Conference Programme

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in cooperation with

The Third World Forum,

The Hong Kong Institute of Education

The Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers,

The Virtual School for the Gifted

Autograph

Ansett Australia

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International Program Committee

ChairmanDr. Alan Rogerson, Mathematics in Society Project (Poland/Australia).

Prof Khaled Abuloum, University of Jordan (Jordan).

Professor Roberto Baldino, UNESP (Brazil).

Dr. Andy Begg , University of Waikato (New Zealand).

Dr. Donna F. Berlin, The Ohio State University (USA)

Prof. Dr. Werner Blum, University of Kassel (Germany).

Professor Ubiratan D'Ambrosio, UNICAMP, (Brazil).

Professor Bruno D'Amore, University of Bolgna (Italy).

Prof Dr William Ebeid, Ain Shams University (Egypt).

Prof. Omar Hassan El Sheikh, University of Jordan (Jordan).

Professor Paul Ernest, University of Exeter (UK).

Dr Hanan Innabi, University of UAE (UAE)

Prof. Dr. Gabriele Kaiser, Hamburg University (Germany).

Dr. Madeleine J.Long, American Association for the Advancement of Science (USA).

Prof Dr Fayez Mina, Ain Shams University (Egypt).

Prof Nicolina Malara, University of Modena (Italy)

Prof Dr M. Ali M. Nassar, Institute of National Planning (Egypt).

Professor Lionel Pereira Mendoza, National Institute of Education (Singapore).

Prof. Angela Pesci, University of Pavia (Italy)

Prof. Medhat Rahim, Lakehead University (Canada).

Professor Filippo Spagnolo, University of Palermo (Italy).

Professor Dr. Alicia Villar Icasuriaga, Instituto deProfesores"Artigas" (IPA) (Uruguay)

Dr. Arthur L. White,The Ohio State University ( USA)

Professor. Wacek Zawadowski, Warsaw University (Poland).

Local Organizing Committee

Margaret Lupi, Cairns State High School, Queensland.

Ian Luxton, Head of Mathematics, The Southport School, Southport, Queensland.

Rob Money, Past President of the Mathematical Association of Victoria.

Ken Payne, QAMT Cairns Branch, Queensland.

Dr. Anthony Sofo, Victoria University, Melbourne, Victoria.

Kathryn Weldon, Treasurer, QAMT Cairns Branch, Queensland.

Foreword

This volume contains papers presented at the International Conference on New Ideas in Mathematics Education held in Palm Cove, Australia from August 19-24, 2001. This Conference arose out of the work of the Mathematics Education into the 21^st Century Project - a non-commercial international educational initiative founded in 1986. The Project is dedicated to the improvement of mathematics education worldwide through the publication and dissemination of innovative ideas. Previous successful Conferences have been held in Cairo, Egypt (1999) and in Amman, Jordan (2000) and future conferences are planned for Sicily, Finland, Mexico and Canada.

The Mathematics Education into the 21^st Century Project is fortunate in having AUTOGRAPH as our Major Sponsor for the conference. We are also grateful for the support and cooperation of The Third World Forum, The Hong Kong Institute of Education, The Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers, The Cairns Branch of QAMT, The Virtual School for the Gifted and all our other numerous sponsors.

It has been my pleasure to read all of these contributions and to edit them for the Proceedings. The overall purpose of the editing was, as far as possible, to retain the individual styles, in line with our minimal instructions for the preparation of papers. These Proceedings contain contributions mostly in alphabetical order of the Presenter(s). Plenary papers at the conference were given by Gail Burrill, Doug Clarke, Medhat Rahim and by Rudiger Vernay and Regina Puscher. Please note that some diagrams and illustrations have had to be converted to black and white but were clearer in their original full colour.

I sincerely thank all of the contributors for their time and effort. It should be clear from the variety and quality of the papers in these Proceedings that the conference has attracted many innovative mathematics educators from around the world. These Proceedings will be a useful step in reviewing past work and looking ahead to the future. They will also serve as a stepping stone for the new and exciting International Initiative, The Super Course of the Future, which held its first planning meeting in Poland in June, 2001. For further information about this initiative and the work of our Project, please email arogerson@vsg.edu.au

Dr. Alan Rogerson

Chaiman of the Programme Committee