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Program Requirements — Master of Arts in Teacher Leadership in Mathematics

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This is a unique program designed for mathematics teachers in middle and high school or who wish to teach mathematics at that level. The program has two parts.  The first part is mathematics content focused on deepening the participants' understanding of mathematical concepts and the connections among the various mathematics branches so they are understood as a coherent whole at levels K-16. The content courses are designed to increase the participants' comfort with higher-level mathematics to enhance their teaching with additional depth and breadth of content. The second part emphasizes teacher leadership in which teachers are trained to become leaders and advocates for mathematics and science education in their own school and district. The courses in the program present the content and pedagogy in a parallel manner and connect the two throughout the program.

General program goals are to:

Establish teacher leaders in mathematics and mathematics education in order to be able to lead the effort to improve teaching and learning of mathematics in the teacher's own school and district.

• Deepen teachers' understanding of mathematics content knowledge by focusing on concepts and connections among the various mathematics branches so it is understood as a coherent whole at levels K-16.
• Become reflective teachers by using action research to assess and improve their own teaching.
• Improve mathematics teaching skills of participants so their students understand, apply and retain mathematics knowledge over time by:
  • Focusing on presenting, clarifying and writing concepts in a simple and precise language, and reiterating mathematical terms.
  • Focusing on teaching the skill of "explaining mathematics and science" by emphasizing the logical reasoning and the concepts that lead to a certain procedures used to solve a given problem.
  • Presenting a mathematics topic as a part of a coherent whole and link it to topics from previous courses and possible future courses.
  • Presenting examples that link mathematics topics to real word problems when possible, especially in the area of science.
  • Using technology, manipulatives, or diagrams appropriately and effectively.
  • Emphasizing strategies to increase teacher and, consequently, student comfort levels with problem solving.
  • Reviewing and implementing latest research in mathematics education.

Program requirements are organized into two parts:

PART A. Teacher Leader Endorsement Requirements — 12 semester hours
TLDR5100 Teacher Leader Roles and Attributes (3)
TLDR5200 Curriculum Development and Assessment in Mathematics and Science (3)
TLDR6000 Action Research for Teacher Leaders in Mathematics and Science (3)
TLDR6100 Action Research Project (2)
TLDR6200 Internship in Teacher Leadership (1-2)

PART B. Mathematics and Science Content and Pedagogy Requirements — 24 semester hours
MTH 5010 Numbers and Mathematical Thinking (3)
MTH5020 Statistics, Probability and Educational Research (3)
MTH5030 Understanding and Teaching Algebra (3)
MTH5040 Understanding and Teaching Geometry (3)
MTH6010 Calculus Concepts, Theory, and Applications (3)
MTH6020 Mathematical Connections (3)
MTH6030 Mathematical Applications in Sciences, Life Sciences and Engineering (3)
MTH 6040 Technology in Mathematics Classrooms (3)

PART A.  Teacher Leader Endorsement Requirements — 12 semester hours
Each program participant is expected to complete the following courses and experiences during the time of their enrollment in the program. Internship for Teacher Leaders (TLDR6100) may be completed during any semester of the second or third year.

TLDR5100 Teacher Leader Roles and Attributes (3 semester hours)
This is the first course in the teacher leader strand of courses. The goal of this experience is to increase participants' understanding of teacher leader roles in schools through a study of teacher leader attributes and behaviors.  Students will create a personalized learning plan that demonstrates their understanding of teacher leadership attributes and behaviors and provides evidence of their own professional growth in order to be able to act as role models for others.  Such evidence might take the form of participant- created lessons, activities, assessment tasks, presentations, journal articles, and/or action research into teacher leadership issues.
No prerequisites.

TLDR5200 Curriculum Development and Assessment in Mathematics and Science (3 semester hours)
The course will focus on curriculum goals and implementation, a mix of theoretical research-based foundations and classroom-reform-based perspectives on assessment and evaluation in schools, recent developments in curriculum; learning research; alternate modes of presentation.
Prerequisite: TLDR5100.

TLDR6000 Action Research for Teacher Leaders in Mathematics and Science (3 semester hours)
Action research is a disciplined process of inquiry conducted by and for those taking action. The primary reason for engaging in action research is to assist the teacher leader in improving and/or refining his or her actions. This course launches individual or group investigation of research questions with application to the student's classroom through the process of action research. The course initiates a professional conversation among the candidates about the major issues in the teaching and learning of mathematics and science. The questions that emerge become the focus for independent inquiry to develop topics for further investigation in this course and in the following course action research project.
Prerequisite: TLDR5100.

