FIELDS MATHEMATICS EDUCATION FORUM
MINUTES - SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 29, 2001
PRESENT: Stewart Craven, Doug McDougall, Pat Rogers, Margaret Sinclair,
Eric Muller, Dragana Mertinovic, Sandy DiLena, Peter Taylor, Miroslav
Lovric, Colin Garnham, Claire, Burnett, Steve Brown, Peter Crippin,
John Kezys, Bill Higginson, Alison Gibbs, Bradd Hart, Shirley Dalrymple,
Ed Barbeau, George Gadomidis, Nathan Sidoli, Geoffrey Roulet, Peter
Harrison, Tom Sepp, Walter Whiteley, Georg Fremping, Thomas Steinke
REGRETS: Lynda Colgan, Enid Haley, Gila Hanna
1. Welcome and discussion of the agenda
2. Approval of agenda
3. Introduction of Forum Committee, members and secretary
· Goal to follow charter closely and develop interesting forum
agendas
4. and 5. Acceptance of the minutes of the Forum
Meeting held Saturday June 23, 2001
6. Developments at the Fields - Bradd Hart:
· Announcement of new Director at the Fields Institute - Kenneth
R. Davidson
7. Report by the Steering Committee:
· Mathed activities over the summer, for example Esso Summer
Camps (CMS)
· Task Force on Pre-service Teaching, concentrating on the teacher
shortage issue
· Need to promote mathematics at the High School level, creation
of resource website for students, and poster (currently under process)
· National Initiative in Mathematics Education - Bill Higginson
· Gila Hanna has identified funding at the National Level
· The goal is to get $3 million over 4 years from SSHRC
· Letter of Intent due on November 1st: emphasis on initiatives
of the new economy, multidisciplinary/multi-centred, and research
· 3 foci of proposal: teacher development, technology, and national
resources
· Institutes involved: University of Quebec and Montreal, Simon
Frasier University, and Fields Institute
· Move to make Mathed Forum national, not intended to replace
it
8. Reports by the Task Forces:
a) On-line courses - Stewart Craven
· The task force met via conference call on Tuesday September
18 from 4:00 - 5:30 p.m.
· Keynotes: Jon Borwein, SFU and Ann Heide, Ottawa
· On-line Learning Symposium is confirmed to be held November
15-17, 2001 at the Fields Institute
· Purpose: To bring people interested and involved in mathematics
education (mostly in Ontario) together to discuss issues related to
on-line learning and the discipline. To produce a White Paper articulating
draft recommendations of on-line learning in mathematics and set goals
for further action research
· Issues Particular to the Teaching and Learning of Mathematics
On-Line:
i) Epistemology - the interaction between the learner and the knowledge
(e.g. cognitive, learning styles, modes of instruction, access to and
use of resources of all media)
ii) Environments - what is our there? what is currently implemented?
what is coming?
iii) Development - iterative design in an organized and manageable way
(e.g. standards for development, who leads? who follows? for whom? how
much? when? how long?)
· The "Mathematics
On-Line Working Meeting" will begin with a public forum on
the evening of Thursday, November 15 and continue with small working
groups (by invitation) through the day of Friday, November 16th and
the morning of Saturday, November 17th. Shortly after the conclusions
of these meetings, a white paper will be published that will identify
the key issues for on-line learning in mathematics. It will also include
proposals for "next steps" regarding additional research and
consultation with a view to ensuring that mathematics on-line learning
is both rich and effective for students.
· On Friday, November 16th, a poster session to highlight samples
of on-line units will be organized. Each group will address broad issues
ranging from the nature of the on-line environment and effective on-line
pedagogy to appropriate assessment and evaluation. Groups will also
examine the nature of teacher support for on-line learning and will
discuss considerations that are specific to those universities, colleges,
and elementary and secondary schools that provide, or will provide,
mathematics through this medium.
b) Grade 12 Mathematics of Data Management - Sandy DiLena
· The Grade 12 Mathematics of Data Management Task Force met
during the afternoon of Friday September 21st. We discussed:
1) The objectives for our part of the proposal for the New Economy Collaborative
Research Initiative that the Field's Institute is applying for: Although
we designed objectives, this Task Force does not have the membership
to direct such a research proposal. It will have to be headed by someone
in a Faculty of Education or other Math Ed Research Group with Med and/or
PhD students.
2) The Culminating Project of MDM4U: Since this project drives the course,
we will design potential projects to give teachers examples of the depth
and scope of this project.
3) This Task Force's part in the Ministry Funded Profiles that are being
developed for MDM4U: The Peel District School Board is the lead board.
