RUME, San Diego, February 2007

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From February 21st to 24th, David was invited to attend the Conference on Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education (RUME) and present one of four keynote talks on his theoretical framework Embodiment, Symbolism and Formalism in Undergraduate Mathematics Education (the paper is here, the overheads here). This was an opportunity to have in-depth discussions with many friends old and new.
He also met an old pal from school in the fifties, who had moved from England to settle in California ...


David Tall with Marilyn Carlson (Arizona State).

Deep in an amusing discussion with Michael Oehrtman (Arizona State).

Rafael Núñez (San Diego) ...

... debating
embodiment and gesture.

Guershon Harel (San Diego), my friend since I was on sabbatical at Purdue, Indiana, where he was in 1990.

Larry Sowder (San Diego State), Guershon’s co-author on the theory of Proof Schemes.

Pat Thompson (Arizona State), my hero, since we first met in 1986 in my home in Kenilworth and stayed up all night talking about software for mathematics learning.

Joel Hillel, my good pal who looked after us when I was on Sabbatical at Concordia, Montreal in 1979, and interviewed my then 11-year old daughter Rebecca as part of his research.

Bob Speiser and Chuck Walter from Brigham Young University.

Chris Rasmussen (San Diego State) has his own ideas about differential equations.

Keith Weber makes a point.

José Giraldo (Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi) talks about limits.

Pablo, my final PhD student, shows me something good (as always). I believe a research student is worthy of a PhD when he or she teaches his or her supervisor something essentially new.

Sepidah Stewart (Auckland University), my intellectual grand-daughter (the doctoral student of my first PhD student, Michael Thomas).

Michelle Zandieh (Arizona State) speaks about compression of knowledge. Wow! She is talking about something that is truly deep in math education.

David Hassan and Eric Hsu say hi!


David is introduced by Vilma Mesa at the beginning of his keynote speech with a joke about the length of his responses to short questions.

The audience for the keynote with Guershon Harel and Sepideh Stewart in the front row.

The framework of my keynote:

After the keynote lecture with Ji Yeon Lee, Jee Hyun Park and Jung Sook Park from Seoul National University.

with Lance Burger (Barbara Edward’s PhD student) from Oregon State.


Antonio Olimpio (Syracuse University) – a link with my Brazilian friends.

Laurie Edwards (St Mary’s California), Joel Hillel and his wife, as we wait to hear the keynote lecture of Rafael Núñez.

Ami Mamalo (Simon Fraser, Canada) researching into students’ conceptions of infinity.

Shandy Hauk from Northern Colorado introduces her student David to David...

José Giraldo (Texas), Juan Pablo Mejia-Ramos, and Vilma Mesa (from Michigan)

... Kathy Tomlinson from Wisconsin...

Pablo Mejia-Ramos gives his lecture and responds to questions.

Time to chat with Cassandra Brown (San Diego State), Joel Hillel (standing) from Montreal and Keith Weber from Rutgers.

with Arlene Evandelista from Arizona State Uni.

David Hassan insists on a different interpretation...
On Sunday February 25th, John and Anna Hobbs joined me and we dined in San Diego Old Town. John was my classmate in Wellingborough Grammar School. class 1A, 1952, and his wife Anna (née Bugby) attended the Wellingborough High School back in the fifties at the same time as my wife Sue. They now live in California.

What would our old mate Fred Nutt say about this place? If you point at the singer, you might find out...


Ready to go into Fred’s Mexican Cafe.

Feasting on a Steak Rancheros, washed down with a Dos XX beer and a Horny Grandma Marguerita.