Mathematics For Measurement:
A mathematics course for practical-arts students

This thesis by Hunter Ellinger (hunter@ellinger.org, hunter.ellinger.org) was presented on December 6, 2002 to the faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Texas at Austin in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts.  The reviewing faculty members were Walter Stroup (supervisor) and Susan Empson.

Abstract

A one-semester college course that examines several mathematical topics unified by the theme of measurement was developed and offered at a community college.  This “math for practical arts” course is similar to the more common “math for liberal arts” course in not requiring college-level prerequi­sites and in not being intended as part of a sequence; it differs by its selection of topics to support the “measurement” theme and by its agenda of showing the usefulness of mathematics in expressing practical knowledge and in understanding why some practical techniques work.  An analysis is presented of the need for the course, the drawbacks for these purposes both of the usual “math for liberal arts” course and of typical presentations of the covered topics in existing courses, and of the design feedback provided by trial sections of the course on sets of instructional materials on approximate numbers, trigonometry, and measurement theory.  The analysis of related theory includes novel applications to education of elements of the evolved-systems theories developed by Stuart Kauffman.

 

 

 

The goal is to ascend, from both the particular and the abstract, to the concrete.
Karl Marx, as quoted in Lave & Wenger (1991, p. 38), who go on to say (p.109)
"For newcomers then the purpose is not to learn from talk ..., it is to learn to talk ..."

Dedication

This thesis is dedicated to the memory of my brother Duncan, whose combination of intellectual breadth, practical orientation, and interest in useful innovation stands as an exemplar of the possibilities of harmonious and fruitful interaction, in both thought and action, between the practical and liberal arts.

Acknowledgement

This thesis represents some of the fruits of a long history of discussions with Mary R. Parker on the interaction between mathematics education and the practical use of mathematical methods and ideas in many contexts and at many levels, culminating in collaborative development of the course supported in part by the materials reported here.




The major subsections of the thesis, which follow in the order shown below in the printed document, have been broken out as separate web documents:


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Vita

Hunter Dean Ellinger was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the second of nine children of Winfield Donald Ellinger and Ruth Hunter Ellinger.  He graduated from Austin HS in Austin, Texas and earned a B. A. in Mathematics (minor Physics) from UT Austin.  He received Peace Corps Training as a Mathematics/Science teacher at Columbia University Teachers College, and spent three years teaching in south-central Nigeria.

On return to the United States, he led computer programming in support of the experimental program at the Center For Nuclear Studies of UT Austin for several years.  He later led and directed software development for Scientific Measurement Systems, Inc., (and its predecessor SKM, Inc.), also participating in design of x-ray measurement equipment as chief scientist.  He is an author of several patents related to that work, and of one related to later work on an internet-based load-testing system developed by Exemplar Technologies. 

He has been involved in various community organizations, specializing in financial analysis/planning and in policy development. He also has led several informal education projects in math, science, and programming (often involving his four children and their schoolmates).  He was elected as a trustee of Austin Community College in 1992 and served in that position until 2000.

Permanent address:  1622 Waterston Avenue, Austin Texas 78703, USA