South Dakota State University – Progress Report
- Principal Investigator: Dr. Christine Larson
- Topic of Minigrant: Create capstone mathematics course for pre-service middle school and high school teachers Duration of Mini-grant 12/15/03 - 12/15/05
- Date for Visit by PMET Monitor, given by PI: We will be teaching this course in Spring 2005. It will meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11:00-12:15. Possible dates for a visitor can be left open, however, we feel that a visit during a time when students are giving presentations might be the best. We will be able to give possible dates when we put together a more specific syllabus later this semester.
Activities and Projects
The major goal of this project is to develop a course for junior/senior mathematics education students that will provide them with a better understanding of the topics they will teach and an awareness of the connections between the various areas of mathematics.
To achieve these goals, the collaborators met and have started to design a syllabus. We also reviewed and chose a textbook to be used in conjunction with other resources. The textbook we chose was “Mathematics for High School Teachers: An Advanced Perspective” by Usiskin, Peressini, Marchisotta, and Stanley. The course will be offered in the spring semester of 2005. We also have picked specific topics to be covered by other professors in the mathematics department, toreally help make the connections to the other areas of mathematics.
Another goal of the project is to provide these prospective teachers with guidance in the use of sophisticated technological tools. In designing the syllabus, the location of the classroom, and the specific goals of the course, the collaborators have chosen several softwareprograms such as The Geometer's Sketchpad, Fathom, and others along with other technologies such as calculators, to be used in the teaching of the course. Students will be required to give presentations on the content, and use appropriate technology in their presentations.
A final goal of the course is for these students to have a sound understanding of the many areas of middle school and high school mathematics. To achieve this goal, a teacher from the high school will be part of both the planning and implementation of this course.