Synergy at the Crossroads: Future Directions for Theory, Research, and Practice
Crowne Plaza Indianapolis Downtown Union Station
Indianapolis, Indiana
October 5-8, 2017
On behalf of the 2017 PME-NA Steering Committee, the 2017 PME-NA Local Organizing Committee, and the Hoosier Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators (HAMTE), we welcome you to the 39th Annual Meeting of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education – North American Chapter held at the Crowne Plaza Indianapolis Downtown Union Station in Indianapolis, Indiana.
The theme of this year’s conference is Synergy at the Crossroads: Future Directions for Theory, Research, and Practice. The metaphor of crossroads was inspired by the conference venue - the historic Indianapolis Union Station, as well as by the State motto, a reference to how Indiana is connected to the rest of the United States. PME-NA 39 includes research presentations, discussion, and reflection focusing on four driving questions connecting to the metaphor of crossroads: 1) What have we learned from the routes we have traversed, what are potential routes for mathematics education research in the future, and what considerations are relevant as we make choices about future directions in mathematics education? 2) How do we address issues of access and equity within mathematics education today? 3) How can we lay the groundwork for future crossroads or intersections between theory, research, and practice? and 4) What barriers within research traditions, educational policy, and teaching practice impede researchers', students' and teachers' success and how can we work to overcome these barriers?
Rochelle Gutiérrez will present the opening plenary talk on Thursday evening, Living Mathematx: Towards a Vision for the Future, into which she brings ideas from ethnomathematics, postcolonial theory, aesthetics, biology, and Indigenous knowledge in order to propose a new vision for practicing mathematics. Edd Taylor will serve as discussant for the talk. In the Friday afternoon plenary session, Les Steffe will present several crucial radical constructivist research programs to argue that rather than repeat attempts to make wholesale changes in mathematics education based on mathematical knowledge for adults, what is needed is to construct mathematics curricula for children that is based on the mathematics of children. Two of Dr. Steffe’s former students, Erik Tillema and Amy Hackenberg, will serve as discussants, providing varied perspectives on the continuation of his work. Saturday’s plenary session, Elementary Mathematics Specialists: Ensuring the Intersection of Research and Practice will include a historical overview by Maggie McGatha followed by a discussion panel composed of Dionne Cross and Jane Mahan, facilitated by Sheryl Stump. A panel discussion of technology in mathematics education with representatives from the three PME-NA member countries will complete the plenaries on Sunday: Ana Isabel Sacristán (Digital Technologies in Mathematics Classrooms: Barriers, Lessons and Focus On Teachers); Nathalie Sinclair (Crossroad Blues); and Karen Hollebrands (A Framework to Guide the Development of a Teaching Mathematics with Technology Massive Open Online Course for Educators [MOOC-ED]).
This year’s conference will be attended by about 550 researchers, faculty and graduate students from around the world including the US, Mexico, Canada, Turkey, Australia, South Korea, Malawi, and Iran. We received 529 submissions. The acceptance rate was 39% for research reports as research reports, 57% for brief research reports as brief research reports, 78% for posters as posters, and 100% for working groups. The accepted proposals included 75 research reports, 142 brief research reports, 167 posters, and 13 working groups. Continuing the efforts started at last year’s conference there will be some presentations in Spanish, as well as simultaneous oral interpretation (from English to Spanish, and from Spanish to English) for selected sessions.
We would like to thank the many people who generously volunteered their time over the past year in preparation for this conference. This includes members of the PME-NA Local Organizing Committee, the PME-NA Steering Committee, Purdue Conferences, strand leaders, proposal authors and reviewers. We appreciate all of your hard work and dedication, and your commitment to ensure a high-quality conference program. We also wish to thank the generous financial support of the HAMTE member universities across Indiana.
Enrique Galindo, Indiana University and Jill Newton, Purdue University
Local Organizing Committee Co-Chairs
