Complexity theory and the mathematics lab-classroom
Complicity: An International Journal of Complexity and Education, 1 (1):
57-71 (2004)Abstract
The main thesis of a recent article by Davis and Simmt (2003) is that “mathematics
classes are adaptive and self-organizing complex systems”. This thesis is intriguing.
It helps explain a phenomenon teachers often witness—the spontaneous
emergence of a special learning community in a particular class. And it raises the
question—if this thesis applies to all mathematics classes how do the additional
elements of a computer lab environment affect the evolution of the “learning system”?
In this article three technology experiences have been analyzed in light of
the thesis, to determine how software, organization, and task impact the blossoming
of a complex learning system in the lab-classroom.