Dr Nathalie Sinclair
Monday 30th November 2009
3:30-5pm
Abstract:
Many researchers focus on the cognitive and instrumental affordances of digital technologies in mathematics education—how they help us think—but in this talk I wish to explore the more aesthetic dimension: how they help us feel. Drawing on perspectives including semiotics, philosophy of science, cognitive science and psychodynamics, I argue that understanding the aesthetic dimensions of technology use can significantly inform our theories of the development of mathematics (past and future), as well as the study of technology-aided student learning within the mathematics classroom.
Biographical Sketch for Dr Sinclair:
Dr Nathalie Sinclair is a tenure-track Assistant Professor of Education, cross-appointed in the Faculty of Education and the Department of Mathematics at Simon Fraser University, with a previous appointment at Michigan State University as Assistant Professor. Her PhD in Mathematics Education was from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, and post-doctoral work conducted at Simon Fraser University. Currently, she is the PI on a SSHRC-funded grant focusing on the role and impact of dynamic geometry software on mathematical thinking across the K-12 curriculum. She is also co-PI on a SSHRC-funded grant focused on the development and assessment of mathematics learning and teaching in immersive web-based 3d environments (Second Life). Research interests also include the role of aesthetics in mathematics thinking and learning, including the role of non-propositional forms of thinking that underlie both abductive inferences and narrative modes of meaning-making. She has published and presented numerous papers and workshops at local, national and international venues.
