Two Gestalts for Mathematics: Logical vs Computational
Kirby McMaster, Brian Rague, Trevor McMaster, Ashley Blake · 2008
Many educators have campaigned to increase mathematical content in the curriculum guide-lines for Information Systems. Unfortunately, mathematical concepts are often presented in a manner that conflicts with the general mental framework, or gestalt, of most IS students. But fortunately there is more than one gestalt in mathematics. This paper attempts to characterize and measure two gestalts for mathematics--one based on proving theorems and the other based on solving problems. Our methodology assumes that words used frequently in a text-book indicate the gestalt of the author. By comparing word frequencies in various mathemat-ics books, we developed Logical Math and Computational Math scales for measuring, respec-tively, the theorem-proving and problem-solving gestalts of the authors. We examine the con-cepts that form the core of each scale, and highlight the areas of mathematics that score high on each scale. Our findings have relevance in the development of approaches for teaching ma-thematical topics in computing courses.