Abstract
The “modern mathematics” reform (New Math) in Latin America is described, with an emphasis on its main international agents on the continent: The Inter-American Committee of Mathematics Education (CIAEM) and the conferences that this organization nurtured. A distinction between the first four conferences that tried to propagate the reform and the fifth one is documented. In the latter, a separation from the New Math was evidenced and it began a new stage in the evolution of these agents. The particular experience of the reform in Costa Rica is included not only to provide details of a special case but to highlight characteristics that to some extent were also present in other countries of the region. The reform in Costa Rica will be contrasted with a new and very ambitious mathematical reform that the country launched in the second decade of the twenty-first century. It can be seen as a “tale of two reforms.” The concluding remarks summarize some results that New Math (ideas and developments, or reactions toward them) provoked so far as the teaching of mathematics was concerned. Finally, comments on some elements of the current situation of CIAEM are offered.
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Notes
- 1.
See Chap. 3 in this volume.
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Acknowledgment
I thank Patrick Scott (Professor Emeritus, New Mexico State University) for the editing of the English of this chapter.
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Ruiz, A. (2023). New Math in Latin America (and a Glimpse at Costa Rica). In: De Bock, D. (eds) Modern Mathematics. History of Mathematics Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-11166-2_19
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