Five MU professors are in the middle of a mathematics curricula project that may change the way mathematics is taught in Missouri's middle grades.
Funded by a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation, Missouri Middle School Mathematics, or M3, supports the restructuring of curricula by moving away from discrete, unconnected lessons to hands-on, problem-based experiences that build on each other.
The project originated in 1995 with M3 director Barbara Reys, David Barnes and Robert Reys, all mathematics educators in curriculum and instruction, and John Beem and Ira Papick, professors of mathematics.
Through the grant, teachers from every middle school in Missouri will have a chance by 1998 to learn about and view in practice a new mathematics curricula for middle school students. In its first year, M3 project participants included 60 middle school teachers and administrators representing about 20 Missouri school districts.
"This is a project with real mathematics for the student," Dr. John Beem says, "but the materials are more demanding for everyone involved. And we are trying to facilitate the smooth implementation of the curricula throughout the state."
The program requires more reading and writing from the students than previous curricula have required. "One bonus we have already seen is an improvement in both these important skills," Dr. Papick says.
Papick says the professors worried about whether they were getting into what they call "the same old trap of new math" again. "This really is very different," he says. "The new math was directed toward more abstract mathematics. The emphasis here is toward concreteness in real world settings."
One assignment, for example, involves working with map scales through an examination of Lake of the Ozarks. In "An Amazing Lake" lesson, students will be exposed to new technology, such as graphing calculators.
"One of the major problems with the new math was that it was introduced with little or no training for the teachers," Beem says. "They were just left out there on their own. This project is designed to give them significant support not only from us, but from their fellow teachers and administrators."
Now in the second year of the project, the group of participants will expand to 160 Missouri teachers and administrators, including more mathematics faculty from each of the represented districts. The expanded teams will review the specific curriculum chosen by their initial team to be used in the 1996-97 school year. The third year will see the establishment of demonstration sites at schools within participating districts, as well as at four statewide dissemination conferences.
"Our goal is to support teachers as they consider alternative middle school curriculum," David Barnes says. These teachers will in turn become sources for leadership and support for other educators, disseminating what they have learned through the demonstration sites.
"Participating schools will become professional development locations where teachers interested in curriculum reform will come to see new mathematics curricula in action," he says.
As the project proceeds, the professors are gathering data on the impact of the new curricula on student learning, attitudes and continued study in mathematics. They also are charting factors that help teachers implement change in curricula, including use of supported, on-line electronic communications systems. Throughout the project, participating teachers and administrators will be linked to MU and to other participants by e-Mail.
Encouraged by the impact of M3, the group of MU professors is developing a new proposal for NSF, nicknamed Show-Me, which will be a similar program for Missouri high schools.
