Complexity Theory in the Mathematics Lab-Classroom

Authors

  • Margaret Sinclair

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29173/cmplct8715

Abstract

The main thesis of a recent article by Davis and Simmt (2003) is that “mathematics classes are adaptive and self-organizing complex systems”. This thesis is intriguing. It helps explain a phenomenon teachers often witness—the spontaneous emergence of a special learning community in a particular class. And it raises the question—if this thesis applies to all mathematics classes how do the additional elements of a computer lab environment affect the evolution of the “learning system”? In this article three technology experiences have been analyzed in light of the thesis, to determine how software, organization, and task impact the blossoming of a complex learning system in the lab-classroom.

Author Biography

Margaret Sinclair

Margaret Sinclair is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Education at York University in Toronto, where she teaches preservice and graduate courses in mathematics education. She brings to this work almost twenty years of experience as an elementary and secondary classroom teacher and a secondary administrator. Sinclair has written course profiles for the Ontario Ministry of Education and Training, has co-authored several textbooks published by Pearson Education for the new Ontario secondary curriculum and has been involved in the development of Internet mathematics materials. Her ongoing research focuses on the use and design of pre-constructed dynamic geometry sketches.

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Published

2004-12-01

Issue

Section

Research Articles