Teacher Courses
Our courses for teachers are intended to encourage and support excellent teaching of mathematics. The courses are led by highly experienced instructors recognized for their record of outstanding teaching. All courses address both content and methods, and include a wealth of problems and examples. The sessions combine lecture, workshop, and interactive classroom discussion.
Our Classes
The following course will be offered this Spring.
Math Enrichment for Teachers I
When: Wednesdays, 5pm - 7pm, February 27, 2008 - May 21, 2008
Twelve sessions (except April 23).
Where: NYU Courant Institute, 251 Mercer St
(map),
Room 513.
Instructor: Larry Zimmerman.
Registration fee: $85, paid online with registration.
(Note that we cannot offer college or professional development credit at this time.)
Register here.
This course is designed to significantly enrich Mathematical skills and awareness of the participants, while sharpening Mathematical insight. It should prove especially useful for teachers wishing to enrich their classes, and for coaches of Math Clubs or Math Teams. Participants will be taken on a Mathematical journey through the Secondary School curricula and some Calculus, exploring fundamental notions and some special topics traditionally not encountered in the usual courses. Particular emphasis is placed on the structural underpinnings of Mathematics that are relevant to sound and effective teaching. The course will also address teaching techniques, effective motivational devices, classroom management tips, test construction, and a variety of suggestions for the teacher.
Topics range from the simple to fairly complicated. Among these will be such diverse examples as: the real reason why the product of two negatives is positive and other properties of the real number system; some “lost” theorems in Geometry; special factorization techniques; some startling unfamiliar results in algebra and trigonometry; and many others. Everything you wanted to know but perhaps didn’t know you should ask.
Future Courses
To be offered in future semesters (order to be determined).
To subscribe to information about teacher courses, see our contact page.
Math Team for Teachers
This course is for teachers who intend to coach a Math Team, a Math Club, or a related extracurricular activity. Participants will learn how to conduct a Math Team, and will become acquainted with different types of competitions, and with available resources. Techniques for training students, motivational devices, and philosophy of the Math Team experience will be addressed. Mathematical topics essential for Math Team will be presented. Among these will be basic Math Team Algebra, introductory Number Theory, Geometry, Combinatorics, and many more topics not ordinarily encountered in the standard curricula or pursued in depth in the usual courses. Appreciation of problem solving is a key component - how to do it and how to teach it. Special emphasis is placed upon potential for student growth as a consequence of Math Team.
Math Enrichment for Teachers II
This course is intended to heighten Mathematical awareness and appreciation by revisiting key topics from University level Mathematics. Material will be drawn from Vector Calculus, Multivariable Calculus, Linear Algebra, Abstract Algebra, Number Theory, and Advanced Euclidean Geometry. The course will reacquaint the participants with concepts in a gentle manner, while providing a wealth of illustrative examples that cast light on related secondary mathematics. Classic problems will be included.
The course is not designed to acquaint teachers with new syllabi nor provide special training for teachers who are about to teach Mathematics for the first time. However, new teachers may benefit from the course since both content and methods are addressed.
Constructing and Writing Mathematical Proofs
This course is intended for those who wish to acquire deeper insight into the nature of proof and hone the craft of proof writing. Specifically, techniques of proof presentation are developed through a sequence of topics and related problems. We break from the traditional educational model stressing short answer questions and exercises, and cultivate a taste for Mathematical problems requiring sustained thought, effort and often special skills. Important topics are developed together with the acquisition of more sophisticated techniques of proof composition. Among the key topics are Mathematical Induction, Pigeonhole Principle, gleanings from Combinatorics, Inequalities, essential Number Theory, and Geometry.
Problem Analysis, Research, and Writing
This course addresses the creation of Mathematical research papers at the Secondary School and early Undergraduate levels. It is intended for teachers and advisors wishing to encourage student research, guide student inquiry, and train students to compose well-crafted Mathematical projects. The entire process of creating a Math Research paper/project will be explored in great detail. Problem analysis, problem posing, sources, resources, written and oral presentations, extensions, and techniques of writing will be examined. Many exemplars will be studied ranging from the basic expository paper to papers in which original problems are solved or original ideas are explored.