My latest Mathematics bookmarks

Monday, November 15, 2010

The maths track of the online global education conference

This week is Global education week. To celebrate the Global Education Conference, an free online conference, is hosted online. I have extracted all the maths related sessions here, but the full schedule for South African time can be found here: http://www.globaleducationconference.com/schedule-gmt2.html

Click once on the session to see a description and a link to the virtual room. All the sessions will be archived so that you can listen and watch them afterwards. No registration is needed, but check in about 10 minutes prior to a session starting so that can make sure that everything is working.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Michael De Villier's Nov 2010 Math e-Newsletter

Dear Colleagues, friends
Most of you are already busy or almost in final year-end examination mode. So hang in there, the summer holidays are just around the corner (for those of us in the Southern Hemisphere), and time to kick back & relax a bit, preferably at the beach!
1. HOMEPAGE UPDATE
My homepage at http://mysite.mweb.co.za/residents/profmd/homepage4.html has been updated with the following:
1)      AMESA (2009) paper "From the Fermat points to the De Villiers points of a triangle"
2)      SA Tydskrif vir Wet & Tegnologie (2010) "Vanaf die Fermat punte na die De Villiers punte van 'n driehoek"
3)      mathematical/mathematics education quote
4)      mathematics/science cartoon.
My dynamic geometry sketches Link at http://math.kennesaw.edu/~mdevilli/JavaGSPLinks.htm has been updated with the following (new & revised) sketches:
             1) Affine invariance of conics
             2) British Mathematics Olympiad problem & its dual
             3) De Villiers points & Hyperbola of a triangle (updated)
             4) Pirate Treasure Hunt and some generalizations
             5) Some unproved conjectures (updated)
and the Student Explorations sections  with:
             1) Bride's Chair Concurrency and locus (updated)
             2) British Mathematics Olympiad Concurrency Problems
             3) Cosine-Sine Angle Rule (updated)
             4) Desargues' theorem
             5) Links to 'SA Math Olympiad Questions and Problems' and 'Cut the Knot'
                
