Personal Empowerment and Learning Aspects Involved in Personal Empowerment

This presentation concentrates on the aspects and experiences of undergraduate students ’ personal empowerment. It considers the powerful role of mathematics in enhancing undergraduate students ’ general thinking and learning skills, creativity, independence, self-confidence and personal agency. These features of empowerment will be outlined theoretically and also by using the data from interviews with undergraduate students gathered both in The United States and in Finland. Additionally, some elements of mathematics instruction needed in this kind of an empowerment will be discussed