Math 597T – Professional Development Workshop in Teaching Mathematics
Course Policy ’07-‘08
Instructors:
Office: Math 201 Phone: 626-8890
Course Web Page: http://math.arizona.edu/~math597t/
Required Text: Teaching First: A Guide for New Mathematicians by Thomas W. Rishel (published by the MAA); a preliminary edition is available online at http://www.maa.org/programs/tahandbook.html. You may use either version.
Course Meetings: We will meet on alternate Mondays from 3 – 3:50 pm in Math 501, beginning with Monday, August 27. This course runs through May 5, 2008.
Course Goals: Any teacher, regardless of his or her experience level, can still learn and become a better teacher. Our primary goal in this course is to foster this growth process, whether this is your first experience in the front of a classroom or you’ve taught extensively at another school.
Assignments: Most assignments in this course will involve writing. In some cases, you will be asked to reflect on your own experiences in the classroom; in other cases, you may be responding to reading assignments or thinking about a topic that we will be discussing in class. We will usually email assignments out at least 1 week before they are due. Occasionally, we may give brief quizzes on assigned reading during class, or ask for a response to the day’s discussion in lieu of an outside assignment.
Assignments will generally be worth 4 points each, though we may occasionally give assignments that are more involved and are worth more points. In those instances, point values will be announced in class. Points will be awarded based on the completeness and quality of the response. This does not mean that your ideas have to align with ours; it does mean that you will need to put some thought and effort into the assignments in order to earn decent scores.
Late assignments will generally not be accepted. In case of an emergency that prevents you from attending class or turning homework in on time, please talk to us ASAP.
Attendance: Due to the nature of the course, attendance and participation are very important. For that reason, attendance will be taken at every class meeting. Attendance at each scheduled class will be worth 4 points; students who are more than 15 minutes late to class will receive 2 points (missing an entire class will, of course, result in 0 points for that day). Furthermore, we expect you to participate in the class discussion. If we see students who are doing outside work during class, their attendance points will be deducted for that day.
Grades: At the end of the year, points will be totaled and averaged based on the total number of points possible, and grades will be assigned according to the following scale:
A 90 – 100%
B 80 – 89%
C 70 – 79%
D 60 – 69%
E below 60%