Reflecting on the value of mathematics in an interdisciplinary STEM course
Publication date
2019
Authors
Den Braber, Nelleke
Krüger, Jenneke
Mazereeuw, M.
Kuiper, W.
Editors
Jankvist, U. T.
van den Heuvel-Panhuizen, M.
Veldhuis, M.
Advisors
Supervisors
DOI
Document Type
Part of book
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Abstract
Rationales for interdisciplinary STEM courses are often based on the fact that the problems we face in today’s world call for perspectives and knowledge from many different areas. In many cases this includes mathematics because it is used in many research fields and because it is part of everyday life. At the same time interdisciplinary literature suggests that mathematics gains the least from integration. In this paper we use a successful interdisciplinary STEM course in the Netherlands to illustrate how students and teachers think about the value of mathematics. To analyse teacher and student statements concerning the value of mathematics a model is introduced for a disciplinary mathematics perspective for interdisciplinary STEM courses and the opportunities this model ca provide are discussed.
Keywords
mathematics in STEM, secundary education, value of mathematics, perspective taking
Citation
Den Braber, N, Kruger, J H J, Mazereeuw, M & Kuiper, W 2019, Reflecting on the value of mathematics in an interdisciplinary STEM course. in U T Jankvist, M van den Heuvel-Panhuizen & M Veldhuis (eds), Proceedings of the Eleventh Congress of the European Society for Research in Mathematics Education. Freudenthal Group & Freudenthal Institute, Utrecht University and ERME, Utrecht, the Netherlands, pp. 4757-4764. < https://www.mathematik.uni-dortmund.de/~erme/index.php?slab=proceedings >