MATHEMATICS EDUCATION FORUM

December 23, 2024

Math Ed Forum Meeting Minutes

SATURDAY, JUNE 23, 2001

1. Welcome and discussion of the agenda

2. Acceptance of the minutes of the Forum Meeting held Saturday, May 5, 2001.

3. A Canadian Initiative in Mathematics Education:

· For the past six months a number of Forum members have been discussing the possibility of developing a Canadian Mathematics Education Initiative.
· Gila Hanna leads the initiative, which will focus on Teacher Inservice and On Line Courses.
· Nathan Sidole has been hired to work over the summer .
· They are working on a proposal for a Mathematics Education Resource Centre, raising money for a National Partnership, and investigating possibilities for raising funds.
· More news was to follow in a press release.
4. Reports from Forum Task Forces:
a) Mathematics Teacher Education- Bradd Hart, Walter Whitely
· The task force was summarized since the task force was disbanded.
· Look for the "Future Teachers' Toolkit" at
http://www.fields.toronto.edu/programs/mathed/future_teachers
· attention grabbing posters will be sent to all high school in the Fall and to appropriate university faculties.
b) Transition from secondary school to college/university mathematics- Stewart Craven
· A short report was provided with the minutes at the meeting.
· Their work has been tabled until the fall when they will reconstitute their committee.
· The issues still needing to be addressed are: transition from high school to university, differences between OS:IS and OSS students (highlight new strengths), continuing to query and encourage universities to reconsider requirements for certain courses (this is an administration exercise), and to consider the various approaches at the universities.

c) On Line Courses - Stewart Craven
· Symposium "Learning Math Through On Line Medium", will be held on November 15, 16, 17, 2001. This will be a working group.
· Leaders and moderators have been selected from the committee.
· Invitations (about 40 to 50) will be sent out in September. The list is being kept small to facilitate the result in a white paper. This will lead to a bigger event.
· The Program will begin on Thursday evening with an open forum consisting of of keynote speaker David Picot and a panel discussion. This is intended to be a balanced talk focusing on the 3 major points. (Big issues, Different delivery models, Courses by level)
· The rest of the program will be working meetings held in 3 stages using the model of The Teacher Shortage Symposium with some resorting during the discussions.
· There will be a social on Friday evening and a final presentation on Saturday morning and a paper will be compiled.
5. Recertification of Teachers:
a) testing of teachers for certification
· Different divisions would write different tests
· It will be generic and not content based
· It will be a 2 hour test
· Questions will likely focus on Policy documents and teacher responsibilities

b) recertification via 14 courses in 5 years:
· 7 courses will be compulsory (assessment, classroom management, curriculum, technology, students with special needs, …expected)
· courses will be structured, defined and a product must be assessed
· courses must be at least 5 hours in length (5 to 20 hours)
· there will be a fee attached to the courses
· there was some discussion of delivery, perhaps by School Board
6. Shirley Dalrymple and Sandy Dilena finished their presentation on aspects of the Grade 12 Data Management Course:
· over 110 participants at the OAME Annual, so there is a lot of interest around the course
· gave an overview of the course focusing on the culminating project strand using three different lenses: Data, Tool, Communication
· discussed smaller projects that help students develop presentation and other skills · shared several simulations
· short demonstration on the potential of the "Fathom" program
· task force will meet in the fall to continue their work and will likely focus on resources that will help teachers with the culminating project and assessment.
Next Meeting:


Meeting minutes by Shirley Dalrymple