The chairs of the Task Force have been asked to speak with the team
of profile writers to describe our work and insights into the course.
4) New personnel to join our Task Force: We brainstormed a list of potential
people to invite to join the group (i.e. Steve Brown)
c) The Secondary-Tertiary Transition Committee - Ed Barbeau
· The new curriculum has now reached the level of Grade 11. Early
this year, a letter was sent out to university department chairs and
other administrators outlining the new regime and urging them to make
particular note of the Mathematics for Data Management program.
· This year, we feel that the time has come to give more solid
information to tertiary institutions about what is actually happening
in the schools, and what they might expect of incoming students.
· One way to do this is the dissemination of textual material,
and we would like to determine to what extent publishers are willing
to display on a web site say sample sections from their grade 12 texts.
We would also draw attention to any "profiles" that are mounted.
· However, we need to have some face-to-face meetings between
educators at different levels, and it would be helpful to have the advice
of the forum as to what form these might take. One possibility is that
they might be arranged locally in different centers, in which case we
would need the collaboration of colleagues in different universities
and some dissemination of information from each of these to the whole
province; the role of the Fields would be a coordinating one.
· Once universities and colleges are apprised of the situation,
then we need to collect and collate some responses.
· We are in the process of determining that the members of the
committee are willing to continue. Our understanding is that Hans Bastel
is retiring; even were he to continue on the committee, we should have
a member from the colleges who is not retired.
9. Reports from Associations and other Groups:
a) OMCA - Stewart Craven
· EQAO dropping grade 9 assessment
· In the meeting, EQAO representatives were very vague, and did
not set any dates for the investigation phase
· Reasons why investigation dropped: limited funding, provinces
are not ready in terms of schools & technology set up
· The response - very upsetting, impedes all the work done to
present
· Therefore, it might be more appropriate to suggest alternative
models, such as sampling instead of census, or dropping 3 components
and only do the 4th, investigation
· Suggestion to write 2 letters to the Ministry and EQAO
b) OAME Report
- Shirley Dalrymple
· Conferences:
Leadership - February 21 -23 at the Four Points Hotel Mississauga
OAME Annual - May 2, 3, 4 at Georgian College, Barrie
· Website:
The materials prepared by the OMCA/OAME Summer Institute project have
been placed on the website to share with teachers. These are summative
units for the grade 11U, 11U/C and 11C, classroom ready materials matched
to the profile for the 11W course and some activities using technology.
· EQAO Investigations:
We are sending a letter to the ministry expressing our concern regarding
the halt of the investigation component of the EQAO Grade 9 Assessment.
We will be following this up with a Forum Discussion at our Board meeting
on October 19, to determine further action
· Teacher Courses:
We are currently investigating the possibility of applying to be a service
provider for our Leadership Conference in February and perhaps in future
at our annual conferences if we change the format. We need to check
out any issues this may raise with OSSTF.
· Publications:
Our publications are selling well. We are considering an offer to have
our materials repackaged for sale outside the province. We are pursuing
other alternatives as well in regard to the distribution of our publications
outside Ontario.
c) OCMA
- John Kezys
· The OCMA is hosting the American Mathematics Two Year Colleges
(AMATYC) conference,
November 15 to 18, 2001 at the Sheraton Centre in Toronto. This will
attract over 1000 community college mathematics educators from the United
States. The OCMA is planning its annual conference at the Kempenfelt
Conference Centre, Barrie for May 29 to May 31, 2002. For more information,
see the website: http://www.amatyc.org/
· The On-line Learning Task Force should explore the possibility
of inviting AMATYC participants to the Public Forum presentation on
the evening of Thursday November 15th
d) CMESG
- Peter Taylor
· CMESG 2002 will meet at Queen's University in Kingston Friday
May 24th to Tuesday May
28th. The programme will follow the usual format of working groups,
topic groups and plenary talks, except this meeting, coming 25 years
after our first meeting, will have some extra historical embellishments.
Programme details will be available before long on the above website.
Local arrangements will include a dinner at Fort Henry and a boat tour
of the Thousand Islands with the possibility of theatre in Gananoque.
