Spring Semester Timeline
In my Fall Final Report, I wanted to think of other ways to help create a mathematical community and I also thought it would be fantastic if my students could teach some math as well! It’s time to dive into this work for the spring.
My students are going to embark on an ambitious research and teaching project. I took inspiration from my time at the UChicago REU (Research Experience as an Undergraduate). During the REU, students read, research and talk with their peers about a particular topic in mathematics. At the end of the program, students write a research paper. Although my students have not seen the same level of math as college students, they can still do all the research at their own level. And, given that we have more time than most college classes, I am going to include a teaching portion of the project so that we can all experience the work that everyone has done.
This is a very broad project, and I can imagine it will take some time to teach my student how to research things properly and then how to write (using professional typesetting, like LateX), and I’m not sure how all those aspects will play out in terms of time. I am imagining something like 8 weeks for the research and typesetting and then 5 weeks for the teaching component, so that we have time in class to see all the students teach. That’s an ambitious 3 month project, and I believe it will take up nearly all of our class time. I hope I can be a mentor to my students along the way, and that they will be proud of the paper that they create in the end.
Implementation of Research/Teaching Project
2/6/17
Students begin looking for good research problems and/or books. Students are presented with the outline for the research project
2/13/17
Students will have chosen their research topic and submit a simple one or two-paragraph abstract of their problem of focus
3/6/17
Students submit midpoint check-in of math work done so far as well as questions or concerns about their research. Students begin learning LaTeX typesetting to write their paper
3/27/17
Students put the finishing touches on their paper, submit first draft for review
4/17/17
Students return from Spring Break, begin prep for teaching lesson to students
4/24/17
First teaching lessons begin, Each student has a 50 min lesson for the whole class prepared.
5/29/17
Last Day with Seniors, finish teaching lessons.
My students are going to embark on an ambitious research and teaching project. I took inspiration from my time at the UChicago REU (Research Experience as an Undergraduate). During the REU, students read, research and talk with their peers about a particular topic in mathematics. At the end of the program, students write a research paper. Although my students have not seen the same level of math as college students, they can still do all the research at their own level. And, given that we have more time than most college classes, I am going to include a teaching portion of the project so that we can all experience the work that everyone has done.
This is a very broad project, and I can imagine it will take some time to teach my student how to research things properly and then how to write (using professional typesetting, like LateX), and I’m not sure how all those aspects will play out in terms of time. I am imagining something like 8 weeks for the research and typesetting and then 5 weeks for the teaching component, so that we have time in class to see all the students teach. That’s an ambitious 3 month project, and I believe it will take up nearly all of our class time. I hope I can be a mentor to my students along the way, and that they will be proud of the paper that they create in the end.
Implementation of Research/Teaching Project
2/6/17
Students begin looking for good research problems and/or books. Students are presented with the outline for the research project
2/13/17
Students will have chosen their research topic and submit a simple one or two-paragraph abstract of their problem of focus
3/6/17
Students submit midpoint check-in of math work done so far as well as questions or concerns about their research. Students begin learning LaTeX typesetting to write their paper
3/27/17
Students put the finishing touches on their paper, submit first draft for review
4/17/17
Students return from Spring Break, begin prep for teaching lesson to students
4/24/17
First teaching lessons begin, Each student has a 50 min lesson for the whole class prepared.
5/29/17
Last Day with Seniors, finish teaching lessons.