International Commission on Mathematical Instruction

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International Commission on Mathematical Instruction
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ICMI Logo in 2024

The International Commission on Mathematical Instruction (ICMI) is a commission of the International Mathematical Union and is an internationally acting organization focusing on mathematics education. ICMI was founded in 1908 at the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) in Rome and aims to improve teaching standards around the world, through programs, workshops and initiatives and publications. It aims to work a great deal with developing countries, to increase teaching standards and education which can improve life quality and aid the country.

Contents

History

ICMI was founded at the ICM, and mathematician Felix Klein was elected first president of the organisation. Henri Fehr and Charles Laisant created the international research journal L'Enseignement Mathématique in 1899, and from early on this journal became the official organ of ICMI. A bulletin is published twice a year by ICMI, and from December 1995 this bulletin has been available at the organisation's official website, in their 'digital library'.

In the years between World War I and World War II there was little activity in the organization, but in 1952 ICMI was reconstituted. At this time the organization was reorganized, and it became an official commission of the International Mathematical Union (IMU). As a scientific organization, IMU is a member of the International Council for Science (ICSU). Although ICMI follows the general principles of IMU and ICSU, the organization has a large degree of autonomy.

Structure

All countries that are members of IMU are automatically members of ICMI; membership is also possible for non-IMU members. Currently, there are 90 member states of ICMI. Each member state has the right to appoint a national representative.

As a commission, ICMI has two main bodies:

Together, these two constitute the General Assembly (GA) of ICMI. The GA is summoned every four years in connection with the International Congress on Mathematical Education (ICME). The executive committee is appointed by the general assembly of IMU for four-year terms.

Affiliate Organisations

These include multi-national organisations, which are independent from ICMI and have interests in the field of mathematics.

There are currently four multinational Mathematical Education Societies:

And six international Study Groups which have obtained affiliation with ICMI:

International Congress on Mathematical Education

The International Congress on Mathematical Education (ICME) is a quadrennial international conference organised under the auspices of ICMI to encourage and improve discourse on the development of mathematical education across the world. The first ever ICME was held in 1969 under the initiative of then ICMI President Hans Freudenthal. [2] Till date, there have been fifteen ICMEs in fourteen different countries spread over all populated continents except Africa.

ICMEs Till Date [3]
Name of ConferenceYearCityNotes
ICME-11969Lyon, FranceThe first of only two ICMEs not to have been held in a leap year, second being ICME14.
ICME-21972Exeter, UK
ICME-31976Karlsruhe, Germany
ICME-41980Berkeley, USA
ICME-51984Adelaide, Australia
ICME-61988Budapest, Hungary
ICME-71992Quebec, Canada
ICME-81996Seville, Spain
ICME-92000Tokyo, Japan
ICME-102004Copenhagen, Denmark
ICME-112008Monterrey, Mexico
ICME-122012Seoul, South Korea
ICME-132016Hamburg, Germany
ICME-142021Shanghai, ChinaDelayed from 2020.
ICME-152024Sydney AustraliaSparked controversy over allegations of discrimination against women of color & institutional casteism after the extra-procedural expulsion of Dr. Jayasree Subramanian. [4]
ICME-162028Prague, Czech RepublicScheduled for July 2028. [5]

Regional Conferences

ICMI sometimes offers financial as well as moral support to facilitate the organisation of regional meetings these have to be related to mathematical education. Precedence goes to less affluent countries. AFRICME: The Africa Regional Congress of ICMI on Mathematical Education was launched in 2005 and aims at offering a forum for mathematics educators throughout Africa.

CIAEM: Archived 2021-02-11 at the Wayback Machine The Conferencia interamericana de educación matemática — Inter-American Conference on Mathematical Education organised by the Comité Interamericano de Educación Matemática - Inter-American Committee on Mathematical Education to promote discussion amongst Latin-American countries.

EARCOME: Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine is the name given to the ICMI-East Asia Regional Conferences in Mathematics Education. The South East Asia Conferences on Mathematics Education (SEACME) series began in 1978 in Manila. In addition there have been two ICMI-China Regional Conferences on Mathematics Education, in Beijing (1991) and Shanghai (1994). The EARCOME series has replaced the SEACME series.

EMF Archived 2014-04-17 at the Wayback Machine Launched by the French Sub-Commission of ICMI on the occasion of the World Mathematical Year 2000, the series of Espace Mathématique Francophone conferences is built on a notion of "region" defined in linguistic rather than geographical terms, French being a common language among participants. Other ICMI Regional Conferences occur on a more ad hoc basis. Approval of a Conference as an ICMI Regional Conference Two main aspects are that:

Publications and Research

There are a variety of various publications made by or under the auspices of ICMI, some resulting directly from activities organised by the Commission, examples include:

ICMI Studies

Each ICMI Study addresses an issue or topic of particular significance in contemporary mathematics education and is conducted by an international team of leading scholars and practitioners in that domain. The best contributing professionals from around the world are then invited to a carefully planned and structured international conference/workshop. Beyond the productive interaction and collaborations occasioned by this event, the main product is a Study volume, which are published in the New ICMI Study Series (NISS) by Springer Science+Business Media.

