Molly Robinson 501 Presentation

Title: The Ratios of Racism: Using Proportional Reasoning to Make Sense of Populations and Congressional Representation

Abstract:
Ratios and proportions permeate every level of mathematics in school and many of the activities in our daily lives. We adjust recipes, share our resources, build budgets, evaluate media and political messaging, and more using rates, ratios, percentages, and fraction comparisons. Proportions can also help us make sense of inequities when we compare the over- or under-representation of a group to the overall population. In this way, proportional reasoning is essential to making sense of fairness and structural injustices. Yet, people struggle to take the proportional reasoning that they have practiced in decontextualized ways in mathematics classrooms and apply it as a tool to make sense of and advocate for fairness in the contexts that are meaningful to their lives and to society. Situating mathematics lessons in meaningful, social justice contexts is necessary if we want students of all ages to be able to use their learning to impact their worlds.