26th December, 2019

A central question facing any mathematics teacher is: how do we create a nurturing classroom? In this regard, the importance of finding unifying and cross-connecting themes (i.e., themes which cut across topics as well as classes) cannot be overstated. Such themes allow students to hang concepts on multiple pegs and strengthen comprehension and grasp of concepts and problem-solving abilities as well. We will present some work in this area which we feel is of relevance to high school mathematics teachers.

27th December, 2019

Computational thinking has been identified as an important skill for students who wish to pursue mathematics and mathematics related disciplines as a career. In fact the rapidly changing nature of these disciplines and the need to prepare students for careers in these disciplines has been the primary motivation for bringing computational thinking into classroom practices. Seymour Papert was the first to emphaisse the importance of computational thinking by referring to the affordances of computational representations for highlighting powerful ideas. Over the decades many researchers have attempted to define computational thinking. In his book A new kind of science, Stephen Wolfram talks about the computational world, its relationship with the physical world and the importance of computational thinking. Jeanette Wing, in her seminal article, expressed that computational thinking involves solving problems, designing systems and understanding human behaviour by drawing on the concepts fundamental to computer science. While many definitions of CT may be found in the literature, all of them seem to focus on specific skills, such as, the ability to deal with challenging problems, representing ideas in computationally meaningful ways, creating abstractions for the problem at hand, breaking down problems into simpler ones, assessing the strengths and weaknesses of a representation system and engaging in multiple paths of inquiry. These skills are also critical for mathematics learning and there is a common consensus on the understanding that CT skills have to be developed in mathematics classrooms right from the school years. However finding appropriate tasks which help to develop and elicit such thinking continues to be a key pedagogical challenge. Further teachers need to be empowered to create as well as integrate CT tasks in their lessons. The talk attempts to suggest some exploratory tasks which provide the opportunities to engage in computational thinking and also lead to learning important mathematical concepts. It also attempts to highlight the pivotal role of technology in engaging students and in steering them towards computational thinking. Examples of tasks ranging from iteration and recursion in fractal constructions to exploration of chaos and simulation of queues and games which were conducted with secondary school students will be discussed.

28th December, 2019

The terrain of mathematics is uneven: there are peaks to climb, but there are also pits we can fall into, and bends we cannot see around. Yet, exploring the unknown is as joyful and rewarding in mathematics as in treks. What the explorer needs are good quality, reliable maps, that help without denying her the pleasure in exploring. We need to build good guide maps for mathematical explorations as well, that suggest, hint and point to directions while letting students discover on their own. The talk will attempt to discuss such tentative guides.

27th December, 2019

Use of mathematical software and computer programming is becoming essential tools for teaching and learning mathematics in modern digital environment. Several mathematical software both free and commercial are available depending upon the level and topics that one wants to explore. There are several choices when it comes to dealing with higher mathematics, the mathematical software that can be used at school level are somewhat limited. In this document, we list some of the free mathematical software and programming languages along with their important features that can be used at school level in order to bring pedagogical benefit while teaching mathematics.

26th December, 2019

Abstract to be upload soon