Awards

From 2000 onwards ICMI has been presenting the Felix Klein Award and the Hans Freudenthal Award. These prizes recognise outstanding achievement in mathematics education research. In 2013 the ICMI Emma Castelnuovo Award for Excellence in the Practice of Mathematics Education was created.

ICMI Emma Castelnuovo Award

In 2013 the ICMI Emma Castelnuovo Award for Excellence in the Practice of Mathematics Education was created. The award recognizes outstanding achievements in the practice of mathematics education. The award is named after Emma Castelnuovo, an Italian mathematics educator born in 1913 to celebrate her 100th birthday and honour her pioneering work.

The award honours persons, groups, projects, institutions or organizations engaged in the development and implementation of exceptional and influential work in the practice of mathematics education, including: classroom teaching, curriculum development, instructional design (of materials or pedagogical models), teacher preparation programs and/or field projects with a shown influence on schools, districts, regions or countries.

The award consists of a medal and a certificate accompanied by a citation and will be awarded only once every four years, delivered at the International Congress on Mathematical Education (ICME).

At each ICME, the medals and certificates of the awards are presented at the Opening Ceremony. Furthermore, the awardees are invited to present special lectures at the Congress.

CANP

The Capacity & Networking Project is an international initiative to support mathematics education in the developing world and is a joint initiative of the international bodies of mathematicians (IMU) and mathematics educators (ICMI) in conjunction with UNESCO and International Congress of Industrial and Applied Mathematics, ICIAM. The project is a response to the report: Current Challenges in Basic Mathematics Education (UNESCO, 2011). CANP aims to enhance mathematics education at all levels in developing countries so that their people are capable of meeting the challenges these countries face. The first program was held in Bamako in Mali in September, 2011. The follow-up meeting took place in Senegal in 2012. The second program was held in Costa Rica in 2012 and created a successful regional network.

Klein Project

The Klein Project was launched in 2008 and aims to support mathematics teachers to connect the mathematics they teach, to the field of mathematics, while taking into account the evolution of this field over the last century. The Klein Project is inspired by Felix Klein's book, Elementary Mathematics from an Advanced Standpoint, published in 1908 and 1909. The project will have two main outputs: a book published in several languages and a blog which includes many materials for mathematics teachers to be used in the classroom.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Mathematical Union</span> International non-governmental organisation

The International Mathematical Union (IMU) is an international organization devoted to international cooperation in the field of mathematics across the world. It is a member of the International Science Council (ISC) and supports the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM). Its members are national mathematics organizations from more than 80 countries.

The IMU Abacus Medal, known before 2022 as the Rolf Nevanlinna Prize, is awarded once every four years at the International Congress of Mathematicians, hosted by the International Mathematical Union (IMU), for outstanding contributions in Mathematical Aspects of Information Sciences including:

  1. All mathematical aspects of computer science, including computational complexity theory, logic of programming languages, analysis of algorithms, cryptography, computer vision, pattern recognition, information processing and modelling of intelligence.
  2. Scientific computing and numerical analysis. Computational aspects of optimization and control theory. Computer algebra.
<span class="mw-page-title-main">Felix Klein</span> German mathematician (1849–1925)

Felix Christian Klein was a German mathematician and mathematics educator, known for his work in group theory, complex analysis, non-Euclidean geometry, and the associations between geometry and group theory. His 1872 Erlangen program classified geometries by their basic symmetry groups and was an influential synthesis of much of the mathematics of the time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hans Freudenthal</span> Jewish-German born Dutch mathematician

Hans Freudenthal was a Jewish German-born Dutch mathematician. He made substantial contributions to algebraic topology and also took an interest in literature, philosophy, history and mathematics education.

The International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) is the largest conference for the topic of mathematics. It meets once every four years, hosted by the International Mathematical Union (IMU).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European Mathematical Society</span> Mathematical society

The European Mathematical Society (EMS) is a European organization dedicated to the development of mathematics in Europe. Its members are different mathematical societies in Europe, academic institutions and individual mathematicians. The current president is Jan Philip Solovej, professor at the Department of Mathematics at the University of Copenhagen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carl Friedrich Gauss Prize</span> Mathematics award

The Carl Friedrich Gauss Prize for Applications of Mathematics is a mathematics award, granted jointly by the International Mathematical Union and the German Mathematical Society for "outstanding mathematical contributions that have found significant applications outside of mathematics". The award receives its name from the German mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss. With its premiere in 2006, it is to be awarded every fourth year, at the International Congress of Mathematicians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Étienne Ghys</span> French mathematician

Étienne Ghys is a French mathematician. His research focuses mainly on geometry and dynamical systems, though his mathematical interests are broad. He also expresses much interest in the historical development of mathematical ideas, especially the contributions of Henri Poincaré.

