Program

Two important goals of the consortium are broadening the use of IBL in the New England area and creating a regional community of IBL practitioners. At this particular conference, we will focus on experiencing an IBL classroom and discussing features of IBL in an online setting. Contributed active sessions showcase community members' ideas, strategies and challenges, and provide an opportunity for teaching and learning experiences for all participants regardless of their level of involvement in an IBL class.

The conference will actively involve and engage all participants throughout the following sessions (times are tentative):

- - 9:30-10:00 Welcome Activity
  - 10:00-10:15 Welcome Remark

Dr. Glenn Stevens, Chair, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Boston University

- - 10:30-12:00 Live Classrooms

A. Game-Based Learning in Mathematics Education

Facilitators- Greg Benoit, Boston University and Gábor Salopek, Columbia University, Teachers College

In this workshop participants will experience learning through play! After playing a Trig Revolution, participants will debrief their experience, modifications and possible implementation strategies. We will closely examine how game-based learning can be a useful methodology in mathematics classrooms as it can help create a more equitable environment and the cultivation of positive mathematics identities. We hope reflecting on these conversations can help normalize the need creativity and fun in mathematics classrooms and provide additional options when teaching.

B. Inquiry-Oriented Linear Algebra

Facilitator- Ileana Vasu, Holyoke Community College

This season explores inquiry oriented approaches to developing linear algebra concepts that can be challenging for students. We will work together on activities related to linear transformations and eigenvalues. As we engage with the tasks in the session, we will have the opportunity to reflect on both what students do in the classroom and on what instructors can do to support and further develop their understanding of these important concepts. Other than a basic knowledge of matrix operations and vectors, no other background is needed.

C. Fun, Engaging, and Effective Approach to Teaching Calculus in a Large Classroom

Facilitator- Shay Fuchs, University of Toronto Mississauga

At the University of Toronto Mississauga we offer Calculus for Life Science courses, taken by more than 600 students each year. The course is taught in large lecture sections with about 150 students in each. In 2018 we redesigned and converted the course into an active-learning course. Students prepare in advance, and then participate in in-class polling and group activities, which are accompanied by discussions and short lectures. This approach turned out to be more effective than the traditional lecture-based method. Moreover, the active-learning design can be easily transferred to online environments. In this session I will demonstrate an actual classroom session, followed by Q&A and discussion.

- - 12:00 -12:45 Lunch Break & Optional Community Building
  - 12:45-2:00 Panel/Discussion on Assessments in Online and Remote Environments
    - Maria Fung, Worcester State University, Online Interviews
    - Teresa Magnus, Rivier University, Portfolios
    - Christine von Renesse, Westfield State University, Specifications Grading
    - Moderator: Debra Borkovitz, Boston University
  - 2:15-2:45 Contributed Active Session 1
    - 1A: Police Shootings: Geillan Aly and Daniel Alexander
    - 1B: Embracing Backwards Design: Brendan Kelly
  - 2:45-3:15 Contributed Active Session 2
    - 2A: PollEverywhere as an in class participation activity: Viktoria Savatorova
    - 2B: More Effective Group Work: Best Practices from Team Based Learning: Carly Briggs
  - 3:15-3:40 Contributed Active Session 3
    - 3A: Classifying Data in Statistics: Amy Wehe
    - 3B: IBL for Preservice Elementary Teachers: Kathleen Wallace
  - 3:45-4:00 Closing Activity

Contributed Active Sessions - Abstracts

2:15 - 2:40 Contributed Active Session 1

1A: Police Shootings by Geillan Aly and Daniel Alexander

By analyzing cumulative police shooting data, participants will see an interesting graphical depiction which helps us understand police shootings in general.

1B: Embracing Backwards Design by Brendan Kelly

Mathematics has the potential to empower students with the quantitative tools, critical thinking skills, and productive dispositions to make progress on important issues facing our world. Problems with a quantitative edge pop up in all disciplines. If our goal is to empower students, what should the curriculum focus on? How do we create learning experiences that help students take on the world's challenges? How does our current curriculum math our goals?

