IDSM ~ Math 550 ~ Course Information

This information is for participants in the In Depth Study of Mathematics (IDSM) Workshops, June 23-25, 2003 who wish to enroll for graduate credit through Western Illinois University. (Click here for parking information.)

(To register for these workshops you need to contact Mary Leech at ROE #26 (309/837-4821). I believe the workshop is currently full.)

To register for WIU credit (1 semester hour of Math 550) you need to contact me (Jim Olsen). See How to Register, below.

• Workshop Description
• Course Requirements
• How to Register

Workshop Description

This three day workshop will meet in Morgan Hall 224 on the WIU campus (NOTE this location change). The workshops will run from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. with a break for lunch (lunch is provided).

The participating teachers will work individually and in small groups on selected problems on the basis of a pedagogical approach using "Guided Tour" handouts distributed to the participants. Then some possible solutions and conclusions about the problems are distributed as "Discussion" handouts to compare and discuss with the results obtained with the guided tours. Little if any lecturing takes place.

Thus, during the workshop, the teachers are asked to become students again, and to have as a goal their own understanding of the problems and concepts of high school mathematics at a new and higher level of mathematical sophistication. The rewards are considerable, since teachers who accept this goal will come to see that high school mathematics is a far richer and more interesting subject than they had imagined.

The In-Depth Secondary Mathematics (IDSM) workshop is based on materials co-authored by Dick Stanley and Patrick Callahan and used for professional development programs for people who are (or will be) teaching high school level courses from algebra through pre-calculus in California and in Texas. Although the mathematics problems initially addressed in the workshop are drawn directly from high school mathematics textbooks, the workshop materials guide the participants to a deeper understanding of these problems through an approach referred to as "extended problem analysis." This approach includes numerical explorations, the consideration of algebraic, geometric and arithmetic approaches to the problem, the consideration of generalizations of the problems and possible relationships to other problems.

At the conclusion of the workshop, participating teachers will have an understanding of the extended analysis approach and how it can be applied, with appropriate modifications, in their own classrooms.

Dick Stanley comes from UC-Berkeley and will be spending the week here in Macomb. He will be the primary instructor for these workshops.

Course Requirements

To earn 1 SH of Math 550 (Workshop in School Mathematics) credit the student must:

1. Attend all three days of the workshop (if you must miss a session please do not sign up for credit).
2. After completing the workshops, participating teachers will write a paper describing a plan for implementing what they have learned in their own classroom. The paper will be due July 18. The paper should e-mailed or US-mailed to me (address below).

The paper should:

• describe how and when you plan to use the problems. There are many options. Will you use these to enhance your regular instruction for all students? Will they be extra credit? Problems of the week? Enrichment program? Group projects? For assessment? etc.
• be as specific as possible. It should be an action plan. If you prepare handouts to use with your students, attach these (this is not required).
• (as a general guideline) be limited to one course. You may have lots of great ideas on how to implement the problems in various courses. For your paper, just focus on one course. (Taking a theme through various courses is an option as well--discuss this with me.)
• describe the course and the students with whom you plan to use the problems.
• Describe which problems you wish to use (this could include some of your own variations).

How to Register

1. IMPORTANT FIRST STEP: You must be accepted as a WIU graduate student before you can enroll in a WIU course (if you have recently taken a WIU course, then you probably are a WIU student). You may fill out an application to graduate school

• on-line www.wiu.edu/grad/  (No advance PIN is needed, use the Create Account button)
• or call Graduate Office 309/298-1806.

Note: after you complete a degree at WIU, you are often removed from the system and must re-apply to take more classes.

2. Call me or e-mail me (phone and e-mail below) and tell me your WIU ID number. I will have the office staff load the permission and register you.
3. You should check the STARS system after a couple of days to make sure you are enrolled properly.

Note: you do have to pay the tuition and fees for this course.

Call me or e-mail me if you have any questions.

Page URL: http://faculty.wiu.edu/JR-Olsen/wiu/stu/m550-sum03/IDSM-course-info.htm
James R. Olsen, Mathematics Department, 1 University Circle, Western Illinois University, Macomb, IL 61455
309/298-1466
E-mail: jr-olsen@wiu.edu
updated June 11, 2003 5:06 PM