Please REFRESH pages if they don't load properly the first time.
2. SOUTH AFRICAN MATHEMATICS OLYMPIAD
About 50000 learners participated in this year's competition. The dates for next yearÕs Olympiad are:
Closing date for entries: 4 Feb
1st round: 16 March
2nd round: 17 May
3rd round: 7 Sep
For more info about entering this prestige competition, past papers and answers, go to:
Download the free e-Book, "Geometry Unbound" at http://www.scribd.com/doc/18935265/Geometry-Unbound
It provides great training and reference for students to prepare for the Senior 3rd Round of SA Mathematics Olympiad (SAMO) and the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO)
3. NEW BOOKS
Due to some past Math e-newsletters that people did not receive the following is reposted. The books below might be valuable additions to add to your university, school or personal libraries.
a) Explanation and Proof in Mathematics
Philosophical and Educational Perspectives by Hanna, Gila; Jahnke, Hans Niels; Pulte, Helmut (Eds.) 2010, VIII, 296 p., Hardcover, ISBN: 978-1-4419-0575-8  URL: http://www.springer.com/education/mathematics+education/book/978-1-4419-0575-8    
b) Some Adventures in Euclidean Geometry
Christmas holiday season special: this book in bound form is discounted by 15%. For more info go tohttp://www.lulu.com/content/7622884
c) The book TINHLELO, Interweaving Art and Mathematics: Colourful Basket Trays from the South of Mozambique exhibits and analyses coloured circular winnowing baskets collected since the end of the 1970s (Lulu, 2010, 132 pp. colour). Available from http://stores.lulu.com/pgerdes
4. OBITUARIES
Benoit Mandelbrot, who developed the field of fractal geometry and applied it to physics, biology, finance and many other fields, died on 14 Oct 2010 in Cambridge, Mass. He was 85. For more info, see: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/17/us/17mandelbrot.html?_r=2
5. WEBSITES
a) Free Webinars on Discovering AlgebraDiscovering GeometrySketchpad and other Key Curriculum Press products are available at: www.keypress.com/pd Click on the webinar link to find a list of past webinars, each of which has a link for the recording of the webinar itself and a link to the materials.
b) The November 2010 issue of the ATM's Mathematics Teaching journal is available online at: http://www.atm.org.uk/journal/
c) Go to http://mathonline.missouri.edu for free online testing and evaluation components in Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry, Calculus readiness, and Calculus I and III with links to other sites with Online Drills and Quizzes.
d) Read the Math Forum Internet Weekly Newsletter at http://mathforum.org/electronic.newsletter/mf.intnews15.43.html with latest news, links, etc.
Past issues of the Newsletter are archived at http://mathforum.org/electronic.newsletter/ The Math Forum is also home to Ask Dr. Math, Problems of the Week, MathTools, Teacher2Teacher, the Internet Math Library, Math Discussion groups, and over 1,000,000 pages of mathematics information and discussions (links are at the bottom of the page).
e) Be dazzled, perplexed and amazed by the Optical Illusions at http://videogames.yahoo.com/events/brain-teasers/brain-teasers-and-optical-illusions/1400154
f) Visit the Dynamic Geometry Gallery Geometrikon at http://www.math.uoc.gr/~pamfilos/eGallery/Gallery.html  for a fascinating alphabetically arranged collection of Topics in Geometry and geometric examples from Geometry: Euclidean, Affine, and Projective.
g) Download one of the opening lectures at the Faulkes Institute for Geometry, University of Cambridge, 2002, 'Why study geometry?' at http://www.dpmms.cam.ac.uk/~piers/F-I-G_opening_ppr.pdf  
h) MATH PLACE is a new on-line on-demand distributor of mathematics e-books and software, MATH PLACE, influenced by the thinking of George Polya (Mathematics is not a spectator sport) and Jean Piaget (Learning is provoked adaptation) Age range: 4-adult. Book prices: US$8.95-$9.95. Visit http://www.mathplace.net/  
i) STATISTICAL DICTIONARIES in Afrikaans-English or English-Afrikaans can be downloaded as free PDF's fromhttp://www.sastat.org.za/diction.htm     
j) A lovely TILING SLIDE SHOW with many examples is available at http://www.spsu.edu/math/tiling/index.html  
k) Have a look at and download for free YACAS (Yet Another Computer Algebra System) - runs on many platforms. Go to the homepage at http://yacas.sourceforge.net/homepage.html and look at the Tutorial and My Yacas tabs for examples of its algebraic computational power.
l) Read the Notices of the American Mathematical Society for free online at http://www.ams.org/notices/201009/  Contains many mathematical articles of general interest, as well as some mathematics education articles.  
m) Some nice lesson plans and teaching ideas from Grades 3-8 on Patterns, Tiling, Graphs, Bridges, etc. are available at the NCTM website at:
n) Some interactive animations and interesting facts of TETRAHEDRA at http://www.ac-noumea.nc/maths/polyhedr/tetra_.htm
o) For learners 5-19 visit Cambridge University's NRICH for a wide variety of problems, activities and investigations.http://nrich.maths.org/public/  
p) Dancing with Geometry: A professional dancer and an orthopedic surgeon demonstrate the fundamental role geometry and technology play in keeping dancers performing at the highest level. Watch the movie:http://www.thefutureschannel.com/dockets/realworld/dancing/
q) The Simon Stevin Institute for Geometry www.geometryinstitute.org has some interesting information on the history of geometry and current research.
r) Read and discuss the article "Life After WolframAlpha: What You (and Your Students) Need to Know" about how this new computing technology can influence what we do in our math classrooms. Go to: http://mathdl.maa.org/mathDL/23/?pa=content&sa=viewDocument&nodeId=3365
6. CONFERENCES
a) Mathematical Art Exhibition will be held during the Joint Mathematics Meetings, New Orleans, January 6-9, 2011. More info:http://www.ams.org/meetings/national/jmm/2125_intro.html
b) SAARMSTE 2011 Conference. 18 – 21 January 2011. Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, North-West University, Mafikeng Campus. More info athttp://www.nwu.ac.za/export/sites/default/nwu/mc/documents/SAARMSTE_CONFERENCE_HOME_PAGE.pdf
c) The 7th Congress of CERME, the European Society for Research in Mathematics Education will be held in Rzesz¬óow, Poland, from 9-13 February 2011. Papers and poster proposals should use the CERME7 WORD template, and conform to the guidelines atwww.cerme7.univ.rzeszow.pl/?id=cerme-guidelines-for-authors
d) The Annual Conference of the Mathematical Association, 14-16 April 2011, Univ. of Loughborough at http://www.m-a.org.uk/jsp/index.jsp?lnk=100
e) ATM Conference 2011, 'Celebrating Gattegno', 18 - 21 Apr 2011, Univ. of Wolverhampton, Telford Campus athttp://www.atm.org.uk/events/conferences/
f) NCTM 2011 Annual Meeting & Exposition, Indianapolis, IN, April 13-16, 2011 - Geometry: Constructing and Transforming Perspectives – more info at http://www.nctm.org/conferences/content.aspx?id=25947 
g) 17th National Congress of AMESA, Theme: "Mathematics in a globalised world", 27 June – 1 July 2011, Johannesburg, www.amesa.org.za

