Revisiting basic assumptions and shared understanding in mathematical claims

Date: Thursday, Nov. 24
Time: 7 pm
Location: Quance Theatre, Education Building Room 1003, 28 Campus Dr., Saskatoon

Free and open to the public

About this event

When grandma bakes 12 cookies for her three grandchildren, many students automatically assume that every grandchild will get four cookies. This is presumably a correct answer for the problem, but is this necessarily the case? What assumptions do we make when we automatically answer 4 for 2+2?  I will exemplify and discuss “hidden” assumptions that guide decisions when engaging in simple (and not-so-simple) mathematical tasks in a classroom and beyond.

Rina Zazkis is a Professor of Mathematics Education at the Faculty of Education and associate member in the Department of Mathematics at Simon Fraser University, Canada. Her research is in the area of undergraduate mathematics education, with a general focus on mathematical knowledge of teachers, and the ways in which this knowledge is developed, modified, and used in teaching. She holds a position of Tier 1 Canada Research Chair, a prestigious recognition of excellence in research and research training. She serves as editor-in-chief of the Journal of Mathematical Behavior.

Info: colloquium@math.usask.ca

Sponsored in part by the Role Model Speaker Fund of the College of Arts and Science

Upcoming Events