[cmath] Mathematics Education Session on Big Ideas December 2011

[Walter Whiteley]

I am organizing the Mathematics Education session at the Canadian  
Mathematics Society meeting in Toronto this December:
          http://cms.math.ca/Events/winter11/
I am inviting submissions for the Mathematics Session on Big Ideas in  
Mathematics, as well as encouraging participation in the Special  
Session.  The deadline for early bird registration is September 30,  
and I will be able to subsidize registration for those who have  
accepted contributions (abstracts due October 31).

The Mathematics Education session on Big Ideas starts with a CMS  
Public Lecture on Friday December 9 by Chris Wild from New Zealand.    
Chris is a statistics researcher who has been playing a key role in  
developing the new Mathematics and Statistics curriculum in New  
Zealand.  In this curriculum, Statistics inference plays a significant  
role as one of three main branches K-12, and Chris has been developing  
visually based simulations and other supports for use over a variety  
of ages.    Hopefully, people in the Toronto Area will be able to  
bring colleagues and students to this free Public Talk.

The main Mathematics Education Session runs Saturday December 10, and  
December 11 if interest supports this.   The overall theme is
	Big Ideas for organizing the K-12 Mathematics curriculum (and beyond).
In Ontario, each revised curriculum (in all subject areas) is to be  
organized around big ideas.   Some similar themes are coming out in  
other curricula discussions.   Here are some samples:

(A) One Big Idea, related to the talk of Chris Wild, and supported by  
some further discussion from Chris in our session, will be around  
Uncertainty and Statistical Inference.

(B) A second Big Idea with at least one contribution will be on  
Transformations and Invariance (Geometry, Proportional Reasoning, some  
areas of algebra, ... ).

(C) A possible third theme could be the Mathematical Processes /  
Developing Reasoning as a Big Idea that is more important in  
curriculum than a number of specific pieces of content.   A related  
distinction is emerging in Ontario University development of  
Undergraduate Degree Level Expectations, where processes are  
highlighted, and specific content lists are de-emphasized.

I would welcome submissions on any of these themes or other topics you  
would propose as a Big Idea for Curriculum Design.  If I receive an  
informal query during September, I will try to give feedback prior to  
the Early Bird Registration deadline of September 30.

Walter Whiteley
York University

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