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WHAT IS MATHEMATICS AND WHY DOES IT MATTER?

In this paper, we discuss the question, "What is mathematics?" We survey results from asking elementary students, secondary students, undergraduate elementary education majors, undergraduate liberal education majors, and undergraduate mathematics majors. We conclude that the answer to the question i...

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Published in:ETC: A Review of General Semantics Vol. 70; no. 4; pp. 387 - 395
Main Authors: LATTERELL, CARMEN M., WILSON, JANELLE L.
Format: Article
Published: Institute of General Semantics, Inc. Oct2013
Subjects:
Mathematics research
Mathematics education
Mathematicians
Curriculum research
School children
Secondary school students
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
Summary:In this paper, we discuss the question, "What is mathematics?" We survey results from asking elementary students, secondary students, undergraduate elementary education majors, undergraduate liberal education majors, and undergraduate mathematics majors. We conclude that the answer to the question is often vague, at best, and we discuss implications concerning secondary curriculum and attracting students into the mathematics major.