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The Matter of Mathematics

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matter of mathematics

The journal Perspectives on Science and the Christian Faith (PSCF) is planning to devote a theme issue to the interplay between mathematics and the Christian faith. Russ Howell has published the lead essay for it, which is designed to encourage response essays focusing on a wide-range of issues.

From James C. Peterson, Editor of PSCF:

Russell Howell has co-authored the textbook Complex Analysis for Mathematics and Engineering which is in its sixth edition, and is the co-editor of the HarperOne book Mathematics Through the Eyes of Faith. His essay describes the latest challenges for mathematics and Christian faith. The essay is intended as an invitation. Readers are encouraged to take up one of the insights or challenges, or maybe a related one that was not mentioned, and draft an article (typically about 5,000-8,000 words) that contributes to the conversation. These can be sent to Dr. Howell. He will send the best essays on to peer review and then we will select from those for publication in a mathematics theme issue of Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith. The lead editorial in the December 2013 issue of PSCF outlines what the journal looks for in article contributions. For full consideration for inclusion in the theme issue, manuscripts should be received electronically before 30 June 2014.

For those readers who prefer to take a literary approach in sharing their ideas, please submit essays (up to 3,000 words), poetry, fiction, or humour inspired by the invitational essay to Emily Ruppel for possible publication in God and Nature magazine.

The essay itself is available by clicking here.

The description of the project is available by clicking here.

The page of the latter link lists June 30 as a deadline for submitting responses to Russ (howell@westmont.edu), but he assures me there is flexibility in that deadline.

Please consider this opportunity.

I will be submitting an article on the influence of Christianity on mathematics education. Feel free to contact me as well if you have any questions and I will be sure to pass them along to Russ.

Teaching a Love of Mathematics

joshwilkerson1 Comment

A few weeks ago, NCTM President Linda M. Gojak posted her final message as president entitled “A Reflection on 25 Years in Mathematics Education.” You can follow the link to read the article in its entirety. In this message Gojak outlines from her perspective what the mathematics education community has accomplished over the last 25 years and what challenges still need to be addressed. I will let you determine for yourself how much you agree with her assessments. What I am most interested in is her closing remark:

B. F. Skinner famously said, “We shouldn’t teach great books; we should teach a love of reading. Knowing the contents of a few works of literature is a trivial achievement. Being inclined to go on reading is a great achievement.” With apologies to Skinner, as mathematics educators we might say, “We should not just teach mathematics, we should teach a love of mathematics. Knowing the content of some mathematics is a trivial achievement. Being inclined to see the beauty in mathematics and to go on doing mathematics are great achievements.”

We should teach a love of mathematics.

Knowing the content of some mathematics is a trivial achievement.

I agree with both of these statements, as I believe the majority of math educators would. However, these two statements get to the heart of the issue with the state of mathematics education today: while the majority of educators would agree on the sentiments of these two statements, both statements run contradictory to the current system of mathematical standards and assessments.

If we really believe that our goal as educators is to teach a love of mathematics (which I should note is a very different thing than saying every student has to love math) then we as a community of educators need to actually determine how to go about doing so. Because trust me, focusing on core standards/higher order thinking/critical reasoning/whatever you want to call increased cognitive demands, will not influence people’s affections. The issue is much more complex than that. We are talking about teaching love, beauty, truth to human beings created in the image of God.

I will have a lot more to say on this issue in the coming weeks/months/years as this is essentially the focus of my dissertation research. For now I will leave you to contemplate Gojak’s closing remark and consider why the underlying sentiment of the remark does not appear anywhere else in her summary of math education’s “accomplishments” and challenges.