h) BRIDGES 2011 Conference: Connections between Mathematics, Music, Art, Architecture, Culture, Univ of Coimbra, Portugal, July 27-31, 2011. URL: http://bridgesmathart.org/bridges-2011/
h) The 15th ICTMA Conference (International Conference on the Teaching of Mathematical Modeling and Applications) will be hosted by the Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, 14-19 J u l y 2 0 1 1. Visit: http://dlibrary.acu.edu.au/staffhome/jibrown/ictma.html
i) 11th International Conference of The Mathematics Education into the 21st Century Project: Turning Dreams into Reality: Transformations and Paradigm Shifts in Mathematics Education, 10-16 September 2011, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa. For ALL further conference
j) ICMI Study 21 entitled "Mathematics Education and Language diversity". The two co-chairs are Mamokgethi Setati University of South Africa, and Maria Do Carmo Domite Universidade de Sao Paulo, Brazil.  The Discussion Document may be found at the study website at http://www.icmi-21.com/index.php?page_id=140 and the Study Conference will be held on 16 - 20 September 2011 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
7. QUOTES & POINTS TO PONDER
"Formulation of a problem is often more essential than its solution which may be merely a matter of mathematical or experimental skill." - Albert Einstein
"The greatest scientific and philosophical breakthroughs by humanity's finest minds, from Darwin to Einstein, Socrates to Descartes, can usually be summed up in a few words. Only the mediocre dress up their 'genius' in long-winded lectures or heavy volumes. Extraneous complexity often conceals a lack of true substance." - Author, Hector Macdonald
"Anyone who conducts an argument by appealing to authority is not using his intelligence; he is just using his memory."  - Leonardo da Vinci
8. HUMOUR IN MATH ; SCIENCE
Proof by insignificance: "Who really cares, anyway?"
Proof by mumbo-jumbo: " (B √جøΩ P ) , $ (C √جøΩ W )
Proof by profanity: (example omitted)
Proof by definition: "We define it to be true."
Proof by tautology: 'It's true because it's true."
9. PROBLEM PUZZLER
Challenge your FET learners with the two concurrency problems at: http://math.kennesaw.edu/~mdevilli/bmo-concurrency.html
(Use a free, Java enabled web browser like Firefox or Safari or download & install Java for Internet Explorer).
Geometrically yours
Michael
---
On being asked what ideal qualities the trustees should seek in a director of The Institute for Advanced Mathematical Studies at Princeton, Albert Einstein replied: "You should look for a very quiet man who will not disturb people who are trying to think." 
----
Prof Michael de Villiers
(Dynamic Math Learning)
Dynamic Mathematics Learning Online Store: http://www.FreeWebStore.org/DynamicMathematicsLearning
---
Official SA Supplier of Key Curriculum Press at http://www.keypress.com
---
Visit the SA Mathematics Olympiad at http://www.samf.ac.za/samo/  

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Maths curriculum review: Marang meeting

If you do not know yet, we are in a desperate bid to canvass the government to extend the time limit on the call for comment on the new Caps documents outlining the Mathematics (and all other subjects) review. On Tuesday a meeting was held to discuss the changes that are proposed to the existing mathematics FET curriculum and Alison Kitto, who was the main person behind the review, gave a presentation to inform us of changes and the rationale behind it.

