RUME 27
2025
Alexandria, Virginia
A Feminist Approach to Mathematical Modeling: Using Data Feminism for Task Design
Page: 1430
Feminist pedagogy humanizes learning for students by recognizing individuals as unique contributors within the social, cultural, and intellectual contexts. While feminism is readily used in subjects like humanities, less emphasis is placed in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). This study aims to highlight feminism in mathematics through seeking to understand how feminist principals can be incorporated into mathematical modeling tasks. With a focus on Data Feminism and Reframed Problem Contexts, two mathematical modeling tasks will be designed and assessed for alignment with the aforementioned theories. This will lead to discussion of what characterizes tasks as “feminist modeling”, with an evaluation between the advantages and disadvantages of “feminist” and “non-feminist” modeling tasks. Findings will illustrate the feasibility and benefits of incorporating “feminist modeling” in mathematics education. This could potentially pave a new path for designing and implementing mathematical modeling curricular that considers students lived experiences, emotion, and embodiment.