Resumen

RAMOS, Madalena. The social representations of mathematics: beauty or the beast?. Sociologia, Problemas e Práticas [online]. 2004, n.46, pp.71-90. ISSN 0873-6529.

Every day, in the media or in conversations among friends, we come across references to mathematics and, in particular, to the failure in school associated with it and the "aversion" that a fairly large number of people feel towards it. For any attempt to understand how this negative assessment of the subject has built up, knowledge of the social representations of mathematics appears indispensable. From a questionnaire survey among a sample of 9th grade pupils in the municipality of Lisbon it was possible to conclude that the salient characteristic of their relationship with mathematics is that a sense of insecurity arising from the difficulty of the subject coexists with a recognition of its importance and usefulness.

Palabras clave : Social representations; mathematics; education.

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