International Congress on Mathematics Education Travel Grant Proposal (ICME-11)

Michigan State University, East Lansing MI

Investigators

Abstract

Travel grants are provided to teachers, university-level mathematics educators, mathematicians, and graduate students to participate in the 11th International Congress on Mathematical Education (ICME-11) to be held in Monterrey, Mexico from July 6 to July 13, 2008. These events are held under the auspices of the International Commission on Mathematical Instruction (ICMI), a commission of the International Mathematics Union. The intent of the congresses is to present the current status and trends in mathematics education research and in the practice of mathematics teaching at all levels among the countries of the world. These grants will provide opportunities for the mathematics education establishment in this country to keep abreast of issues and approaches that occur in other countries. Many of the problems the US faces in mathematics education are problems shared by other countries. Others are struggling with issues of teacher preparation, the development of new and more effective instructional materials, how people learn mathematics, and the tension between nurturing the top students and access to all. The opportunities for teachers, teacher educators and education researchers to participate in this congress and learn about issues faced by other countries and ways they are dealing with these issues have the potential for very broad impact. The plenary sessions, working groups, and informal conversations will be important venues for learning and exchanging ideas. This is an especially important congress for the US since it is being held in Mexico. In additional to being able to interact with and learn from leading researchers and practitioners from around the world, this congress will allow for more interactions with one of our next door neighbors. Support for this award comes from the Division for Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings (DRL), the Office of International Science and Engineering (OISE), the Division of Graduate Education (DGE), and the Division of Undergraduate Education.