M/SET 99 -- Keynote Speakers

The current interest on education technologies and education research, combined with emerging understandings of the nature of systemic reform, has opened new vistas for education research and may result in increases in funding and in visibility. Also, in increases in expectations about the impact of educational research and technology on student achievement. Thus, expanding the role of research in education will require that long-term causal links between research and student achievement be demonstrated, and that expectations of continued increased student achievement be fulfilled.

Demonstrating the benefits (if any) of research on practice requires that successful outcomes are scaleable to larger systems, work for different student populations, and are sustained without outside funds over longer periods of time. In fact, it requires a process of "continuous improvement" rather than a one-time-only quality jump. Without the integration of an experimental research mindset on all the aspects of the education system, the impact of cognitive, pedagogical and technological innovations on the practice of education will remain limited.

The presentation will discuss activites that are being framed in response to the PCAST report of March, 1977, which called for a much expanded program of research in education in general, and in learning technologies in particular. The PCAST report can be found at http://www1.whitehouse.gov/WH/WOP/OSTP/NSTC/PCAST/k-12ed.html

March 3rd

Keynote--8:30 AM

Putting Pedagogy On-line

Robby Robson, Oregon State Univ., USA

The Web is a lot of things to a lot of different people. To us, it is an instructional medium with great potential for improving learning and expanding the boundaries of the traditional classroom. But what should go on-line and how should we put it there?

Our answer to the first question is "it's the pedagogy, stupid". We will illustrate this by examining some of the more common and some of the more creative ways in which Internet technologies are being used to facilitate specific pedagogies in mathematics instruction and teacher education.

In the process of looking at this work, we will also address the second question. The point we will make is that there is no single right way to put pedagogy on-line but that we can at least do our homework. We can find out what authoring tools and learning environments exist and study their ability to meet our particular pedagogic goals. We can listen to what practitioners say about the costs and efforts involved. And we can think about ways to insure that this year's good work will adapt to next year's technology. Our goal will be to present a snapshot of what is out there, what is coming, and how to sort it all out.

March 4th

Keynote--8:30 AM

From NetDay to NextDay: Are We Up to That Challenge?

Elliot Soloway, University of Michigan
Cathie Norris, University of North Texas

For good reasons, we have had to occupy are minds and pocketbooks with creating a technology infrastructure in schools. No point in talking about using the Internet if the Internet isn't in the schools. While infrastructure construction is a state, not a problem that is solved, there is enough technology in place to enable us to get on with its pedagogically-motivated use. And now we must confront the real challenge: how are we going to equip the educational labor force -- teachers, administrators, curriculum coordinators, school media specialists -- with the necessary comfort-level, knowledge and skills to use these tools effectively? Answers: in as many ways as possible, borrowing, cajoling, begging resources; working hard, working smart, working hard since there are no shortcuts. In this presentation, then, we will tell stories -- some successful, some less so -- from our efforts at working with middle and high school teachers in a range of school districts to put in place technology-pervasive curriculum.

Invited Speakers

March 2nd, 1:30 pm

Ethics and the Internet: Soft Issues and Hardware
Stig Roland Rask, Fredriksdal School, Sweden
(with support from Sweden's Foundation of Knowledge and
Competence Development)

March 3rd, 1:30 pm

Mathematics Education:
Taking a Clue From The Recent Technological Revolution
Alexander Bogomolny, Cut The Knot Software, Inc., USA

March 4th, 10 am

Meaning and Formalism in Mathematics:
Having Students Write Computer Programs to Construct Mathematical Meaning
Edward Dubinsky, Georgia State Univ. (& Editor of Journal of Computers in Mathematics and Science Teaching), USA

A question that is important in the philosophy of mathematics and mathematics education is, What is the source of mathematical ideas, of meaning, in the mind of an individual? It is surely the case that this question does not have a single answer applicable to all mathematics and all people, so it is unsurprising and appropriate that many answers have been proposed. One possible source that may not have been given sufficient attention is formalism in the sense of expressing mathematical concepts in a formal language.

In this talk, after discussing briefly some sources of mathematical ideas that have been considered in mathematics education such as direct physical experiences, metaphors, and analogies, I will consider two ways in which formalism can relate to mathematical meaning. One way is to capture an idea, perhaps held vaguely and intuitively and then use formal analyses to make it more precise and to investigate its properties. An even less considered use of formalism is to begin the development of an idea from its formal expression and to use the syntax to construct meaning for the concept.

Both of these uses of formalism are skills that mathematicians generally possess and students need to learn. Although this is a major responsibility of mathematics education, it is not one which we are very successful at for more than a very small percentage of students. A major point of the talk is to describe ways in which working with an appropriate programming language can help students develop these skills so as to incorporate formalism as a powerful tool in understanding difficult mathematical concepts.

March 4th, 1:30 pm

Combining Art and Science through Information Technology
Johan Groth, Sweden