This paper examines the study abroad experiences of undergraduates, explores the students' values and perspectives on being global citizens, and expresses the way they think of themselves as members of the broader wo...This paper examines the study abroad experiences of undergraduates, explores the students' values and perspectives on being global citizens, and expresses the way they think of themselves as members of the broader world community. The research was conducted by interviewing students who had experiences studying abroad. It aims to open a debate about the meanings and understandings of global student mobility which is based on the opinions and values of college students who had either long or short-term study abroad experiences. The study shows that students have grasped the transformation of globalization and are concerned with their competitiveness in the global stage. They pointed out that their higher education courses are lacking in providing enough opportunities for students to encounter the broader world. Also, students often cope with culture shock issues such as the way they interact with classmates, the attitude of contributing toward society, and the barrier to communicate using local languages. Proposed changes can start with professors, for example, by bringing the reality of other cultures into the students' learning process, by showing the common values and competencies of modern college students, and by contributing to critical thinking.展开更多
In this paper, the authors present a modelling activity developed from a thematic project in the models and mathematical modelling class of the professional master's degree program in mathematics education at the Fed...In this paper, the authors present a modelling activity developed from a thematic project in the models and mathematical modelling class of the professional master's degree program in mathematics education at the Federal University of Ouro Preto. The students enrolled in the class chose to study the theme Brazilian Public Politics. After several debates regarding the theme, the students were separated into three groups and each group chose a subtheme to study. The themes were IDH (index of human development), minimum wage and social security. As an example, a description of the thematic project about the minimum wage in Brazil is presented. The principal results obtained in the study of this theme include a discussion about the potentialities of the theme as a classroom activity in different levels of schooling. As an educational activity, the thematic project demonstrated itself to be greatly relevant, since not only did it provide the learning possibility of mathematics related to the issues studied, but also promoted various discussions regarding the theme, which, in our conception, contributes to the social-critical development of the students. Finally, from the point of view of applied mathematics and mathematics education, the development of a modelling activity from thematic projects showed itself to be a good source of researches.展开更多
文摘This paper examines the study abroad experiences of undergraduates, explores the students' values and perspectives on being global citizens, and expresses the way they think of themselves as members of the broader world community. The research was conducted by interviewing students who had experiences studying abroad. It aims to open a debate about the meanings and understandings of global student mobility which is based on the opinions and values of college students who had either long or short-term study abroad experiences. The study shows that students have grasped the transformation of globalization and are concerned with their competitiveness in the global stage. They pointed out that their higher education courses are lacking in providing enough opportunities for students to encounter the broader world. Also, students often cope with culture shock issues such as the way they interact with classmates, the attitude of contributing toward society, and the barrier to communicate using local languages. Proposed changes can start with professors, for example, by bringing the reality of other cultures into the students' learning process, by showing the common values and competencies of modern college students, and by contributing to critical thinking.
文摘In this paper, the authors present a modelling activity developed from a thematic project in the models and mathematical modelling class of the professional master's degree program in mathematics education at the Federal University of Ouro Preto. The students enrolled in the class chose to study the theme Brazilian Public Politics. After several debates regarding the theme, the students were separated into three groups and each group chose a subtheme to study. The themes were IDH (index of human development), minimum wage and social security. As an example, a description of the thematic project about the minimum wage in Brazil is presented. The principal results obtained in the study of this theme include a discussion about the potentialities of the theme as a classroom activity in different levels of schooling. As an educational activity, the thematic project demonstrated itself to be greatly relevant, since not only did it provide the learning possibility of mathematics related to the issues studied, but also promoted various discussions regarding the theme, which, in our conception, contributes to the social-critical development of the students. Finally, from the point of view of applied mathematics and mathematics education, the development of a modelling activity from thematic projects showed itself to be a good source of researches.