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  • 1.  Two-Year College Mathematics Education as a field of study (inquiry)

    Posted 01-19-2020 13:09:00
    Dear Colleagues:
    A couple of questions of interest, and I'd be very grateful for your input:

    • Should two-year college mathematics education (or rather, mathematics education in the first two years of college) be a formal field of inquiry or study? 

    • How can two-year college mathematics education (or rather, mathematics education in the first two years of college) be a formal field of inquiry or study

    While thinking about these questions, a few other subquestions:
    • If two-year college mathematics education (or rather, mathematics education in the first two years of college) shouldn't be a formal field of inquiry or study, why?
    • What do we mean by a field of inquiry?
    • What do we mean by a field of study?
    • Is a field of inquiry the same as a field of study? Why?
    • What makes something a field of study (or field of inquiry)? Or rather what is needed for something to be a field of study (field of inquiry)?
    • That which makes something a field of study (inquiry), or that which is needed to have a field of study (inquiry), how can that be achieved/attained? 

    As always, your input is greatly appreciated. 
    Sincerely,
    David Tannor

    Ps: I do not intend facilitating/leading a conversation here, but rather I would be grateful to hear what you think.

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    David Tannor
    Kellogg Community College
    Battle Creek MI
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  • 2.  RE: Two-Year College Mathematics Education as a field of study (inquiry)

    Posted 02-26-2020 14:21:00
    I wanted to see how this works now that I can log in and you have the most interesting question in the 4 forums I added.

    I honestly have no idea what the difference between a field of inquiry and a field of study is. But, it might be nice to have a lot of math in the first two years of college in one place. There are obviously many questions to which it would be great to have answers. As just one example: What is the best approach with regards to efficiency, practicality, and retention (of the math) to teach an adult student interested in the STEM who did not explore mathematics effectively as a child? How should this approach differ based on student characteristics (employed full time v. full-time student e.g.)?

    Arguing the other side we are really parts of other communities where the research and best practices apply to us. Many of us are parts of community colleges with many first-in-their-family students. There are some cross disciplinary practices that we could all use. We are also part of a mathematics community. Not all K12 research would be pertinent (mandatory attendance in K12 v. students who have opted to take a course in College and180 hours versus 60 hours of classroom time are two of many confounding facotrs) but I bet a lot would.

    I'm sorry that after your month and a half wait you get an ambiguous post not directly answering most of your questions. Hopefully this will generate a few daily digests and some more replies. I will join the wait!

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    Jeff Morford
    Instructor
    Henry Ford College
    Dearborn MI
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  • 3.  RE: Two-Year College Mathematics Education as a field of study (inquiry)

    Posted 02-26-2020 14:22:00
    I suppose I should rotate my profile pic but I probably won't.

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    Jeff Morford
    Instructor
    Henry Ford College
    Dearborn MI
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  • 4.  RE: Two-Year College Mathematics Education as a field of study (inquiry)

    Posted 03-10-2020 23:34:00
    Thanks Jeff. The interdisciplinary/interconnected nature certainly does pose some challenges (or maybe opportunities) in examining our area as a, perhaps, defined field of inquiry. I like your first question a lot, and will digest some more. Something I've been thinking about for quite some time is the "nature of teaching mathematics at the two-year level". 

    Thanks again. 
    Sincerely,
    David

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    David Tannor
    Kellogg CC
    Battle Creek MI
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