Politics and aesthetics of museum mathematics: the dissensual curriculum of early 21st century mathematics exhibitions

Abstract

Museum-based mathematics exhibitions are increasingly prominent but under-theorized learning environments. In this study we analyze the curriculum of United States mathematics exhibitions developed in the early 21 st century in terms of their complex suggestions about the nature of mathematics and mathematical sense-making. We apply Rancière's notions of politics and aesthetics to explore what we describe as dissensus present in the texts, images, and multisensory exhibits of several major mathematics exhibitions. Our analysis characterizes this dissensus as a paradoxical mix of alternative and familiar mathematical aesthetics. On the one hand, we identify an alternative aesthetics emphasizing everyday ubiquity, sensuality, and informal sense-making. At the same time, we identify a countervailing emphasis on dominant notions of mathematics as esoteric, immaterial, and formal-symbolic. Museum mathematics efforts sometimes describe themselves as expanding how the public views and defines mathematics. A close examination of the exhibitions in this study reveals a complex picture, in which dominant and alternative forms of mathematics are co-present. The analysis suggests that museum-based mathematics researchers and practitioners view their work as containing political and aesthetic dimensions that can disrupt or reify what society counts as mathematics.

Matemati̇k Öğretmen Adaylarinin Okul Dişi Öğrenme Ortamlarinda Matemati̇k Öğreti̇mi̇ne Yöneli̇k Bakiş Açilari

“…These findings are also complementary to the findings of Kisiel (2005), in which Kisiel examined science teachers' motivations during visits to science centers (learning science concepts, having novel experiences, supporting students' interest and motivation, and engaging in enjoyable activities). However, they did not seem to pay attention to the physical or aesthetic aspects of such environments (Eshach, 2007;Kelton & Nemirovsky, 2022). This could be due to the fact that they did not have any physical experience of visiting a mathematical museum or experience of teaching mathematics in out-of-school learning environments during the course because the course was online.…”

“…Out-of-school mathematics education, informal mathematics education, and outdoor mathematics education are often used interchangeably. Studies on out-of-school mathematics education have focused on a variety of topics such as describing informal learning in mathematics education (Nemirovsky et al, 2017;Pattison et al, 2017), discussing the potential strengths and limitations of informal mathematics education (Pattison et al, 2017), connecting ways of in and out-of-school learning (Kelton, 2021), examining the educator's role in supporting mathematics learning (Pattison et al, 2017), exploring visitor experiences (Cooper;2011;Gyllenhaal, 2006), the nature of mathematical thinking and learning in certain contexts of out-of-school education (Kus & Cakiroglu, 2022;Nemirovsky et al, 2013;Nemirovsky, 2018), political and aesthetic dimensions of mathematics museums (Kelton & Nemirovsky, 2022); the ways of using materials in museums (Pattison, Ewing, & Frey, 2012), embodied interactions to make sense of a mathematical exhibition (Kelton & Ma, 2020). In the Turkish education context, most studies have been conducted in the field of science education (e.g., Çiğdemoğlu et al, 2019;Ertaş-Kılıç & Şen, 2014;Şen et al, 2021).…”