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Union College, Lincoln, NE – Progress Report

• Principal Investigator: Larry Ray
• Topic of Minigrant: Redesign Mathematics Courses for Pre-service Secondary Mathematics Teachers
• Duration of Minigrant: December 15, 2003 - December 15, 2005
• Date for Visit by PMET Monitor, given by PI: Because Jim Lewis is located at UNL across town from UC, we could be visited almostany time. Possibly his involvement with our MET Workshop and related discussion will take care of the visit. Progress can be seen at: http://www.ucollege.edu/laray/pmet/pmethome.htm

Activities and Projects

1. Determine most challenging concepts in secondary math Two questionnaires sent to mathematics teachers in UC's ten primary feeder schools were returned by almost all. Through this process 31 challenging concepts were identified. The survey process also revealed that most of these secondary mathematics teachers would like Union College to begin offering more professional growth activities for them.
2. Explore when/how math education students learn these concepts A 3-case instrument was developed to assess how current mathematics education students at Union are learning the three concepts deemed to be most challenging for secondary students: proof and reasoning, story problem applications, conic sections. In April, 11 of 12 mathematics education students wrote their responses to these three cases. Each of the three cases for the 11 students was scored (0-100) individually by the four UC mathematics teachers. The mathematics faculty then met to discuss the scores assigned, to negotiate adjustments, and to arrive at an average score for each student on each of the three cases.
3. Redesign UC math curriculum for learning the challenging concepts Meeting every 3-4 weeks to carry out the survey and assessment processes, the mathematics faculty has engaged in a number of fruitful discussions about needed course revisions. In response to needs expressed in the survey for professional growth activities, they have also invited secondary teachers in the ten schools and others to a MET (Mathematical Education of Teachers) Workshop at Union College August 9-10. During the Workshop, the secondary teachers will get involved in scoring the 3-cases exercise with follow-up discussion about needed improvements in UC mathematics courses. Jim Lewis, the monitor for Union's PMET Project, will be the keynote speaker for Union's MET Workshop.