Current Activities
Foundations of Mathematics Education Courses
The core doctoral courses in mathematics education are offered on a regular two-year schedule at all three universities:
- FME I: Theory and Research on Mathematical Thinking and
Learning (Fall ’05) - FME II: Theory and Research on Mathematics Teaching (Spring ’06)
- FME III: Theory and Research on Mathematics Curriculum (Fall ’06)
- FME IV: Theory and Research on Mathematics Teacher Education
and Policy (Spring ‘05)
While doctoral students enroll at one of the three Mid-Atlantic Center universities, the courses meet at the same time and follow correlated syllabi. This encourages and enables concurrent class meetings via videoconferencing and at day-long retreats when all students come together for face-to-face work on course topics.
Regular Seminars and Colloquia
Faculty and doctoral fellows meet regular for informal seminars and talks by invited visitors. For some of these colloquia, videoconferencing technology allows sharing of guest expertise across campuses.
- The University of Delaware seminar meets Friday afternoons during Fall and Spring semesters.
- The University of Maryland seminar meets Friday mornings during Fall and Spring semesters.
- The mathematics education group at Penn State holds a weekly research seminar for graduate students and faculty.
Information about specific coming attractions is posted on the web sites of the respective University mathematics education programs.
Summer Research Conference
In what has become a Mid-Atlantic Center tradition, faculty, doctoral and post-doctoral fellows, and school system leaders meet each year in early summer for a 2.5 day research conference. The June 2005 meeting included these sessions:
- A plenary talk by Suzanne Wilson on Understanding Teacher Learning: Conceptual and Methodological Puzzles;
- Working sessions to advance thinking about the Center's key research projects investigating development, use, and effects of teacher content and pedagogical knowledge;
- Working sessions in which students present dissertation research ideas for critical advice.
The opportunities for face-to-face interactions provided by these meetings encourage and facilitate collaborations that make our Center a professional community with resources beyond what any one institution can offer.