Math Circles: Innovative Communities for Doing Mathematics

Math circles have a tradition going back over more than a hundred years in Bulgaria and Russia. In recent years, math circles have sprung up all over the United States. They are informal institutions outside the traditional systems of primary, secondary and postsecondary education in which students do, learn, and discover mathematics, generally under the guidance of professional mathematicians. The participants range from kindergarten age to mathematics teachers. This article describes some characteristic features of math circles and discusses the experiences of a specific math circle designed to connect high school age students with research mathematics and research mathematicians. This math circle serves as a new means to widen and strengthen the pipeline into higher mathematics. It is also a promising forum for developing novel curricula, testing new instructional methods, and for conducting teaching experiments