Making Connections, 2008

This year's focus is high school algebra.

Participants

Arizona team

Josh Chesler, UA
J.P. Cossey, UA
Melinda Jensen, Empire High
Alyssa Keri, Catalina Foothills High
William McCallum, UA

California team

Becky Creekmur, Correia Middle School
Evan Fuller, UNCC
Ifah Grady, The Preuss School
Lawrence Yee, Mar Vista High

North Carolina team

Fred Coon, Olympic High School
Jacob Koehler, Vance High School
Harold Reiter, UNC Charlotte
Jack Whittemore, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools

Followup Activities

The North Carolina team held a local Making Connections workshop March 6, 2009.

Handout 1
Handout 2
Handout 3
Handout 4

Schedule

Thursday, June 12

9:00–9:30 Introductions and orientation
9:30–10:30 Content analysis of problems in professional groups (university faculty, school teachers)
10:30–11:00 Break
11:00–12:00 Reports on professional meetings
12:00–1:00 Lunch at IME
1:00–3:00 Teacher presentations of their students' work
3:00–3:30 Break
3:30–5:00 Continue teacher presentations
7:00 Dinner at McCallums (map)

Friday, June 13

9:00–10:30 Meet in regional teams (Arizona, California, North Carolina), choose a particular problem or set of problems and student work to look at, and a particular mathematical or pedagogical point that they illustrate, and plan a student task around these points.
10:30–11:00 Break
11:00–12:00 Reports on regional meetings
12:00–1:00 Lunch
1:00–3:00 Regional groups write first drafts of tasks
3:00–3:30 Break
3:30–5:00 Whole group presentation of tasks
Homework: critique first drafts of other groups.

Saturday, June 14

9:00–10:30 Write second drafts, including surrounding commentary and directions
10:30–11:00 Break
11:00–12:00 Whole group presentation, critique, and discussion. Discussion of plans for possible regional workshops.

Results of the workshop

Teams produced plans for Making Connections workshops of their own

About the problems used in the workshop

The problems were intended to test strategic competence and conceptual understanding in addition to procedural fluency. For example:

(a) Say whether each equation has a positive solution, a negative solution, a zero solution, or no solution.

7x = 5

3x + 5 = 7

5x + 3 = 7

5 - 3x = 7

3 - 5x = 7

x + 11 = 2x + 3

11 - 2x = 8 - 4x

8x + 3 = 8x + 11

8x + 3x = 2x + 11x

(b) Could you have predicted the answers for any of the equations without solving it? Which ones, and how?

Here is a pdf file of the complete set.