Accommodation will be in Victoria Hall. Close to 100 registrants are
expected. A number of high school teachers and consultants are members
of CMESG and have attended.
e) CMS - Pat Rogers
· Event hosted by York University from December 8-10, 2001
· Theme: "Questions I should have asked"
· Discourse between mathematicians and math educators
· Plenary session followed by 2 session: interactive/dialogue
stimulating, and presentations from
mathematicians (questions à learning à results)
· Eric Muller - The Canadian Mathematical Society together with
NSERC PromoScience has
funded the first stage of the development of a Canadian Virtual Math
Trail. This project was developed over the summer under the direction
of Eric Muller at Brock University. The results of the first phase can
be found at http://www.brocku.ca/cmt
· The site will be officially launched by the CMS at a later
date. A funding proposal is underway
to support the involvement of schools across Canada.
f) MAA Seaway Section
- Eric Muller
· The Seaway Section of the Mathematical Association of America
will hold its Fall meeting at
Brock University on Friday and Saturday November 2 and 3. On Friday
evening the after dinner speaker will be Professor Jonathan Borwein,
Simon Fraser University and President of the Canadian Mathematical Society.
He will speak on "Why Math is (still) hard, Challenges for Mathematical
Computing". Speakers on Saturday Morning will be Professor Bill
Ralph "Can Mathematics Recognize Great Art", and Professor
Ed Barbeau. In the afternoon there will be a special session on "The
Role of Proof in Teaching Mathematics" and a Workshop by Bill Ralph
on "Calculus Meets Interactive Multimedia: The 'Journey Through
Calculus' Software". Copies of the flyer were distributed at the
meeting. Please see math.binghampton.edu/menger/maa_seaway for further
details and updates.
10. The Fields as a provider of mathematics courses for teachers
- Ontario College of Teachers
Taken from the Ontario College of Teacher's website: www.oct.on.ca
Sept 26, 2001
Professional Learning Program
The First Cohort | The Professional Learning Committee | On-Line Survey
Questions and Answers for Members | Questions and Answers for Providers
Committee Fact Sheet | Information For Providers | Providers Fact Sheet
Approved Providers
· The Professional Learning Program was established when Bill
80 was passed in June 2001. It requires all teachers certified in Ontario
to complete a program of professional learning in order to maintain
their license to teach in publicly funded schools in Ontario.
· The Professional Learning Program requires every Ontario teacher
to successfully complete 14 courses of professional learning every five
years. The 14 courses are comprised of seven core or required courses
in specific knowledge or practice areas, and seven elective courses
in areas of a member's own choice.
· The seven core courses will focus on: curriculum knowledge,
student assessment, special education, teaching strategies, classroom
management and leadership, use of technology, and communicating with
parents and students.
· The seven elective courses may be taken to suit the professional
needs and interests of the individual teacher.
· Each course will include an assessment component and course
lengths will vary according to the learning requirements of each topic.
Each course must be at least five hours in length.
The First Cohort
· An initial group of 40,000 College members who are classroom
teachers will be randomly selected to begin the professional learning
program this fall. All new teachers certified in 2001 who are employed
as classroom teachers for the first time starting in September 2001
will also be part of this first cohort. This first group of members
will have until December 31, 2006 to complete the required professional
learning courses. This first group will receive a letter in September
outlining details of participation.
· The remaining members of the College will begin their first
five-year cycle on September 1, 2002 and complete it by December 31,
2007.
The Courses
· The Professional Learning Program should not curtail or interfere
with individually motivated professional activity. In fact, the Professional
Learning Program may complement and provide for formal acknowledgement
of much of what is already in place.
· Professional learning courses will not be limited to courses
that are currently available for practicing teachers, for example, Additional
Qualification (AQ) courses. It may be decided that AQ courses are equivalent
to more than one professional learning course.
· Academic courses that members take through recognized universities
- other than those required for initial certification - will also likely
be considered as part of the professional learning requirements.
· The College is committed to ensuring that: professional learning
program courses will be accessible across the province in both English
and French the courses will be useful to teachers in their work and
contribute to their professional growth links to current providers and
courses will be readily available on our web site course delivery will
be as convenient as possible.
The Professional Learning Committee
· Additional details about the program will be made by the College's
newly established Professional Learning Committee. Current members can
help shape the design of the professional learning program by sharing
their thoughts with the committee through this web site at Professional
Learning and You.
· Two College members at large will be selected by Council to
serve on the Professional Learning Committee. College members may apply
for one of these positions. More information may be found in the Fact
Sheet, Professional Learning Committee.
· The Professional Learning Committee will:
- approve persons or entities as providers of professional learning
courses
- approve courses as professional learning courses
- establish the procedure for applying for approval as a provider and
for approval for a professional learning course
- conduct regular reviews of providers and professional learning courses
to ensure that providers
- professional learning courses continue to meet the current criteria
for approval.
