Math in the Making 2016 Conference Highlights

TERC and ILI ran a conference which took place at and in collaboration with the New York Hall of Science in April 2016, gathering fifty researchers and practitioners from informal mathematics education and the burgeoning "making and tinkering" movement.  

• Pre-Conference On-Line Forum
  
  • Participants introduced themselves and began a discussion of issues around math and making.

Listed below are highlights of our agenda: 

Saturday, April 30

Focus: Connecting communities and establishing common perspectives

• Welcomes: 
  • Katie Culp, Chief Learning Officer at New York Hall of Science (NYSCI)
  • Al DeSena, NSF Program Officer for Math in the Making
• Participants
• Introduction and goal-setting for the conference by Co-Chairs, Andee Rubin, TERC and Scott Pattison, Institute for Learning Innovation, ILI.  (video and slides)
• Keynote: Peggy Monahan, New York Hall of Science: "Math and Making: Delight and Identity" (video and slides)
• Observations of visitors in the NYSCI Design Lab
• Two opportunities to find Math in Making Activities (video excerpts and commentary from post-conference on-line forum) 
  • Activity 1: led by Karen Wilkinson and Mike Petrich, Exploratorium: scribbling machine with Jan Mokros, Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance, as “math eyes”
  • Activity 2: led by Peggy Monahan, NYSCI: inflatable sculptures with Ricardo Nemirovsky, Manchester Metropolitan University, as “math eyes”
• Gallery Walk:  Participants informally share relevant materials, activities and videos at tables (video)

Sunday, May 1:

Focus: How can we collaborate to make a difference going forward?

• Welcome to Day 2:  Andee Rubin (video and slide)
• Examples of Math in Museum Settings:
  • Geometry Playground (Josh Gutwill, Exploratorium)  (video and slides)
  • Design Zone (Andee Rubin/Scott Pattison) (video and slides)
• Keynote: Marta Civil, University of Arizona: Equity and Funds of Knowledge Perspective (video and slides)
• Discussant: Paula Hooper, Northwestern University:  What does “Funds of Knowledge” challenge in those of us who care about Math in Making? (video and slides)
• Open Conference (Summaries of Notes from each of 8 sessions)
  
  

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Number #1514726.

Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) 
and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.