Mathematics 67- 490 (3 credits)
Senior Seminar for Elementary and Middle School Programs
Fall 2006
Instructor:
Dr. John Beam
Swart 103
424-3012
beam@uwosh.edu
Office Hours:
MWF 1:45-2:45
Also by Appointment
Prerequisites: You must have completed 110 (Number Systems), 211 (Geometry and
Measurement), and 217 (Data Exploration), each with a grade of C or better, and you must have
completed at least two of the four electives in the math minor.
Course Objectives: The first half of this course is centered on understanding and exploring
three big questions:
·
What is mathematical behavior?
·
How do humans learn mathematics?
·
How should mathematics be taught?
Based on our reading and discussion of work on these questions, you will better understand the
nature of mathematics, experience the current national debate in mathematics education, gain a
background in the research literature on the learning and teaching of elementary and middle
grades mathematics, and learn the NCTM National Standards for school mathematics for Grades
5-8.
In the second half of the course, we will explore elementary and middle school mathematics
curriculum materials, and you will have the opportunity to plan and present mathematics lessons
based on those materials to the class. The mathematical content of this course will include topics
from Number Systems, Geometry, and Data Exploration and Analysis. We will use the
curriculum materials to draw connections among those topics and to discuss the learning and
teaching of mathematics.
Texts and Materials:
1) Principles and Standards for School Mathematics (2000). NCTM, Reston, VA. (This text
is available free online for a three-month period at http://standards.nctm.org/.) You may
also purchase a hard copy at the site if you prefer to do so.
2) Readings for Math 490 by Beam, Seaman and Szydlik (available at the bookstore).
3) Connecting Mathematical Ideas: Middle School Video Cases to Support Teaching and
Learning by Jo Boaler and Cathy Humphreys (2005). Heinemann, Portsmouth, NH.
You can purchase this at www.heinemann.com.
We will also use a collection of units from NSF-funded curriculum projects for the elementary
and middle grades. I will provide these to you.
Evaluation:
Research Paper: You will write a 6-8-page research paper on a topic of your choice, motivated
by the class readings or discussions from the first 5 weeks of the course, and supported by
scholarly research literature. This paper is worth 20% of your course grade.
Lesson Presentations: Working in teams of two or three people, you will prepare and present
two 45-minute hands-on lessons to the class, based on provided curriculum materials. Each
lesson (along with the accompanying written reports) will be worth 20% of your course grade.
Journal and Participation: In this seminar course, we will often discuss prepared readings.
Your careful reading of assigned chapters and papers, and your daily preparation for and
contribution to these class discussions is very important. It is your obligation to demonstrate to
me that you have both completed and thought about the readings and assignments (otherwise I
will assume you have not). You will do this in two ways: first, you will contribute
knowledgeably to the class conversation; second, you will keep a journal (with dated entries) that
I will collect periodically. In that journal, you will write ideas, questions, comments, and other
things relevant to the class content. The journal is worth 20% of your course grade.
Additional Written Assignments: Finally, we will have several smaller written assignments or
problems to solve. These will compose the remaining 20% of your grade.
Summary:
20%
20%
20%
20%
20%
Research Paper in mathematics education
Lesson Presentation #1
Lesson Presentation #2
Journal and Participation
Additional Written Assignments
Grading Scale: The course grading scale will be approximately as follows:
A
B
C
D
F
90 - 100% of the weighted course points
80 - 90%
70 - 80%
60 - 70%
0 - 60%
The intermediate grade of AB may be assigned near the cutoff between A and B, and BC may be
assigned near the cutoff between B and C.