TME Volume 5, Numbers 2 and 3
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The Mathematics Enthusiast Volume 5 Number 2 Numbers 2 & 3 Article 27 7-2008 TME Volume 5, Numbers 2 and 3 Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/tme Part of the Mathematics Commons Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation (2008) "TME Volume 5, Numbers 2 and 3," The Mathematics Enthusiast: Vol. 5 : No. 2 , Article 27. Available at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/tme/vol5/iss2/27 This Full Volume is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks at University of Montana. It has been accepted for inclusion in The Mathematics Enthusiast by an authorized editor of ScholarWorks at University of Montana. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Montana Mathematics Enthusiast ISSN 1551-3440 VOL. 5, NOS.2&3, JULY 2008, pp.167-462 Editor-in-Chief Bharath Sriraman, The University of Montana Associate Editors: Lyn D. English, Queensland University of Technology, Australia Claus Michelsen, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark Brian Greer, Portland State University, USA Luis Moreno-Armella, University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth International Editorial Advisory Board Miriam Amit, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel. Ziya Argun, Gazi University, Turkey. Ahmet Arikan, Gazi University, Turkey. Astrid Beckmann, University of Education, Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany. John Berry, University of Plymouth,UK. Morten Blomhøj, Roskilde University, Denmark. Robert Carson, Montana State University- Bozeman, USA. Mohan Chinnappan, University of Wollongong, Australia. Constantinos Christou, University of Cyprus, Cyprus. Bettina Dahl Søndergaard, University of Aarhus, Denmark. Helen Doerr, Syracuse University, USA. Ted Eisenberg, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel. Paul Ernest, University of Exeter, UK. Viktor Freiman, Université de Moncton, Canada. Fulvia Furinghetti, Università di Genova, Italy Eric Gutstein, University of Illinois-Chicago, USA. Marja van den Heuvel-Panhuizen, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands. Gabriele Kaiser, University of Hamburg, Germany. Libby Knott,The University of Montana, USA. Tinne Hoff Kjeldsen, Roskilde University, Denmark. Jean-Baptiste Lagrange, IUFM-Reims, France. Stephen Lerman, London South Bank University, UK. Frank Lester, Indiana University, USA. Richard Lesh, Indiana University, USA. Nicholas Mousoulides, University of Cyprus, Cyprus. Swapna Mukhopadhyay, Portland State University, USA. Norma Presmeg, Illinois State University, USA. Gudbjorg Palsdottir,Iceland University of Education, Iceland. João Pedro da Ponte, University of Lisbon, Portugal Michael Pyryt1, University of Calgary, Canada. Demetra Pitta Pantazi, University of Cyprus, Cyprus. Linda Sheffield, Northern Kentucky University, USA. Olof Bjorg Steinthorsdottir, University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill, USA. Günter Törner, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany. Renuka Vithal, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Dirk Wessels, UNISA, South Africa. Nurit Zehavi, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel. 1 Michael Pyryt passed away in an unfortunate manner on Jan 15, 2008. The journal expresses its condolences to the Pyryt family in Calgary, and regrets the loss of an excellent statistician, scholar and gentleman. The Montana Mathematics Enthusiast is an eclectic internationally circulated peer reviewed journal which focuses on mathematics content, mathematics education research, innovation, interdisciplinary issues and pedagogy. The journal is published by Information Age Publishing and the electronic version is hosted jointly by IAP and the Department of Mathematical Sciences- The University of Montana, on behalf of MCTM. Articles appearing in the journal address issues related to mathematical thinking, teaching and learning at all levels. The focus includes specific mathematics content and advances in that area accessible to readers, as well as political, social and cultural issues related to mathematics education. Journal articles cover a wide spectrum of topics such as mathematics content (including advanced mathematics), educational studies related to mathematics, and reports of innovative pedagogical practices with the hope of stimulating dialogue between pre-service and practicing teachers, university educators and mathematicians. The journal is interested in research based articles as well as historical, philosophical, political, cross-cultural and systems perspectives on mathematics content, its teaching and learning. The journal also includes a monograph series on special topics of interest to the community of readers The journal is accessed from 110+ countries and its readers include students of mathematics, future and