Faculty Share their GBMP Work at Professional Conferences  (Spring/Summer 2007) 

Faculty working on the Greater Mathematics Partnership have attended and presented at several professional conferences recently.  Dr. Tommy Smith (UAB, Education) and Donna Ware (UAB, Mathematics) presented a workshop on March 22, 2007 at the Annual Meeting of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics in Atlanta, GA.  The session, A Conceptual Understanding of Functions:  Does Anybody See It Differently, was based on their experiences with GBMP.  Over 60 participants in the hands-on workshop got a taste of discovering functional relationships using growing patterns.  The theme of this year’s Annual Meeting and Exposition was “Show Me the Math: Learning through Representation.”  In keeping with the focus on representation, Smith and Ware emphasized multiple ways of seeing linear and quadratic relationships.

On February 23, 2007,  Dr. Bernadette Mullins (BSC, Mathematics) presented a paper she authored along with Dr. Rachel Cochran (UAB, Center on Educational Accountability) and Dr. John Mayer (UAB, Mathematics and GBMP PI) at the 10^th Special Interest Group of the MAA (Mathematics Assoc. of America) Conference on Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education in San Diego, CA.  The paper is entitled "The Impact of Inquiry-Based Mathematics Courses on Content Knowledge and Classroom Practice".  Abstract: This study includes middle grades teachers participating in the first of a series of inquiry-based mathematics content courses as well as pre-service teachers enrolled in an inquiry-based university course. A variety of data sources (including objective assessment, performance assessment, portfolios, a behavioral checklist, classroom observations and participant surveys) are used to provide a comprehensive picture of participants as learners and teachers of mathematics. This paper describes changes in participants' content knowledge and classroom practice.

Dr. Anne McClain (UAB, Engineering), Dr. Dale Feldman (UAB, Engineering), and Dr. Lee Meadows (UAB, Education)  submitted a paper titled “Engineering Applications for Middle School Mathematics Education: Supporting an Inquiry-Based Classroom Environment” to the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE).  It has been published in the Proceedings of the 2007 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition held June 24-27, 2007 in Honolulu, Hawaii.  Excerpt from Abstract: “In this paper, available resources for engineering applications in middle school classrooms, inquiry-based pedagogy, and the need for engineering applications supporting inquiry-based mathematics education are presented. Development of the first new application task in this effort and feedback from middle school mathematics teachers are also briefly discussed."  

Dr. McClain also presented at one of the sessions in the Mathematics division of the Conference.