Education 475-4
FALL, 1983
Thursdays, 4:30 - 8:30
(RIFCT I IFc.
Designs for Learning: Mathematics
INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Tom O'Shea
Office: MPX 9616
Telephone: 291-4453
LOCATION: on campus
The course is designed for prospective and practising elementary school teachers
who wish to explore the fundamentals of the learning/teaching process as it
applies to mathematics. Students are expected to:
- become familiar with and confident in the use of a variety of
manipulative aids such as colored rods, logic blocks, geo-boards,
and so on;
- engage in discussion and formulate their own rationale as to the
how and why of teaching mathematics;
- explore the realities of children's and adult's learning powers and
patterns by an examination of their own learning powers and patterns.
On completion of the course it is hoped that teachers will feel more at ease with
the subject of mathematics, be able to deal confidently with the prescribed
curriculum and be able to plan mathematical instruction within a consistent
framework.
OUTLINE OF TOPICS:
The topics to be dealt with are the usual contents of the B.C. Curriculum which
will be examined from a methodological perspective (how do you teach multiplication,
fractions, etc.), from the viewpoint of mathematics (what is multiplication, what
are fractions, etc.), and from the vantage point of the role of mathematics in
everyone's general growth (eg. integration with other subjects).
TYPICAL REQUIREMENTS:
Students will be expected to:
- participate fully in classwork and discussions, and complete homework
assignments;
- make one or more presentations demonstrating an idea, activity, or
technique for teaching mathematics;
- examine and analyze the B.C. Mathematics curriculum and representative
textbooks.
ELIGIBILITY: Education 401/402 or equivalent.
TEXTBOOK:
Troutman, A.P. & Lichtenberg, B.K. Mathematics: A good beginning (2nd ed.).
Belmont, California: Wadsworth, 1982.