Educational Interfaces between Mathematics and Industry: Report on an ICMI-ICIAM-Study PDF
Preview Educational Interfaces between Mathematics and Industry: Report on an ICMI-ICIAM-Study
New ICMI Study Series Alain Damlamian José Francisco Rodrigues Rudolf Sträßer E ditors Educational Interfaces between Mathematics and Industry Report on an ICMI-ICIAM-Study New ICMI Study Series Volume 16 For furthervolumes: http://www.springer.com/series/6351 Published under the auspices of the International Commission on Mathematical Instruction under the general editorship of Abraham Arcavi, President Ferdinando Arzarello, Secretary-General Information on the ICMI Study programme and on the resulting publications can be obtained at the ICMI website http://www.mathunion.org/ICMI/ or by contacting the ICMI Secretary-General, whose email address is available on that website. Alain Damlamian José Francisco Rodrigues • Rudolf Sträßer Editors Educational Interfaces between Mathematics and Industry Report on an ICMI-ICIAM-Study 123 Editors AlainDamlamian Rudolf Sträßer Université Paris-EstCréteil Val de Marne FB12Mathe,Inst.DidaktikderMathematik Créteil Cedex,Val-de-Marne Universität Gießen France Gießen Germany JoséFrancisco Rodrigues Universidade deLisboa/CMAF-FCUL Lisboa Portugal ISSN 1387-6872 ISBN 978-3-319-02269-7 ISBN 978-3-319-02270-3 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-02270-3 SpringerChamHeidelbergNewYorkDordrechtLondon LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2013953250 (cid:2)SpringerInternationalPublishingSwitzerland2013 Thisworkissubjecttocopyright.AllrightsarereservedbythePublisher,whetherthewholeorpartof the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation,broadcasting,reproductiononmicrofilmsorinanyotherphysicalway,andtransmissionor informationstorageandretrieval,electronicadaptation,computersoftware,orbysimilarordissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. Exempted from this legal reservation are brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis or material supplied specifically for the purposeofbeingenteredandexecutedonacomputersystem,forexclusiveusebythepurchaserofthe work. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of theCopyright Law of the Publisher’s location, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer. Permissions for use may be obtained through RightsLink at the CopyrightClearanceCenter.ViolationsareliabletoprosecutionundertherespectiveCopyrightLaw. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publicationdoesnotimply,evenintheabsenceofaspecificstatement,thatsuchnamesareexempt fromtherelevantprotectivelawsandregulationsandthereforefreeforgeneraluse. While the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication,neithertheauthorsnortheeditorsnorthepublishercanacceptanylegalresponsibilityfor anyerrorsoromissionsthatmaybemade.Thepublishermakesnowarranty,expressorimplied,with respecttothematerialcontainedherein. Printedonacid-freepaper SpringerispartofSpringerScience+BusinessMedia(www.springer.com) Foreword I It is a great pleasure to introduce to the community the fruits of this novel study, the first to combine the expertise of ICMI on education in the mathematical sciences with knowledge coming from the ICIAM community of the ways mathematics is used in industry. The idea of starting such a cooperation between ICMI andICIAMarose while Rolf Jeltsch was Presidentof ICIAM, and Rolf has in addition contributed to the project through his involvement with one of the Working Groups. Let me use this foreword to acknowledge his leadership. The dedication and the persistence of the many people who worked on this project deserve the thanks of all of us. Their names are repeated in the prologue and conclusions, but I would like to single out for my special thanks the editorial teamofAlainDamlamian,JoséFranciscoRodrigues,andRudolfSträßer.Theyare the ones responsible for getting the job done, despite obstacles ranging from the usual procrastination of authors to the unusual eruption of a volcano. Despite the difference in cultures between ICMI and ICIAM, and the fact that neither com- munity had previously focused on this precise question, the study has come together in rather short order to produce a work that outlines the challenges of teaching mathematics in such a way that students are ready to use it outside of mathematics. The study reaches some important conclusions, and lays the groundwork for further studies. Asanygoodscientistknows,oneneedsdatainorderforknowledgetoadvance, andthisbookprovides,alongwithitsanalysis,alibraryofdataintheformofcase studies, examples of existing programs, and working group reports. The data include examples from industries where one expects to see mathematics used extensively, and in sophisticated ways, such as aerospace and finance, and from industries where the importance of mathematical understanding might come as a surprise, such as nursing or retail sales. Incidentally, one will also find an inter- nationalperspective,asourtwosocieties,bothinternational,recruitedcontributors from industrialized and developing countries alike, from economic leaders, and from those attempting to catch up. Whether browsing the volume or reading it systematically, the reader will be introduced to the many dimensions of ‘‘mathe- matical education for industry,’’ as different contributors present varied experi- ences,onhowmathematicsisusedandonhowmathematicsistaught,andonthe relation between these two things. v vi ForewordI The readers for whom this book is intended—applied mathematicians of all stripes, mathematics educators, and public officials interested in the educational andeconomicdevelopmentoftheircountries—willallfindmuchtolearnfromits pages.Theyarenotlikelytofindtheanswerstotheirquestionsneatlyspelledout, nor do the authors claim to have produced conclusive results, organized and summarizedinsomeoptimalway.Thatisaprojectforthefuture.Butafuturethat improves the education of young people who will work as mathematicians in industry,orwhowillworkas‘‘analysts,’’‘‘scientists,’’‘‘specialists,’’‘‘engineers,’’ orwhowillworkatajobwhosetitlehasnorelationtomathematicsortoscience, has been brought measurably closer by the completion of this volume. Columbus, Ohio, May 30, 2013 Barbara Lee Keyfitz President, ICIAM Foreword II Let me begin with congratulations to the Co-chairs of this ICMI-study. Not only didtheyovercomeactivevolcanoesandgeographicchallenges,butalsotheyhave managed to bring together two distinct communities and produced a coherent volume that integrates their views, their research, and their aspirations. Thanks must also go to those who had the vision to initiate this study. ICMI welcomed the opportunity to engage professionally with the Industrial Mathe- matics community. The result is both rich and productive. Readers of this volume will quickly realize that a repeating theme is diversity: diversity of communities, diversity of mathematics, diversity of goals, and diversity of actions. It would be easy to quickly conclude that there is little common ground in this theme and abandon the project. Fortunately, the partici- pants of Study 20 did not take this path. Using ‘‘boundary objects’’ as a starting point, mutual interests were identified and their relevance to each of the two communitiesexplored.Thekeyideaofmodelingisaprimeexampleofaconcept with a powerful role in both industry and mathematics education. But there is a wide issue being brought into place in this process. As an international community, a central concern is bringing together different cultures, betheyethnic,social,academic,linguistic,orotherwise.TheICMIStudy20isan exemplification of this process. Thus, it is with pleasure that I commend the present volume to the research communities of ICIAM and ICMI. In doing so, ICMI willingly takes up the challenge of supporting further research into educational issues in industrial mathematics. Ferdinando Arzarello vii Prologue At the ICIAM Congress in Zurich (July 17–20, 2007), the President of the Por- tuguese National Committee of Mathematics (CNM)1 made a formal proposal to theICIAMBoardforanewICMIStudyentitled‘‘EducationalInterfacesbetween Mathematics and Industry.’’ He had already approached ICMI regarding it and hoped for a joint support. The ICIAM Board accepted the proposal enthusiasti- cally. This was how the ICMI-Study 20 started. Several other people and institutions felt the need for such a Study, in partic- ular,asaconsequenceofarecentOECDreportonMathematicsandIndustry.So, ICMI nominated Rudolf Sträßer as Co-chair while ICIAM proposed Alain Dam- lamian. José Francisco Rodrigues joined the team as organizer of the Study Conference. This was the beginning of a very interesting adventure which none of us had expected would last that long. First were the meetings of the International Pro- gramme Committee in Óbidos, sponsored by the Centro Internacional de Matemática (CIM) (in October 2008, to draft the Discussion Document for the Study)andinParis(inNovember2009,toplantheStudyConference).TheStudy Conference itself, originally planned in Lisbon in late April 2010, had to be postponed to October 2010 because of the serious travel disruptions provoked by the Icelandic volcano eruption. There was also a follow-up conference in Macau (in November 2011). We hopethat theresultsofthis study(theLisbonConference Proceedingsand the present volume) made the journey worth the while. ThisStudywouldnothavebeenpossiblewithoutthededicationandsupportof many individuals and organizations. We would like to acknowledge all partici- pants of the conferences in Lisbon and Macau, the contributors to the Lisbon Proceedings,and tothisbook. Our special thanksgo inparticulartothe members of the IPC (A. Jofré, B. R. Hodgson, B. Lutz-Wetphal, F. Santosa, G. Kaiser, G. Fitzsimons, H. Aslaksen, H. van der Kooij, J. Carvalho e Silva, J. M. Gambi, T-T.Li,N.Nigam,R.Jeltsch,S.GarfunkelandT.Mitsui),totheCo-editorsofthe Proceedings and Co-organizers of the Lisbon conference (A. Araújo, A. Azevedo 1 Asitturnedout,heisoneoftheCo-editorsofthisStudy. ix x Prologue and A. Fernandes), and to the Co-organizers of the Macau meeting (R. Martins, T. Qian and R. Cheng). Among the institutions which supported and contributed to this study, in addition to ICMI and ICIAM, we wish to acknowledge the Portuguese CIM and FCT(FundaçãoparaaCiênciaeTecnologia),aswellastheUniversitiesofLisbon and of Macau. Weapologizeforanyomissionsandmistakesstillpresentinthisprologueand in the book as a whole. Paris, 1 March 2013 Alain Damlamian Lisboa José Francisco Rodrigues Gießen/Münster Rudolf Sträßer
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