Although culturally responsive mathematics teaching is important, post-secondary education for preservice teachers (PTs) does not typically lead to learning opportunities for them to use mathematics to recognize the roles of social agents. To address this issue, we created a culturally responsive mathematical modeling task in which we invited PTs…

Modernizing mathematics refers to the idea that teachers should rethink how mathematics has traditionally been taught in schools by making rich tasks and collaboration the focus of instruction and promoting opportunities for active learning. "Modern Math Tasks to Provoke Transformational Thinking" presents carefully crafted tasks that…

In this study, we approach Mathematical Modeling from a socio-critical perspective. Our aim was to achieve reflection and criticality in discussions about prostate cancer in the context of the Blue November campaign, which started in November 2011, hapenning every year from then and is dedicated to raising awareness about prostate cancer. Since…

In March 2020, near the onset of the COVID-19 related lockdowns, quarantine, and isolation measures being taken worldwide, we noticed an increasing number of graphs, diagrams, images and mathematical models relating to the pandemic posted on our Facebook walls. For the purposes of this paper, we selected a number of these Facebook posts to discuss…

This article details the development of design principles to support teachers in planning for a Community-Based Mathematical Modeling task with a focus on social justice in the elementary grades. By reflecting on the dilemmas we encountered in the design and enactment of the tasks, we developed five design principles that allowed us to address…

The mathematics education community has routinely called for mathematics tasks to be connected to the real world. However, accomplishing this in ways that are relevant to students' lived experiences can be challenging. Meanwhile, mathematical modeling has gained traction as a way for students to learn mathematics through real-world connections. In…

This study was conducted to examine the effect of mathematical modelling activities on the mathematical modelling skills of secondary school students in the context of STEM education. The study was designed according to the embedded design, one of the mixed research methods. The study group of research consists of 66 eighth-grade students studying…

This study explores how pre-service mathematics teachers build alternative model simulations of real-world scenarios. Inclusion in the formal structures for wealth generation and accumulation is a fervently debated issue in South Africa. Share owning in companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) in South Africa is one of many…

This manuscript describes a quantitative literacy course focusing on issues of economic and racial justice, developed for a summer bridge program. The curriculum for the course, described in the manuscript, consisted of open-ended assignments that dealt with real-world issues and required basic modeling skills; whereas the culminating assignment…

Math in the City is an interdisciplinary mathematics course offered at University of Nebraska-Lincoln in which students engage in a real-world experience to understand current major societal issues of local and national interest. The course is run in collaboration with local businesses, research centers, and government organizations, that provide…

Critical education scholars contend that schools ought to play a role in the transformation of inequitable institutions and social arrangements. In part, this entails educating students in the academic disciplines, viewed as powerful lenses through which students might see the world in order to better understand why things are the way they are and…

The purpose of this study was to examine the use of socially relevant mathematics applications in high school mathematics classrooms and students' views of mathematics in light of their experiences with these applications. Also, the study sought to determine whether inquiries afforded by these applications incorporated features that promoted…

Points out that man and his institutions must be far-sighted and make sacrifices now to benefit future species and to preserve the environment. (LS)

A restrictive form of equality limits African Americans' ability to benefit equally from public schooling. The "Brown" decision represents the Supreme Court's attempt to apply a mathematical solution to a social problem and left schools free to develop responses that failed to address African-American students' needs. A more expansive…

A pooled cross-section time series model is used to evaluate the effect of the 1977 Canadian firearms legislation on the provincial homicide rate between 1969 and 1989. Results agree with most studies that indicate no significant effect of this legislation on homicide rates. (SLD)