In Mission to Improve Math Instruction, Professor Makes Schools His Learning Lab
For going on two years now, just before 7:30 on four mornings each week, ASU Professor and CRESMET Research Director Pat Thompson has been quietly taking a seat in mathematics classrooms at Mesquite High School in Gilbert, Arizona.
He spent the 2006–2007 school year in the classroom of Mesquite High School teacher Shannon Bishop, whose 20 freshman students were taking a non-honors course of Algebra I. He also spent Saturday mornings with her, working on lessons for the coming week.
When school re-opened for the 2007–2008 academic year in Arizona this August, Dr. Thompson took his place as coach and collaborator in the geometry classroom of Mesquite teacher Chuck Weeks. He is spending Saturdays with Mr. Weeks, too.
“It was both the worst and the best year of my teaching career,” said Ms. Bishop of last year’s work with Dr. Thompson. “It was exhausting and mentally trying, but I learned more in one year than I did in all my undergraduate years. I learned more than I thought I could learn in one year.”...More
Arizona and U.S. Teachers, Students Gaining Ground in NSF Math and Science Partnerships
When Congress authorized the National Science Foundation to create the Math and Science Partnership (MSP) program in 2002, the driving question was whether math and science instruction and learning in American classrooms would improve if university mathematicians, scientists and education researchers worked closely with teachers.
The answer seems to be yes.
In a report issued July 18, the NSF found improvements on annual math and science assessments in nearly every age group when K-12 schools participated in a project that partnered teachers with faculty in higher education.
Project Pathways, led by CRESMET Center Director Marilyn Carlson, is one of 52 MSP partnerships being funded by NSF around the country. While the Arizona project is just beginning to collect data on the students of the teachers who are participating in schools in the Phoenix-area districts of Chandler, Tempe, Mesa, Tolleson and Scottsdale, the teachers themselves are fundamentally transforming how they understand and teach mathematics and science...More
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CRESMET Teachers Are Re-Thinking Math and How to Teach It
A teacher shared how her thinking about math and its connections with science are evolving as she works with faculty in CRESMET’s Math and Science Partnership project. She recently took one of the four graduate courses CRESMET has developed: Connecting Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics...More
CRESMET Colloquia
Avi Hofstein, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel, presented a spring 2007 colloquium entitled “Chemistry by the Inquiry Approach: A Program Based on Inquiry-Type Laboratory Experiments”...More
Shandy Hauk, University of Northern Colorado, delivered the spring 2007 seminar “No College Mathematics Instructor Left Behind"...More
Derek Hoffland, Tempe Union High School District, Tempe, Arizona, was until recently coordinating mathematics and science curriculum for this diverse district of 14,000 students. Currently he directs the district’s assessment and NCLB accountability functions. He is also an instructor and member of the school leadership team for CRESMET’s NSF-funded Math & Science Partnership project. Dr. Hoffland presented a spring 2007 colloquium on a curriculum mapping exercise taking place in the Tempe district...More
Conference: Flat World II, Coming in November
Science Foundation Arizona Job Opportunity
The not-for-profit organization Science Foundation Arizona is recruiting a scientific program officer ...More
Teachers Can Earn Professional Development Hours at Science Café...More
News In Brief
Research Universities Resist Proven Science Instruction Methods...More
Americans want more technology and global curriculum in classrooms…More
High School Math Knowledge Improves College Science Performance...More
Bad at Math? Stereotypes Hamper Women...More
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