Developing a Social Justice Work Group with your SAC Ann Cary and Emiliano Vega PCC Mathematics Faculty Friday, February 1, 2013

 Two focal points:  Increasing students’ ability to think critically and understand the world around them through a mathematical study of social justice issues  Equity in the classroom and increased support and mentorship for underrepresented groups in the STEM fields

Do math and social justice even make sense together? I thought it was just for funny jokes and smashing symbols around. What you mean to tell me we can empower people with it to make changes?!?!?!

How the Work Group Evolved Inspiration + Frustration = Work Group We were inspired by what we saw at the first Math Education and Social Justice Conference, but frustrated that the existing curriculum could not easily be adapted to fit the community college classroom Our driving question was: “How can we incorporate these important topics into our mathematics courses in a way that is engaging, empowering and still appropriately sensitive to our diverse population?”

In the Beginning… Set up ground rulesground rules Met once a month off campus Read current resources Collected and discussed data: Traffic stop data and racial profiling in Portland Traffic stop data and racial profiling in Portland CO 2 data over the past century CO 2 data over the past century International prison data Comparing property and income taxes in OR and WA Comparing property and income taxes in OR and WA

Ann looked at an application involving desegregation in Math 111 (College Algebra) and a mathematical exploration of the Deep Water Horizon Oil Spill in Math 252 (Calculus II) Emiliano did a project in Math 105 (Math Explorations) involving gun violence

Yonkers, New York Exponential Functions Application NY Times Article Class Activity

How did it go? They loved it! They were excited by the fact that it was a real story and that the math we were studying was needed to really understand the fines imposed on Yonkers, NY. Did it go anywhere? No. Were they motivated or empowered to make changes in their community? Not directly. Exposure is a good first step though.

Deep Water Horizon Oil Spill Calculus II Project Project Outline

How did it go this time? Students loved that the math they were learning was relevant to what they were hearing on the news. They were challenged and intrigued by the process of finding and justifying their own data set and comparing their calculations with those of a government agency. Did they think critically? Some students did, but not all of them. They needed more guidance regarding this. Did it change the way they look at math? Probably. Did it change the way they look at the world? Not likely. Could this project be improved upon? Absolutely.

A Numerical Look at Gun Violence Origin Setup A project inspired by Jessica Hopson, a teacher in Portland, and a workshop of hers seen at a Math and Social Justice Conference. The questions posed were… “How does gun violence affect children and teens?” or, “What state in the U.S. appeared to be the most violent in regards to firearm death of children and teens?” This was a project done in a mathematics exploration class so we were able to bring math and statistics into our discussions and research.

Well, which state is it!!?

Ok, what do you say now…?

Results and Challenges After being given the map each group made their choice and supported it with two graphical pictures. Once given the table of data, they were asked to use it to reinforce their first choice or to change and defend their new choice using topics from statistics. Finally each group conducted a survey at PCC to gain more knowledge about what students at PCC thought of gun violence in relation to teens and children and hopefully to gain evidence that supported their view. Issues with this project were: Bad grammar… Not a lot of attention to detail for graphs, etc. Lack of interest!

Engaging With Other Disciplines With two or three other people, discuss the following: Yonkers, NY Application How would you approach this problem in order to maintain sensitivity within the classroom? Can you think of a way to incorporate more critical thinking into this application? Try writing one “open-ended” question. Deepwater Horizon Application How can this project be laid out so that students engage in a deeper level of critical thinking? Gun Violence Application How would you have worked with some of these issues? How would you have brought this topic up in a way that would garner more interest?

Social Justice and [Insert Your Discipline Here] ? With two or three other people (from disciplines besides your own!) discuss the following: What social justice topics are relevant to your discipline? If these are not already a part of your curriculum, how would you incorporate them? What overlap could these topics have with mathematics? What tips, techniques and approaches does your discipline utilize when addressing topics that are potentially volatile? How do we take it to the next level? How do we encourage students to take their knowledge and curiosity outside the classroom?

Ann Cary Emiliano Vega This presentation and a list of resources and references is available at: