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(2013) . Doing Mathematics in the Workplace. A Brief Review of Selected Literature. Adults Learning Mathematics: An International Journal, 8(1), 7-19  \nDoing Mathematics in the Workplace A Brief Review of Selected Literature1  \nGail E. FitzSimons  \nUniversity of Melbourne  \n\u003C[gfi@unimelb.edu.au](gfi@unimelb.edu.au)>  \nAbstract  \nThe aim of this review of selected literature on research into mathematics in the workplace is to offer researchers from the field of adult mathematics education an opportunity to become more familiar with this specialised area. In recent years much progress has been made, building on earlier research, but with increasingly nuanced understandings. In particular, sociocultural activity theory has played an important role, and several articles reviewed here have drawn on this theory. Their focus has been on gaining a comprehensive understanding of what workers actually do involving aspects of mathematics, set in the rich context of a functioning workplace. This encompasses taking account of workplace artefacts (technological & otherwise), various forms of communication (verbal & non-verbal), different forms of skills, and even the concept of boundary crossing; most importantly, how workers learn  \nKey words: workplace mathematics, technological competence, sociocultural activity theory  \nIntroduction  \nThe world of work has, throughout history and across cultures, incorporated mathematical thinking and communication into its tools, symbols, and organisational practices, as part of the production of goods and services. However, for the most part, the main objective is to get the job done as efficiently as possible, to satisfy a range of stakeholders, be they customers (external, internal, upstream, downstream), employers, shareholders, patients, audiences, and so forth.  \nThere is no definitive workplace. Workplaces can range from a single trader (or tradesperson) right through to branches of multinational companies; workplace activities may be located at fixed sites, sites varying from job to job, or conducted virtually; work may be officially registered and recognised, or part of the informal economy. The work undertaken can vary in intensity, complexity, and responsibility; weekly hours can vary, and employment can be fulltime, part-time, or casualised. Work regimes themselves are not necessarily desirable for  \n1 This article is an extended version of a paper presented at ALM 19, Auckland, New Zealand, in June 2012.  \nVolume 8(1)– April 2013 7  \nFitzSimons, G. Doing Mathematics in the Workplace.  \nindividuals: too little or too much work, too many hours or too few, infrequent or unpredictable calls on their labours. Similarly, conditions of work can vary within and between workplaces. Mathematics-containing workplace technologies in the form of tools or equipment, from everyday implements to highly technical robotic or other instrumentated substitutes for human labour, often vastly exceed human capacities in their speed, accuracy, memory capacity, tolerance of dangerous or extreme physical conditions, and so forth. Besides being embedded in technological artefacts, mathematics is also rendered invisible in technologies of management, such as Quality Control [QC] regimes, standard operating procedures [SOPs], or other prescribed routines (FitzSimons, 2002) . Formal mathematics —the academic mathematics familiar to most researchers—often only becomes visible in situations of breakdown.  \nEarly research generally tried to identify and map workplace mathematics onto existing school mathematics curricula—itself an arbitrary selection from the discipline (Ernest, 1991) . School mathematics, regarded as a proxy for academic mathematics, was taken as the norm, and workplace mathematical activity was accorded lower status. The earliest researchers tended to focus only on that mathematics which was visible (Harris & Evans, 1991), ignoring not only the crystallised mathematics embedded in workplac","cbCaij1Li6TbZaAg","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaij1Li6TbZaAg","pdf",279261,13,"English","# Abstract\n# Introduction\n# Research Methodologies and Important Theoretical Concepts Used in the Workplace Literature Reviewed","[{\"question\":\"What is the purpose of the literature review?\",\"answer\":\"The review aims to help researchers become more familiar with research on mathematics in the workplace and synthesize what knowledge has been gained over the last decade or so.\"},{\"question\":\"Why is sociocultural activity theory important in the reviewed studies?\",\"answer\":\"The article notes that sociocultural activity theory has played an important role, and several reviewed articles draw on it to understand what workers actually do.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the workplace context shape mathematical activity compared with school mathematics?\",\"answer\":\"In school, mathematical skills and techniques are the focus of learning activity, while in the workplace mathematics is often treated as a tool within goal-oriented work and may be noticed mainly when breakdown occurs.\"}]","Doing Mathematics in the Workplace - A Brief Review of Selected Literature | PDF",1792065517,33]