Annual Report 2005 - Fields Institute - University of Toronto

Mathematics Education
Fields Mathematics Education Forum
September 2004–June 2005
Held at the Fields Institute
Steering Committee
Co-chair: George Gadanidis (UWO) and Tom Salisbury
(Fields)
Members: Stewart Craven (Toronto District School Board),
Shirley Dalrymple (York Region District School Board),
Gary Flewelling, Bradd Hart (McMaster), Kenning Marchant,
Dragana Martinovic (Sheridan College), and Margaret
Sinclair (York)
The Fields Mathematics Education forum meets during
the school year, one Saturday a month, from 10am–2pm.
It brings together individuals from faculties of education,
university and college mathematics departments, teachers
and mathematics coordinators from area school boards,
textbook publishers, consultants or government representatives
and members of the public interested in mathematics
education. Attendance ranges from 20 to 30, and participants
come regularly from as far afield as Ottawa,
Kingston, Peterborough, London, and St. Catherines.
The Forum serves as a lively venue for sharing ideas and
initiatives, discussing current mathematics education
issues, and forging partnerships for mathematics education
research and service. Some driving questions include: How
do we improve mathematics education? How do we better
prepare mathematics teachers? How do we forge productive
links among various stakeholders?
The Fields Mathematics Education Forum is open to the
public and anyone may attend without invitation.
The 2004-2005 monthly meetings dealt with a variety of
mathematics education issues: Students at Risk; Teacher
eLearning; Revisions to the Ontario Mathematics curriculum,
K-12; Teachers’ knowledge of mathematics;
Mathematics education research in Ontario; Mathematics
teacher education; Online mathematics learning; and Transition
from high school to university. A number of guest
speakers presented, including: John Mighton, Fields (JUMP
– Students at Risk); Chris Suurtamm, University of Ottawa
(Ontario’s Early Years Initiative research); Brent Davis, University
of Alberta (Teachers’ knowledge of mathematics);
Alex Lawson, Lakehead University (Ontario Junior Years
Expert Panel Report); Anthony Azzopardi, Ontario Ministry
of Education (Ontario curriculum review process).
M a t h e m a t i c s E d u c a t i o n
In June, the forum sponsored a meeting of university representatives
discussing revisions to the Ontario mathematics
curriculum.
The Fields Mathematics Education Forum also supported
the planning of the CMS Canadian Math Education Forum
2005, which was hosted by Fields, and included opportunities
for sharing Mathematics Education Success Stories
from across Canada.
WORKSHOPS AND CONFERENCES
CATM/ACEM meeting
November 6–7, 2004
Held at the Fields Institute
At the Canadian Mathematical Society’s national forum
on school mathematics, held in Montreal in May 2003, it
was proposed that closer connections between provincial
associations for mathematics teachers would benefit all
such groups. This idea struck a chord in many quarters, and
was subsequently discussed at a meeting of the Canadian
Mathematics Education Study Group (CMESG).
In November 2003, the Fields Institute invited representatives
of provincial teacher associations to the Fields
Institute to discuss this possibility, at a meeting organized
by Florence Glanfield (Saskatchewan) and Stewart Craven
(Toronto District School Board). The response was very
enthusiastic.
A second meeting of representatives was held at the Fields
Institute November 6–7, 2004, with the same organizers, to
follow up on the work done over the previous year, and to
flesh out organization details. This meeting was supported
by an endowment grant from the Canadian Mathematical
Society. The results of these discussions were shared at
the 2005 Canadian Mathematics Education Forum, held
in May 2005 at the Fields Institute. At that occasion, the
name of the fledgling organization was announced: The
Canadian Association for the Teaching of Mathematics
(CATM)/Association canadienne pour l’enseignement des
mathématiques (ACEM). It is expected that this group will
soon launch its public meetings, and will add a new and
welcome dimension to the mathematics education landscape
in Canada.
Fields Institute 2005 ANNUAL REPORT 114