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A Short Description of the Klein Project: A Living & Connected View of Mathematics for Teachers
- An IMU/ICMI Collaboration. The Design-Team
The aim of the Klein Project is to relate a comprehensive view of the field of mathematics to the content and approaches of senior secondary and undergraduate mathematical curricula. It will produce resources that will continue to provide for teachers of mathematics the structure, breadth, connectedness, vitality, applicability, beauty, and value of the discipline so that they are able to both indulge their own love for the subject and convey its living wonder to their students.
The objectives are as follows.
- To organise contributions to the project in such a way that all mathematicians and mathematics educators can participate and feel that their views are included.
- To produce a readable but professional book that conveys the connectedness, growth, relevance, and beauty of the discipline of mathematics from its big ideas to the cutting edge of research and applications. It will be of moderate size, available in at least English, French, German, Mandarin and Spanish versions, and will be affordable for teachers worldwide.
- To produce a DVD to supplement the book that acts as a resource for teachers wishing to use the ideas in the book in their classes.
- To design, construct, and maintain a Wikipedia-type website that complements the book, and which will be open to contributions and changes as opportunity allows and the discipline continues to develop.
Text of Valencia Presentation Oct 2009.
THE KLEIN PROJECT: CONCEPTS & CONTRIBUTIONS by Bill Barton (The University of Auckland)
A century ago, in 1908, Felix Klein's lectures on mathematics for secondary teachers were first published (in German). This comprehensive view of the field challenged both teachers and mathematicians to consider, from a perspective sensitive both to mathematical rigour and pedagogical practice, the relationship between mathematics as a school subject, and mathematics as a scientific discipline. The intervening 100 years have witnessed many changes. It has become more and more difficult for teachers to have a sense of the divergent but linked discipline of mathematics in all its manifestations. IMU and ICMI have commissioned a project to revisit Klein’s intent, and produce a stimulating book in Klein’s spirit that will challenge teachers to consider mathematics more deeply.