I was not there, but asked Lynn to record the proceedings and am posting it here now. I apologise for the sound recording effects here and there as I did not have time to edit it into a good podcast quality in view of publishing what went down as quickly as possible (Thank you to Elrieka my assistant who did the editing and cutting). We have broken it down into sections for easier listening. If you are on a slow connection, I suggest that you pause the podcast and wait for it to stream to the end before you listen to it (otherwise it will be jittery). If you want to save the sound file onto your computer, just right-click on the link and choose "Save link as" and a place on your computer where you will find it again.


Helen then did a reply:

Then there where questions and answers:

Friday, September 10, 2010

Request for comment: New Mathematical literacy curriculum

Hi All,

I am sure that you are all aware that we are due for curriculum revision which will be implemented in 2012. The revision documents has been gazetted last Friday and can be downloaded from here:
At last Fridays Marang meeting, Mark North who was responsible for the revision of the Maths lit Curriculum, talked to us about how he went about compiling the new document which will basically replace all the other ML documents that we are currently working with. He was supported in this task by Arnot Brombacher as a critical reader. I am still waiting for Marc to send me his powerpoint, but in the mean time you can listen to his talk: (I will insert his PPT here when I get it).

Lynn Bowie then did a response to Marc's presentation:
You can listen to her response here (click on it, minimise the player and the follow along with her presentation)

And there were of course lots of questions.....

I have tried my best to edit the worst  noise out, but in the interest of publishing it quickly, I apologise for bad sound quality here and there.

You can also go and leave comments on the LIVE document and see  others comments here:
The live docs are here:
A.notate.com is a great tool for quick colloboration. Just sign in with your e-mail address and highlight or drag a box anywhere on the document. It will open a box where you can insert a comment note. You can even comment on other's notes. If you need any technical assistance please let me know and I will help you.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Dr Maths on Mxit in Tswana

Are you worried about your learners and kids progress during the strike action. Don't fear, remember Dr Maths is on duty every afternoon till late at night and guess what? as from tomorrow, Dr Maths will be able to give maths assistance to all our Tswana speaking learners as well!!!

Meraka is launching their Tswana speaking maths support Mxit service as "Dr Dipalo" and you can either speak to the senior maths mentors Dr Dipalo (Monnye) by adding 0735450044 to your Mxit service or to the junior Dr Dipolo (Motona) (up to grades 9) on 0783374513.

So there you have it! Maths in Tswana on Mxit!!!

I am sure all the "good" teachers who are participating in the strike, would have given their learners plenty of work to go through. Now they will also have on-cell free and great maths and mathslit help to get them through all this!

For more info on how to set Dr Maths on Mxit up for yourself or your learners/kids, go to http://mathsliteracy.wordpress.com/dr-maths/

Well done to Laurie and her team who are always there for our learners on Mxit!!


Tuesday, July 27, 2010

AMESA Mathematics Challenge 2010

Dear Regional Organiser, and others

I attach the 2010 AMESA Grade 4-7 Mathematics Challenge package comprising circular with forms, papers, answer sheet and memorandum.

Please distribute to all interested persons and encourage schools to participate in this National Mathematics Week activity?

The documents are in PDF format to safeguard formatting between different machines ...
If you really cannot print the PDFs you can ask me for the Word documents.

Schools can write the First Round during Mathematics Week 2-6 August, but may write later if they choose, provided they get their Final Round info to their Regional Organiser by 18 August.

The planned timeline for 2010 is:

- First Round written in school during Mathematics Week 2-6 August 2010, or later ...

- Schools should inform their Regional Organiser of learners participating in the Final Round by 18 August.

- The Regional Organiser will inform schools of arrangements for the Final Round by 1 September.

- Final Round written in the regions: Wednesday 8 September

- The Regional Organisers should communicate regional results to the Chief Organiser by 30 September.

