Teaching Secondary Mathematics through Social Issues

This education and teacher training course will help you blend secondary math instruction with real-world discussion topics such as inequity, poverty, and privilege. Throughout this course, we will also have the opportunity to explore multiple math activities and resources including how to leverage real-world data for classroom instruction.

Weekly Deliverables and End of Course Project: At the end of each module, you will have an opportunity to complete a short assignment that is designed to support you through the brainstorming stage of developing your end of course project. In Week 4, you will combine all of this thinking and create a draft of your capstone project for this course.

Week 1:  Course Orientation & Survey of Real-world Issues
Introduction to course and survey of a selection of topics.
 
Week 2: Understanding Your Topic
Focus on researching and understanding the multiple facets of your chosen discussion topic.
 
Week 3: Let the Math Tell the Story
Identify the various data sets that exist around your topic. Explore how data can be used to understand real-world issues. 
 
Week 4: Constructing the Lesson
Write the activity. This includes developing the student narrative and considering displays of data.
 
Week 5: Refining and Testing the Idea
Complete the activity. Gauge resultant versus intended takeaways. Gather feedback.
 
Week 6: Using the Course In Class & Course Wrap-Up
Discuss the activity you developed. This week also includes the course wrap-up.