Supporting Desirable Mathematical Practices via Computational Thinking and Activity: A Case of Generalizing in Combinatorics using Python
Elise Lockwood:
Computational thinking and activity are becoming an increasingly important aspect of what it means to conduct scientific and mathematical work. In light of this, there is a need for mathematics education studies that examine the ways in which students engage with computational tools as they reason about scientific and mathematical concepts.
In this talk, I provide an example of how such computational activity can support the desirable mathematical practice of generalizing. I provide data from an interview with a student who engaged in generalizing activity while using Python to solve combinatorial problems.
I connect his work to the literature on generalization and suggest that there are promising avenues to pursue in leveraging computing for such mathematical practices. I conclude by framing this work within ongoing efforts to better understand the nature of computational thinking and activity for undergraduate students.
Bio
Elise Lockwood is Professor in Mathematics Education at Oregon State University.
The bi-weekly ODD seminar series at CCSE
The Open Discussions on Didactics (ODD) is a seminar series on Mondays at 13:00-14:00 every other week (odd week numbers) at CCSE.
The seminar will be maximum one hour, often closer to half an hour. It is an informal arena to present and discuss learning theory, educational research and teaching experiences within computational science. To cater to the highly heterogeneous backgrounds and interests of students, teachers and researchers in our environment, we aim for seminars that introduce listeners to new ideas within a broad spectrum of aspects, and that invites reflection and discussion.
Presentations need not be mature and polished - to the contrary we hope that as many as possible wants to share undigested observations and reflections in short presentations of varied form and topics. We hope to have enough contributions to frequently have the meetings as lightning talk sessions, where three different speakers will each give a 5-10-minute presentation followed by discussion.
Published Nov. 7, 2023 7:24 PM
- Last modified Nov. 7, 2023 7:24 PM
