History of Number

An Overview of the Studies, Papua New Guinea, Oceania, Languages and Migrations.- The Languages Studied by Lean and his Analysis of Counting Systems.- 2-Cycle Systems Including Some Digit Tally Systems.- Body-Part Tally Systems.- 5-Cycle Systems.- 10-Cycle Systems.- 4- and 6-Cycle Systems.- Number and Counting in Context Including Classifications.- Testing the Diffusion Theory.- Towards a Prehistory of Number.- Indigenous and Western Knowledge.- Integration of Indigenous Knowledge in Formal Learning Environments.- Rewriting the History of Number from Papua New Guinea and Oceania Evidence.

Kay Owens chose a lecturing position at Charles Sturt University in Dubbo in the School of Teacher Education in 2003 after serving for 15 years at the University of Western Sydney where she was a Senior Lecturer. During that period she gained her PhD in mathematics education on young children engaged in spatial problem solving. She has a long career internationally with 15 years in Papua New Guinea where she held a lectureship in mathematics at the PNG University of Technology and a Head of Department position at Balob Teachers College. She was also selected for a Swedish lecturer exchange to Gothenburg University for the enhancement of tertiary education in that country and for a Masters Course at the Inter-University Institute in Macau. Kay has continued her research working with colleagues in Papua New Guinea and Sweden with a focus on ethnomathematics (mathematics, language and culture) and space, geometry and measurement education. Her international projects have been funded byUSA National Science Foundation, AusAid and her universities competitive grants while her local and state projects have had funding from state and federal governments and non-government agencies and her universities.

Patricia Paraide is an associate professor in Education Research at Divine Word University. She received her PhD at Deakin University in 2009. She has published a number of papers on education in Papua New Guinea, including mathematics education, and has presented at several conferences internationally. Her expertise and interests include language and linguistics, literacy across the lifespan, and education and indigenous knowledge.