Math Education

Mathematics Education Program

We teach math education at GVSU with the philosophy to teach our students as we want them to teach.

This makes our classrooms look different. It is unusual to see a professor lecturing -- rather they are circulating among the students, who are sitting at tables, working in groups on engaging, open ended problems. As Char Beckmann asks, "Who is active?" Because the active one in the classroom is the person learning. If it's the professor, that's trouble. This makes math a very different experience, accesible to all students, and... dare we say it?... fun! This is very much in line with the Standards and Principles of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.

We teach Math 221 and 222 for all elementary education students. Frankly, many of these students would admit that they are not the fondest of math. (Perhaps they would put it even more strongly?) Thus, we are honor bound to change their opinion of math by getting them involved in hands-on work. These courses have been extensively revised by our faculty, led by Jan Shroyer, to be in line with the latest research-based educational methods. Math 222 includes a diagnosis and tutoring experience in area schools.

We teach Math 321, 322 and 323 for elementary education math majors. These courses delve more deeply into the topics introduced in 221 and 222, plus much greater mathematical and pedagogical development. Here there is much more field experience, and we learn about problem, lesson and unit planning in addition to strong mathematics content and exposure to standards-based curricula. Students also read more challenging articles by education researchers, and try to see how these would apply in practice.

We teach Math 229 and 329 for secondary mathematics education majors and minors. These courses explore middle grades (329) and high school (229) mathematics education through student centered, integrated content/methods perspectives that incorporate cooperative learning strategies, use of appropriate technology and physical mater ials, and active learning. Each course requires students to read professional literature in the field and to complete 20 hours of service learning working with middle grades students (329) or active classroom observation (229). We are also involved in the supervision of secondary teacher assistants through a weekly seminar and classroom observations.

For the master's education program, we teach Math 629. Math 629 takes a critical look at current issues of importance to teachers of secondary school mathematics courses.

The faculty members who teach these courses are also actively involved in curriculum development, research, various grant projects, or professional mathematics education organizations. We can often be found in area schools, working with teachers and students. This is vital to keep our classes realistic and practical, to give our education students the best possible preparation for their future teaching.

One of the interesting things about math education at Grand Valley is that we are in the Department of Mathematics, not the school of education. We have a very synergistic relationship, as can be seen by the Enhancing the Core project. As a whole, our faculty is devoted to being the best educators of university mathematics and are at the forefront of research-based technique and practice. The faculty with a special interest in math education or who teach preservice teacher education classes are listed below. The links on their names lead to their faculty web page, which details their scholarly interests as well as links to their personal page if they have one.

Nancy Alexander	email: alexandn@gvsu.edu	331-2307, A-2-102 MAK
Charlene Beckmann	email: beckmannc21@aol.dot.com	331-2066, C-2-409 MAK
Esther Billings	email: billinge@gvsu.edu	331-3379, C-2-412 MAK
David Coffey	email: coffeyd@gvsu.edu	331-3747, C-2-410 MAK
Marge Friar	email: friarm@gvsu.edu	331-2304, C-2-413 MAK
John Golden	email: goldenj@gvsu.edu	331-2449, C-2-416 MAK
Gary Klingler	email: klingleg@gvsu.edu	331-2314, A-2-166 MAK
Nancy Mack	email: mackn@gvsu.edu	331-2382, A-2-154 MAK
Levi Molenje	email: molenjel@gvsu.edu	331-8965, A-2-136 MAK
Karen Novotny	email: novotnka@gvsu.edu	331-2058, C-2-408 MAK
Rebecca Walker	email: walkerre@gvsu.edu	331-2536, C-2-411 MAK
Pam Wells	email: wellsp@gvsu.edu	331-2301, A-2-158 MAK
Paul Yu	email: yupaul@gvsu.edu	331-2826, A-2-120 MAK

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