Collapsing Spaces, Colliding Places: Leveraging Constructs from Humanistic Geography to Explore Mathematics Classes

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

article

Valentin A. B. Küchle¹  Shiv S. Karunakaran²  Mariana Levin³  John P. Smith III²  Sarah Castle²  Jihye Hwang²  Yaomingxin Lu⁴  Robert A. Elmore⁵ 

[1] Auburn University;Michigan State University;Western Michigan University;California State University;Mid Michigan College

关键词: coronavirus pandemic;    COVID-19 pandemic;    humanistic geography;    online classes;    place;    space;    undergraduate mathematics;   

DOI  :  10.5642/jhummath.LMPQ5945

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Claremont Center for the Mathematical Sciences

【 摘 要 】

Humanistic geographers distinguish between space and place: “What begins as undifferentiated space becomes place as we get to know it better and endow it with value” (Tuan, 1977, page 6). In this essay, we seek to demonstrate how mathematics education researchers and mathematics instructors may find space and place illuminating for understanding important aspects of students’ learning experiences during the coronavirus pandemic—and possibly beyond. Specifically, after introducing the terms and relating them to the context of a university mathematics class, we exemplify how home and class places collided for three undergraduate mathematics students forced to deal with the abrupt transition to online education. We conclude by discussing implications of attending to space and place for designers and researchers of (pandemic) online instruction and make connections to how the pandemic and attending to space and place can serve as a catalyst for reshaping undergraduate mathematics education.

【 授权许可】

CC BY-NC-ND