Transcript Developing scholarship of teaching and learning with mathematics

Developing Scholarship of Teaching
and Learning Mathematics with InService K-8 Teachers
David S. Allen, Julia E. Bergner, Andrew G. Bennett, and
Melisa J. Hancock
Kansas State University
Special Session on Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
January 6, 2008
Goals for the program
• Improve K-8 education in the state of Kansas
• Increase content knowledge and pedagogical
content knowledge of K-8 teachers
• Give teachers the opportunity to use
scholarship of teaching and learning in their
own classrooms
The programs
• Advancing Content Understanding in
Mathematics through Effective Networking
(ACUMEN) 2004-2006
• Infinite Mathematics Project (IMP) 2007-2009
Funded by Kansas MSP grants
Part of the KSU-PDS Partnership Project, funded
by the U.S. Department of Education
Format of the program
• Two-week sessions each summer
• Content course in the morning with
mathematics faculty
• Pedagogy course in the afternoon with
education faculty
• Follow-up sessions during the year, concluding
with teachers presenting their own projects
Participating school districts
• Southwest Kansas
– Ulysses
– Garden City
– Dodge City
• Kansas City, Kansas
• Manhattan
• Junction City
Content course
• Could be taken for graduate credit in
education
• Topics often covered material needed for
middle-level certification
• Also considered problem content areas on
state test scores
• Pre- and post-tests were used to evaluate the
teachers’ learning
Topics covered
• 2004 – Geometry and Art
(geometry requirement)
• 2005 – History of Computation
(history of math requirement)
• 2006 – Mathematics of Finance, Probability, and
Statistics
(emphasis on mathematical vocabulary)
• 2007 – Connections Between Algebra and
Geometry
(beginning of calculus requirement)
Afternoon sessions
• Teachers made action plans for their own
classes
• Chose a content area to focus on, based on
state test scores
• Gave pre-test and post-test on that material
during the year
• Teachers returned later in the year to share
their results with other participants
ACUMEN Year 3 – Participants
• 36 teachers of grades 1-9
– 13 elementary
– 19 middle
– 4 high (9th grade)
• 20 highly qualified
• 12 middle-level not highly qualified
ACUMEN Year 3 - Content
• Finance, probability and statistics
– How mortgages and credit cards work
– Why to save for retirement early
– Why gambling doesn’t usually pay (with an
evening field trip to a casino)
– How to read state test data
• Emphasis on number and operation
• Focus on learning mathematical vocabulary
ACUMEN Year 3 - Format
• Extensive use of Excel spreadsheets
• Word walls to emphasize vocabulary
• Questions of the day to focus the content
ACUMEN Year 3 - Results
• Pre-test average score 25.7%
• Post-test average score 78.7%
• Both tests used the “Rule of Four” with problems
grouped by use of numbers, symbols, graphs, and
words.
• Scores on number problems increased from
29.2% to 89.3%
• Scores on word problems increased from 43.1%
to 90.5%
ACUMEN Year 3 – Action Plans
• Most teachers focused on measurement (one
of lowest areas on state tests)
• 7 elementary teachers reported gains of 2540% from pre-test to post-test
• 19 middle-level teachers reported gains of 2078% from pre-test to post-test
Final comments
• Last year, many teachers commented that
they had made financial decisions based on
the course content, such as getting out of
credit card debt
• State test scores have improved in the
participating districts
• Many teachers have participated multiple
years, and the districts continue to encourage
teachers to attend
Questions?
Contact Julie Bergner at [email protected]
Thank you!