MED 710 - Seminar in Post-Secondary Mathematics Teaching
Spring 2008
Face-to-face gatherings
Meet in Ross 2248:
Thursday, Jan 24, 3:15-4:05. Faculty roles and responsibilities, choose reading about college teaching.
Thursday, Feb 07, 3:20-4:10. Make choices for future research and practice readings.
Thursday, Feb 21, 3:20-4:10. Discuss c.v. development.
Thursday, Mar 06, 3:20-4:10. Discuss meanings for "teaching" and "learning" as well as talk about notes on research article for eventual S&R essay.
Additional meetings to be determined by the group.
Seminar Activities and Topics
24 Jan 08 (Thursdsay, 1st face-to-face meeting, Ross 2248, 3:15-4:05pm).
Round 1 Topics: Teaching and the curriculum vitae (c.v.).
- Introduction, review of c.v. content and structure
- Task 1: Choose 1 book from among those provided by instructor; skim and selectively read from the book to prepare a 250-1000 word overview of your first impressions of the book. Post your review to the appropriate discussion forum on Blackboard by 10pm on Thursday, 1/31/08.
- Task 2: Read selected piece(s) from book on college teaching and the professoriate. Prepare a draft annotated bibliography for the reading that includes a summary of who, what, when, where, why, and how for the selected reading. Post your review (250-1000 words) in the appropriate discussion forum on Blackboard by 5pm on Friday, 2/08/08.
NOTE 1: Suggestion from Dr. Hauk is to come back to Blackboard in a couple of days and read what other students wrote, offering observations and questions in reply to their posts.
NOTE 2: Maybe get a head start on reading the article about college student math autobiographies (see Task 7 below).
- Task 3: Generate a draft curriculum vitae (c.v.) for yourself and post to appropriate discussion forum on Blackboard by 10pm on Thursday, 2/21/08.
- Task 3 (continued): By 10pm on Thursday, 2/28/08, read all other seminar participants' c.v.s and "Reply" to each c.v. thread with:
- AT LEAST TWO substantive notes on what is working well in the c.v.
- AT LEAST TWO substantive and specific notes about how the c.v. can be improved.
- Include in your post documents and/or URLs for websites that provide examples of the kind of suggestion you are making.
Weeks 4 and 6: Face-to-face meetings, Thursday 07 Feb and 21 Feb.
Round 2 Topics: Research-to-practice for college math teaching
- Choose a new book for next round of reading (e.g., we will repeat Tasks 1 and 2 with another text, these will be Tasks 4 and 5.)
- Task 4: Choose 1 book from among those provided at 2/8/8 meeting; skim and selectively read from the book to prepare a 250-1000 word overview of your first impressions of the book. Post your review to the appropriate discussion forum on Blackboard by 10pm on Thursday, 2/28/08.
- Task 5: Read selected piece(s) from book on college teaching and the professoriate. Prepare a draft annotated bibliography for the reading that includes a summary of who, what, when, where, why, and how for the selected reading. Post your review (250-1000 words) in the appropriate discussion forum on Blackboard by 10pm on Thursday, 3/06/08.
- Task 6: Post your definitions for "to teach" and "to learn" to the appropriate discussion board forum by 10pm on Thursday, 3/6/08. Follow up discussion on-line and at face-to-face meeting in March, dates and discussion questions to be announced.
- Task 7: We selected the following articles to read on college teaching and learning:
- Hauk, S. (2005) [PDF file]. Mathematical autobiography among college learners in the United States. Adults Learning Mathematics International Journal 1(1), 36-56.
- Herzig, A. (2004). [PDF file]. 'Slaughtering this beautiful math': Graduate women choosing and leaving mathematics. Gender & Education, 3, 379-395.
- Speer, N., & Hald, O. (2008). [PDF file] How do mathematicians learn to teach? Implications from research on teachers and teaching for graduate student professional development. In M. Carlson & C. Rasmussen (Eds.), Making the connection: Research and practice in undergraduate mathematics education. Washington, DC: Mathematical Association of America.
Task 7 is reading Hauk (2005) and bringing NOTES for Summary & Review (S&R) to the March 6th meeting.
Week 8: Face-to-face meetings on Thursday 06 March (and possibly another meeting later in March). Have prepared for March 6 meeting:
- Summary of recent reading on college teaching - See Task 5 above.
- Your definitions for "to teach" and "to learn" - see Task 6 above.
- Read Hauk (2005) and make Notes based on S&R format - see Task 7 above
Round 3 Topics: Teaching portfolio; research on the professoriate
- Task 7 (continued): By 3/13/08, read Herzig (2004) - See Task 7 list above. Make S&R notes for the article. Keeping in mind that a group-written S&R essay for one of the Task 7 articles will be due to appropriate discussion board forum by 10pm on Thursday, 4/10/08, discuss Herzig (2004) with classmates (either online or in person).
- Task 8: Begin investigation of college mathematics faculty Teaching Portfolios.
- By 3/28/08, read Bruff, D. (2007). [PDF file] Valuing and evaluating teaching in the mathematics faculty hiring process. Notices of the AMS, 54, 1308-1315.
- Explore online sources for Teaching Statements and Teaching Portfolios. Post web addresses and observations about your findings to appropriate discussion forum on Blackboard by 10pm on Friday 3/28/08. Some possible sources of information to get you started: Teaching Portfolio Resources (please email Dr. Hauk to let her know about any errors on this resource page).
- Please include in your postings about websites: (1) notes for the exact URLs of documents you find and (2) brief notes reviewing what you found.
- Task 8 (continued): By 10pm on Tuesday, 4/01/08, post to the appropriate discussion forum on Blackboard AT LEAST 2 RESPONSES to the findings of classmates regarding the portfolios they have found (take a look at the websites/materials they provide) and post AT LEAST ONE RESPONSE to their observations thereof.
Week 11: Face-to-face meeting, Thursday 03 April 2008.
Round 4 Topics: Professional development of college math faculty
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- Task 8 (continued): Discussion of documenting professional work through a Teaching Portfolio.
- Task 9: Review papers for a conference - more on this as information becomes available.
- Task 10 topic: Professional development and video records of teaching; includes reading Speer article (see Task 7).
First week of May 08 (final face-to-face meeting): Topics To Be Determined.