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Grading:
This is a Pass/Fail course. You will pass if you miss no more than two classes, complete the your project hours and other assignments, and have a group project that meets the criteria listed below, by the end of the semester.
Assignments:
You will be responsible for the production of a course web site that will be available to teachers across the state, country, and world. You will select a major algebraic theme (see next section for a list of possible themes) that cuts across the grades 7-12 curriculum, and you will join a group of four students to develop web-based projects centered on that theme. Each student will contribute 15 hours of work, outside of class, toward the web-based project. Your load will increase by 4 hours for every class that you miss. Contributions may include (but are not limited to):
- Challenging and interesting lesson tasks or problems that you have created.
- Annotated synthesis of web resources related to your theme.
- Analysis and evaluation of teaching ideas from books and journals like Beyond Numeracy, The Mathematics Teacher or The College Journal of Mathematics.
- Mathematical computer applications, using graphing calculators or software, such as GSP or Excel.
- Java scripts, graphs, tables or other representations of data and mathematical concepts.
- Audio or video productions relevant to your group’s theme.
You will arrange your plans for contributions with me ahead of time, by meeting with me as a group, so that we can determine the number of hours your individual pieces will require. I may ask you to revise or rewrite pieces that need more work or contain mistakes (typographical, grammatical or mathematical). Try to spread the work evenly over the semester. Your first draft for all pieces must be turned in by November 20. Only revisions will be accepted after that date. You will present your projects in class on December 4. Projects in their final form must be turned in by 10pm on Tuesday, December 11.
In addition, in order to prepare for the final project, you will be required to produce 3 written reflections, each 1-2 pages in length. In these, you should reflect upon a topic that has been recently covered in T403 and how it relates to the Indiana Standards and/or the NCTM Standards. In order to pass the course, these reflections must be completed on-time and of high quality (e.g., insightful, well-organized, relatively error free, etc.). If I judge that a reflection is lacking then you will be asked to continue working on the reflection until the product is judged complete. Reflections are due September 11, September 25, and October 9.
You may want to look at past projects (http://www.indiana.edu/~vong/), but note that those projects were different in that they were completed individually and were not centered on a particular theme. You are encouraged to use and revise existing projects, as well as any and all other web resources, to build your project. Be sure to reference and link to original web pages. In addition, your group’s project should be more closely aligned with Indiana curriculum and state standards (http://www.indianastandardsresources.org/).
You will need to meet with your group at least every other week to design plans and share progress toward your group, web-based project. You will need to communicate more regularly by email, through OnCourse discussion forums and group spaces. During the last two weeks of classes, your group will present its project with the class.
Other course assignments will include completing short readings relevant to class discussions and continuing class discussions in OnCourse discussion forums outside of class.
Algebraic Themes:
The following are a list of themes from which your group can choose for the web-based project. Keep in mind that each theme should be developed with vertical connections between grades 7 and 12.
- Functions: transcending algebra
- Relationships between equations and their graphs
- Geometric transformations of the plane
- Algebraic structures of number systems, from integers to complex numbers
- Polynomials and historical problems with solving them
- Using fractals and chaos to build and connect algebraic/geometric concepts
- Using Fibonacci to build and connect algebraic/geometric concepts
- Using Tessellations to build and connect algebraic/geometric concepts
- “Why can’t we divide by 0?” and other pressing “why” questions from students
- The need for algebraic reasoning in becoming an informed citizen
- Special mathematical numbers: 0, 1, e, p, …
- The Fundamental Theorem of Algebra in the secondary school curriculum
- Algebra as a study of patterns
- Making matrices meaningful
- Three-dimensional symmetries and spatial reasoning
Criteria for Acceptable Projects
All acceptable group projects must meet the following criteria by the end of the semester:
- Group projects will align with all course goals and several learning objectives as listed on the first page of the syllabus.
- The projects will include a page articulating the vertical connections made across grades 7-12 (A template for this page will be provided to you).
- All relevant connections to the NCTM and Indiana standards will be made explicit within the various components of the group project.
- The various components of the group project will be integrated so that they offer a consistent and coherent presentation of the theme.
- Group projects will incorporate a variety of resources that will be useful and attractive to math teachers across the state of Indiana.
- The final draft will be free of all grammatical and mathematical mistakes.
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