Project Summary
The MAST Project is funded by the National Science Foundation and overlaps two ATE categories: Professional Development for Educators and Technical Experiences. It also explores possibilities for Adaptive and Implementing Proven Materials and Methods.
The project will adapt "Revitalizing Classroom Teaching and Learning: A Beginning for Two-Year College Mathematics" from Greenville Technical College in South Carolina. It will partner with local industry to incorporate problem-solving and real industry-based applications into mathematics curriculum at three levels of education: high school, two- year college, and four-year college/university.
Using the pedagogical approach developed in the Greenville project, this project will accomplish four objectives:
- Revitalize the mathematics curriculum with work-based experiences, incorporating technology as both a teaching and a learning tool, and fostering an interactive learning environment.
- Build a strong connection among high school, community college, four-year college/university and industry by integrating mathematics content and industry-based applications by spiraling through the three levels of education; understand the similarities and differences in mathematics vocabulary from the academic to the work setting; and improve communication and articulation among the three academic levels and industry.
- Provide faculty professional development opportunities to support collaborative learning methodology, student engagement in learning and use of appropriate technology.
- Develop The Process Guidelines* to revitalize curriculum, developed from faculty journals. Their purpose is to provide a process that all faculty (not limited to math) can use to make connections with industry, develop modules of real work-based applications, and then use these applications, to revitalize curriculum.
The project will accomplish these objectives by:
- Developing a replicable and self-sustaining infrastructure that builds collaboration between education and industry; highlighted by interaction through shadowing, site visits, classroom visits, and externships;
- Offering professional development activities to increase teamwork, use of technology in the classroom, and knowledge of alternative teaching techniques that target different student learning styles;
- Class piloting, refining and implementing of new teaching methods, work-based problems, and student interaction within the classroom; and
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Synthesizing and generalizing faculty journals into a clear manual, The Process Guidelines, for use by faculty to revitalize curriculum by creating their own modules using industry-based applications from their own areas.
* There is a short version of the Process Guidelines called the Process Guidelines at a Glance.
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