- Certificates of Achievements distributed by 1 November.

Thank you very much for your valued involvement in the Challenge, I trust you and your pupils will enjoy participating!

Kind regards

Alwyn Olivier
Director: Research Unit for Mathematics Education
Faculty of Education
University of Stellenbosch
Private Bag X1
7602 Matieland

Tel: (021) 808 2299             (021) 808 2299      (021) 808 2299  (021) 808 2299      (021) 808 2299 (021) 808 2299      (021) 808 2299
E-mail: alwyn@amesa.org.za
Homepage: http://www.amesa.org.za/Challenge

Monday, May 31, 2010

Associate Professor post in Mathematics Education at the University of the Witwatersrand

An Associate Professor post (4-5 year contract in the first instance) is available in Mathematics Education within the Marang Centre for Mathematics and Science Education at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.

Mathematics Education at Wits has an international reputation for excellence. Current research thrusts are focused on:

-         Mathematics knowledge for teaching

-         Teaching and learning mathematics in multilingual classrooms

-         Mathematical literacy

-         Technology in the teaching and learning of mathematics

-         Primary Mathematics


Interested applicants would need: a PhD in the mathematics education; a track record of effective teaching and supervision in the area, or strong potential to perform in these areas; an independent and innovative research record as evidenced by at least 6 publications obtained at the rate of at least one per year; an ability to take a leading role in curriculum innovation and design and in the implementation of new courses. A capacity to attract research funding, and a significant international publication record will be an advantage.


The Associate Professor role offers opportunities to provide intellectual leadership in the field, openings to lead the design, coordination and presentation of courses for post-graduate students, research supervision of students up to PhD level, and leadership in research activities.


Interested applicants can contact Prof Jill Adler ( jill.adler@wits.ac.za ) or Prof Hamsa Venkat ( hamsa.venkatakrishnan@wits.ac.za ) for further details and information.


To apply: Submit a letter of motivation, a detailed CV with names, addresses and contact numbers of 3 referees (including email addresses) as well as certified copies of degrees/diplomas and identity document to: Ms Maureen Pudikabekwa (ntwampe.pudikabekwa@wits.ac.za ), Human Resources Officer, Wits School of Education -Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, Wits 2050, Gauteng, South Africa. 

Visit our website http://web.wits.ac.za/Academic/Humanities/Education/


Sunday, April 11, 2010

Empowering Maths Teachers to Use ICTs for Resource Development

The Community Education Computer Society (CECS) is an ICT training NGO which was established in 1985 in Cape Town, South Africa.
CECS received a grant from the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) to implement an ICT Literacy project in 7 Southern African countries. One of the deliverables was the development of an ICT training programme for teachers. After some investigations, CECS decided to develop an ICT training course for high-school mathematics teachers. A training manual was subsequently developed and piloted with 11 high school Mathematics teachers based in Gauteng, South Africa. Parts of the manual is available on our website as well as examples of the exercises, www.cecs.org.za.
The S A Finnish Partnership (SAFIPA) has provided CECS with support to undertake the following activities:

  • Convening a stakeholder workshop in Johannesburg and East London with teachers, organisations, individuals, government officials, funders, etc who are involved in the development of teacher training in general and Mathematics specifically

  • Conducting 2 two-day workshops with Grade 12 Mathematics teachers in Johannesburg and East London.

  • Development of a web application for Grade 12 Mathematics teachers to create and print question papers with its memorandum based on selections made from a question bank.

  • Develop a portal for Mathematics which will host the application and enable teachers to upload questions with answers they have produced.
The training offered by CECS is unique. There is nothing comparable in South Africa. This view was confirmed by reviewing materials on the Department of Education's Thutong portal, reviewing materials from a number of NGOs.
Teachers have to spend an inordinate amount of time preparing materials for class, thus reducing time that could be better spend on lesson planning and delivering. The training course rectify the situation.
The web application will make it easier for Grade 12 Mathematics teachers to create and print question papers. The question papers will be accompanied with the memorandum.  This will be extended to Grade 10 & 11, funding permitted.
Thus, register on the CECS website if you want to:

  • Test the web application

  • Contribute Mathematics content

  • Attend the Mathematics Teacher workshop in Gauteng (Johannesburg) or Eastern Cape (East London). This offer applies to those who reside in Johannesburg or East London.

