Becoming a Mathematician An international perspective

Becoming a Mathematician An international perspective

What This Book Is About

People understand and experience the world in different ways. Some people believe that love, family and friendship are the most important aims in life, others would argue that that art, music and culture are most important, and yet others believe that science or football are critical for their existence. Mathematics pervades human experience and makes an impact in nearly all spheres of life. For some people, mathematics is only a passing inconvenience and they may pay very little attention to it at all. For others – and these are the people this book is about and for – mathematics, mathematical thinking and mathematical practices play a vital role in their personal and professional lives. This book is about how a person, often a student, goes through the process of becoming a mathematician, and how he or she comes to think of themselves as a mathematician. For some people, their identity is, or can be, aligned with the ideas and approaches of mathematics in an essential way; but this is not true of everyone. We explore this idea of mathematical identity from the perspective of students of mathematics, with an aim of learning from them and identifying the pedagogical approaches that foster a mathematical identity.

ISBN 978-94-007-2983-4
e-ISBN 978-94-007-2984-1
DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-2984-1