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Epistemological Questions about Research and Practice in ALM.
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Wedege, Tine |
| Copyright Year | 2001 |
| Abstract | The new research and practice area of "adults and mathematics" is situated within the didactics of mathematics as it is structured and delimited by the concrete forms of practice and knowledge currently regarded as mathematics teaching, learning, and knowing. "Adults Learning Mathematics" (ALM) is a community of practice and research within the didactics of mathematics in which adults' learning and numeracy are central and where the reason to teach mathematics is empowerment for social and working life. Epistemological reconnaissances have resulted in these five conclusions on ALM: (1) The ALM community of practice and research is accepted as a domain within the didactics of mathematics; (2) the learner is the focus of the ALM studies, and her/his "numeracy" is understood as mathematics knowledge; (3) didactic questions are integrated with general adult education questions in ALM and the studies are interdisciplinary; (4) the duality between the objective and subjective perspective is implicit, or explicit, in all ALM problematics; and (5) the general aim of ALM practice and research is "empowerment" of adults learning math. Interdisciplinary studies involving mathematics, sociology, and pedagogy are necessary to bridge mathematics and adult education. (Contains 3 figures and 11 references.) (MO) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) 1 Epistemological Questions About Research and Practice in ALM Tine Wedege Roskilde University, Denmark Abstract The subject area of the didactics of mathematics is "always-already" structured and delimited by the concrete forms of practice and knowledge that are currently regarded as mathematics teaching, learning, and knowing. The new research and practice area "adults and mathematics" is situated in the borderland between mathematics and adult education. At the fourth and fifth ALM conferences there was a debate about the characteristic features of the research area. Questions were formulated about "Adults Learning Mathematics" as a community of practice and research within the didactics of mathematics, a community where adults' learning and numeracy are placed at the centre and where the answer to the so-called justification problem (Why teach mathematics?) is empowerment for social and working life. Epistemological reconnaissances have given rise to the author's construction of the concept problematique for didactic activity in this field (adults and mathematics) where interdisciplinary studies (mathematics, sociology, pedagogy) are necessary to bridge mathematics and adult education. Reconstruction of "math-containing qualification" as a didactic concept is given as an example of interdisciplinarity.The subject area of the didactics of mathematics is "always-already" structured and delimited by the concrete forms of practice and knowledge that are currently regarded as mathematics teaching, learning, and knowing. The new research and practice area "adults and mathematics" is situated in the borderland between mathematics and adult education. At the fourth and fifth ALM conferences there was a debate about the characteristic features of the research area. Questions were formulated about "Adults Learning Mathematics" as a community of practice and research within the didactics of mathematics, a community where adults' learning and numeracy are placed at the centre and where the answer to the so-called justification problem (Why teach mathematics?) is empowerment for social and working life. Epistemological reconnaissances have given rise to the author's construction of the concept problematique for didactic activity in this field (adults and mathematics) where interdisciplinary studies (mathematics, sociology, pedagogy) are necessary to bridge mathematics and adult education. Reconstruction of "math-containing qualification" as a didactic concept is given as an example of interdisciplinarity. The object of study in mathematics education research encompasses all phenomena and processes involved in, and around, the actual or potential teaching and learning of mathematics. The researchers', teachers' and learners' conceptions and defmitions of mathematics are important. Thus, the subject area of this research field, also named the didactics of mathematics, is "always-already" structured and delimited by the concrete forms of practice and knowledge that are currently regarded as mathematics teaching, learning, and knowing. By the didactics of mathematics I mean the scientific discipline related to research and development work in mathematics education. According to Mogens Niss there seems to be a preference in Europe for using the label "the didactics of mathematics," inspired by names such as "Didaktik der Mathematik" (German), "didactique des mathematiques" (French), "diclactica de la matematicas" (Spanish), "matematikdidaktik" (Scandinavian languages), in spite of the slightly oblique connotations attached to the term "didactical" in English (Niss, 1999, pp. 1-2). Three Interrelated Subject Areas I describe the research subjects of the didactics of mathematics as stretching between three superordinate subject areas: teaching, learning, and knowing mathematics. The specific subject fields are structured and construed within or across these subjects (Wedege, 1997). On the basis of Niss' analytical description of the domain (Niss, 1999) and my own research (Wedege, 2000), I give the following short description of the three subject fields: (I) Mathematics and math-containing teaching Problem complexes, which can also be interdisciplinary, begin with: why, what, how, who, and where? The focus is on communicating mathematics. By math-containing instruction I mean organised communication of a single or interdisciplinary subject area where mathematics is an integrated but identifiable part. The instruction can be informal (for example, learning from one's colleagues at a place of work) or be part of a course or a study program. (2) Learning mathematics The problem complexes begin with: who, what, how and where? The focus is on the learner. (3) Mathematics knowledge, math-containing knowledge, and attitudes to mathematics The problem complexes start with: what, where and who? BI EST COPY AVAHABLIZ U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) cg...This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. 1:1 Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy. |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED478895.pdf |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