Information for Providers
· The College is committed to expanding the provider base for
the delivery of professional learning to improve the accessibility,
variety and quality of courses for teachers.
· The Professional Learning Committee will approve providers
and professional learning courses that meet criteria established in
the legislation or by the committee. Only groups, organizations or individuals
that are approved by the College will be able to offer courses for members
to meet Professional Learning Program requirements.
· A potential provider of courses might be a district school
board, faculty of education, university, community college, teacher
federation, independent school, professional association, educational
consortium or private business.
Fact Sheet, Professional Learning Committee
· What Does the Professional Learning Committee Do?
· Bill 80 establishes a Professional Learning Committee of the
College to implement the professional learning program. The Professional
Learning Committee is responsible for:
- approving persons or entities as providers of professional learning
courses. These providers might include, for example, faculties of education,
school boards, teacher federations, independent schools, professional
associations or private businesses
- approving courses as professional learning courses
- establishing the procedure for applying for approval as a provider
and for approval for a professional learning course
- conducting regular reviews of providers and professional learning
courses to ensure that providers and professional learning courses continue
to meet the current criteria for approval.
Who Are the Members of the Committee?
· The Professional Learning Committee will be composed of four
members of the College Council and two College members at large. The
Minister of Education has the authority to appoint up to five additional
members to the committee.
· On August 13, 2001, the Council appointed four well-informed
and capable members of Council to serve on the Professional Learning
Committee:
- Bernard J. Adam, who was elected to Council from the French-language
Public Elementary/Secondary category, has taught a variety of subjects
in secondary schools
- Jerry De Quetteville, an elected Council member from the Southcentral
Region, has taught in primary and junior division and has experience
as a professional development presenter
- Patrick Daly, a public appointee to the Council, is the chair of the
Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board
- Elayne McDermid, another public appointee, is a former elementary
school teacher with a wide range of experience in physical education,
language arts, science, mathematics and library.
· Two College members at large will be selected by the Council
to serve on the Professional Learning Committee.
· The College Council's Selection Process for College Members
at Large
· The College Council has placed an advertisement in the September
2001 issue of Professionally Speaking inviting members to apply to be
appointed to the Professional Learning Committee. Members who are interested
in serving on the committee are asked to return their application to
the Chair of the Nomination Committee by September 30, 2001.
· The Nomination Committee will review the applications and make
their recommendations based on these criteria:
- membership in good standing with the Ontario College of Teachers residency
in Ontario geographical
- balanced teaching qualifications
- current or past employment in education
- current or past employment in a French-language education system will
be considered an asset
- related experience
- commitment to the continuing professional growth of teachers' professionalism
and dedicated to promoting ensuring best practices
- reasons for wanting to serve (200 words or less).
How to Apply
· If you are interested in serving on the Professional Learning
Committee, please submit your application by September 30, 2001 to:
Dick Malowney
Chair, Nominations Committee
Ontario College of Teachers
121 Bloor Street East, 6th Floor
Toronto ON M4W 3M5
or by fax 416-961-8822
or e-mail outreach@oct.on.ca
How Often Will the Professional Learning Committee Meet?
· Initially, there will be a great deal of work to be done to
approve criteria for professional learning providers and course and
review courses for approval. This committee will meet frequently during
its first year or two of operation. Currently, the expectation is that
the committee will meet at least four days per month.
· Members appointed to this committee would serve until April
or May of 2003.
How Will the Professional Learning Committee Members Be Paid?
· Committee members appointed from the College membership at
large will - like the elected members of Council - continue to receive
their regular salaries and benefits, paid by their regular employers.
The College will reimburse the employers for the cost of replacing committee
members while they are on College business. Members of the committee
appointed by the Minister of Education will be paid a $150 honorarium
by the Ministry of Education for each day of service.
· Committee members' travel and accommodation expenses will be
paid by the College in accordance with the College's travel policy.
The College will be reimbursed for expenses incurred by public members.
What Else Can You Tell Me About the Professional Learning Program?
· Bill 80 requires teachers to complete a professional learning
program of seven core courses and seven elective courses from an approved
course list during a five-year cycle.
· The bill also requires the College to implement the professional
learning program beginning September 1, 2001. The first cohort - made
up of 40,000 randomly selected classroom teachers and all new teachers
certified in 2001 and employed in Ontario classrooms in September 2001
- will begin their five-year cycle in September. The first group will
receive a letter in September outlining the requirements of participation.
· The rest of the College's members will begin their five-year
cycle in September 2002.
