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ERIC Number: ED266449
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1985-Mar-22
Pages: 26
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Writing for Mathematics Discovery-Learning: A Model for Composition Courses.
Weaver, Laura H.
Focusing on how expert writers in various disciplines convey complex ideas, this paper shows how the techniques used by the mathematician, Clark Kimberling, in various writings can (1) be transferred to other disciplines, (2) show learning taking place, and (3) provide models for students to re-enact learning in all subject areas. The paper defines the process of discovery and describes Kimberling's four stylistic devices to create a form reproducing this activity of discovery: (1) first-person references to the teacher/writer's experience in the classroom and second-person references to the audience (other teachers); (2) language and syntax depicting the excitement of learning; (3) idealized dialogue ("language somewhere between the way students usually talk and the actual language of mathematics,") and (4) insertion of bits of mathematics history into the discussion to establish continuity between present and past discoveries. The paper then discusses the use of the articles to stimulate students' writing about the process of one of their own discoveries and mentions some of the varied topics on which students have written. The paper includes a discussion of the benefits of using these articles in composition assignments. A four-page bibliography lists articles and other writings by Kimberling. (EL)
Publication Type: Information Analyses; Speeches/Meeting Papers; Opinion Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Note: Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Conference on College Composition and Communication (36th, Minneapolis, MN, March 21-23, 1985).