Farmers do use mathematics: the case of animal feeding

Laia Saló i Nevado, Gunilla Holm and Leila Pehkonen

Abstract

This article presents findings from a study on the use of mathematics in the context of a farm. Ethnographic methods were used for the data collection and ethnomathematics provides the theoretical framework guiding the analysis. We present two different situations, as examples of ethnomathematics, in which the farmers make use of mathematics in daily life situations on a farm. The first situation has to do with how one of the farmers dealt with a barn as a space for feeding calves. The second situation is about the use of different objects as measuring tools.

Laia Saló i Nevado

Laia Saló i Nevado is doctoral student in the Institute of Behavioural Sciences at the University of Helsinki. Her research interests are focused on the everyday uses of mathematics and adults learning mathematics.

Gunilla Holm

Gunilla Holm is professor of education in the Institute of Behavioural Sciences at the University of Helsinki. Her research interests are focused on photography as a data collection method as well as issues in education related to race, ethnicity, class, and gender. She has published widely on multicultural education and on schooling in popular culture and has co-edited several books.

Leila Pehkonen

Leila Pehkonen is senior lecturer of education in the Institute of Behavioural Sciences at the University of Helsinki. Her current research interests include teaching and learning in higher education, mathematics education and teachers’ agency in vocational education.