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Sample programs for different higher education settings (E2)
Scenario #2: A semester long methods course for secondary math pre-service teachers

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Key characteristics of this scenario (repeated from the main text for your convenience)

Weekly agendas and assignments

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Key characteristics of this scenario

Scenario 2: A semester long methods course for secondary math pre-service teachers

Overall goals of the course: Introduce prospective mathematics teachers to current recommendations for school mathematics, and more specifically to instructional practices and strategies consistent with the NCTM Standards.

Participants: Mostly students enrolled in a teacher preparation program specializing in secondary mathematics, although the course is also open to interested in-service math teachers.

Program structure: A semester-long course including weekly meetings of 2 1/2 hours (for a total of 14 sessions), weekly assignments and a few major take-home projects. A full-fledged field experience is not included in the course, although as a final project all participants are expected to design and implement a series of lessons informed by the pedagogical principles learned in the course.

Professional development main characteristics: The course begins with some activities intended to elicit participants' beliefs about mathematics and introduce new perspectives about this discipline (framework component 1). The next 3 sessions are devoted to activities and assignments intended to provide students with background information about key issues in the learning and teaching of mathematics (not part of the framework, but important if this is the first mathematics education course for most participants). In the following 3 sessions, participants engage in an "experience as learner" around either the Tessellation or the Area illustrative units, followed by reflective sessions focusing on complementary aspects of this experience (framework components 2-3). In preparation for a discussion of the principles and foundations of an inquiry approach -- as well as other constructivist-based approaches -- students then read/view several other examples of instructional innovation as well as more theoretical articles about constructivism and inquiry (framework components 4-5). Issues about planning new inquiry units begin to be addressed in the next set of lessons, by both discussing the process of planning inquiry units and helping participants develop their own mathematical inquiry in preparation for designing and implementing a series of innovative lessons informed by the principles learned in the course (framework component 7). In the next couple of lessons, participants are introduced to instructional materials and resources that can help them put into practice the pedagogical practices and strategies they have learned in the course so far -- with particular emphasis on the new NSF-funded curriculum series at the middle school and high school level (framework component 7). The course concludes with some written assignments and activities designed to elicit their reflections on what was learned in the course and its implications for them as future mathematics teachers (framework component 8).

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Weekly agendas and assignments
Lesson 1:
Orienting participants to the program: information about the course goals and organization, and their rationale	D1.1
Rethinking "What is math?"	D1.4
Hw. 1:
Journal entry	D1.2
Initial math survey	D1.5
Reading on course philosophy	D1.1
Readings of classroom vignettes	D1.1
Readings on school math reform	D1.3
Lesson 2-4 & hw.2-4:
Follow-up discussion on school math reform	D1.3
Activities and readings about affective issues in math learning
Activities and readings about math problem solving
Activities and readings about student differences
Lesson 5:
Area experience as learner -- part I: (OR Tessellation D.2.1.1 - 2.1.4)	D2.2
Introduction	D2.2.1
Fish activity	D2.2.2
Diamond activity	D2.2.3
Star activity (preliminary group work)	D2.2.4
Hw. 5:
Area assignments:
continue working on the area formula of assigned star	D2.2.4
reflections on thought-provoking questions about area and reading of the essay "On the mathematics of area"	D2.2.5
readings from the Area story	D4.2
Lesson 6:
Area experience as learner -- part II: (OR Tessellation D.2.1.4 - 2.1.6)
Star activity (finalizing results + presentations)	D2.2.4
Rethinking the math of area (discussion)	D2.2.5
Reflecting on the experience as learner -- "Walk down memory lane"	D3.1
Hw. 6:
written reflection on "What have I learned"	D3.3
readings from the NCTM Standard (geometry and measurement)	D3.3
generate ideas about assessing learning in area inquiry unit + readings on assessment	D5.3
Lesson 7:
Reflecting on the experience as learner -- focus on the mathematics and goals of the Area (Tessellation) experience	D3.3
Follow-up discussion on assessment	D5.3
Hw. 7:
reading stories of inquiry/innovative math classes	D4.2
readings from the NCTM Teaching Standards	D5.1
Lesson 8:
View video of Tessellation classroom experience	D4.1
Follow-up discussion on tessellation video and stories of inquiry math classes	D4.1/ D4.2
First identification of characteristics of an inquiry approach	D5.1
Hw. 8:
Readings on constructivism and an inquiry approach	D5.1
Readings on school reform	D1.2
MIDTERM take-home exam (i.e., Analyze in writing a classroom vignette from an inquiry perspective) is assigned and due in 2 weeks	D5.2
Lesson 9:
Follow-up discussion on the readings on constructivism, inquiry and school reform	D5.1/ D1.2
Activity around the mathematics of games
Hw. 9:
MIDTERM take-home exam due	D5.2
Read essay "Planning a new inquiry unit: A case-study"	D7.1
Lesson 10:
Learning how to plan a new inquiry unit	D7.1
Introducing the task of engaging in a math inquiry independently, in the context of designing a series of "inquiry lessons"	D7.2
Hw. 10:
Begin to pursue independent inquiry	D7.2
Preliminary readings on NSF-funded curricula	D7.3
Lesson 11:
Time for students to share in pairs on the progress of their independent inquiry	D7.2
"Experience as learner" of an activity from one of the NSF-funded curricula for middle school	D7.3
Presentation on NSF-funded curricula for middle school	D7.3
Hw. 11:
Follow-up readings on NSF-funded curricula for middle school	D7.3
Written report on independent inquiry due	D7.2
Design and implement a series of inquiry lessons	D7.5
Lesson 12:
Students "read and do" in pairs a unit segment from one of the NSF-funded curricula for high school	D7.3
Discussion on strategies to "read" these materials and to use them in the classroom	D7.4
Presentation on NSF-funded curricula for high school	D7.3
Hw. 12:
Follow-up readings on NSF-funded curricula for high school	D7.3
Identify teaching strategies modeled in the course	D3.4
Written report on inquiry lessons designed and taught	D7.5
Lesson 13:
Reflecting on teaching strategies modeled in the course	D3.4
Final projects presentations (as celebration of students' accomplishments)	D7.5/ D8.3
Hw. 13:
"What have I learned" paper (participants' written final reflection)	D8.2
Fill in course evaluation questionnaire	D8.1
Lesson 14:
Course evaluation (forms + open discussion)	D8.1
Final projects presentations (as celebration of students' accomplishments)	D7.5/ D8.3

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