Mathematics education in and for work

This TSG will focus on two issues which, although intimately related, we will consider separately (to start with!). First, what mathematics exists in work? (or alternatively, How do people use mathematics and mathematical thinking in their work? This question has many sub-questions including: What are the methodological difficulties of identifying mathematics in work? How can we characterise mathematics in work, when it typically looks so very different from the mathematics that is taught in schools and universities? How explicit are the requirements for mathematics for work, and how do they vary across work contexts? How do employers determine whether or not prospective employees have the mathematical skills required for a specific position? How does the mathematics required in work relate to the nature of the workplace, its demographics?

The second issue focuses on mathematics for work. That is, what mathematics should be taught in order to prepare individuals and communities for work? Again, numerous sub-questions arise, including: Who needs what kinds of mathematics in workplaces? Who is or should be responsible for teaching mathematics for work? What is the relation between current mathematical content as taught in schools and colleges, and the mathematics required for work? What teaching/learning strategies should be incorporated into mathematics classes to prepare future workers for the ways in which they will be expected to function in the workplace (this might include group work and developing skills needed to find and use resources in workplace-related problem solving)?

We would like our sessions to be open, inclusive, and productive. In order to achieve this, we now call upon potential contributors to let us have an abstract of their proposal of no more than one page. This might be a potential paper, a ‘position statement’, an outline of a current or completed research project or simply a provocative comment on one or both of the themes (or a related theme).

*The closing date for abstracts is March 1^st^, 2008. Please send your proposal to Richard Noss and Susan Forman (r.noss@ioe.ac.uk and sforman2@nyc.rr.com) including the ‘front page’ below.*

ABSTRACT

Name(s):

Institution:

Country:

Email:

URL

Title of proposal:

Nature of proposal (i.e. project report, research, policy initiative, comment etc.)

One sentence summary:

Proposals by

Erhan Bingolbali, Fatih Ozmantar, Hatice Akkoc – Turkey

Helen Burn – USA

Celia Hoyles, Richard Phillip Kent – England and Arthur Bakker – Netherlands

Nirmala Naresh – India and Norma Presmeg – USA

Hamsa Venkat and Mellony Graven – South Africa