Teaching and Learning Mathematics
Program Overview
This topic is designed to support an ongoing commitment to improve teaching and learning in mathematics K-12. Participants will engage in activities to deepen their appreciation for and facility with the various pedagogies of mathematics, paying particular attention to the ways that the approaches we take and the environments we create shape both the student (through the eyes of the discipline) and the discipline (in the eyes of the student). The topic is aimed at developing understanding of, and proficiency in mathematics for teaching, especially in terms of the kinds of classroom environments, student learning tasks, teaching provocations, and interactions among teacher and learners that sponsor student fluency, comfort, and enthusiasm for learning, applying and re/creating mathematics.
Program Details
Program Goals:
- To develop a familiarity with educational mathematics research and innovation, including key figures, seminal writings, established trends, and emergent concerns and insights in the field.
- To examine the nuanced differences, influences, and intersections between classroom mathematics practice and academic discourses.
- To experience iterative approaches for designing effective teaching such that learning is authentic to the discipline of mathematics and its place in the world.
- To hone the ability to analyze artifacts of student learning and to refine assessment practices (formative and summative) in ways that inform teaching and learning
- To unpack essential mathematical concepts in order to develop a deeper understanding of mathematics for teaching across the curriculum
Experiential learning is learning by doing that bridges knowledge and experience through critical reflection. This program offers the following kinds of experiential learning opportunities:
- Analyzing artifacts of student learning and to refine assessment practices
- Unpacking essential mathematical concepts developing a deep understanding of mathematics for teaching across the curriculum
- Developing an understanding about how learning discourses inform mathematics teaching
- Designing research-informed learning tasks and lessons and reflecting on their implementations
Target Audience
- Teachers with an interest in supporting strong mathematics learning across the K-12 curriculum
- Educators and consultants who work to support mathematics teachers
- School and district leaders providing institutional support for mathematics learning
A registration package will be sent to new students after they have been admitted. Registration for the summer term will be available in late winter. Fall and Winter registration opens in the spring. Your Graduate Program Administrator will send more information about registration to you.
Fee details are available on the Faculty of Graduate Studies website.
The University of Calgary offers multiple ways to meet the cost of your education. Please refer to the Awards, Scholarships and Bursaries page to learn more about options available to students. For additional information, please contact Student Financial Support.
Please refer to Admission Requirements for Master's Programs.
Program Schedule & Course Descriptions
- Program begins each Summer term (refer to the Academic Schedule for specific dates)
- Outlines are normally available 1-2 weeks prior to the start of term in D2L
- 3 units per course
Term 1 - Summer
Learning Mathematics: Current Perspectives
This course looks across current perspectives and innovation in teaching, learning, and assessment practices in K–12 mathematics, including aspects of embodied cognition, spatial reasoning, and computational thinking and modeling. Current research and emerging paradigms in mathematics education afford new insights, prompt different questions, and suggest alternative ways of thinking about pedagogical practice—including, but not limited to, the design, articulation, and interpretation of various teaching–learning enactments. Drawing on these current perspectives, participants will critically analyze the possibilities and constraints inherent in mathematics pedagogies.
Term 1 - Summer
Mathematical Knowledge for Teachers
The most prominent topic of mathematics education research at the moment, mathematical knowledge for teaching, is organized around the realization that, when it comes to mathematics, disciplinary (or content) knowledge of effective teachers is more a matter of understanding deep associations among familiar mathematical concepts and seemingly unrelated everyday experiences than it is about taking more advanced courses in math. This course is, in a sense, focused on developing better understandings of what teachers already know–seeking to enhance teachers’ knowledge of mathematics not by studying more math individually, but by unpacking concepts collaboratively (e.g., identifying and elaborating metaphors, analogies, applications, exemplars, gestures, and other experiences that contribute to the 'shape' of an idea). Participants will engage in unpacking mathematical concepts relevant to the curriculum and critically analyzing the implications for their own practice.
Term 2- Fall
Teaching Mathematics
This course launches an investigation into the larger questions, theories, and issues that have driven and are driving mathematics education through a critical review of the evidence in the field. It draws on notable research and theorists, key academic and professional journals, and significant written work that traces the field’s evolution and innovation over the past decades. Participants will become familiar with key figures, seminal writings, established trends, and emergent concerns in the field, and will reflect on how theory and research impact poignant issues and debates in schools today, including in their own practice.
Term 3 - Winter
Mathematics Learning: Design & Implementation
With the emergence of new insights into the complexities of individual learning and collective knowledge production, new strategies have been developed for the design of learning opportunities—tasks, lessons, units, projects—and the interpretation of student performances in mathematics. This course will look at some of those strategies (e.g., lesson study), the theories that support them, and the sorts of products and performances they foster. Participants will engage in collaborative and iterative approaches for developing and implementing effective mathematics learning and will plan for gathering and analyzing artifacts of student learning including the implications for assessing such learning (formative and summative assessments) and using assessment to further inform practice.