Mathematical Talent Research Articles

On mathematics education for women in Russia prior to 1917

This paper attempts to describe women’s mathematics education in certain types of educational institutions in Russia before 1917. The history of women’s education (inclusive of the humanities) begins effectively in the eighteenth century. This education was inevitably limited, since the role assigned to women did not imply any special study of mathematics – mathematics was needed primarily for maintaining the household. To be sure, to this was also added the problem of intellectual development, which sometimes led to girls being taught geometry, and even algebra, although this did not happen often. At the same time, women’s mathematical talents could be valued quite highly. Gradually, the situation changed, and already in the twentieth century the opinion that women’s mathematics education should not differ from men’s was very widely expressed. This paper analyzes various views expressed in surviving documents, as well as textbooks written for girls, and memoirs that make it possible to imagine to a certain degree how exactly the teaching of mathematics at women’s educational institutions was implemented and perceived.

Systematic Review on the Essentials of Creative Mathematical Thinking

Creative thinking skills can prepare students to be tangent, creative, and competent problem solvers in an ever-evolving world, so educators are required to understand patterns and factors that positively influence the development of creative thinking skills. The aim of this research is to identify patterns and factors that influence creative thinking skills in learning. The method used in this research is the exploration and conceptualization of mathematical creative thinking skills. The research explored 15 articles through Scopus databases, Google Scholar, Publish or Perish, and Google. Data analysis is conducted through CAQDAS ATLAS.ti, with coding objectives, methodology, and research conclusion. This research found that most of the articles highlighted task orientation, epistemological approaches, problem submission tasks, Multidimensional Creativity Assessment (MCA), tutor beliefs, problem solving, SCAMPER methods, valid instruments, social skills, confidence, belief and anxiety, and Practical Mathematical Talent Models. Overall, the contributions from this research have shown the importance of building creative thinking skills in mathematics and science education, along with various approaches and factors that contribute to the development of such skills.

국내외 과학영재학교 수학과 교육과정 편성 현황 분석

This study attempted to analyze the characteristics of the mathematics curriculum of eight domestic science gifted schools to derive implications to consider when organizing the mathematics curriculum of domestic gifted schools in the future. To achieve this, the study compared the content elements of mathematics subjects offered in science high schools for gifted students with those structured according to the 2022 revised mathematics curriculum. Additionally, an analysis was conducted on the content elements of Advanced Placement (AP) subjects and other subjects that, while not included in the 2022 revised mathematics curriculum, are additionally studied at these science high schools. The analysis revealed that the mathematics curriculum in science high schools for gifted students showed a relatively low reflection rate of content elements included in the 2022 revised mathematics curriculum, such as <Discrete Mathematics>, <Practical Statistics>, and <Advanced Geometry>. Moreover, there was a noticeable lack of the <Probability and Statistics> subject in the AP curriculum. The study also highlighted the need for a comprehensive review of the content covered in <Linear Algebra> and <Differential Equations> when organizing future curricula. Furthermore, a comparative analysis of the curricula in three international science high schools for gifted students indicated that these institutions generally offer more credit hours and a wider variety of elective subjects, thus ensuring greater flexibility and broader learning opportunities for students. This suggests that the organization and operation of the mathematics curriculum in domestic science high schools for gifted students should embrace more flexibility and openness to effectively nurture mathematical talents.

Curriculum Considerations for Developing Mathematical Talent in Elementary Students

To effectively nurture the talents of elementary students with mathematical talent they need to be challenged with an advanced curriculum that is designed with their specific needs in mind. The purpose of this paper is to describe an effective model for developing such a curriculum and explore effective, research-based examples of curriculum and instruction using this model. The paper begins with a review of literature covering a broadened definition of mathematical talent that showcases the need for a more complex and multi-dimensional curriculum to nurture their talents. Next, evidence-based curriculum considerations for talented students at the elementary level are explored. Essential characteristics of mathematics curriculum for talented students are detailed including a focus on advanced content, conceptual development and higher-level processes akin to those used by mathematicians. Accompanying research-based instructional strategies to increase challenge, complexity, and creativity are outlined. Examples at the primary and elementary grade levels are provided to illustrate effective, research-based curriculum and instruction that develop mathematical talent in advanced students.

