Fostering Inquiry into Mathematics
Education
1995-1996
Fostering
Inquiry into Mathematics Education (FIME) was a project conducted by SummerMath
for Teachers (SMT) of Mount Holyoke College. FIME included two courses
for practicing teachers. These courses served as pilots for the Developing
Mathematical Ideas Curriculum (DMI).
Inquiry into Mathematics
Education (IME) was a DMI course for teachers who were new to the
ideas involved in the mathematics education reform movement. Teacher
to Teacher (TTT) was a DMI course for teachers who had been working
for some time to implement teaching practices aligned with the NCTM Standards.
Each course met twice monthly for three-hour sessions over the course
of the academic year and awarded four graduate credits in mathematics
education.
FIME was designed
to enable teachers:
- to become aware
of their own abilities as mathematical thinkers
- to learn how to
analyze the mathematical thinking of their students
- to revisit the
mathematical ideas embedded in the elementary curriculum
- to develop a spirit
of collegial inquiry into teaching practice
Staff reflections on
the experiences of participants in the seminars served as the basis for
developing the facilitator's guide which accompanies the DMI Curriculum.
FIME also offered
a seminar designed for administrators, Inquiry into Mathematics Education
for Administrators. Six two-hour sessions allowed administrators the
opportunity to work on mathematics for themselves and to discuss teacher-written
narratives which detailed the mathematical thinking of their students.
A total of twenty-nine
teachers from Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Vermont completed one of
the FIME seminars. Twenty-seven Massachusetts administrators were involved
in the administrators' sessions.
Support for Fostering
Inquiry into Mathematics Education
was provided by the
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Professional Development Program of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
For more information,
please contact:
Virginia Bastable
SummerMath for Teachers
Mount Holyoke College
South Hadley, MA 01075-1441
(413) 538-2071
FAX: (413) 538-2002
vbastabl@mhc.mtholyoke.edu
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