The Chern Medal is an international award recognizing outstanding lifelong achievement of the highest level in the field of mathematics. The prize is given at the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM), which is held every four years.

The Leelavati Award is an award for outstanding contribution to public outreach in mathematics. It is named after the 12th-century mathematical treatise "Lilavati" devoted to arithmetic, algebra, and the decimal system written by the Indian mathematician Bhāskara II, also known as Bhaskara Achārya. In the book the author posed, in verse form, a series of problems in (elementary) arithmetic to one Leelavati and followed them up with hints to solutions. This work appears to have been the main source of learning arithmetic and algebra in medieval India. The work was also translated into Persian and was influential in West Asia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ubiratan D'Ambrosio</span> Brazilian historian of mathematics (1932–2021)

Ubiratan D'Ambrosio was a Brazilian mathematics educator and historian of mathematics.

<i>LEnseignement mathématique</i> Academic journal

L’Enseignement mathématique is a journal for mathematics and mathematics education. It was founded in 1899 jointly by Henri Fehr from Geneva and by Charles-Ange Laisant from Paris as co-editors-in-chief. When Laisant died in 1920, Adolphe Buhl replaced him as co-editor-in-chief. Buhl died in 1949 and Fehr died in 1954 — since then the journal has been affiliated with the University of Geneva. It is the official organ of the International Commission on Mathematical Instruction (ICMI).

The Centre International de Mathématiques Pures et Appliquées is a category 2 UNESCO centre based in Nice with the mission to promote research in mathematics with developing countries. CIMPA is an association under the 1901 French law on associations and is funded by government agencies of France, Norway, Spain, Switzerland and Germany.

Jillian Beryl Adler née Smidt is a South African Professor of Mathematics education at the University of the Witwatersrand and the President of the International Commission on Mathematical Instruction (2017–2020). Adler's work has focused on the teaching and learning of mathematics particularly in multilingual classrooms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European Women in Mathematics</span> Professional organization

European Women in Mathematics (EWM) is an international association of women working in the field of mathematics in Europe. The association participates in political and strategic work to promote the role of women in mathematics and offers its members direct support. Its goals include encouraging women to study mathematics and providing visibility to women mathematicians. It is the "first and best known" of several organizations devoted to women in mathematics in Europe.

Michèle Artigue is a French expert in mathematics education, a professor emeritus at Paris Diderot University and the former president of the International Commission on Mathematical Instruction.

Hugh Burkhardt was a British theoretical physicist and educational designer. He was Director of The Shell Centre for Mathematical Education at the University of Nottingham, UK from 1976 to 1992 and is the creator of ISDDE, the International Society for Design and Development in Education.

Frederick Koon-Shing Leung is the Emeritus Professor and Kintoy Professor in Mathematics Education at the Faculty of Education of the University of Hong Kong. He is the President of the International Commission on Mathematical Instruction (ICMI).

Jeremy Kilpatrick was an American mathematics educator. He received the Felix Klein Medal for 2007 from ICMI. He graduated from Chaffey two-year college in California (1954), then he went to the University of California at Berkeley to earn an A.B degree (1956) in mathematics and after an M.A degree (1960) in education. He received his M.S. in mathematics in 1962 and his PhD degree in mathematics education in 1967, both from Stanford University, where he was also a research assistant in the SMSG (1962-1967). His dissertation was supervised by Edward Begle with George Pólya and Lee Conbrach in the doctoral committee, and addressed eight graders’ problem-solving heuristics. From 1967 to 1975 he taught from as an assistant and later as an associate professor at Teachers College, Columbia University, in New York. In 1975, he moved to the University of Georgia, where he was a professor of mathematics education.

References

  1. ↑ Executive Committee (EC)
  2. ↑ "ICME — International Congress on Mathematical Education | International Mathematical Union (IMU)". www.mathunion.org. Retrieved 2024-11-03.
  3. ↑ "Past ICMEs | International Mathematical Union (IMU)". www.mathunion.org. Retrieved 2024-11-03.
  4. ↑ "Indian professor 'expelled' from ICME15 after raising questions on Vedic maths". 2024-07-16. Archived from the original on 2024-07-16. Retrieved 2024-11-03.
  5. ↑ "ICME-16 (2028) | International Mathematical Union (IMU)". www.mathunion.org. Retrieved 2024-11-03.
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