Mathematics is a vital intellectual heritage of human beings, but few are aware of its relationship with culture. This study attempted to identify the constituents of mathematical culture in terms of the interrelationship between mathematics and culture, particularly the interaction of mathematics with Eastern and Western culture. We claim that mathematics in culture and culture in mathematics are the two main facets of mathematical culture. Furthermore, though the term “mathematical literacy” is well-known by the general public in Taiwan, its components and constituents are interpreted differently in the educational literature. In this study, we conducted an international comparison by reviewing and organizing relevant literature discussing mathematical literacy, and clarified the vagueness of similar concepts to find commonalities. This study then defined literacy for mathematical culture by integrating mathematical culture and mathematical literacy. Hopefully educating students in literacy for mathematical culture may increase students’understanding of the nature of mathematics and their positive attitudes toward the learning of mathematics. In addition, we propose two exemplary cases, one for mathematics in culture and the other for culture in mathematics, to illustrate the prototype of the literature for mathematical culture. We hope that our works of defining the literacy for mathematical culture, discussing the constituents of literacy for mathematical culture, and analyzing the exemplary cases of mathematical culture may provide as a theoretical framework for the teaching, assessment, and empirical study of mathematical culture.
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Discourse on the Constituent of Literacy for Mathematical Culture in Terms of the Relationship between Mathematics and Culture - Theoretical and Case Analysis
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