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Education 557

I. Course Title: Methods for Mathematics Teaching Grades 6-12

II. Course Number: EDUC 557

III. Credit Hours: 3 credits

IV. Prerequisites: EDEF 600 (or equivalent); EDEF 607 ; admission into the Teacher Education Program

Corequisites: EDUC 647

V. Course Description:

This course is designed to help graduate-level teacher candidates become inquiring, analytical, and reflective middle/secondary mathematics educators. It provides a foundation for instructional design and teaching methods at the middle school and high school levels. The course will highlight a hands-on, inquiry-based approach to teaching mathematics to adolescents that is based on current research in mathematics education. Participation in this course will help candidates design and successfully implement developmentally appropriate mathematics instruction, including management of the learning environment and safety in the mathematics classroom, and prepare them to be skillful teachers of mathematics content in middle/high school settings.

VI. Detailed Description of Content of the Course:

The content of this course is organized around three main instructional themes with sub-questions that are explored through demonstrations, discussions, video observations, micro-teaching opportunities, lecture, and additional engagement activities.

Theme 1: Mathematics Curriculum, Standards and Assessment

Why is teaching the mathematical practices and standards necessary?
What does inquiry-oriented teaching accomplish that lecture cannot?
How can inquiry-based learning be assessed?

Theme 2: Inquiry as an instructional stance

Which curriculum design models facilitate inquiry approaches?
Why must we plan with the end in mind?
How do we plan successful inquiry-based instruction?
How do we make student thinking visible through instruction?

Theme 3: Strategies for successful student-centered mathematics instruction

How do we meaningfully engage all students in the 6-12 mathematics classroom?
How do we build a learning community in the 6-12 mathematics classroom?

VI. Detailed Description of Conduct of Course:

The course format includes large and small group discussion, individual and group presentations, journal article and textbook reading, demonstration lessons, simulations, and practical applications. Because the course is taught as a co-requisite with EDUC 647, students will also develop, implement, and evaluate a multi-day, sequential instructional plan specifically for their early field experience placement.

VII. Goals and Objectives of the Course:

Goals, objectives, and assignments address the Virginia Department of Education regulations for preparing middle/secondary (grades 6-12) mathematics educators and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics CAEP Standards for Secondary Initial Teacher Preparation. Candidates successfully completing this course will be able to demonstrate developing knowledge, skills, and dispositions of the following:

Area 1: Understand how to effectively design and implement mathematics instruction

Candidates will begin to develop their abilities to plan lessons and units that incorporate a variety of strategies, differentiated instruction for diverse populations, and mathematics-specific and instructional technologies in building all students’ conceptual understanding and procedural proficiency.
Candidates will begin to develop their abilities to plan and create developmentally appropriate, sequential, and challenging learning opportunities grounded in mathematics education research in which students are actively engaged in building new knowledge from prior knowledge and experiences.
Candidates will begin to develop their abilities to provide students with opportunities to communicate about mathematics and make connections among mathematics, other content areas, everyday life, and the workplace.
Candidates will develop an understanding of the knowledge, skills, and processes of the secondary Virginia Mathematics Standards of Learning, their relationship to student learning within and across mathematical domains, and how curriculum may be organized to teach these standards to diverse learners to promote student academic progress and effective preparation for the Virginia Standards of Learning assessments.
Candidates will develop the knowledge and skills to select develop, and use appropriate curricula, methodologies, and materials that support and enhance student learning and reflect the research on unique, age-appropriate, and culturally relevant curriculum and pedagogy and develop an understanding of the major current curriculum studies and trends in mathematics.
Candidates will develop an understanding of the sequential and interrelated nature of mathematics, the vertical progression of mathematical standards, the mathematical structures inherent in the content strands.
Candidates will develop an understanding of and the ability to use the five processes - becoming mathematical problem-solvers, reasoning mathematically, communicating mathematically, making mathematical connections, and using mathematical models and representations - at different levels of complexity.
Candidates will begin to develop their abilities to apply mathematical content and pedagogical knowledge to select, adapt, evaluate, and use instructional tools such as manipulatives and physical models, drawings, virtual manipulatives and environments, spreadsheets, presentation tools, and mathematics-specific technologies (e.g., calculators, graphing utilities, dynamic geometry software, computer algebra systems, and statistical packages); and make sound decisions about when such tools enhance teaching and learning, recognizing both the insights to be gained and possible limitations of such tools.

Area 2: Assess student learning and understanding

Candidates will begin to develop their abilities to use various strategies and means for managing, assessing, and monitoring student learning, including diagnosing student errors.
Candidates will begin to develop their abilities to assess secondary students demonstration of their conceptual understanding; procedural fluency; the ability to formulate, represent, and solve problems; logical reasoning and continuous reflection on that reasoning; productive disposition toward mathematics; and the application of mathematics in a variety of contexts.
Candidates will develop their abilities to plan, select, implement, interpret, and use formative and summative assessments to inform instruction by reflecting on mathematical proficiencies essential for all students.

Area 3: Meet the diverse needs of learners to engage them in mathematical thinking and activities.

Candidates will begin to develop their abilities to use research-based strategies to teach mathematics to diverse adolescent learners and use instructional practices that are sensitive to culturally and linguistically diverse learners, including English learners, gifted and talented students, and students with disabilities.
Candidates will begin to develop their abilities to incorporate knowledge of individual differences and the cultural and language diversity that exists within classrooms and include culturally relevant perspectives as a means to motivate and engage students.

Area 4: Communication & Professional Development

Candidates will begin to develop their understanding of and abilities to select, adapt, evaluate and use instructional resources from professional mathematics education organizations such as print, digital, and virtual resources/collections.

VIII. Assessment Measures:

A variety of assessments may include, but are not limited to:

Lesson plans that reflect an inquiry focus, as well as considerations for diverse learners
An implementation-ready sequence of instructional plans aligned to appropriate curriculum standards to be used in the candidate’s field placement (as appropriate).
Journal entries, lesson observations, task analyses, reading annotations, and/or other informal writings
Presentations or micro-teaching exercises
Quizzes, tests, or formal writing assignments
Class participation and discussion
Article Critiques

Other Course Information

Graded A-C (+/-).

Review and Approval

March 01, 2021