Teaching Science Through Issues to Increase Engagement, Meet the NGSS, and Prepare Citizens – 2/26/24

Science plays a critical role in society, providing us with the knowledge we need to understand the universe and to better our lives. All persons, not just practicing scientists, need a great science education, and this education must provide students with the ability to use science in their everyday lives, a necessity made crystal-clear by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite the importance of science to all, many students are less than enthusiastic about their science courses. Participants will explore how teaching science through personal and current societal issues increases student interest in science, while simultaneously meeting the NGSS and creating citizens capable of applying high-quality scientific information to address these issues. Participants will develop an issue and a module based on that issue that they can implement in their courses.

Seminar Leader: Christopher Murphy, PhD.
Christopher Murphy is the Associate Provost for Curriculum and Liberal Learning and a Professor of Biology at TCNJ. He taught his first class of non-majors biology 30 years ago as a post-doctoral associate, and since then, over 95% of his teaching has been with this population. For much of this time, he has used an issues-based approach to help non-majors become interested in science and develop as educated citizens capable of using reliable scientific information to make reasoned decisions. He conducts research in both biology and college education.

Game On: Harnessing the Power of Games for Teaching Mathematics – K-12 teachers. Two dates available! 4/8/24 or 4/11/24

You may think that playing games in a math class is a loss of precious time that should be devoted to “coverage.” However, in my experience, the time devoted to games pays a great dividend by making students focus and think harder, by fostering community, and by creating intrinsic motivation and buy-in. In the great words of Sir Ken Robinson, “Education is not a mechanical system, it is a human system. People either do want to learn or do not want to learn.’’ Creating classes that are interactive and fun is a great way to foster students’ interest and motivation in learning mathematics at any age. In this workshop, we will learn, play and discuss 12 different games that are proven to develop basic mathematical skills in K-12 Mathematics Education. I will share lots of interesting research and a wealth of resources on using games in teaching Mathematics. We will also discuss how to balance the use of puzzles and games with coverage, and how to respond to parents’ and administrators’ questions about teaching Mathematics in a playful way.

Seminar Leader: Judit Kardos
Judit Kardos is an Associate Professor of Mathematics at TCNJ. She grew up in Hungary, a country that has a long tradition of superb Mathematics Education. She learned a simple recipe from her own teachers for teaching Mathematics: the more students enjoy doing Mathematics, the more likely that they will stay engaged and ultimately succeed. The recipe worked for Judit, she never stopped learning and received a Ph.D. in Mathematics with a focus on Real Analysis. As a teacher, she strives to deeply engage her students, fostering their own passion for mathematics through collaboration and the use of games and puzzles. Judit recently published an article about her interest in using games in teaching on the MAA’s Math Values Blog.https://www.mathvalues.org/masterblog/game-on-harnessing-the-power-of-games-for-math-learning-in-the-classroom

Inquiry Based Learning in the Mathematics Classroom – K-12 teachers. Two dates available ! 5/5/24 or 5/12/24

Inquiry Based Learning, or IBL for short, is a broad range of empirically validated teaching methods which emphasize (a) deeply engaging students and (b)providing students with opportunities to authentically learn by collaborating with their peers. Students in an IBL mathematics classes engage with a sequence of problems that are rich and support inquiry to the heart of big mathematical ideas. The solutions are discussed in class, with the students leading both the presentations and the questioning. The process is also deeply engaging for the teacher as she or he has a chance to learn about how students actually learn mathematics. According to the NCTM Equity principle: Excellence in mathematics education requires equity—high expectations and strong support for all students. Students can do more than memorize, mimic, perform algorithms and apply computational skills, if we ask them to. In this workshop you will get a taste of the IBL experience both as a student and as a teacher as we share IBL resources, problem sets, stories and evidence for the method’s effectiveness.

Seminar Leader: Judit Kardos
Judit Kardos is an Associate Professor of Mathematics at TCNJ. She grew up in Hungary, a country that has a long tradition of superb Mathematics Education. She learned a simple recipe from her own teachers for teaching Mathematics: the more students enjoy doing Mathematics, the more likely that they will stay engaged and ultimately succeed. The recipe worked for Judit, she never stopped learning and received a Ph.D. in Mathematics with a focus on Real Analysis. As a teacher, she strives to deeply engage her students, fostering their own passion for mathematics through collaboration and the use of games and puzzles. Judit recently published an article about her interest in using games in teaching on the MAA’s Math Values Blog.https://www.mathvalues.org/masterblog/game-on-harnessing-the-power-of-games-for-math-learning-in-the-classroom

Facilitating mathematical discussions: putting the 5 practices into practice – 1/26/24

Smith & Stein’s 5 Practices for Orchestrating Productive Mathematics Discussions (2011) include anticipating, monitoring, selecting, sequencing, and connecting. This workshop will begin with setting goals and selecting tasks and then delve into the five practices in order to learn how to successfully orchestrate mathematical discussions at the middle and high school levels.

Seminar Leader: Dr. Cathy S. Liebars
Dr. Cathy S. Liebars is an Associate professor of Mathematics Education and the Mathematics Education Coordinator at TCNJ. She teaches courses for pre-service teachers at all levels in the content area of mathematics, including methods and content courses. Dr. Liebars has presented workshops in several school districts in New Jersey on a variety of topics for teachers at all levels K-12. She has worked with middle grades and elementary teachers, assisting in their implementation of reform-based mathematics programs like the Connected Math Program (CMP) and TERC Investigations in Number, Data, and Space. Most recently, she has offered workshops on student-centered learning in mathematics and on algebra tiles and other manipulatives for teaching algebra for middle school and high school teachers from all over the state. Dr. Liebars is a Past-President of the New Jersey Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators (NJAMTE), currently serves on their Executive Board, and is former chair of the New Jersey section of the Mathematical Association of America.