Presentations-Math+Ed+Colloquium

You are cordially invited to attend the first Michigan State University Mathematics Education Colloquium of the Fall 2007 series:

Dr. Lisa Jilk MSU College of Education & Teachers Development Group

Wednesday, September 5th 3:30 to 5pm (refreshments available at 3pm) 133F Erickson Hall (__Note the room change__!!)

In this presentation, I will share my dissertation work, in which I explored the life stories of four young immigrant women from El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, and Nicaragua who began high school as English Language Learners and successfully completed four years of college preparatory mathematics. I will explain my use of narrative research methods as primary tools for data collection, discuss the construct of salient identity and its use as a tool for interpretation, and share the tensions I experienced as a researcher with both insider and outsider status throughout the duration of this project. My research findings indicate that the mathematical successes of my participants were partially a result of how they translated their secondary mathematics experiences through the lenses of their salient identities, which in turn supported their participation and learning. In addition, I learned that there were certain mathematical practices the young women considered supportive of further identity development, making secondary mathematics classrooms spaces where they felt they could act in authentic ways. This research provides powerful counter narratives to a dominant story often told about immigrant Latinas as youth who are uninterested or unable to learn meaningful mathematics and has important implications for both research and practice concerned with supporting students to engage with and learn mathematics.

//This event is sponsored by the Division of Science and Mathematics Education, Colleges of Education and Natural Science. For more information, contact Becky Murthum, 355-1715, murthum[at]msu.edu or Lisa Keller.// Lisa Keller Mathematics Education Graduate Program Coordinator Division of Science and Mathematics Education Michigan State University 221 N. Kedzie Lab East Lansing, MI 48824 Phone: 517-432-2152 ext. 127 Fax: 517-432-9868