Fracking: Drilling into Math and Social Justice

Hendrickson, Katie A.

doi:10.5951/mathteacmiddscho.20.6.0366

Cited by 6 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…A model is defined by Janice Gobert and Barbara Buckley (2000, p. 891) as a 'simplified representation of a system which concentrates attention on specific aspects of the system'. Models were used in multiple ways: to represent political processes (Rinfret and Pautz 2015; Stoddard and Chen 2018), mathematical processes (Hendrickson 2017), scientific processes (Peter Kennett and Natascha Engel 2018) and scientific explanations (Lombardi et al 2018a, b).…”

Section: Modelling Science and Politicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…and what percentage of the US uses fracking methods? (Hendrickson 2017), demonstrating how fracking can help students use mathematics come to a view on fracking.…”

Section: Modelling Science and Politicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The decision to include or exclude issues such as fracking based on the content of the current curriculum is both limited in the sense of restricting the teaching and learning of science to centrally dictated content statements from the qualification awarding body, and limiting, in that it obstructs access to contexts for application of scientific knowledge and skills which can be used to better understand and influence decisions taken in the world. There is a need to think creatively about curriculum connections between the environment and science, for example drawing on Hendrickson's (2017) example applying mathematical concepts and processes to answering students' questions about fracking.…”

Section: The Nature Of the Curriculum In Upper High School Sciencementioning

confidence: 99%

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The environment and politics in science education: the case of teaching fracking

Dunlop

Atkinson

Diepen

2021

Cult Stud of Sci Educ

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Hydraulic fracturing (‘fracking’), like other complex social and environmental issues, is a controversy about science which raises educational questions about how best to prepare young people to understand, respond to and, where necessary, act (or not) in response. It raises political questions. We present a state-of-the-art review of research literature on fracking and education using systematic strategies, with a view to finding out how it is framed in educational situations and how politics enters the science classroom. This serves as an illustrative case of how contested scientific and technological interventions with implications for the environment and society are treated in school science. The review is supplemented by interviews with 10 teachers of science and engineering working in schools or colleges near sites of operational exploratory fracking. We find that the research literature on teaching hydraulic fracturing is sparse, with only 25 studies relating to teaching and learning about fracking. Few studies (n = 7) relate to high school education. Where it features in science education, fracking is used as a context for interdisciplinarity and critical thinking, and lends itself to approaches using discussion, dialogue and modelling. Outcomes from fracking education range include knowledge gains and critical thinking. Teachers interviewed tended not to see a place for fracking in the curriculum or in the classroom and were averse to including politics in upper high school science education. Our analysis suggests depoliticization through absence of this specific complex environmental issue from the public (education) sphere, reinforced by the desire for ‘balance’ in high school science education and instrumental approaches to science education which prioritize assessed learning outcomes. Dealing with complex social and environmental issues such as hydraulic fracturing in the years of compulsory science schooling is necessary because scientific knowledge is necessary but not sufficient to prepare young people for the critical scientific literacy required to meet sustainable development goals. There is a need to assess and respond to the educational needs of local communities affected by industrial interventions such as fracking. These findings are likely to be relatable to other issues where there are local and global consequences of action or inaction and where the environment and health are pitted against economic and energy demands.

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Section: Modelling Science and Politicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…and what percentage of the US uses fracking methods? (Hendrickson 2017), demonstrating how fracking can help students use mathematics come to a view on fracking.…”

Section: Modelling Science and Politicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Nature Of the Curriculum In Upper High School Sciencementioning

confidence: 99%

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The environment and politics in science education: the case of teaching fracking

Dunlop

Atkinson

Diepen

2021

Cult Stud of Sci Educ

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“…This can be accomplished with a combination of getting to know the students and community well (Bartell, 2013; Leonard et al, 2010) and providing space for create spaces for students to make meaningful choices about topics or how they want to investigate the topics (Turner, 2003). For example, Hendrickson (2015) selected a topic that was currently being debated in the community (fracking), the class worked together to make a master list of questions they had about the topic, discussed which ones math could be used to answer, and then chose topics individually from the "approved" master list. Once the norm of discussing mathematics applications has been established and students have developed a sense of competence in discussing the social justice relevance of mathematics, teachers may wish to branch out into broader social justice issues.…”

Section: Inclusively Relevant Math Environments 28mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Similarly, Gutstein's (2006) approach to TLMSJ included individual or group write-ups in which students had to express their own views on the social issue, as well as weekly journal assignments for students to reflect on what they were learning. Hendrickson (2015) conducted a TLMSJ project related to mathematical modeling. She chose a topic that was a matter of current debate in the community (fracking), and the students generated a list of questions they had, discussed whether/how math could be used to answer INCLUSIVELY RELEVANT MATH ENVIRONMENTS 37 the question, and then students picked a question to answer.…”

Section: Points Of Synergymentioning

confidence: 99%

Fostering an Inclusively Relevant Mathematics Environment: The Case for Combining Social-Justice and Utility-Value Approaches

Priniski¹,

Thoman²

2020

Preprint

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Despite a common belief that mathematics is neutral and apolitical, a critical analysis reveals a legacy of mathematics education that has catered to the dominant (white, middle-class) culture, and served to stratify students along the lines of race, gender, socioeconomic status, and other dimensions of identity and difference. However, there is increasing awareness that mathematics education should be reformed to make it more relevant to all students’ lived experiences. In this paper we make the case for why the goal of increasing the relevance of math is closely related to (and can be achieved in service of) inclusion and equity. We discuss two very different approaches to promoting relevance in the classroom and suggest a way forward to combine those two approaches in pursuit of equity and inclusion. Specifically, we review two bodies of literature: utility-value interventions, which stem from the motivation literature and focus on personal relevance, and teaching and learning math for social justice, which stems from the critical mathematics education literature and focuses on cultural relevance. Our review suggests that these two literatures, which have been disparate in terms of their epistemological traditions, theoretical foundations, and methodological approaches, could be complementary and even synergistic in promoting inclusive math learning environments for all students.

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Mathematics is a Powerful Tool

Ciobanu¹

2016

Student Voice

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Fracking: Drilling into Math and Social Justice

Abstract: A community-focused lesson that allows students to explore and model their findings with mathematics can also produce students who are aware of the environment.

Cited by 6 publications

References 2 publications

The environment and politics in science education: the case of teaching fracking

The environment and politics in science education: the case of teaching fracking

Fostering an Inclusively Relevant Mathematics Environment: The Case for Combining Social-Justice and Utility-Value Approaches

Mathematics is a Powerful Tool

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