Mathematics Teacher, April 2008

The April issue of Mathematics Teacher has arrived, and it contains the following three articles:

• Digital Images + Interactive Software = Enjoyable, Real Mathematics Modeling by Andy Ventress
• Investigating the Mathematical Process with Nonlinear Asymptotes by Michael J. Bossé, Karen A. DeUrquidi, David L. Edwards and N.R. Nandakumar
• Using Technology to Promote Mathematical Discourse Concerning Women in Mathematics by Lyn Phy

The last article is a free preview article, and is downloadable for everyone. The author has a focus on women in mathematics, and she discusses her use of cooperative groups, Blackboard (a course managment system) and the internet as means to facilitate meaningful mathematical discourse. The venue for examining these types of mathematical discourse is a course called "Women in Mathematics", which the author developed in her university. They studied the following women mathematicians in the course:

• Hypatia
• Maria Agnesi
• Sophie Germain
• Sonia Kovalevsky
• Emmy Noether
• Irene Hueter

All in all, this is an interesting description of an interesting university course. At a meta-level, this article also address issues of how to use history of mathematics in your teaching. At the end of the article, the writer proposes that anecdotes and activities about women mathematicians can be used in "ordinary" mathematics courses, and this indicates a certain "direct" use of history.