Establish and coordinate innovative inservice programs for mathematics teachers.
Objective
Mathematics Workshops
Teachers who attend the Reeves Center workshops will be able to use presented material in their classroom.
Indicator
Inservice Workshops
A post-workshop evaluation will be conducted asking the participants for specific ideas that they can immediately employ in their classroom.
Criterion
Evaluation Results
75% of the teachers participating in workshop will be able to name at least one idea they will use.
Finding
Workshops Offered
The Reeves Center did not offer any workshops for inservice teachers this year. This was due, in part to the fact that the director of the Center passed away in late January. Members of the Reeves Center were then needed to cover classes and fill in as needed in other responsibilities.
Action
New Directions
The Department will designate a new director for the Reeves Center during the summer, with a mandate to increase the outreach (inservice) programs for mathematics teachers in SHSU's service area.
Goal
Research
Sponsor research to improve school mathematics curriculum, teaching, and learning.
Objective
Research Conference
Mathematics Education instructors who attend the MERiT (Mathematics Education Research in Texas) conference will find other researchers to work with or clarify their research topics.
Indicator
MERiT Conference
A post-conference evaluation will be conducted asking the participants asking them to identify collaborators or new research topics.
Criterion
MERiT Conference Support
75% of the respondants will indicate they have found a research collaborator or have a new research topic to investigate.
Finding
Research Collaboration
Last year's MERiT conference had 25 attendees. The following collaborations have ensued:
1) After the November conference, participants from the North Texas area formed a subgroup - called MERGiNT [Mathematics Education Research Group in North Texas] - that has met twice and was represented as a session at PME-NA (Psychology in Mathematics Education - North America) in Columbus, OH. (5 conference members)
2) A collaborative research project - focused on Teacher Efficacy in Algebra - continues to work with faculty from at least 5 campuses engaged in the research. The group was accepted to present during the NCTM Research Presession at the poster session in April 2011. (six conference members)
3) Faculty have made connections on the grant front, one faculty member from SHSU serves as the assessment director for a graduate level grant at UT-Arlington. (one conference member)
Thus, of the 25 attendees, 11 (44%) were part of collaborative efforts the resulted in their participation with SHSU's MERiT conference.
Action
Continued Collaboration Efforts
In retrospect, a collaboration rate of 75% seems a bit optimistic. We felt that with the small number of conference participants, the climate would be conducive for fostering many avenues of collaboration. Many of the 25 who attended had attended previous MERiT conferences, so we also felt that the familiarity with each other's research would be helpful.