Friday, September 20th 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM in WWH 705
This month we will be discussing Rochelle Gutierrez's concept of rehumanizing mathematics and viewing inclusivity practices through that lense. We have two introductions to rehumanizing mathematics. The first is the introduction to a book of articles on the topic and the second is an hour long talk that Prof. Gutierrez gave at the Latinx in the Mathematical Sciences Conference in 2018. Our third and final source is a Chronicle of Higher Education article that provides a number of strategies for making your classroom more inclusive. We will discuss if and how these strategies align with the goals of rehumanizing mathematics.
Gutiérrez R. Why we need to rehumanize mathematics Annual Perspective in Mathematics Education, NCTM 2018
Gutiérrez R. Rehumanizing Mathematics: A Vision of the Future Latinx in the Mathematical Sciences Conference 2018
Sathy, V & Hogan, K.A. Want to Reach All of Your Students? Here’s How to Make Your Teaching More Inclusive. Chronicle of Higher Education, July 22, 2019.
Friday, October 18th 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM in WWH 705
Creating curriculum materials is a big part of teaching. We do this on a small scale each time we write an exam question, on a medium scale when designing worksheets or student projects, and on a big scale when writing books or designing courses. Ideally the materials that we create will be flexible enough to be reused by ourselves and others in multiple contexts. However, some materials are easier to adapt than others. This month we will be discussing strategies for making our curriculum materials better suited for both our own reuse and sharing with other instructors.
We have three sources. The first is an article on this topic written by a high school teacher turned curriculum designer. The second is calculus worksheet with some instructor support materials. The third is an example of linear algebra work sheet with extensive instructor support materials. We will discuss the utility of creating instructor facing materials to accompany the student facing materials that we create as well as strategies for efficiently and effectively creating those materials.
Shaw, D. Unbroken Chain from Instructor's Guide for Essential Calculus by Stewart. 2013
Sircar. M. Moving Beyond Dropbox: Designing Powerfully Sharable Curriculum Materials Kaleidoscope: Educator Voices and Perspectives Spring 2018
Wawro, M., Zandieh, M., Rasmussen, C., & Andrews-Larson, C. (2013). Inquiry oriented linear algebra: Unit 1 Task 1 Also available at http://iola.math.vt.edu.
Friday, November 15th 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM in WWH 705
Requiring students to assess the work of other students has many potential benefits. It requires students to practice critical thinking as they evaluate the validity of the work. It encourages students to submit clear and detailed work, because peers are less likely to be able to fill in gaps. It also provides the students with an additional source of feedback. Peer assessment can however be difficult to implement effectively. Our reading this week, provide some concrete examples of different implementations of peer assessment in different mathematics course.
We have three sources. The first is an article by Reinholz describing the use of Peer-Assisted Reflection (PAR) in college calculus classes. The article describes both the technique and data showing a significant improvement in course grades. The second article is by Ernst, Hodge and Schultz and describes a cross institutional peer review program that they implemented. The third source is a detailed rubric from peer assessment.
Friday, December 13th 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM in WWH 705
Asking questions is an important skill. Students who can precisely pinpoint the cause of their confusion are much more likely to resolve it. Moreover, students are more engaged when they can connect the course content to motivating questions they care about. This month, we will discuss the Question Formulation Technique. This is a strategy for helping students to ask rich questions in the classroom. We have three sources. The first two are chapters from a book on this technique and the last is a collection of examples of this technique being used in secondary mathematics classes.
Rothstein, Dan, Luz Santana, and Wendy D. Puriefoy. 2017. 'Ch. 1 Question Formulation Technique' in Make just one change: teach students to ask their own questions. Cambridge (Massachusetts): Harvard Education Press.
Rothstein, Dan, Luz Santana, and Wendy D. Puriefoy. 2017. 'Ch. 7 Next Steps' in Make just one change: teach students to ask their own questions. Cambridge (Massachusetts): Harvard Education Press.
The QFT in Math: A Collection of Classroom Examples from the Right Question Institute Resources
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1. If you are having trouble accessing the readings, contact Corrin Clarkson for assistance.