This Week in Math Ed: December 30, 2016

Here it is, TWiME 52, the last of the year. I didn't know how far I'd get when I started, and there were times during the year I wasn't sure it was worth continuing. But I'm glad I stuck with it, and I plan to continue in 2017. Big thanks to all of you who have read and shared it!

Math Ed Said

December 23: For a second day in a row, "The High-School Mathematician's Crutch Is Not Allowed in Most Colleges" was the most-shared link on my math ed Twitter list.

Shared by: Michelle Russell, Robert Talbert, Anthony Purcell, Earl Samuelson, Shauna Hedgepeth, Amy Hogan, John Golden, Dan Anderson, Dan Allen

December 24: How cool (and very last-minute) was this? Paula Beardell Krieg took images from math teachers on Twitter and created "Last Minute Wrapping Paper."

Shared by: Mike Lawler, John Golden, Malke Rosenfeld, Simon Gregg

December 25: Yes, people were sharing links on Christmas Day. In this case, they were linking to more links, specifically these from the Ontario Math Links blog for the week ending December 23rd.

Shared by: Kyle Pearce, Bridget Dunbar, Mary Bourassa, David Petro

December 26: In Episode 1621 of the Math Ed Podcast, Samuel Otten interviewed Megan Taylor about her JRME commentary, "From Effective Curricula Toward Effective Curriculum Use."

Shared by: Egan Chernoff, John Golden, Samuel Otten

December 27: Did you hear about Tracy Zager's new book, Becoming the Math Teacher You Wish You'd Had? People were talking about it on the 27th (when they weren't talking about Carrie Fisher).

Shared by: Andrew Gael, Crystal Lancour, Jill Gough, John Golden, Sahar Khatri, David Coffey, Dan Meyer

December 28: Kyle Pearce wrote, "Exploring Fraction Constructs and Proportional Reasoning." It's a post rich with all sorts of part-whole relationships, number line placements, concrete and visual representations, and operations.

Shared by: Crystal Lancour, Dan Allen, David Petro, Mark Chubb, Kyle Pearce, Matthew Oldridge

Annie Fetter at Innov8 2016

December 29: Suzanne Alejandre, Max Ray-Riek, and Annie Fetter, while working fall conferences for The Math Forum, posted bulletin boards in common spaces titled "Ask the NCTM Community." Suzanne's blog post here lists the questions and responses written on those boards, which has prompted maybe the best and most active comment section I've seen to any blog post in a long time.

Shared by: Megan Schmidt, Casey McCormick, Suzanne Alejandre, The Math Forum, Earl Samuelson, Gary Davis, Max Ray-Riek

Around the Math Ed Web

A quick check on the Global Math Department shows these recent and upcoming sessions:

• December 13: Favorite Tech Tools with Julia Finneyfrock, Julie Reulbach, and Shauna Hedgepeth
• December 20: "I'm Not a Math Person" - Identity and Its Impact on Math Success with Nicole Bridge
• January 3: Creativity and Curiosity in the Math Classroom with Zachary Herrmann

I found a tweet from NCTM that says there will be a #TCMchat, #MTMSchat, and #MTchat in January on the 11th, 18th, and 25th, respectively, but no details about the articles. I also learned that one person used #TCMchat over the holiday while watching Turner Classic Movies.

Research Notes

The January 2017 issue of Educational Studies in Mathematics is out:

• Interactions between defining, explaining and classifying: the case of increasing and decreasing sequences by Lara Alcock, Loughborough University, and Adrian Simpson, Durham University
• Agency and assemblage in pattern generalisation: a materialist approach to learning by Francesca Ferrara and Giulia Ferrari, Università di Torino
• Comparative analysis on the nature of proof to be taught in geometry: the cases of French and Japanese lower secondary schools by Takeshi Miyakawa, Joetsu University of Education
• Mathematics education in Lebanon: gender differences in attitudes and achievement by Ketty M. Sarouphim and Madona Chartouny, Lebanese American University
• The association of precollege use of calculators with student performance in college calculus by Yi Mao, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Tyreke White, Harvard College, Philip M. Sadler, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, and Gerhard Sonnert, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
• A study regarding the spontaneous use of geometric shapes in young children's drawings by José Domingo Villarroel and Olga Sanz Ortega, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU
• Rupture or continuity: The arithmetico-algebraic thinking as an alternative in a modelling process in a paper and pencil and technology environment by Fernando Hitt, Université du Québec à Montréal & Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo; Mireille Saboya, Université du Québec à Montréal & Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo; Carlos Cortés Zavala, Université du Québec à Montréal; and GRUTEAM

Three more articles have been added to the March 2017 issue of The Journal of Mathematical Behavior:

• Playing the believing game: Enhancing productive discourse and mathematical understanding by Shelly Sheats Harkness, University of Cincinnati; and Bethany Noblitt, Northern Kentucky University
• How can emphasizing mathematical modeling principles benefit students in a traditionally taught differential equations course? by Jennifer A. Czocher, Texas State University
• An exploratory study on student understandings of derivatives in real-world, non-kinematics contexts by Steven R. Jones, Brigham Young University

Some journals seemed to hurry up to get their last 2016 issue out before the end of the year. For the International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, they jumped to put out both their January and February 2017 issues. Here's the math-focused articles:

