematics education was continued in 1996. The
ICMI studies are published by Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht,
the Netherlands, under the general editorship of the President and the
Secretary of ICMI.
The study on What is Research in Mathematics Education, and What Are
Its Results?, the corresponding conference of which was held at the
University of Maryland in College Park, USA, May 1994, is edited by
Jeremy Kilpatrick and Anna Sierpinska. The volume is expected to
appear in the beginning of 1997.
The study on Perspectives on the Teaching of Geometry for the 21st
Century, the corresponding study conference of which was held at
Universita di Catania, Italy, September-October 1995, is edited by
Vinicio Villani and Carmelo Mammana. The volume is expected to appear
in the course of 1997.
Reports on the these studies, and on one a previously completed,
Gender and Mathematics Education, were given at special ICMI study
sessions at ICME-8, in Sevilla,
July 1996.
The next study in the series is devoted to the theme The Role of the
History of Mathematics in the Teaching and Learning of mathematics. An
International Programme Committee was appointed in 1996, with John
Fauvel, the Open University, UK, and Jan van Maanen, the University of
Groningen, the Netherlands as co-chairs. The study conference will be
held in France, most probably at CIRM Luminy (Marseille) in April
1998, with Jean-Luc Dorier, Grenoble, France, in charge of the Local
Organisation.
The ICMI EC has also decided to mount a
study on the Teaching and
Learning of Mathematics at Tertiary level. The IPC is expected to be
appointed in beginning of 1997. The site of the corresponding study
conference is under negotiation.
4. Regional Conferences
In 1996, 3-7 June, SEACME-7 (The 7th South East Asian Conference on
Mathematical Education) was held in Hanoi (Vietnam) with 135
participants from 17 countries. A
brief report of the
conference, which was sponsored by ICMI as an ICMI Regional Meeting, was
published in the ICMI Bulletin, No. 41,
December 1996.
5. Affiliated Study Groups
ICMI continues to have four affiliated study groups, HPM (The
International Study Group for the Relations Between the History and
Pedagogy of Mathematics), IOWME (The International Organisation of
Women and Mathematics Education), and PME (The International Group for
the Psychology of Learning Mathematics), and WFNMC (The World
Federation of National Mathematical Competitions). Separate reports of
their activities were published in the ICMI Bulletin Nos. 40 (
HPM,
PME, and
WFNMC) and 41
(IOWME), 1996.
6. The Solidarity Programme
In 1992 ICMI established a Solidarity Programme to help the
development of mathematics education in countries in which there is a
need for it that justifies international assistance. The first stage
in this programme was the mounting of a Solidarity Fund based on
private contributions by individuals, associations, etc. The Fund is
to be activated to support concrete initiatives and activities that
may foster solidarity in mathematics education between well-defined
quarters in developed and less developed countries. The Solidarity
Fund has received donations from various organisations and individuals
in mathematics education for which it is most grateful. In 1996 no
projects were supported by the Solidarity Fund. Although the total
funds are not excessive, the ICMI EC would
welcome applications
concerning projects which are worthy of support in line with the
general aims of the Fund.
7. ICMI Bulletins
In 1996, ICMI Bulletin Nos.
40 and
41 were published under the
editorship of the Secretary of
ICMI. Furthermore, the ICMI Bulletin is
available in the following electronic forms: In
ASCII-format on direct
request to the editor.
On the World Wide Web, where it can be found
under the following coordinates on the IMU-server, through URL:
8. ICMI on WWW
Since the end of 1995, information concerning ICMI can be found on the
ICMI-pages of the IMU-server on the World Wide Web. The pages are
located through URL:
Mogens Niss, Secretary, 3 February 1997
Roskilde University, Roskilde, Denmark
Last modified: Fri Sep 5 10:32:19 MST