Contrasting mathematics educational values: An in-depth case study of primary and secondary teachers in Hong Kong

Using an in-depth case study approach, this study explored the mathematics educational values held by two in-service teachers at the primary and secondary levels in Hong Kong through lesson observations and deep structured interviews. The findings revealed that the primary teacher emphasized fun, flexibility, critical thinking, and coherence, while the secondary teacher prioritized achievement, control, higher-order thinking, and progression. Using Seah and Bishop's five complementary pairs framework, the primary teacher aligned with an activist, relational, relevance, and accessibility perspective, contrasting sharply with the secondary teacher. This reflected a shift in values in response to students’ educational stages, revealing the challenges of balancing social expectations and nurturing future science, technology, engineering, and mathematics talent. We discussed the implications for local education reforms, including modernizing assessment methods and curricula, reshaping the social climate, and updating professional development to address these tensions.

Boredom and its perceived impact in adolescents with exceptional mathematical talent: a sequential mixed-methods study in Paraguay.

Boredom, a state where the task at hand presents difficulties in attentional resources and attributed meaning, can be detrimental to talent development by reducing cognitive engagement. This study employed a mixed sequential design to assess boredom in adolescents with exceptional mathematical talent in Paraguay participating in a talent development program. First, in the quantitative phase 54 students completed the Boredom Short Scale, School Attitudes Assessment Survey-Revised, and Psychological Well-Being Scale for Adolescents. Next, in the qualitative phase 50 students participated in focus groups to explore their personal experiences of boredom, along with their perception of possible factors that impact boredom. Boredom in this population was similar to the general population of adolescents, albeit significant differences existed in items and subscales showing a pattern unique to this population; they tended to become bored quicker but had an easier time sparking interest in activities. Higher boredom had small to moderate correlations with worse attitudes at school and with teachers, lower motivation and self-regulation in academic activities, lower self-control, and lower involvement in personal projects. Higher valuation of goals and academic self-perception related with a lower tendency toward boredom only in the context of a talent development program, but not at school. Boredom seemed multifaceted, with dimensions such as the absence of meaning, superficial entertainment, and wasted time. Contributing factors included waiting for other people's slower pace, limited choices, lack of novelty, insufficient intellectual challenge, and the influence of teachers and social dynamics. Coping mechanisms included inner intellectual stimulation, seeking entertainment and escape, pursuing independent learning, extracurricular activities, like-minded peers, and extreme sensation-seeking. Fostering adequate challenge and support in advanced academic endeavors for the development of mathematical talent can prevent negative consequences associated with boredom in exceptionally talented populations.

Career paths of the International Mathematics Olympiad (IMO) medalists

Each year, six exceptionally talented high school students from each country participate in the International Mathematics Olympiad (IMO). We thoroughly searched the internet to find the career paths of 2785 IMO medalists who participated in the competition from 1986 to 2005. We have found that the career paths of IMO medalists depend on their home country, despite their similar levels of mathematical talent. For example, the extent to which medalists studied abroad varies significantly among countries in the same geographical region and with comparable income levels. We also found that there is a high concentration in medalists’ foreign education. For example, MIT educated more foreign medalists than any country except for the United States both at the undergraduate and Ph.D. levels. Roughly half of the medalists ended up working abroad. Education is found to be an important channel for the migrant medalists. Although majority of the medalists were educated in mathematics, more than three quarters of their non-academic jobs are either software or economics-finance related jobs. Most medalists who became academics are specialized in mathematics. While the rate of becoming a mathematician academic is not dependent on the income level of the medalists' home country, those from higher-income countries tend to have higher academic performance.

