The Canadian philosopher Tom Sorrell describes the characteristic error of "scientism" to be "putting too high a value on science in comparison with other branches of learning or culture" (Sorrell, 2103). In this talk, we describe three lessons in a university-level mathematics course that address the related error of "mathism", or putting too high a value on mathematics in comparison with other branches of learning. The three lessons share a similar structure: each lays out a real-world problem; introduces mathematical tools to illustrate and solve the problem; and then concludes with a swerve, by exploring the limitations of those tools, and considering different ways of solving the problem. The lessons draw a contrast between standard mathematical approaches and alternative ways of knowing that are often short-changed in the mathematics classroom: ad hoc estimation, personal experience, and received cultural knowledge. The lessons in this talk are drawn from a newly designed mathematics course at the University of British Columbia in Canada.

Authors:
Fok-Shuen Leung, University of British Columbia, Canada

About the Presenter(s)
Fok-Shuen Leung is Professor of Teaching and Undergraduate Chair of the Mathematics Department at the University of British Columbia in Canada.

See this presentation on the full schedule – Tuesday Schedule

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