This week is the last week of our “Summer I” term and so my “Elementary Statistics” course is coming to an end. My next course begins on July 9th. It is part of a graduate here at CofC that offers a Master in Education in Science and Math for Teachers. My students will be participating in a professional development program called the Mathematics & Science Partnership.
The class itself is called “Applications of Algebra for Teachers.” The prefix for the course is “SMFT” since it’s part of the “Science and Math for Teachers” program. This is a new course, both under the SMFT prefix and in the summer Partnership program itself. I’ve been working on course development since late March, starting with the course description:
Applications of Algebra for Teachers (SMFT 697) – A course designed for middle-level and secondary teachers to investigate applications of algebra in science and technology. Topics will include numeration systems and number theory; linear, quadratic, exponential, and logarithmic functions; and matrix algebra with linear programming. Investigative labs, collaborative learning, and active learning approaches will be fundamental to the course structure.
(Other course descriptions for this summer’s program can be found here.) Our official textbook is “Reason and Sense Making in Algebra“, published by the NCTM. I have also used “Real-World Math with Vernier” for inspiration, since I hope at least some of our labs will use their LabQuest devices. We will also be using current and back issues of The Mathematics Teacher.