Sue Pope

Anglo-Danish conference on History of Mathematics in Education: Bath Spa, August 2016

We report on the Anglo-Danish History of Mathematics in Education conference, drawing on an article written for the Danish Association of Teachers of Mathematics (LFMK) by Jeanette Axelsen (Vordingborg Gymnasium), Kristian Danielsen (Center for Science Studies, University of Aarhus) and Henrik Kragh Sørensen (Department of Science Education, University of Copenhagen). Thirty attendees enjoyed an intense programme of talks and practical workshops over three days in Bath. Teachers from Denmark and England shared their pedagogical developments inspired by the history of mathematics.

Day conference abstracts

It is recognised that an increasing number of students (in the USA) who are qualified intellectually are deciding not to study mathematics beyond minimum secondary school requirements and that many more girls than boys make this decision. A set of variables explaining individual differences in the learning of mathematics not only affects the amount of effort one is willing to employ to learn mathematics, but also influences the election of additional mathematics courses beyond the basic requirements in secondary schools. This paper reports on pilot study data gained from a Bangla translated version of the Fennema-Sherman Mathematics Attitude Scales (FSMAS). The main purpose of the survey was to check the reliability of using the Bangla translated version of FSMAS in the rural Bangladeshi context and to observe any patterns of differences in attitudes to mathematics among different groups.