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THE
FIELDS INSTITUTE FOR RESEARCH IN MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES
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FIELDS
MATHED FORUM MEETING AGENDA
Theme:
Skills and Literacies (Financial, Digital,...)
for the 21st Century
OCTOBER
25 , 2014 at 10 am-2 pm
Fields
Institute, 222 College Street, Toronto
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10:00-10:05 AM
Reports: OAME, OMCA, OCMA, CMESG, CMS, and other.
10:05-10:15 AM
Dragana Martinovic (University of Windsor): Introductions/Challenging
the Education
10:15-10:50 AM
Yves Bourgeois (U. of New Brunswick, NB):
Why are we (apparently) so bad getting our youth skilled for
the labour market?
Abstract: In 1992, the unemployment rate in Canada for 15-24
year-olds was 1.7 times the rate for 25-54 year olds. Over the
following twenty years, the ratio has grown worse, reaching its
peak ratio of 2.4X in 2012. Why is our youth experiencing increasing
difficulty getting into the labour market? After all, this is
our most educated generation ever, and our most technology-savvy
as well. To compound the problem, businesses reveal in surveys
that recruiting skilled workers is consistently among their top
three concerns, suggesting potential new hires may not be 'job-ready.'
In his presentation, Yves explores some of the obstacles to youth
labour market integration, digital skills mismatches, and what
key stakeholders should be doing.
Brief Bio: Dr. Yves Bourgeois is director of UNB’s Urban
and Community Studies Institute, which seeks to promote better
understanding of the challenges facing smaller cities. His own
area of expertise is innovation, creativity and economic development,
and he has authored several books, chapters and articles internationally.
He holds a PhD in Regional and international development from
UCLA, a Masters in Technology Studies from Edinburgh and a Masters
in Philosophy and Economics from Oxford, where he studied as a
Rhodes Scholar. Yves also worked for Microsoft in Australia and
for the Canadian Senator Céline Hervieux-Payette.
10:50-11:25 AM
Michael Perklin (Bitcoin):
Bitcoin, Blockchains, and the Coming Crypto-Revolution
Abstract: Bitcoin has made headlines recently, but so far the
media has only discussed the tip of the iceberg. Cryptocurrencies
hold the potential to drastically change many aspects of our lives
in the near future just like the Internet did in the 1990s. This
presentation will dive into the fascinating world of distributed
consensus and highlight entirely new jobs and careers that are
blooming from this inevitable societal transformation.
Brief Bio: Michael Perklin is a partner at Bitcoinsultants, a
firm dedicated to providing expertise in cryptocurrencies and
digital consensus models. Michael was previously employed as a
digital forensic investigator before dropping everything to join
the new economy and help companies adopt these exciting new technologies.
Michael serves as a director of the Bitcoin Alliance of Canada
where he has presented about Bitcoin to the Ontario Securities
Commission (OSC), the Canadian Senate, and leading law and telecommunication
firms internationally.
11:25-11:50AM
Charles Anifowose (Vretta):
Immediacy: How 21st Century Practices are Supercharging Math
Intuition among Today's Learners
Abstract: Mathematics intuition moves from the head to the gut.
Students have always had to grapple with concepts before developing
an intuition for the subject. Through repeated interaction, a
familiarity is developed which can serve the basis of further
learning. This talk will look into some of the new ways of interacting
with mathematics made possible by digital technologies
Brief Bio: Charles is a Designer who produces interactive mass-media
to support the learning of mathematical concepts among students
and the general public. He co-founded Vretta in 2009 with a dream
of creating a team of artists, teachers and communicators that
are deeply empathic to the student experience, and who take the
aesthetic quality of their work very seriously. Vretta aims to
address the lag-time of the introduction of well-developed digital
tools in educational practice and the general deficiency in craftsmanship
among traditional content production companies. Through their
constant interactions with teachers and professors, the Vretta
team experiences regular eipiphinies which it attempts to share
through shared mehmes and experiences.
12:00-1:00PM Lunch
1:00-1:35PM
Tracy Solomon (Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto):
Towards to an Evidence Base to Inform Mathematics Instruction
in Canada.
Abstract: Numerical skills are essential to employability in
the 21st century. But the numerical skills of students in many
western countries is wanting, especially if the goal is to be
globally competitive. Countries such as the United States and
the United Kingdom are taking major steps to develop an empirical
evidence base that can inform mathematics instruction but efforts
to this end remain limited in Canada. I will discuss the role
of empirical evidence in shaping education practice and policy
and make suggestions for how we can achieve this in Canada, drawing
on recent and ongoing work.
Brief Bio: Dr. Tracy Solomon is a Developmental Psychologist,
Health Systems Research Scientist and Director of the Mathematics
Education Research Lab (MERL) in the Department of Psychiatry,
at the Hospital for Sick Children. She obtained an Honours Bachelor
of Science degree at Trinity College and a Master of Arts degree
at the University of Toronto, and a PhD at St. Andrews University
in the United Kingdom. She completed postdoctoral research at
the University of Chicago and was Research Assistant Professor
at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill before joining
the Hospital for Sick Children in 2007. She is keenly interested
in how research in cognitive science can inform mathematics instruction
in the classroom.
1:35-2:00PM
Viktor Freiman (Moncton University, NB):
Building new opportunities for (interdisciplinary and multi-sectoral)
collaboration and partnership: Wrapping up and a discussion.
Brief Bio: Dr Freiman, full professor at the Université
de Moncton, Faculté des sciences de l’éducation,
brings his almost 25 years of expertise in educational technology,
where he developed various virtual learning spaces within a Canadian
French minority community (such as the website CAMI, www.umoncton.ca/cami)
along with other innovative ICT projects in schools. In addition
to his national and international research contributions, he is
an executive member of the Canadian Mathematics Education Study
Group and was a co-organizer of the international MACAS symposium
as a result of the SSHRC funded International Development Grant
(in 2008-2010). Presently, Dr. Freiman is a Director of new SSHRC
funded Partnership Development Network CompéTICA (Compétences
en TIC en Atlantique, 2014-2017) which closely collaborates with
schools, school districts and ministries in the French Atlantic
Canada. He is a President of the APTICA association that has promoted
technology in different educational settings since 2000.
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