Thinking inside the post: investigating the didactical use of mathematical internet memes

"Psychology and technology in mathematics education" conference.
March 18-21, 2019, Moscow, Russia.
education.yandex.ru/pme/
Thinking inside the post: investigating the didactical use of mathematical internet memes. Research report by Giulia Bini, University of Turin (Italy).
(to watch the same video in Russian, please click here: • Thinking inside the po... )
The study was carried out in the framework of the research field studying the links between emotions and mathematical thinking.
Meme as a way to describe a unit of cultural interaction was first coined by Richard Dawkins in 1976. In an era of ubiquitous Internet access, internet memes that go viral on social networks may use as a starting point not only politics or family relationships, but also science - including mathematical concepts.
Giulia Bini explains what meme components are and what kind of information is needed in order to decipher the content of the meme and laugh, and how this can be used to teach mathematics. Memes rely on metaphors, and in case of mathematical memes, symbolic representation of mathematical meanings and laws is added. Importantly, memes are also social objects which generate ‘likes’ and comments, and in those comments people often focus on the mathematical part and discuss the relevant concepts.
The study conducted at the University of Turin showed that absolutely all students either create memes or exchange them. The data was then compared with data from educational experiments in high school. The results show that the emotions people experience when looking at memes play an important role in the educational process.
The report also includes details concerning the methodology of the study and the perception of specific mathematical concepts through memes.