Inquiry-Based Mathematics Instruction at the University Level
Recent research suggests that one of the reasons for students' poor performance in mathematics in middle school is the result of teachers' poor preparation in mathematics content. The 2007 Mathematics Teaching in the 21st Century report by the Center for Research in Mathematics and Science Education at Michigan State University studied preparation programs in the U.S., Taiwan, South Korea, Bulgaria, Germany and Mexico. The results of the study suggest that teacher preparation institutions in the United States focus more on pedagogy than on mathematical knowledge in preparing teachers to teach middle school mathematics.
The Greater Birmingham Mathematics Partnership (GBMP) focuses on improving pre-service and inservice teachers' content knowledge in mathematics. GBMP's curriculum consists of a sequence of seven intensive mathematics content courses. The mathematics content in these courses consists of the "big mathematical ideas" of numerical reasoning, algebra, geometry, probability, and data analysis as identified in NCTM's Principles and Standards for School Mathematics. The goal is to improve participants' conceptual understanding of the mathematics as well as improve their ability to put mathematical ideas and skills to work in solving complex and relevant problems. All courses attend to the process strands of problem solving, reasoning, making connections, and communicating.
The courses model a learning environment that optimizes the learning of quality mathematics and will meet a broad range of learner needs. They allow access for those teachers who fear and/or dislike mathematics, yet challenge all participants. The courses offer teachers opportunities to struggle with complex, rich, and expandable mathematical tasks with the potential of arriving at the development of concepts that are foundational to the field of mathematics.
The project's content courses are designed to develop a deep understanding of the mathematics that middle school students should know, as well as a deep understanding of how students learn mathematics, of optimal assessment practices, and of ways to create mathematics classrooms that are powerful learning communities.