Solving olympiad geometry without human demonstrations

Proving mathematical theorems at the olympiad level represents a notable milestone in human-level automated reasoning1–4, owing to their reputed difficulty among the world’s best talents in pre-university mathematics. Current machine-learning approaches, however, are not applicable to most mathematical domains owing to the high cost of translating human proofs into machine-verifiable format. The problem is even worse for geometry because of its unique translation challenges1,5, resulting in severe scarcity of training data. We propose AlphaGeometry, a theorem prover for Euclidean plane geometry that sidesteps the need for human demonstrations by synthesizing millions of theorems and proofs across different levels of complexity. AlphaGeometry is a neuro-symbolic system that uses a neural language model, trained from scratch on our large-scale synthetic data, to guide a symbolic deduction engine through infinite branching points in challenging problems. On a test set of 30 latest olympiad-level problems, AlphaGeometry solves 25, outperforming the previous best method that only solves ten problems and approaching the performance of an average International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) gold medallist. Notably, AlphaGeometry produces human-readable proofs, solves all geometry problems in the IMO 2000 and 2015 under human expert evaluation and discovers a generalized version of a translated IMO theorem in 2004.

STEM as an effective pedagogical condition for the functioning of physics and mathematics classes in extracurricular education institutions

The article describes the current state of STEM as an effective pedagogical condition for the functioning of physics and mathematics classes in extracurricular education. The necessity of creating high-quality educational programs where the STEM approach plays an important role in teaching students and helps to develop talents in science, technology, engineering and mathematics is demonstrated. An example of a developed curriculum for a physics and mathematics class of extracurricular education institutions, which is designed to work with middle and high school students, is presented.

Development of General Arithmetic E-Module Based on APOS Theory to Improve Problem Solving Ability and Independence in Middle School and High School Students

To learn about other parts of math, like how to work with numbers, you need to know arithmetic. The characteristics and concepts in mathematics are interrelated, therefore students need to acquire an introductory or basic grasp to assist in developing math skills (even if operations are considered basic stuff). This comprehension lays the groundwork for the acquisition of other mathematical talents, including problem-solving skills, which are crucial to a kid's success in school. Students and teachers alike rely heavily on online resources, yet this resource is not fully utilized in today's educational systems. In addition, not all online e-modules meet the standards of good e-modules, which results in subpar learning and makes it harder to accomplish certain educational goals. The goal of this research is to create an expert-based, user-friendly, and practical e-module for teaching elementary school mathematics that incorporates APOS theory in order to improve students' ability to learn independently and solve problems. This type of research is Design Research with the type of development studies divided into three phases, namely Preliminary research, Development or prototyping phase, and Assessment phase. Students from SMP Negeri 1 Winong, and MA Darul Ma'la made up the research sample. The data was gathered through a combination of tests, questionnaires, interviews, and observations. The study's findings demonstrate that the generated e-modules are of sufficient quality in terms of being valid, practical, and effective. validated by material experts and media experts, including lecturers and teachers, so that this e-module is considered valid by material experts and media experts, practical by lecturers, teachers, and students who use it through questionnaires, and effective based on problem-solving abilities and student learning independence after implementation.

Deklarowane przekonania dotyczące uczenia się matematyki w czasach szkolnych przez kandydatki i kandydatów na nauczyciel(k)i edukacji wczesnoszkolnej

The article presents the results of the study of declared beliefs regarding learning mathematics in school times by students of three consecutive years of the preschool and early school pedagogy. The empirical material was collected using an authorial questionnaire. Most of the people participating in the study declared, among other things, that the most effective strategy in the times of school education was learning mathematics by heart, and the key reason for possible failures is the lack of mathematical talent. The article also reflects on minimizing the transfer of such beliefs by students to future teaching practice.

