Mathematics Beyond the Classroom: A Guide for Expansive Learning in Out-of-School Environments

The aim of this book is to convey to teachers the potential of out-of-school environments for mathematics education. This book is primarily intended to inform teachers about the potential of out-of-school learning environments for mathematics learning/teaching. First of all, these environments will be introduced to teachers. It will be explained in which ways teachers can use these environments to teach mathematical knowledge and concepts. Further, for each chapter addressing challenges identified in the literature regarding the planning of instruction in out-of-school environments, examples of activities will be provided. Accompanied by insights from academics, these activities will illustrate how mathematical concepts can be effectively communicated to secondary school students through engagement with out-of-school environments. This book was written specifically to provide information on how to provide mathematics education in out-of-school environments. A different out-of-school environment will be determined in each department. In this environment, it is aimed to provide students with problem-solving skills by comparing them with original problems in real-life situations. In addition, collaborative education comes to the fore in the activities used in these environments and is expected to help students develop communication skills such as mathematical language. Apart from this, these activities also aim to provide students with some basic skills such as cultural, historical, economic, and nature awareness. The book's target audience includes teachers, educators/facilitators, teacher educators, curriculum developers, and early-career researchers as well as established researchers. Especially after Covid, the importance of mathematics education outside of school has increased. There are not many resources in the literature for teachers to provide mathematics education in out-of-school environments. First of all, in the book, the educational potential of different environments (museums, zoos, science centers, etc.) will be discussed within the framework of the literature, and then activities that can be used in mathematics education in these environments will be designed. This book will guide teachers theoretically and practically on how to provide education in out-of-school environments. It will also be the main source for researchers who want to conduct academic studies in out-of-school mathematics teaching.

Selçuk Alkan: Selçuk Alkan is currently working as a faculty member in the Department of Elementary Mathematics at Hatay Mustafa Kemal University in Türkiye/Hatay. He complated master's degree in Educational Curriculum and Instruction at Mustafa Kemal University in 2012. Then, in 2018, he received his doctorate degree in Mathematics Education at Anadolu University. His areas of interest include the use of technology in math education, educational digital game, history in mathematics education, out-of-school mathematics teaching. He has instructional experience in out-of-school learning environments.  

Gizem Karaali is originally from Istanbul, TURKEY, where she received undergraduate degrees in electrical engineering and mathematics, both from Boðaziçi University. She got her PhD in mathematics from the University of California Berkeley. She is currently professor of mathematics at Pomona College in Claremont, California, USA.  Karaali has published over a hundred articles as well as four edited volumes; most recently she edited, with Lily Khadjavi, the 2021 MAA Press book Mathematics and Social Justice: Focusing on Quantitative Reasoning and Statistics, which followed a 2019 book titled Mathematics and Social Justice: Resources for the College Classroom. She is a founding editor of Journal of Humanistic Mathematics, a peer-reviewed open-access journal that publishes articles, essays, fiction and poetry with an emphasis on the aesthetic, cultural, historical, literary, pedagogical, philosophical, psychological, and sociological aspects of mathematics. Karaali is also a senior editor of Numeracy, the journal of the National Numeracy Network, that focuses on scholarship on quantitative literacy.      

Mehtap TAŞTEPE: She works as a PhD Lecturer in the Department of Primary Mathematics Teaching at Sinop University. After graduating from Dokuz Eylül University, Department of Mathematics Teaching in 2009, She completed her master's degree in Mathematics Education at Marmara University in 2012. Then, in 2018, She received my doctorate degree in Mathematics Education at Anadolu University. In this process, the use of technology in mathematics education, operational conceptual understanding, fractions, microteaching applications, games in mathematics education, mathematics curriculum, etc. She worked on it. 17 of her articles, 3 national and 14 international, are available in the literature. She also has abstracts and full text presentations at different scientific congresses. She also has 12 book chapters and 3 book editorships in the international publishing house category. The books She edited are Game and Mathematics Education, Distance Mathematics Education and Comparative Secondary School Mathematics Teaching Programs. The editor teach "out-of-school mathematics teaching in secondary schools" course at the university.