‘The Future of Mathematics Education in Europe’

Lisbon, Portugal, December 17-18, 2007

A Conference under the auspices of the Academia Europaea

in the framework of the Portuguese EU Presidency

Rationale

There is substantial evidence that, in developed countries, the interest in mathematics during the pre 18 year old school career has declined sharply in the last 20 years. In these countries, the level of performance in mathematics of students leaving high school is also subject to a (sometimes harsh) debate. Over the last two decades, this situation has already lead to statements about ways to alleviate these tendencies and initiatives to reform mathematics education.

One line of such reforms has been to shift the attention from the learning of abstract concepts and procedural skills to that of a set of more concrete and problem-solving activities. In accordance with this view, the ultimate goal of student learning is claimed to be the acquisition of a mathematical disposition. This shift is attended with a fundamental change from the passive and decontextualised absorption of mathematical knowledge and skills acquired and institutionalised by past generations toward the active construction in a community of learners of meaning and understanding based on the modelling of reality.

However, such reform movements are often contested, especially from the side of the mathematics community itself. This has lead in the US, just to name a country outside Europe, to the so-called «Math Wars» as illustrated by the following quote:

« There is a major controversy in K-12 math education. New curricula are coming into vogue that in large part replace the systematic teaching of algorithms with discovery learning, in which students are asked to find their own methods of solving problems. The new methods also de-emphasize memorization of multiplication tab les in favour or reliance on calculators.

These new curricula are bad for several reasons: First, the instructional methods used are very time consuming, and much less material can be covered. Also, if you develop your own algorithms, they may well not be as powerful and efficient as the standard ones. As a result, students come away with less mastery of the material they study, and it takes them longer to solve new problems whose solution would be immediate if they had learned comprehensive, efficient algorithms.»

The intensity of the debate on mathematics education is not much different in Europe than elsewhere. From one country to the next, it has taken a more or less acrimonial tone, and the level of consensus reached on several of the issues raised above is very variable.

At the same time, the range of domains of knowledge and of the economic sector that require a variety mathematical tools and methodology (including advanced ones) has broadened considerably, notably in connection with the high tech sector.

Nevertheless, it is obvious that math learning and teaching in tertiary education is of utmost importance in view of students’ choice of fields of study later on, and of their performance in a wide variety of these fields in which mathematics is of prominent importance.

Therefore, a conference on «The future of mathematics education in Europe» would be a timely initiative that the Academia Europaea could take. Topics that should be addressed during the conference include for example:

-- present situation of mathematics education in Europe (covering all levels from primary to advanced secondary schools and the beginning of higher education);

-- presentation and critical analysis of typical mathematics education reform initiatives;

-- the perception of mathematics and mathematics education by students, parents and society at large;

-- relationships of mathematics to other subject-matter fields of the curriculum (especially science and Information Technology);

-- the state-of-the-art in teachers training for mathematics education.

Organisation

The conference is divided into four sessions, over two full days: dealing with data, facts and perspectives for primary education, another for secondary education, a third one for the beginning of tertiary education with a special emphasis on teacher training, and the last one with the new challenges that mathematics education has to face in view of new demands of mathematical training for scientific, technological and business professions, and the perception that several groups have of this situation.

Each session focus on critical debate and discussion based for a good part on information and data collected beforehand, with the intention of arriving at the outline of an «agenda for action» for mathematics education if a sufficient consensus can be reached, and at a list of critical points to be further documented and clarified if this is not the case.

After proper endorsement, the «agenda for action» may be published under the Academia Europaea banner. It would be presented to stakeholders in the education and science policy arena for further development, and, if things go for the best, implementation. The publication of a Book is also foreseen.

Scientific Committee

Jean-Pierre Bourguignon (IHES director and AE member) FR, secretary,

Erik De Corte (University of Leuvenand AE member) BE, chairman,

Jens Erik Fenstad (University of Oslo and AE member) NO,

Jürg Kramer (Humboldt Universität, Berlin) DE,

Mögen Niss(Roskilde University) DK,

José Francisco Rodrigues (CNM/IMU and University of Lisbon)PT,

AdrianSmith(FRS and Queen Mary, University of London)UK,

Jean-Christophe Yoccoz (Collège de France, Paris) FR.

Local Organing Committee

Jaime Carvalho eSilva (Fac.Cien.Tecnologia/Universidade de Coimbra)

Ana Paula Dias (Fac. Ciências/Universidade do Porto)

António Domingos (Fac.Ciên.Tecnologia/Universidade Nova de Lisboa)

Maria João Gouveia (Fac.Ciências/Universidade de Lisboa), Coordinator

Ana Moura (Inst.Sup.Técnico/Universidade Técnica de Lisboa

Conference Secretariat

Béatrice Huberty<>

Dirce Monteiro<>

Sponsors (Tentative)

Academia Europaea

Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia

Comissão Nacional de Matemática para a IMU (CNM/IMU)

Universidade de Lisboa

Sociedade Portuguesa de Matemática

Associação de Professores de Matemática

Embassade de France au Portugal

Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa

Fundação Luso-Americana para o Desenvolvimento (FLAD)

Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian

...

Tentative program for the Academia Europaea Conference

“The Future of Mathematics Education in Europe”

at the University of Lisbon, Portugal

December 16-17-18, 2007

December 16: 18.00 – 20.00 Welcome reception and opening of the itinerancy of the

International Exhibition "Experiencing Mathematics"

supported by UNESCO,

December 17:

08.30 – 09:00: Registration

09.00 – 09:30:Greetings and Introduction

* António Sampaio da Nóvoa, Reitor Univ. Lisboa

* João Sentieiro, President of the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia

* A member of the cabinet of Minister J. Mariano Gago

* Erik De Corte (Leuven, Belgium), chair of the Scientific Committee

09.30 – 10.15: Opening lecture by Alan Schoenfeld (Berkeley, U.S.A.):

An international perspective on the future of mathematics education

10.15 – 10.30: Coffee break

Session 1:Primary Education

Chair: José Francisco Rodrigues (Lisbon, Portugal)

10.30 – 11.05: Lieven Verschaffel (Leuven, Belgium): Taking the modelling perspective

seriously at the elementary school level

11.05 – 11.40: Erich Wittman (Dortmund, Germany): Mathematics as a science of patterns

(or Doing mathematics while practising skills)

11.40 – 12.15: Jean-Pierre Demailly (Grenoble, France): topic to be added

12.15 – 13.15: Panel discussion: Panelists: the three speakers, plus Pierre Léna (Paris,

France), Jan de Lange (Utrecht, The Netherlands), Bengt Johansson

(Gothenburg, Sweden), Maria de Lurdes Serrazina (Lisbon, Portugal)

13.15 – 14.15: Lunch

Session 2: Secondary Education

Chair: Juerg Kramer (Berlin, Germany)

14.15 – 14.50: Celia Hoyles (London, UK): Design of (computational) environments for

learning and sharing mathematics in secondary school

14.50 – 15.25: Werner Blum (Kassel., Germany): Teaching and learning of mathematical

models and modelling (orConceptually based standards for mathematics

education and curriculum reform)

15.25 – 16.00: Claudi Alsina (Barcelona, Spain): Innovating the teaching of mathematics

16.00 – 16.15: Coffee break

16.15 – 16.50: Urs Kirschgraber (Zurich, Switzerland): Links between mathematics education

in upper secondary school and higher education

16.50 – 17.50: Panel discussion: Panelists: the four speakers, plus ZbigniewMarciniak (Warsaw, Poland), Nuno Crato (Lisbon, Portugal)

December 18:

Session 3: Tertiary Education

Chair: Jean-Pierre Bourguignon

09.00 – 09.35: Michèle Artigue (Paris, France): Mathematics learning and teaching in tertiary

education

09.35 – 10.10: Johan Lithner (Umea, Sweden): University mathematics students’ learning

difficulties

10.10 – 10.45: Mika Seppälä (Helsinki, Finland): Mathematics e-learning at college level

10.45 – 11.00: Coffee break

11.00 – 11.35: João Filipe Queiró (Coimbra, Portugal): Training of mathematics teachers:

Future perspectives

11.35 – 12.35: Panel discussion: Panelists: the four speakers, plus Barbro Grevholm

(Kristiansand, Norway), Konrad Krainer (Klagenfurt, Austria)

12.35 – 13.30: Lunch

Session 4: Challenges

Chair: Mogens Niss (Roskilde, Denmark))

13.30 – 14.05: Robert May (Oxford, UK): Mathematical challenges in the biomedical sciences

14.05 – 14.40: László Lovász (Budapeste, Hungary): Mathematics and information technology

14.40 – 15.15: Bernard Hodgson (Québec, Canada): Mathematical challenges in education

15.15 – 15.30: Coffee break

15.30 – 16.30: Panel discussion:Panelists: the three speakers, plus Mariolina Bartolini-Bussi

(Modena, Italy), Jorge Almeida (Porto, Portugal)

16.30 – 17.30: Synthesis, Agenda for action and Conclusion

Moderator: Jens Erik Fenstad (Oslo, Norway)

Panelists: Alan Schoenfeld (Berkeley, U.S.A.), Jean-Christophe Yoccoz (Paris,France), Adrian Smith (London), Jürg Kramer (Berlin, Germany)