IAS/Park City Mathematics Institute
HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER PROGRAM (HSTP)
Description of Working Groups
Number theory and algebra
contact person: Susan Addington, California State University San Bernardino
The number theory and algebra working group will produce 1-3
exploration-based lessons with teacher guides that will encourage students to experiment,
look for patterns, and use language effectively to formulate conjectures and organize
their observations. These explorations may build on problems the group encounters in the
morning session on Euclid’s algorithm. The aim is to test the lessons in 2001-2002,
revise them at PCMI in the summer of 2002, retest them and eventually publish them.
Data analysis, statistics and probability
contact person: Roger Verhey, University of Michigan Dearborn
This group will develop 1-3 lessons that use the statistical
software FATHOM as a tool for understanding the matheamtics and the application of that
mathematics in contexts that require data analysis and staistical concepts. The goal
is to write lessons of outstanding caliber, having deep mathematical content but also
accessible at lower levels. It is hoped that variations of these activities will be used
from beginning algebra to AP Statistics. The work of summer 2001 will be
field-tested by the group participants in their classrooms during the 2001-2002 school
year. In the summer of 2002, the project will be critiqued and fine-tuned for wide spread
dissemination.
Physics in the mathematics curriculum
contact person: Bob Stein, California State University San Bernardino
Participants will select instances in which physics can be
used to illustrate and explain mathematics. They will develop brief lessons for use at the
high school level based on these applications of physics to mathematics.
Geometrical concepts from constructions, models,
and investigations
contact person: Jim King, University of Washington
Participants will consider one or more rich geometry topics
from multiple mathematical and pedagogical perspectives, with special emphasis on hands-on
investigations, model-building, dynamic software, an other active approaches. From this
study, the group will create 1-3 lessons that include classroom activities and
explanations of the mathematics.
Interesting mathematics for uninterested students
contact person: David Keys, Rutgers University Newark
This group will produce 1-3 lessons that
utilize students' interests and experiences to stimulate their curiosity and lead them to discover
the wealth of mathematics in the real world. Hopefully, such
activities should foster the motivation to study more mathematics including those basic
skills expected in standard assessments. An important first step will be
identifying the vast array of mathematical connections inherent to common experiences and
interests of today's school age youth.
Mathematics and the Internet
contact person: Annie Fetter, MathForum
Participants will investigate uses of the Internet for
learning more and deeper mathematics. The group will examine such tools as the Math
Forum's 'Ask Dr. Math' service as a vehicle for learning and researching mathematics, and
also for thinking about how to communicate mathematics to the 'naive' learner. They and
the materials they develop will also serve as a resource for the other working groups in
their use the Internet to enhance learning and to disseminate lessons/activities/
experiences. This will include taking a lead in finding existing online resources,
familiarizing the other groups with those resources, helping prepare the groups' work for
the web, and aiding in the running of discussion groups focused on that work.
Japanese lesson study
contact person: Gail Burrill, Mathematical Sciences Education Board
Jugyuu Kenkyuu: Japanese lesson study. Participants select a
goal for a "study lesson," spend an extended period of time collaboratively
creating a detailed lesson plan, observe a participant teach the lesson to students,
participate in a colloquium to discuss the lesson, and revise and refine the lesson to
share with others.
High School Teacher
Program page
This page last updated
January 26, 2001
questions or concerns should be
directed to C. Giesbrecht |