• Graphic Comprehension and Interpretation Skills of Preservice Teachers with Different Learning Approaches in a Technology-Aided Learning Environment by Harun Çelik and Hüseyin Miraç Pektaş, Kırıkkale University
• Format Effects of Empirically Derived Multiple-Choice Versus Free-Response Instruments When Assessing Graphing Abilities by Craig Berg, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee; and Stacy Boote, University of North Florida
• Prospective Middle School Mathematics Teachers' Covariational Reasoning for Interpreting Dynamic Events During Peer Interactions by Seçil Yemen-Karpuzcu, Middle East Technical University; Fadime Ulusoy, Kastamonu University; and Mine Işıksal-Bostan, Middle East Technical University
• An Investigation of Pre-service Middle School Mathematics Teachers' Ability to Conduct Valid Proofs, Methods Used, and Reasons for Invalid Arguments by Esra Demiray, Hacettepe University; and Mine Işıksal Bostan, Middle East Technical University
• Understanding Linear Function: a Comparison of Selected Textbooks from England and Shanghai by by Yuqian Wang, Durham University; Patrick Barmby, University of the Witwatersrand; and David Bolden, Durham University
• Adults' Use of Mathematics and Its Influence on Mathematical Competence by Christoph Duchhardt, University of Bremen; Anne-Katrin Jordan, University of Bremen; and Timo Ehmke, Leuphana University of Lüneburg
• Development of a Framework to Characterise the Openness of Mathematical Tasks (Erratum) by Joseph B. W. Yeo, Nanyang Technological University
• School–University Action Research: Impacts on Teaching Practices and Pupil Learning by Iiris Attorps and Eva Kellner, University of Gävle
• The Role of Parental Math Anxiety and Math Attitude in Their Children's Math Achievement by Akanksha Soni and Santha Kumari, Thapar University
• Students' Emotions in the High School Mathematical Class: Appraisals in Terms of a Structure of Goals by Gustavo Martínez-Sierra, Autonomous University of Guerrero; and María del Socorro García-González, Research Center of Advanced Studies of the National Polytechnic Institute of Mexico
• Modelling in Primary School: Constructing Conceptual Models and Making Sense of Fractions by Juhaina Awawdeh Shahbari, University of Haifa & Al-Qasemi Academy - Academic College of Education & The College of Sakhnin; and Irit Peled, University of Haifa

Whereas IJSME got out in front of 2017, AERA just squeezed out the March 2016 issue of the Review of Research in Education. It's a bit confusing, but RRE is really only published once a year, so the "March" timing is irrelevant. This year, there is one math-related article by Alan Schoenfeld, and it's a survey of the field — and open access!

• Research in Mathematics Education by Alan H. Schoenfeld, University of California, Berkeley

Here's the newest from the January 2017 and February 2017 issues of Teaching and Teacher Education:

• Teacher learning in the context of Lesson Study: A video-based analysis of teacher discussions by Maria Vrikki, University of Cambridge; Paul Warwick, University of Cambridge; Jan D. Vermunt, University of Cambridge; Neil Mercer, University of Cambridge; and Nicolette Van Halem, University of Utrecht
• Mathematics teachers' motivations for, conceptions of, and experiences with flipped instruction by Zandra de Araujo, Samuel Otten, and Salih Birisci, University of Missouri

For the Twitter crowd, there are some familiar faces in the latest Journal of Urban Mathematics Education:

• Absence of Diversity in Collegiate Upper-Level Mathematics Classrooms: Perpetuating the "White Male Math Myth" by David W. Stinson, Georgia State University
• The Importance of Communities for Mathematics Learning and Socialization by Erica N. Walker, Teachers College, Columbia University
• To Rectify the Moral Turpitude of Mathematics Education by Brian R. Lawler, Kennesaw State University
• A Critical Dialogue: Continuing the Conversation about "The Collective Black and Principles to Actions" by Bryan Meyer, Escondido Union High School District
• Reflecting on the Dialogue Regarding the Mathematics Education of English Learners by Zandra de Araujo, Erin Smith, and Matthew Sakow, University of Missouri
• A Framework for Understanding Whiteness in Mathematics Education by Dan Battey, Rutgers; and Luis A. Leyva, Vanderbilt University
• An Intersectional Analysis of Latin@ College Women’s Counter-stories in Mathematics by Luis A. Leyva, Vanderbilt University
• Striving Toward Transformational Resistance: Youth Participatory Action Research in the Mathematics Classroom by Mary Candace Raygoza, University of California, Los Angeles
• Negotiating Perceptions of Tracked Students: Novice Teachers Facilitating High-Quality Mathematics Instruction by Emily Joy Yanisko, Urban Teachers at Johns Hopkins University
• Book Review: Radical Reconfiguring(s) for Equity in Urban Mathematics Classrooms: Lines of Flight in Mathematics and the Body: Material Entanglements in the Classroom by Susan O. Cannon and Kayla D. Meyers, Georgia State University

Math Ed in the News

The theme this week seems to be "teach math through music/philosophy/news/anythingotherthanmath."

• Iowa City students finding math in music (The Gazette)
• Central A&M students get jump on college math (Herald & Review)
• Teach Kids Philosophy, It Makes Them Better at Math (NY Mag)
• Fourth grade class learns math using The News (The News)

Math Ed in Colorado

I only have two reminders, which I'll keep short:

• The online standards review system is open until February 17.
• Registration for Math on the "Planes" is open and applying for a scholarship is encouraged.