NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
TEACHER ENHANCEMENT PROJECT
IMPLEMENTING DISCRETE MATHEMATICS
AT SCHOOL LEVEL
OVERVIEW
Boston College received funding in excess of 3 million dollars from the National Science Foundation to assist in the implementation of the NCTM Standard on Discrete Mathematics. The project entitled Implementation of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Standard in Discrete Mathematics, was designed to form a nationwide cadre of middle and secondary school teachers and collegiate mathematics teacher educators who would acquire some basic knowledge of discrete mathematics topics, activate the discrete mathematics standard in their respective classrooms and share instructional experiences with their students and teacher colleagues.
In Phase I, during July 1992, a three week leadership training program was conducted at the Chestnut Hill Campus of Boston College that prepared six leadership teams. The teams developed instructional practices based on the recommendations of the NCTM Professional Standards for Teaching Mathematics and prepared an in-service model to be delivered at six regional sites each in the Summers of 1993 and 1994. In Phase II this same model was delivered at six regional sites each in the Summers of 1995 and 1996. In the Summer of 1997 there was one additional three-week program at Boston College for middle and secondary mathematics teachers.
Teacher Leaders
SUMMER COMPONENT
The intensive instructional program operated daily between 8:30 am and 4:15 PM. There were regular informal evening study gatherings as well as a few special evening sessions. The program targeted five specific content areas of discrete mathematics namely Social Decision Making, Graph Theory, Counting and Finite Probability, Matrices and Recursion. Graphing calculators, spreadsheets and other computer software packages were an integral part of the discrete mathematics instruction. Homework was assigned daily while the teachers worked individually and in groups to complete assignments. Participants explored effective leadership development practices and focused on assessment and equity. At the conclusion of each summer program a mini-conference was featured. The teacher participants gave presentations on a discrete math topic that they researched and prepared.
Boston Team
ACADEMIC YEAR FOLLOW-UPS
All participants returned to the campus site for two all day Saturday meetings during the subsequent school year. Teachers shared their experiences in teaching discrete mathematics topics and interacted with area leaders in mathematics education.
Quilt illustrating topics
in Discrete Mathematics
YEARLY CONFERENCES
Boston College has been the venue for two recent conferences with a discrete mathematics focus. The theme of the December 2000 Conference was the interface between the April 2000 NCTM Principles and Standards for School Mathematics and Discrete Mathematics. The speakers included nationally known mathematicians and mathematics educators along with a number of the discrete mathematics team leaders and former participants. Building on the success of the 2000 Conference, a second meeting cohosted by the Rutgers University Discrete Mathematics Project and the Boston College Mathematics Institute took place in March 2002 at the Chestnut Hill Campus. This was the first meeting that attracted teachers at the K - 12 levels. Previous programs had targeted middle-secondary teachers.