The Research Symposium 2010

Symposium Talks & Workshop

AMATYC’s newest academic committee, Research in Mathematics Education in Two-Year Colleges (RMETYC), is pleased to present this year’s symposium. The symposium begins Thursday, Nov 11th with two sessions, Research as Faculty Development by Patrick W. Thompson, Professor of Mathematics at Arizona State University, from 12:30-1:20pm and Research on Students’ Reasoning and Sense-Making by J. Michael Shaughnessy, President of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) from 1:40-2:30pm. The sessions will be followed on Friday, Nov 12th from 10:30-12:30pm by Investigating Teaching Practices Through Systematic Inquiry, a workshop in which Thompson and Shaughnessy will join Vilma Mesa, Assistant Professor of Mathematics Education at the University of Michigan, and April Ström, Chair of the RMETYC Committee and Mathematics Faculty at Scottsdale CC, to extend the ideas presented in Thursday’s symposium sessions. Link to complete article

Symposium: Research as Faculty Development

Research in mathematics education is a pragmatic activity—improving students’ mathematical learning and improving the mathematics that they learn. When community college faculty investigate their students’ mathematical realities and the sense students make of instruction, research then becomes a vehicle for continual personal development that also contributes to the community’s development. Link to complete article

Symposium: Research on Students’ Reasoning and Sense-Making

Systematic research on student reasoning and sense making leads to models of student learning, but also can unveil critical issues to consider in our teaching. This session will present several examples of research that investigates students’ reasoning as they engage in mathematical or statistical tasks, along with implications for instruction. Link to complete article

The Northwest’s Autumn Harvest of Faculty Development Activities

Ann Sitomer (Portland Community College) and Mark Yannotta (Clackamas Community College) are continuing their doctoral studies in mathematics education at Portland State University. Both are writing research proposals for their dissertations. Ann will be investigating how students in a community college arithmetic course use their proportional reasoning abilities when doing assigned coursework. Mark will be investigating the connections students make between elementary group theory and linear equations in one variable. Link to complete article

Research Workshop: Investigating Teaching Practices Through Systematic Inquiry

The purpose of this hands-on workshop is to extend the ideas presented in the Research Symposium presentations where the focus is on research and faculty development. Faculty who attend will engage in meaningful discussion about how to promote faculty development through collaborative communities and other strategies discussed in research literature. Link to complete article