  • Quality control the questions and answers

  • If you want a copy of the training manual

  • Attend the stakeholder workshop in Gauteng (Johannesburg) or Eastern Cape (East London). This applies to those who reside in Johannesburg or East London.

  • Be kept up to date with developments or you want to participate in the project
We also intend to conduct workshops in other provinces once funding is secured.  This do register in the meantime so that we are aware of you.

CONTACT DETAILS
Arnold Pietersen
Tel: 011-834-3329 
Fax: 011-834-9054
E-mail: info@cecs.org.za
Website: www.cecs.org.za

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Weekly maths bookmarks (weekly)


Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Weekly maths bookmarks (weekly)


Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Job: CASME: Mathematics Facilitator

Centre for the Advancement of
Science and Mathematics Education (CASME)


Mathematics Facilitator

 

CASME is a well-established, leading NGO working in the field of mathematics and science education development. The centre is an independent affiliate unit of the School of Science, Mathematics and Technology Education at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

CASME seeks to fill the above position of Mathematics Facilitator, to be based at its offices on the Edgewood Campus in Pinetown, starting as soon as possible in 2010.

Minimum Requirements:

§  Honours/Masters degree in education

§  Thorough knowledge and understanding of the National Curriculum Statement for Mathematics

§  Excellent writing skills and computer literacy in Office applications, email and Internet

§  Driver's licence and own car as this position requires extensive travelling.

 

Description: The position entails development of teaching and learning training materials, facilitating workshops for educators and learners, and provision of school-based support to teachers and learners. The facilitator will be required to co-ordinate and report on project activities.

Other: Required to work well both as part of a dynamic, diverse team and independently. The position requires a dedicated individual who should be a progressive, innovative educationalist with a strong desire to assist educators and learners in under-served communities.

An advantage will be the ability to work at both GET and FET levels and within other learning areas, for example Physical Science or Life Sciences.

A fully inclusive package, negotiable depending on qualifications and experience, is offered on a 1-year contract basis with the possibility of renewal.

Please submit a one-page covering letter and your CV with at least two contactable references to:

benson@casme.org.za

by 22 January 2010

 

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. CASME reserves the right not to fill this position. For more information on CASME please visit www.casme.org.za or contact us on Tel 031 2602508 or Fax 031 2608178.

__._,_.



Monday, January 11, 2010

CASME Vacancy: Mathematics Facilitator


Centre for the Advancement of
Science and Mathematics Education (CASME)


Mathematics Facilitator


CASME is a well-established, leading NGO working in the field of mathematics and science education development. The centre is an independent affiliate unit of the School of Science, Mathematics and Technology Education at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

CASME seeks to fill the above position of Mathematics Facilitator, to be based at its offices on the Edgewood Campus in Pinetown, starting as soon as possible in 2010.

Minimum Requirements:
§  Honours/Masters degree in education
§  Thorough knowledge and understanding of the National Curriculum Statements for Mathematics
§  Excellent writing skills and computer literacy in Office applications, email and Internet
§  Driver's licence and own car as this position requires extensive travelling.

Description: The position entails development of teaching and learning training materials, facilitating workshops for educators and learners, and provision of school-based support to teachers and learners. The facilitator will be required to co-ordinate and report on project activities.

Other: Required to work well both as part of a dynamic, diverse team and independently. The position requires a dedicated individual who should be a progressive, innovative educationalist with a strong desire to assist educators and learners in under-served communities.

An advantage will be the ability to work at both GET and FET levels and within other learning areas, for example Physical Science or Life Sciences.

A fully inclusive package, negotiable depending on qualifications and experience, is offered on a 1-year contract basis with the possibility of renewal.

Please submit a one-page covering letter and your CV with at least two contactable references to:
by 22 January 2010

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. CASME reserves the right not to fill this position. For more information on CASME please visit www.casme.org.za or contact us on Tel 031 2602508 or Fax 031 2608178.