2:45 - 3:10 Contributed Active Session 2

2A: PollEverywhere as an in class participation activity by Viktoria Savatorova

We will use PollEverywhere competitions as a form of in class participation activity in the ODE class. Multiple choice polls can be used as a form of guided instruction as well as a quick check of understanding and/or learning the material.

2B: More Effective Group Work: Best Practices from Team Based Learning by Carly Briggs

Do you have group activities that feel stale or didn't work as you’d planned? Do you want to use more group work in your courses but aren’t sure how to get started? In this active session, we will use best practices from Team Based Learning (TBL) to make our group work more effective. TBL is a collaborative learning teaching method that helps students reflect on their understanding by using team tasks. Student thinking is made visible to the whole class through forced decision-making which allows for targeted, immediate feedback. During this session, I will provide examples from Calculus and Linear Algebra demonstrating the four best practices for task design and participants will use these best practices to either create or adapt their own team tasks. Participants with specific tasks or activities in mind are encouraged to bring these to the session!

3:15 - 3:40 Contributed Active Session 3

3A: Classifying Data in Statistics by Amy Wehe

Participants will experience a lesson in which the class as a whole (utilizing groups) will classify examples of data into nominative, interval, ordinal, and ratio data types. Then, the class as a whole will discuss the choices and whether they agree with the classifications.

3B: IBL for Preservice Elementary Teachers by Kathleen Wallace

IBL is highly effective for elementary students, especially young students. We will discuss how the Anchor Task Instructional Model can be used with any math text to realize the benefits of Inquiry mathematics learning in the elementary classroom.

Live Classroom Facilitators Bio

Dr. Gregory Benoit is Lecturer in Mathematics Education and Assistant Director of the Earl Center for Learning & Innovation. His research interests include critical media literacy, game-based learning in mathematics, social justice mathematics and culturally responsive mathematics instruction, which all center around an effort to help students develop strong positive mathematics identity. This extends to both the performance and the recognition of mathematics identity in students as well as teachers. Prior to joining BU Wheelock, Dr. Benoit was the Senior Professional Development Math Coordinator at the Center for the Professional Education of Teachers (CPET), Columbia University as well as the Co-Director of MathQuest at Institute of play.

Dr. Gábor Salopek received his Doctorate in Mathematics Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. He utilizes his research and experiences in gifted education learning, mathematics identity, popular culture, and academic technology in the classroom to ground his work and teaching. Dr. Salopek has held positions at Columbia University and City University of New York (CUNY) and has presented at conferences such as National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), American Educational Research Association (AERA), Association for Science Teacher Education (ASTE), Math for America (MfA), and Mathematics Connections Conference (MCC) both nationally throughout the USA from coast to coast and internationally in Canada, Switzerland, and Hungary. He believes as educators we are all lifelong learners.

Dr. Ileana Vasu (Ileana) is the chair of the mathematics department at Holyoke Community College (HCC). She was the 2016 recipient of the Elaine Marieb Faculty Chair for Teaching Excellence Award. Her work as PI on two NSF grant funded S-STEM Scholars Programs is notable for its support of students who are traditionally underrepresented in STEM.

Earlier in her career Ileana conducted research in low dimensional topology. Her interests include how students learn and understand mathematics, implications for gender and inclusion in the college mathematics classroom, and teaching practices which support learning and more equitable outcomes. She is passionate about mathematics, interdisciplinary connections and promoting teaching with inquiry. Ileana is a founding member of the New England Inquiry Based Learning in Mathematics Consortium and is an active contributor to the NE-IBLM leadership team and programs. In her spare time, Ileana enjoys hiking, running, reading and theater.

Dr. Shay Fuchs is an Associate Professor (Teaching Stream) in the Department of Mathematical and Computational Sciences at the University of Toronto Mississauga. Since 2010, he has been teaching and coordinating a variety of undergraduate mathematics courses and served in numerous administrative positions. Fuchs is interested in student centered pedagogies, and was among the first to introduce inquiry based learning and active learning methods in mathematics courses in Ontario, Canada. Recently, Fuchs has been working on measuring the effectiveness of active learning in large mathematics classes, and has delivered workshops and presentations on the subject.

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