TLDR6100 Action Research Project (2 semester hours)
This is a continuation of TLDR6000 Action Research in Teaching Mathematics and Science. Participants will complete their projects, submit a written report of their research, and present their findings to other program participants and at local and/or national conferences.
Prerequisite: TLDR6000.

TLDR6200 Internship in Teacher Leadership (1-2 semester hours)
Each candidate is expected to take part in a flexible field experience at one of the partner's sites (East Aurora school district, West Aurora school district, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, Packer Engineering, Robert Crown Health Education Center, Aurora Science and Technology Museum, or other affiliate). The goal is to give each participant an opportunity to either work with a leader on a project or play a teacher leader role during this experience.  The participants will be given the flexibility to choose an experience that is most beneficial to them as long as it is approved by the program director.  It is expected that the connections will be developed with professionals in the field of mathematics and science.
Prerequisite:TLDR5100.

PART B. Mathematics and Science Content and Pedagogy Requirements — 24 semester hours

MTH5010 Numbers and Mathematical Thinking  (3 semester hours)
This is the first mathematics course in the program. It will review various introductory topics to build the participants' foundation in mathematics. It will focus on further developing the participants' mathematical thinking, conceptual understanding of different number systems and link that to advanced number theory and modern algebra concepts. The course will use problem-solving as tool to accomplish these goals.
No prerequisites.

MTH5020 Statistics, Probability and Educational Research (3 semester hours)
This course is an exploratory and practical study that will deepen student understanding of critical concepts of statistics and probability with an emphasis on research in education. The course will train students to formulate research questions, design data collection methods, gather and represent data, verify data validity, perform data analysis and draw conclusion from data.
No prerequisites.

MTH5030 Understanding and Teaching Algebra (3 semester hours)
This course will be a mixture of advanced algebra topics as well as connections to methods of teaching algebra. The class will develop a list of challenging algebra topics to teach in their own classes and then after researching best practices, students will present a lesson on one of these topics; a discussion of the best practices and biggest challenges of teaching such a topic will be discussed by the group. Every student in the class will be expected to present. The majority of the class will be devoted to the teaching of modern algebra topics such as, modular arithmetic, rings, polynomials, groups and fields and how these topics connect to the algebra that is taught in the middle and high school grades.
Prerequisite: MTH5010.

MTH5040 Understanding and Teaching Geometry (3 semester hours)
The course will be a mix of advanced geometry topics as well as methods of teaching geometry. The class will develop a list of geometry topics that they, or departmental colleagues, find challenging to teach. One or more teachers will be asked to prepare and teach one of these topics to the class.  Following the presentation, a discussion of the best practices and biggest challenges of teaching such a topic will be discussed by the group. Every teacher in the class will be expected to present. The majority of the class will be devoted to discussion of Euclidian and modern geometry topics that will deepen students' understanding of high school geometry concepts. Topics such as axiomatic system, Euclidean propositions, Euclidean constructions, formal geometric proofs, Non-Euclidean Geometries (Elliptic and Hyperbolic geometries) matrices and transformation geometry. The course will emphasize the use of geometry software such as Geometry Sketchpad, Geogebra, Cabri, etc.
Prerequisite: MTH5010.

MTH6010 Calculus Concepts, Theory, and Applications (3 semester hours)
This course is intended to present opportunities for mathematics teacher leaders to expand and deepen their knowledge and understanding of calculus concepts and theory. The course includes examples of teaching approaches as applied to the teaching and learning of calculus. It will focus also on solving applications of calculus in other fields, especially science.
Prerequisites:MTH5030 and MTH5040.

MTH6020 Mathematical Connections (3 semester hours)
The course will present students with topics that relate different mathematics branches to each other. Analytic geometry can be used as a platform to show how algebra, geometry, calculus, etc. are interconnected. The course will emphasize problem solving as a technique to establish these connections and use mathematics as a tool to solve problems.
Prerequisites:MTH5030 and MTH5040.

MTH6030 Mathematical Applications in Sciences, Life Sciences and Engineering (3 semester hours)
The course will be project/problem based. Students will be presented with a list of word problems and projects from the physical sciences, life sciences, space science, business, engineering, etc. They will analyze, research, and find the appropriate mathematical tools to solve these problems.
Prerequisites: MTH6010 and MTH6020.

MTH 6040 Technology in Mathematics Classrooms (3 semester hours)
This course will present and evaluate methods and strategies for employing technology as a regular part of instruction and assessment, including discussion of educational foundations. Hands-on experiences working with current technology (scientific calculators, graphing calculators, computers, and computer software) for elementary, middle school, and secondary school mathematics will be included.
Prerequisites:MTH5030 and MTH5040.