· The seven core courses will focus on:
- curriculum knowledge
- student assessment
- special education
- teaching strategies
- classroom management and leadership
- use of technology
o communicating with parents and students.
· Course lengths will vary according to the learning requirements
of each topic, but each course must be at least five hours in length.
· Courses will build on professional development activities and
programs in which many teachers already participate regularly to improve
their skills or to teach a new subject.
Provider Fact Sheet
· The Professional Learning Committee will approve providers
to offer courses that meet the criteria established in the legislation
or by the committee. Only groups, organizations or individuals that
are approved by the College will be able to offer courses for members
to meet Professional Learning Program requirements.
· A potential provider of courses might be a district school
board, faculty of education, university, community college, teacher
federation, independent school, professional association, educational
consortium or private business.
· During the startup period and until the Professional Learning
Committee is established in November, the Chair of Council will be approving
providers based on these criteria:
· The provider should be able to demonstrate recent and relevant
experience in delivering quality professional learning programs for
teachers. The provider should have course developers and presenters
with expertise in adult learning strategies and knowledge of the Ontario
educational context. The provider should be able to demonstrate that
course criteria are met in the delivery of professional learning courses.
The provider should have a web site where all relevant information about
courses can be displayed and updated as necessary. The provider should
have an organizational infrastructure that allows it to meet all College
expectations regarding approvals, submission of results and electronic
communication with members and the College. The ability for providers
to communicate electronically with both the College and the members
is essential. During the startup period, the College will accept information
submitted on floppy disks.
· The College is currently accepting applications for approval
as providers of professional learning core courses from school boards,
faculties of education, universities, community colleges, teacher federations,
independent schools' associations, professional associations, the Ministry
of Education and educational consortium - established providers of professional
development programs for teachers.
· When the Professional Learning Committee is operational and
has had an opportunity to review the current criteria and establish
the procedure for applying to be a provider or for approval of a professional
learning course, providers approved in the startup period will be required
to reapply for approval.
· To ensure accessibility, variety and quality of courses for
teachers, additional providers will be invited to apply for approval
to deliver professional learning courses in the new year. New providers
might include subject associations, other government ministries and
private businesses.
· School boards, faculties of education, universities, community
colleges, teacher federations, independent schools' associations, professional
associations, the Ministry of Education and educational consortium wishing
to apply for approval as providers of professional learning courses
during the startup period should complete the Provider Application Form
- Transition Period, Professional Learning Core Courses. To seek course
approval, complete the Course Proposal Application Form - Transition
Period for each course you wish to have approved. The application forms
are available in printable pdf format at www.oct.on.ca è Professional
Learning Program. Please send completed applications to the Professional
Learning Project Team: Professional Learning Project Team
Ontario College of Teachers
121 Bloor Street East, 6th Floor
Toronto ON M4W 3M5
Fax: 416-961-8822
E-mail: plp@oct.on.ca
Please note: If you are sending your application via fax, you must follow-up
by sending the original application via mail with your $100.00 payment.
Interdisciplinary Courses - Walter Whiteley
· Ministry Validation session for Interdisciplinary Courses
· Courses developed by Principal approval only
· Model interdisciplinary course - Learning and Mathematics (Grade
11 open) which would support students interested in elementary teaching
to:
- Survive their third math credit
- Reflect on the learning of mathematics, the conceptual basis etc.
of prior mathematics, with insight for social science, etc.
- Think about models of learning
· There might be room for a grade 12 U course which would be
designed to encourage students taking math and science to consider the
learning (and teaching) of mathematics and science, the big ideas, constructivist
approaches and problem solving, etc.
· Deadline for courses to appear in next draft: October 3!!
11. Items for future Forum Agendas - small group discussions
Forum making connections for our worlds
· Ten minute presentations (with 10 minute discussions)
· Student understanding of math (misconception)
· Structure of math teaching in secondary schools (semester vs.
non semester)
· Big ideas (concept) in math (enriching dialogue)
· Technology and supports: future › algebra
› dynamic geometry
› graphing calculators
i) Task Force to consider issues:
· Service provider
· Creating courses/templates?
· Quality control
· Set standards
ii) Elementary teachers are not represented here
iii) University transition task force
A) Guest Speakers
1) Representative from College of Teachers - elementary math credit
2) Dean of Education (non mathematician)
How much math fits into their agenda
3) C.O.D.E. representative, describing statistics (OSS vs. OSIS studies)
4) Data around implementation of technology
B) Develop models for good professionals, centred on math & technology
C) Connecting science education and math education, and supporting
these teachers
Next meeting October 27, 2001