Analysis of Differentiated Learning Needs in Mathematics Subjects in Class 5 of SDN 182 North Bengkulu

This research activity aims to analyze the need for differentiated learning in mathematics at SD Kurikulum Merdeka in the fifth grade of SDN 182 North Bengkulu. The utilized research methodology involved a descriptive qualitative approach, employing a case study framework. Data collection encompassed observation, interviews, and document analysis. The findings of the investigation suggest that there is a requirement for implementing distinct approaches to learning mathematics in the fifth grade of Merdeka Curriculum Elementary School, located at SDN 182 North Bengkulu. Several factors underlie this need including the various levels of student understanding, different learning styles, and the diversity of students' abilities and talents in mathematics. Based on data analysis, several differentiated learning strategies that can be applied include (1) the use of learning materials that are varied and vary according to the level of understanding of students, (2) giving assignments or activities based on student's interests and talents, (3) the use of various learning media, (4) heterogeneous study group settings, and (5) providing additional support to students in need. This research is expected to contribute to the development of mathematics learning in Merdeka Curriculum Elementary School in the fifth grade of SDN 182 North Bengkulu, as well as to provide guidance for teachers and education stakeholders in designing effective differentiated learning to improve students' mathematics achievement.

Meningkatkan Minat dan Hasil Belajar Matematika Melalui Model Pembelajaran Problem-Based Learning Siswa SMP Negeri 4 Batam

Students with low mathematical talent need help in learning mathematics. Therefore, schools must implement various methods to maintain students' interest in mathematics. One method that can be used is Problem-Based Learning (PBL). PBL aims to enhance students' interest and learning outcomes in mathematics. This classroom action research aims to improve learning and strengthen mathematics learning outcomes. The subjects of this study are 39 students from class IXG of SMP Negeri 4 Batam, in the odd semester of the academic year 2022/2023, comprising 21 female students and 18 male students. The data collection instruments used are observation sheets and mathematics learning outcome tests. Data from the observation sheets are analyzed descriptively narratively, while data from the mathematics learning outcome tests are analyzed descriptively statistically. The analysis results show an improvement in the learning process from pre-action to cycles I and II. The implementation of PBL achieved a good category with an increase of 4.10 points. The average score in cycle I was 76.94 and increased to 81.52 in cycle II. Thus, it can successfully enhance students' interest and learning outcomes in mathematics. This is evident from the attainment of the learning mastery target of 70 and the classical learning outcomes that reached or exceeded 85%.

Equal Protection, English Language Learners, and Desegregation (Study of Islamic Educational Leadership Management)

The difference principle is designed to be applied in a school community setting where the previous conditions have been met. Inequality may or may not be defined in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, or socioeconomic status. For example, a student may be advantaged in one area (musical talent, for example) and disadvantaged in another (mathematical talent, for example), with little association with gender or race. This paper wants to know how the form of freedom of expression of students. The first amendment rights of students limit the freedom of students, how is the role of educational institutions in managing the freedom of students. Freedom is situationally limited in religion, law, ethics, culture and morals. The Supreme Court seeks to enforce students' First Amendment rights while knowingly admitting that students don't have the same expressive rights inside the school building gates as they do outside the gates. Legal guidelines can be ambiguous, and finding the right balance between student rights, a positive school environment, and the obligations of order and discipline can be difficult. The interaction of the sy stem world and the lifeworld determines the school's normative environment.

Finance and the reallocation of scientific, engineering and mathematical talent

The US financial sector has become a magnet for the brightest graduates in the science, technology, engineering and mathematical fields (STEM). We provide quantitative bases for this anecdotal fact for the US, over the period 1980–2019 and with a specific focus on the last decade where information on major fields of study is available. First, we show that long-run educational upgrading of finance was biased towards STEM graduates, especially for postgraduates, and accelerated in the last decade. Second, the STEM-upgrading also occurs within finance and business occupations, matching a task reorientation towards mathematics in those occupations. Third, STEM reallocation towards finance is more pronounced among experienced workers peaking at prime age. Fourth, the reallocation of STEM is associated with large wage premia in finance, which are heterogeneous across occupations, age groups, degrees and along the wage distribution. Returns to STEMs are higher than returns to other degrees in finance and become very high in finance and managerial occupations at the top of the distribution, especially for postgraduates.

The winter of raw computers: the history of the lunar and planetary reductions of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich.

