REDI researchers added their expertise to the 15th International Congress on Mathematical Education

Deakin University and REDI were well represented at the 15th International Congress on Mathematical Education (ICME-15) held in Sydney from 7 to 14 July where over 2300 mathematics educators, mathematicians and mathematics teachers, from over 90 countries, gathered to explore current global trends in mathematics education research and mathematics teaching practices at all levels.

The ICME is the largest international conference on mathematics education and is a global meeting point for mathematics educators. Organised under the auspices of the International Commission on Mathematical Instruction (ICMI), ICME congresses are held every four years. The congress includes plenary lectures and panels, invited lectures, topic study groups, discussion groups, and workshops.

Deakin researchers contributed to many of these sessions at ICME-15.

Dr Carly Sawatzki was one of 60 scholars world-wide invited to present a lecture as part of the Scientific Program. Her well-attended Invited Lecture was titled Making Mathematics the Centrepiece of a Modern Financial Education.

At each ICME, a small set of countries and regions highlight their achievements and challenges in mathematics education by presenting a snapshot of important areas of scholarship and work. These National Presentations typically consist of a series of oral presentations. Associate Professor Wanty Widjaja and Dr Lihua Xu presented on their current Australian Research Council Discovery Project, Primary teachers’ adaptive expertise in interdisciplinary maths and science, as part of the Australia’s National Presentation.

The Topic Study Groups cover important topics in mathematics education. Each topic is an identifiable area of scholarship relevant to contemporary mathematics education.

Associate Professor Brown presented her paper, with Dr Gloria Stillman, Teaching for Student Agency in Mathematical Modelling, in Topic Study Group 3.4: Mathematical applications and modelling in mathematics education.

Dr Kerryn Driscoll presented in Strand A – Topic Study Group 4.5: Knowledge in/for teaching mathematics at primary level. She also joined Strand B – Topic Study Group 4.3: In-service mathematics teacher education and mathematics teacher professional development for primary level.

Associate Professor Widjaja and Dr Xu co-presented their paper, Balancing between disciplinary knowledge and interdisciplinary knowledge of mathematics and science: the role of adaptive expertise, in Topic Study Group 3.16: Maths and interdisciplinary education/STEM education.

Dr Xu also participated in Topic Study Group 3.13: Language and communication in the mathematics classroom.

In Topic Study Group 3.1: Mathematics education at early childhood and primary level, Associate Professor Widjaja presented a co-authored paper from a joint project with Dr Destina Wahyu Winarti and Fakhur Razi titled Fostering early childhood educators’ capacity in spatial thinking and reasoning. Associate Professor Widjaja also participated in Topic Study Group 2.6: Mathematics education in under-resourced contexts, the ICMI Affiliate Session EARCOME- East Asia Regional Conferences in Mathematics Education.

Dr Jiqing Sun presented Understanding of the equal sign: A case of Chinese grade 5 in Topic Study Group 1.2: Teaching and learning early algebra, and was an active member in Topic Study Group 1.3: Teaching and learning of algebra at secondary and tertiary levels. John Lawton, (PhD candidate) presented on Understanding teachers’ conceptualisation of angle in Topic Study Group 1.4: Teaching and learning of geometry.

Discussion Groups gather Congress delegates who are interested in discussing certain challenging, controversial, or emerging issues and dilemmas of interest to an international or regional audience. Dr Sawatzki and Associate Professor Brown along with international colleagues Dr Alexandre Cavalcante, University of Toronto (Canada); Professor Jodie Hunter, Massey University (New Zealand), and Dr Annie Savard, McGill University (Canada) coordinated the Discussion Group: The Role of Mathematics in Financial Education for Informed Citizenship. Dr Driscoll also participated in this Discussion Group. Associate Professor Widjaja participated in the Discussion Group: Lesson Study for Curriculum Design and Development.

The Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia (MERGA) is an Affiliated Study Group (ASG) of ICMI. The MERGA session at ICMEs is used to launch the latest volume of the four yearly review of Research in Mathematics Education in Australasia (RiMEA). Associate Professor Brown was pleased to see the chapter she led Mathematical Modelling of Real-World Phenomena, published and with an opportunity for discussion. Dr Xu was invited to lead a discussion on the RiMEA chapter on Research on Mathematical Thinking.

Carly Sawatzki presenting her invited lecture.

Jiqing Sun, Kerryn Driscoll, Jill Brown, Lihua Xu.

RiMEA chapter team -Jill Brown, Gloria Stillman, Peter Galbraith, Dawn Ng.

Jill Brown and Wanty Widjaja.