practicing teachers, mathematicians, cognitive psychologists, critical theorists, mathematics/science educators, historians and philosophers of mathematics and science as well as those who pursue mathematics recreationally. The 40 member editorial board reflects this diversity. The journal exists to create a forum for argumentative and critical positions on mathematics education, and especially welcomes articles which challenge commonly held assumptions about the nature and purpose of mathematics and mathematics education. Reactions or commentaries on previously published articles are welcomed. Manuscripts are to be submitted in electronic format to the editor in APA style. The typical time period from submission to publication is 8-11 months. Please visit the journal website at http://www.montanamath.org/TMME or http://www.math.umt.edu/TMME/ Indexing Information Australian Education Index (For Australian authors); EBSCO Products (Academic Search Complete); EDNA; Cabell’s Directory of Publishing Opportunities in Educational Curriculum and Methods (2009-) Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ); PsycINFO (the APA Index); MathDI/MathEDUC (FiZ Karlsruhe); Journals in Higher Education (JIHE); Ulrich’s Periodicals Directory; Zentralblatt MATH THE MONTANA MATHEMATICS ENTHUSIAST ISSN 1551-3440 Vol.5, Nos.2&3, July 2008, pp.167-462 TABLE OF CONTENTS Editorial Information 0. Bharath Sriraman EDITORIAL: 2 to 3- An omnibus of features & Policy issues in mathematics education.....pp.167-168 FEATURE ARTICLES 1. The Brachistochrone Problem: Mathematics for a Broad Audience via a Large Context Problem Jeff Babb & James Currie (Canada)................................................................................................pp.169-184 2. History of Mathematics in Mathematics Education: a Saussurean Perspective Michael Fried (Israel)........................................................................................................................pp.185-198 3. Comparison of Geometric Figures Spyros Glenis (Greece).....................................................................................................................pp.199-214 4. “Obeying a rule”: Ludwig Wittgenstein and the foundations of Set Theory Giorgio T. Bagni (Italy)....................................................................................................................pp.215-222 5. How can science history contribute to the development of new proposals in the teaching of the notion of derivatives? Arnaud Mayrargue (France).............................................................................................................pp.223-230 6. Incoherence of a concept image and erroneous conclusions in the case of differentiability Antti Viholainen (Finland)...............................................................................................................pp.231-248 7. Chess and problem solving involving patterns Dores Ferreira & Pedro Palhares (Portugal)................................................................................pp.249-256 8. Associative Operations on a Three-Element Set Friðrik Diego & Kristín Halla Jónsdóttir (Iceland)......................................................................pp.257-268 i 9. A Case Study Using Soft Systems Methodology in the Evolution of a Mathematics Module Jon Warwick (UK).............................................................................................................................pp.269-290 10. Mathematics and the World: What do Teachers Recognize as Mathematics in Real World Practice? Barbara Garii & Lillian Okumu (New York, USA)....................................................................pp.291-304 11. Mathematics for Middle School Teachers: Choices, Successes, and Challenges Linda Martin & Kristin Umland (New Mexico, USA)................................................................pp.305-314 12. Inverses – why we teach and why we need talk more about it more often! Woong Lim (Texas, USA)................................................................................................................pp.315-326 13. Magic Math Cards Steve Humble (UK)..........................................................................................................................pp.327-336 MONTANA FEATURE ARTICLES History of Logarithms and Insurance Mathematics 14. Chopping Logs: A Look at the History and Uses of Logarithms Rafael Villarreal-Calderon (Missoula, Montana, USA)................................................................pp.337-344 15. Early Insurance Mechanisms and Their Mathematical Foundations Amy Minto (Missoula, Montana, USA).........................................................................................pp.345-356 DIALOGUE ON NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND1 16. Main Points of Objections to the “No Child Left Behind” Mike O’Lear (Missoula,