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Values in Mathematics and Science Education

Background

The current research work on values in mathematics and science education has its immediate roots in an earlier project Values and Mathematics Project (VAMP) described in more detail below. It in turn derived from three fields of research carried out here and elsewhere on (a) mathematics teachers' theories, (b) teachers' decision-making in classrooms, and (c) mathematics education as cultural induction. In addition the science education background work was on teachers' and students' beliefs and misconceptions in science.

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Project

Values in Mathematics and Science Education: Mapping the relationships between pedagogical practices and student outcomes.

The current project "Values in Mathematics and Science Education: Mapping the Relationships between Pedagogical Practices and Student Outcomes" builds on the previous work in three main ways.

  1. It brings together the previous work on the two disciplines of mathematics education and science education.
  2. It focuses on both teachers' and students' values, and on the relationships between them.
  3. It adds the dimension of interventions to the previously analytic foci.

This project is funded by ARC Discovery Grant from 2002 to 2004. Total funding is $91,000. Mathematics and science in schools both involve the teaching of values. Some value outcomes are intended by the teachers and are explicitly taught, particularly in science, while other values are only implicitly present in classroom practices, as is typically the case with mathematics.

What is not yet known is what values students learn from different teachers and from their practices, and how these learned values impact on student engagement with these subjects. This project is exploring the relationships between the values embedded in the pedagogical practices of primary and secondary teachers of mathematics and science, and student values outcomes.

At the heart of this project is this theoretical description of the 6 key values associated with Western Mathematics and Science and their development. This theory developed from the values of Western Mathematics described in Bishop, A.J. (1988) Mathematical enculturation. Dordrecht : Kluwer, chapter 3.

1 Rationalism 

Valuing rationalism means emphasising argument, reasoning, logical analysis and explanations. It concerns theory, and hypothetical and abstract situations, and thereby promotes universalist thinking.

This value is demonstrated by:

  • teachers developing students' skills at argument and logical reasoning
  • teaching about proof and proving
  • encouraging discussion and debate
  • students seeking explanations for experimental data
  • contrasting alternative hypotheses

2 Empiricism 

Valuing empiricism means emphasising objectifying, concretising, and applying ideas in mathematics and science. It favours analogical thinking, symbolising, and the presentation and use of data. It also promotes materialism and determinism.

This value is demonstrated by:

  • teachers developing students' practical skills
  • teaching about applications and using ideas
  • students and teachers creating symbols, models, diagrams etc.
  • students collecting experimental data
  • testing ideas against data

 3 Control

Valuing control means emphasising the power of mathematical and scientific knowledge through mastery of rules, facts, procedures and established criteria. It also promotes security in knowledge, and the ability to predict.

This value is demonstrated by:

  • teachers developing students' skills at drills and routines
  • teaching about mathematical and scientific accuracy
  • students practising skills and procedures
  • teachers demonstrating how mathematical and scientific ideas explain and predict events

4 Progress 

Valuing progress means emphasising the ways that mathematical and scientific ideas grow and develop, through alternative theories, development of new methods and the questioning of existing ideas. It also promotes the values of individual liberty and creativity.

This value is demonstrated by:

  • teachers developing students' creative imaginations
  • teaching about the development of scientific and mathematical knowledge
  • encouraging alternative explanations

5 Openness 

Valuing openness means emphasising the democratisation of knowledge, through demonstrations, proofs and individual explanations. Verification of hypotheses, clear articulation and critical thinking are also significant, as is the transparency of procedures and assumptions.

This value is demonstrated by:

  • teachers developing students' skills at articulating their ideas
  • teaching the criteria of proving and verifying
  • encouraging discussion and debate
  • promoting freedom of expression
  • contrasting students' and teachers' views
  • the replicability of experiments

6 Mystery

Valuing mystery means emphasising the wonder, fascination, and mystique of scientific and mathematical ideas. It promotes thinking about the origins and nature of knowledge and of the creative process, as well as the abstractness and dehumanised nature of scientific and mathematical knowledge.

This value is demonstrated by:

  • teachers developing students' imagination
  • teaching about the dehumanising nature of objective knowledge
  • stimulating wonder and awe with significant ideas
  • encouraging students to read science fiction material
  • students experiencing surprise over unexpected findings
  • exploring mathematical puzzles

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