Mathematics Education Colloquium Series

This lecture series in Mathematics Education is supported by Teachers for a New Era (TNE), and is organized by Profs. Juliana Belding, CK Cheung and Solomon Friedberg (Mathematics) and Prof. Lillie Albert (Teaching, Curriculum, and Society). It is intended for math educators at all levels, school administrators and support staff, mathematicians interested in K-12 math education, and future math educators. In-service mathematics teachers are especially encouraged to attend, as are all Noyce Master Teaching Fellows who are participating in BC's NSF funded program "Developing Exemplary Mathematics Teacher Leaders for High-Need Schools: Content, Equity and Leadership."

For are virtual colloquium please e-mail Prof. Albert at lillie.albert@bc.edu for Zoom links.


2024-2025 Colloquium Schedule


October 10, 2024

Speaker: Prof. Brian Cafarella, Sinclair Community College, Dayton OH

Time: 4:00 p.m.

Location: Campion Hall, Room 139

Title: Empowering Students to Succeed in Community College Math

Abstract: Community college mathematics has been a “hot topic” in education for the past two decades. Each year, many students enroll in either developmental (remedial) or college-levelmath but fail. This is especially true for minority students. This is unfortunate, as many of these students aspire for a higher quality of life. Consequently, in this presentation, and discussion, we will focus on an overview of the history, expectations, and nuances of community college math, the struggles that community college students, especially, underrepresented students, face. We will also discuss initiatives in place to help community college math students succeed and how high school teachers can help prepare students for community college math. Lastly, we will discuss the overall goals of community college students. More specifically, what do they hope to achieve after completing math and with their degrees?

November 14, 2024

Speaker: Prof. Karen Karp, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY

Time: 4:00 p.m.

Location: Campion Hall, Room 139

Title: Working with Students with Disabilities in the Mathematics Classroom: This is Not about Fixing Kids – but Fixing Structures

Abstract: Explore recommendations from research that works in actual classrooms to see the importance of language precision, multiple representations, and systematic instruction as key components of successful interventions for students with learning disabilities in mathematics. By engaging students in “doing math” and avoiding “teaching by telling” we will discuss how to make connections from students’ prior knowledge to the grade-level standards you are trying to develop.

As we work to develop a shared focus across courses, grades, schools, and school districts we increase the consistency, coherence, and effectiveness of our teaching practice thereby building students’ mathematical understanding and self-efficacy.
 
This is equity.

December 12, 2024

Speaker:  Prof. Adi Adiredja, University of Arizona

Time: 4:00 p.m.

Location: Campion Hall, Room 139

Title:  Project Adelante: A Community Learning Project Centering Race, Gender, and Mathematics

Abstract:  In this presentation, I will share some positive outcomes from Project Adelante, an NSF-funded equity-minded professional development program we implemented at the University of Arizona. Altogether our instructors renewed their practice and commitment to serve students as full human beings after being given a chance to play with their teaching in a pressure-free community of inquiry with students in our project. Inspired by Moll and colleagues’ ideas of Funds of Knowledge and Yosso’s Community Cultural Wealth, the program engages faculty, students, and the broader campus community to learn together and from one another. Critical experiences for the instructors include, teaching a five-day Inquiry Based Learning summer workshop with minoritized STEM students, engaging in critical conversations about race, gender, and STEM with students, and conducting an individual interview with one of their students from the workshop. Our work emphasizes the criticality of community building and recognizing the humanity of students and instructors in shifting deficit narratives about students and their learning.

 

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