• Short description
• Partnership Composition
• Objectives
• Outputs of the Project
  • Book 'Creative Teaching in Mathematics'
  • DVD 'Creative Teaching in Mathematics'
  • Chapter R: Regular polygons
  • Chapter S: 3D geometry - solids
  • Chapter N: Early number sense
  • Chapter P: Patterns leading to algebra
  • Chapter F: Relationships and functions
  • Scenario of inservice course
  • How to obtain Book and/or DVD
• Teachers' conference
• Contact

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SCENARIO OF AN IN-SERVICE COURSE

The programme for a course based on the book and CD/ROM is aimed for a group of up to 30 teachers from across the school/range attending a seven day residential course.

Each day the participants will attend workshops and seminars on at least two of the five Units. The teachers would experience undertaking tasks themselves through a constructivist approach. The innovative aspect of the proposed course is that the work by the participants within the course will be videoed, discussed and possibly also evaluated for both the teaching and learning aspects.

Particular interest would be put to the key activities of constructivist approach:

-          problem solving,

-          moderating class communication,

-          applying different methods of work,

-          creating different sets of problems designated to different groups of students with respect to their knowledge, experience and abilities.

Occasionally students’ errors and misconceptions will be analysed with the aim to use them as an effective tool for improving students’ understanding of concepts, relations, processes and schemas.

Participants will give mini-teaching sessions using the constructivist teaching approaches to their colleagues which would also be videoed, discussed and possibly also evaluated.

These are general conditions common for all five Units. Each Unit has its own particular mathematical and didactical characteristics.

The most important characteristic of Unit R is its linkage to different areas of both mathematical and real life. Regular polygons are linked to geometrical constructions, patterns and regularities, groups of symmetry, modular arithmetic and also to car wheels, clock faces and architecture. The last three areas are the main source of motivation for the whole Unit. 

Unit S: Solids

The main object in this Unit is a cube net. Using a metaphoric approach, the pupils are given the role of dressmakers and Mr. Cube is their customer. An extensive set of tasks (from very simple to pretty demanding) facilitates the pupils’ development of spatial ability. The most important activity in solving the tasks in this chapter is manipulating with cubes and polyominos such as, for example, creating a suit for a cube from two given polyominos.

Unit N: Early number sense

Patterns both as concepts and as processes penetrate into all parts of school mathematics: arithmetic, algebra, combinatoric, geometry, statistics, probability and games. A variety of tasks and problems from different parts of mathematics and different levels of difficulty aim to help pupils/students identify, understand and use mathematical patterns.

There are two deep mathematical ideas underlying the problems in Unit F, that is the idea of dependence (relationship) and the idea of continuity. They wave through the five sub- chapters of the Unit which can be interpreted in terms of paths from pupils’ experience to mathematics and from a topic oriented language to a mathematical language. Some problems motivate students to start their own investigation within the project-oriented education.

Preliminary programme of the residential week of the course

Participants will be divided into two groups. The first group on Monday morning has an introductory session of Unit R and the second group has an introductory session of Unit F. In this way, the timetable is organized through to Thursday (see the next page). On Friday each participant will choose one Unit which is for him/her the most interesting for extended studies. It is possible that this would be the topic in which he/she would write his/her final project to be awarded the final certificate

©IIATM Partnership.

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Charles University Prague, The Faculty of Education
Department of Mathematics and Mathematics Education