EASTERN UNIVERSITY
Walter Huddell
Email: whuddell@eastern.edu
Office: McInnis 217, x5530
Office Hours: T: 3:00-4:00 Th: 10:00-11:00
In addition to these posted hours I am often available at other times. Please do not hesitate to make an appointment with me. I can be contacted best via email or voice mail.
Course Description: A variety of activities to facilitate the development of competent mathematics teachers and knowledge related to the development and implementation of strategies for teaching mathematics. These activities include the use of technology in the classroom as well as teaching benefits of both pure mathematics (as it relates to the development of analytical thinking) and applied mathematics with some treatment of word problem solving. This will satisfy the EDU 403 secondary education requirement for math majors seeking secondary certification.
Course Objectives:
1. You will be aware of the complexities of teaching, examine variability among
students, and demonstrate whether students find mathematics mystifying or
understandable depends largely on the approaches employed by their teachers.
2. You will discriminate between typical and research-based curricula, describe the
NCTM standards, and explain how you as a mathematics teacher can develop
curricula you consider appropriate for your students.
3. You will develop an advanced organizer for defining the goals and objectives of
the mathematics curricula you develop. You will extend your understanding of real
life problem solving and teacher planning.
4. You will explain and demonstrate how to design lessons that lead students to
construct concepts as well as lessons that lead students to discover mathematical
relationships.
5. You will explain and demonstrate how to design lessons that lead students
to acquire and remember mathematical information, comprehend mathematical
expressions, and develop algorithmic skills. You will also apply strategies for
developing performance assessment items for obtaining feedback relative to
how well students achieve simple-knowledge, comprehension, and algorithmic
skill objectives.
6. You will explain and demonstrate how to design lessons that lead students to
apply mathematics to real-life situations, foster their creativity, and develop an
appreciation for mathematics. You will also apply strategies for developing
performance assessment items for these activities.
7. You will heighten your awareness of resources and technologies to help you
lead students to do meaningful mathematics. These include the use of computer applications
such as Mathematica as well as the use of multimedia to enhance graphs for visual learners.
8. You will develop strategies for establishing a classroom climate that is conducive
to learning mathematics, gaining and maintaining students` cooperation and
efficiently dealing with student off-task behavior.
9. You will develop strategies for designing, organizing, and conducting different
types of learning activities ( i. e. large-group, cooperative-learning, question-
discussion sessions, and independent-work as well as assigning homework.
10. You will apply fundamental principles and strategies for assessing and reporting
student progress in a manner consistent with NCTM`s Assessment Standards
For School Mathematics ( NCTM 1993 ).
11. You will learn how to teach students who read at a low level how to read, understand and solve word problems and applications in an algorithmic way. This will be done in a week long (one 3hr class) module by a member of the education department to help facilitate the teaching of reading in this context.
Text: Cangelosi, J. S. ( 1996 ). Teaching mathematics in secondary and middle school:
An interactive approach ( 2nd edition ). Englewood Cliffs, NJ; Prentice-Hall Inc.
Attendance Policy: Your attendance is absolutely essential to your success in this class. If you know you are going to be absent, please notify the professor. More than two absences will affect your grade and more than four absences constitutes grounds for failure of the course, per the college policy.
Policy for Students with Disabilities: If you have a documented special educational need, please notify me at the beginning of the semester, or at the time you are first able to document the need, and I will work with you and the academic support center to create appropriate accommodations.
College Policies: All college policies for undergraduate students apply to this class. Please consult the undergraduate catalog or see the professor if you have questions. Academic dishonesty is a serious offense that will seriously jeopardize your grade, since plagiarism or cheating results in a double zero on the assignment in question.
Teaching Methods: This course will involve lecture as well as a good amount of student presentations. Lectures will be informal enough so as too allow students the freedom to interact with the instructor. Questions are welcome and encouraged.
Testing and Grading Procedures: Letter grades will be given using the following breakdown:
97-100 A+
93-96 A
90-92 A-
87-89 B+
83-86 B
80-82 B-
77-79 C+
73-76 C
70-72 C-
67-69 D+
63-66 D
60-62 D-
<60 F
Grading will be based on the following percentage scheme:
Exam I: 30%
Final: 30%
Presentations/Papers/Assignments 30%
Class Participating/Attendance: 10%
Exam I will fall on March 1. The exam will be in class and will be closed book and closed-notes. The class participation portion will be based on attendance and discussion. Presentations will mainly take the form of sample lessons prepared by the student and should incorporate the techniques leaned in class. The final will fall on the last day of class.