In 1839 the working hours of the computers employed on the lunar and planetary reductions of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich were reduced from eleven hours to eight hours. Previous historians have explained this decrease by reference to the generally benevolent nature of the manager of the reductions, George Biddell Airy. By contrast, this article uses the letters and notes exchanged between Airy and the computers to demonstrate that the change in the working hours originated from the computers as a reaction to their poor working conditions. Through the exploration of these archival materials, the article shifts the focus of the analysis to the working experience of the computers, rather than to the administrative history of the project that inevitably tends to highlight Airy's actions. By doing so, the article shows how the computers were treated as a disposable low-skilled workforce, as opposed to aspiring astronomers with considerable mathematical talent. Through this reframing, the article takes a step towards a working history of the observatory.

The importance of honing elementary school students' mathematical talents from an early age

The importance of honing elementary school students' mathematical talents from an early age

A REVIEW OF U.S. STRATEGIES FOR STEM TALENT ATTRACTION AND RETENTION: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

This paper offers a detailed review of the strategies and initiatives employed in the United States to attract and retain top talent in STEM fields. It analyze the unique challenges and opportunities specific to the United States of America (USA) and how these strategies are crucial for maintaining the country's global leadership in innovation. This review explores the strategies employed by the United States to attract and retain Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) talent, identifying challenges and opportunities in this critical domain. As the global landscape becomes increasingly competitive, nations are recognizing the pivotal role of STEM professionals in driving innovation, economic growth, and societal advancement. In the U.S., a comprehensive examination of initiatives spanning education, immigration policies, industry collaboration, and workforce development reveals multifaceted approaches to cultivating and retaining STEM talent. The challenges faced by the U.S. in this endeavor include disparities in STEM education access, visa and immigration complexities, and the demand for diverse, inclusive work environments. Furthermore, the dynamic nature of technology and industries requires constant adaptation of strategies to align with evolving skill requirements. Opportunities arise from the potential for cross-sector collaboration, leveraging public-private partnerships, and enhancing educational pathways to cultivate a robust and diverse STEM workforce. By addressing disparities in STEM education early on, implementing agile immigration policies, and fostering inclusive work environments, the U.S. can bolster its position as a global hub for STEM innovation. The methods used involves the synthesizes of key insights from policy documents, academic literature, and industry reports, providing a comprehensive overview of the U.S. landscape for STEM talent attraction and retention. The findings aim to inform policymakers, educators, and industry leaders, offering insights into potential areas for improvement and innovation in the pursuit of a sustainable and vibrant STEM ecosystem. Keywords: STEM; Innovation, USA, Talent, Ecosystem.

The distance between students’ concept image and quadrilateral object definition based on students’ mathematical ability

Students learn mathematics through practical applications without applying it. Consequently, the concept images and definitions that students offer do not match. This study examines the gap in mathematical ability between the concept images of professionals in mathematics education and students' concept images of content, including quadrilaterals. This study employed a qualitative approach with a hermeneutic phenomenology method. Sixty-two seventh-grade students were involved in conducting this study. Some instruments, such as quadrilateral-related tests and semi-structured interview questions, were used to collect the data. The results of quadrilateral-related tests and interviews revealed that most students with high mathematical ability, some with medium mathematical ability, and a small number with low mathematical ability have a concept image that matches the definition but cannot produce proof of the properties of a quadrilateral. In addition, a small number of students with high mathematical talents, some with medium mathematical abilities, and a large number of students with low mathematical abilities were unable to completely explain each rectangle's formal definition and properties. This indicates that there are some students whose concept image is low. So, several alternatives and effective mathematics learning should be implemented to facilitate students in enhancing students concept image.

Edgar J. Edmunds: A Historical Case Study of Race in Mathematics Education

This article describes a historical case study of E. J. Edmunds, a Black mathematics student and teacher in 19th-century New Orleans. Edmunds’s career as a student and then teacher of mathematics, which stretched from the antebellum era through Reconstruction and into segregation, was filled with obstacles and indignities but also with improbable successes. Edmunds proved to be among the world’s top mathematical talents in 1871 by passing the grueling admissions exam for France’s École Polytechnique. The purpose of the present article is to examine the implications that this historically rare example of Black mathematical achievement in the 19th century has for metanarratives of Black obstacles and achievement in mathematics education.