Computations in Mathematics, Mathematical Education, and Science
A special issue of Computation (ISSN 2079-3197).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2024 | Viewed by 12366
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Just as advances in mathematics often depend on the methods of computation available, the effectiveness of applications of mathematics to education and science depends on our knowledge and understanding of how computers can support advances in areas that use mathematics. The aim of this Special Issue is to collect scholarly reports on the effective use of computations within the wide range of experiences, grade levels, and topics. Of special interest are submissions that demonstrate the duality of mathematical and computational methods in the sense that whereas computations facilitate access to mathematical knowledge, mathematics itself can be used to improve the efficiency of computations, which, in turn, enable advancements in various applications of mathematics to education and science.
At the pre-college level of mathematics education, the Special Issue seeks to identify successful experiences in using computations to communicate the presence of big ideas within seemingly mundane curricular topics and, by the same token, in enabling the study of traditionally difficult and conceptually rich topics through the use of computations. At the college level of mathematics education, the Special Issue invites articles that demonstrate how experimental approaches to mathematics that draw on the power of software to perform numerical and symbolic computations as well as graphical and geometric constructions make it possible to balance informal and formal learning of mathematical ideas. In applications of mathematics to science, this Special Issue invites submissions demonstrating how the availability of symbolic computations enables transition from results based on informal experiments to formal justifications of the results using methods of formal mathematics. Recommended topics to be considered may center on the following questions:
- How does the use of computations affect mathematics research?
- How are computations used in the preparation of PK-12 teachers of mathematics?
- How does the use of computations enable the revision of undergraduate mathematics curricula?
- How does the use of computations facilitate the transition from high school mathematics to university mathematics?
- How does the growth of online degree programs affect the use of digital technology within mathematics courses of such programs?
- How does the use or computations affect research in science?
Articles are expected to include a theoretical discussion of educational, mathematical, and epistemological issues associated with the use of computations in mathematics and their applications to education and science.
Prof. Dr. Sergei Abramovich
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Computation is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- mathematics
- education
- science
- research
- digital computation
- curriculum development
- online programs
- teacher preparation
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Planned Papers
The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.
Title: School Mathematics in Kazakhstan: A Blueprint for Digital Transformation
Authors: Abylkassymova, A. E.; Akhmed-Zaki, D.; Semenov, A.
Affiliation: 1. Center for the Development of Pedagogical Education, Abay University, Almaty; 2. Computer Science Laboratory, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Almaty; 3. Center for the Development of Teacher Education of the Abay National Pedagogical University, Almaty
Abstract: [Historical Foundation for the proposed model] 1930-s Country authorities – industrialization of the country and of schools. The answer of mathematicians was Olympiads and circles for schoolchildren.
1960-s authorities claimed to prepare schoolchildren for workplaces. Math classes (programming + mathematics), math schools, STEM boarding schools at universities - integration into the main curriculum of the schools. Distant School (by mail) university prep for mass of highly-motivated high-school students
1980- Informatics subject designed by Mathematicians introducing Computational thinking for all high schools
Basic idea (cf. P. Halmos, J. Dewey): learning mathematics by doing it
[Philosophy[
Mathetics, fabricando fabricamur of Comenius
Extended Personality = Bio + Digital (Vygotsky, Clark, Serr, Feigenberg)
Constructionism (Papert+) – building up learner’s internal meaningful models based on digital scaffolding supported by teacher
[Goals (imperative for the Digital World)]
Pre-adaptivity, ability and attitude to solve problems that are not known how to solve
Computational Thinking
Competence in the application of modern digital technologies for mathematical modeling, mathematical research, applications of mathematics
Understanding "how it works" in the Digital World
Big ideas of mathematics and computing as part of big ideas guiding a person in the world
[Models of learning activity, mathetics]
Learner’s discovery, invention, experiment, research
Using a computer to solve problem (e.g., modeling) following invention by the student a way to solve it, preferably instruction of a computer by the student, and then using the computer instead of human
Dialogue with a teacher, as well as with gen AI (as the digital extension of the teacher’s personality), when proceeding in the student’s personalized learning way.
[Content]
Modern foundations, starting from visual context at primary school, common for mathematics and computer science
significant increase in the variety of tasks to be solved, including «entertaining», «Olympiad» mathematics
Algorithmics, primarily as an extension of the range of tasks that are not known how to solve (e.g., including development of strategies in games)
Mathematical modeling
Using calculator, computer algebra systems (today, for example, Haskell, Wolfram Mathematica), dynamic geometry (GeoGebra) in solving "traditional" school problems, as well as naturally occurring and interesting problems outside the traditional curriculum (in modeling, etc.)
Using modern big data tools to analyze data in other school courses: in physical experiment, ecology, sociology