The Role of Context-Related Parameters in Adults’ Mental Computational Acts

Researchers who have carried out studies pertaining to mental computation and everyday mathematics point out that adults and children reason intuitively based upon experiences within specific contexts; they use invented strategies of their own to solve real-life problems. We draw upon research areas of mental computation and everyday mathematics to report on a study that investigated adults’ use of mental mathematics in everyday settings. In this paper, we report on one adult’s use of mental computation at work and highlight the role of context and context related parameters in his mental mathematical activities

The role of a critical ethnomathematics curriculum in transforming and empowering learners

When thinking about mathematics, seldom does one think about culture, context, history, or diversity. Many teachers believe that there is no place for such constructs in their mathematics classrooms. As an ethnomathematician, my primary goal is to find meaningful ways to bring components of ethnomathematics into the mainstream mathematics curriculum and classrooms. In this paper, I describe key aspects of a mathematics curriculum that was designed to promote meaningful connections between ethnomathematics theory and practice and highlight how this curriculum might help address the key tenets of a critical ethnomathematics curriculum

Mapping the cognitive competencies of street vendors and bus conductors: A cross-cultural study of workplace mathematics

This paper explores the mathematical ideas that emerge across two workplace settings, namely street vending and bus conducting. The purpose of this study was to delineate a trajectory describing potential mathematical structures underlying bus conducting and street vending activities and to extract a conceptual model that could explain the nature of the practitioners’ mathematical knowledge and its connection to formal mathematics. We conducted a meta-analysis of the problem solving behavior and narratives of street vendors and bus conductors in two geographic sites in Beirut, Lebanon and Chennai, India. Principled by Vergnaud’s theory of conceptual fields, the researchers examined heuristics-in-action that transpired as a result of practitioners’ engagement in their respective work situations

Workplace Mathematics Research: Reflections on Personal Practical Experiences

In this paper, we view and describe our transitions through three phases of a reflective cycle as a journey from the past to the future. In the descriptive phase, we delve into our past research experiences and address questions such as: What is the role of mathematics at work? What counts as mathematics in the workplace? Whose perceptions matter - the insiders' (workers') or the outsiders' (researchers')? In doing so, we uncovered additional venues for exploration that called for a new mode of analysis. We transition into a theory-building phase where we share our learning experiences that occurred in-the-moment. We then shift to an action oriented (reflexive) phase during which we construe personal practical theories that enable us to negotiate broader understandings of the role of mathematics at work and identify areas for future inquiry. We document our lived experiences as informed and inspired by our work with two groups of workers - bus conductors and street vendors.This article describes our transitions through three phases of a reflective cycle as a journey from the past to the future. In the descriptive phase, we delve into our past research experiences and address questions such as: What is the role of mathematics at work? In doing so, we uncovered additional venues for exploration that called for a new mode of analysis. We transition into a theory-building phase where we share our learning experiences that occurred in-the-moment. We then shift to an action oriented (reflexive) phase during which we construe personal practical theories that enable us to negotiate broader understandings of the role of mathematics at work and identify areas for future inquiry. We document our lived experiences as informed and inspired by our work with two groups of workers - bus conductors and street vendors.

1-Allyl-3,3-diphenyl­indolin-2-one

In the title compound, C23H19NO, the oxindole residue is essentially planar and is almost perpendicular to the phenyl rings [dihedral angles = 72.1 (6) and 77.6 (6)°]. The mol­ecular packing is stabilized by C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds and C—H⋯N inter­actions

1-Allyl-3,3-di-p-tolyl­indolin-2-one

In the title compound, C25H23NO, the indoline system is essentially planar. The mol­ecular structure is stabilized by weak intra­molecular C—H⋯N inter­actions and the crystal packing is determined by inter­molecular C—H⋯π inter­actions

Genome-wide association study identifies 25 known breast cancer susceptibility loci as risk factors for triple-negative breast cancer

