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Methods course documentation
Planning and implementing a new inquiry unit (D7.5)
Sample of participants' written reports on units of their own design
Select from the following options:
- The Mathematics of the Solar System
by Kara Jackson (elementary pre-service teacher / Masters'
student) (5 pages) -- This interdisciplinary unit was developed
in a fifth grade class, and it illustrates how this student teacher was
able to recognize the mathematical potential of this situation and capitalize
on it. Although short, this paper provides a good image of the mathematical
goals and key themes of the unit, as well as the student teacher's evaluation
of this experience.
- "How much does it cost to have
a middle-size dog?" by Jonathan
Zukosky (elementary pre-service teacher / Masters' student) (5 pages)
-- This is a good example of a series of innovative lessons (rather
than a full-fledged unit) around an open-ended and mathematically rich
"real-life" problem. This experience shows how the fifth-grade
students who participated in this experience were involved in a variety
of meaningful and complex computations, as well as problem solving, as
they tried to answer the teacher's question. The report includes some samples
of students' work.
- Making predictions: A Unit Exploration on Probability
& Statistical Analysis (hyper-text version
/ photocopy ready version) by
Lina Maine (secondary mathematics pre-service teacher / Masters' student)
(124 pages + figures) -- This is a very well developed 4-week long
unit on probability and statistics for 8th grade students. It builds on
meaningful contexts such as the Backgammon game and real-life problems
requiring predictions and/or making sense of statistical data. The report
is unusually throurough and complete, as it includes an overview and rationale
of the unit, detailed articulation of goals, a full set of preliminary
plans, in-depth daily reports of the implementation in a classroom, considerations
about what students learned, and a final reflection.
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