Triple-negative (TN) breast cancer is an aggressive subtype of breast cancer associated with a unique set of epidemiologic and genetic risk factors. We conducted a two-stage genome-wide association study of TN breast cancer (stage 1: 1529 TN cases, 3399 controls; stage 2: 2148 cases, 1309 controls) to identify loci that influence TN breast cancer risk. Variants in the 19p13.1 and PTHLH loci showed genome-wide significant associations (P < 5 × 10− 8) in stage 1 and 2 combined. Results also suggested a substantial enrichment of significantly associated variants among the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) analyzed in stage 2. Variants from 25 of 74 known breast cancer susceptibility loci were also associated with risk of TN breast cancer (P < 0.05). Associations with TN breast cancer were confirmed for 10 loci (LGR6, MDM4, CASP8, 2q35, 2p24.1, TERT-rs10069690, ESR1, TOX3, 19p13.1, RALY), and we identified associations with TN breast cancer for 15 additional breast cancer loci (P < 0.05: PEX14, 2q24.1, 2q31.1, ADAM29, EBF1, TCF7L2, 11q13.1, 11q24.3, 12p13.1, PTHLH, NTN4, 12q24, BRCA2, RAD51L1-rs2588809, MKL1). Further, two SNPs independent of previously reported signals in ESR1 [rs12525163 odds ratio (OR) = 1.15, P = 4.9 × 10− 4] and 19p13.1 (rs1864112 OR = 0.84, P = 1.8 × 10− 9) were associated with TN breast cancer. A polygenic risk score (PRS) for TN breast cancer based on known breast cancer risk variants showed a 4-fold difference in risk between the highest and lowest PRS quintiles (OR = 4.03, 95% confidence interval 3.46–4.70, P = 4.8 × 10− 69). This translates to an absolute risk for TN breast cancer ranging from 0.8% to 3.4%, suggesting that genetic variation may be used for TN breast cancer risk prediction

Workplace mathematics of the bus conductors in Chennai, India

Sociocultural dimensions of mathematical knowledge have greatly influenced research in the field of mathematics education in the past few decades, resulting in the rise of different areas of research that include ethnomathematics, everyday mathematics, situated cognition, and workplace mathematics. Although over the past 15 years, mathematics education research has begun to explore the nature of the mathematics used in different workplaces, very few studies have investigated the nature of workplace mathematics in India. Guided by the desire to add to the mathematics education research in India, the general aim of this study is to develop a better understanding of the mathematics used in everyday situations. To this end, I focused on the workplace mathematics of bus conductors in Chennai, India. Saxe's emergent framework was used to explore the research purposes associated with this study. An instrumental case study approach was to investigate individual cases (bus conductors) to describe the phenomenon itself (their practice). Data collected included several on site observations, field notes, official documents, and formal and informal interviews with the bus conductors. All of the above data was organized to create a case study database. Saxe's model was extended to accommodate the study's findings. Conductors' workplace mathematics was characterized using components of Saxe's framework. Evidence for the occurrence of form-function shifts within and between conductors' practices was noted. Analysis of interplay between conductors' workplace mathematics and school-mathematics indicated that conductors' appropriated and specialized school-taught mathematical knowledge in conjunction with the work-specific knowledge and artifacts specific to their work to accomplish emergent goals associated with their work-related mathematical activities

PNA

Resumen basado en el de la publicaciónSe presenta un estudio sobre el cálculo mental y las matemáticas cotidianas, el cual señala que los adultos y los niños razonan intuitivamente basándose en las experiencias de contextos específicos. Las personas que participan en el estudio usan estrategias inventadas por sí mismos para resolver problemas de la vida real. El estudio se ha basado en las áreas de investigación del cálculo mental y las matemáticas cotidianas para informar sobre un estudio que investigó el uso que hacen los adultos de la matemática mental en el entorno cotidiano. Se destaca el uso que hace un adulto del cálculo mental en su trabajo, el papel del contexto y de los parámetros relacionados con el contexto en sus actividades matemáticas mentales.AndalucíaBiblioteca de Educación del Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte; Calle San Agustín, 5 - 3 planta; 28014 Madrid; Tel. +34917748000; [email protected]