Preface

As a faculty member, haven't you always dreamed of teaching a course where you could work directly with students who wanted to share the same learning experience as yours?

From the experiences and creative backgrounds of outstanding educators, we bring you the architecture to construct such a learning experience for better understanding science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

With this material, you have an opportunity to develop a futuristic, interdisciplinary course that will bring excitement to your professional career and inspiration to your students.

Mathematical Journeys I provides resources to drive the content of a course and a guide to move that content from inception to completion and beyond. The resources that drive the content are open-ended laboratories located in Chapter 1, Laboratory Plan.

The guide for moving the course from inception to completion and beyond is located in Book One – Chapter 2, Marketing Plans and Chapter 3, Management Plan.

Mathematics Journeys I is a resource and guide book for faculty who are interested in creating and implementing a mathematics-anchored interdisciplinary course. The Book is composed of a Laboratory Plan, Marketing Plans, and a Management Plan.

The Laboratory Plan comprises ten Math Works Project labs. Each lab has an open-ended Technology Problem with supportive information, suggested resources, and recommendations for applying Bibliotechnology Research, Mathematics Tools, a Model Portfolio, and a Thesis Defense to the solution of the problem. Faculty Notes offer additional information for the faculty member. The Laboratory Plan and Faculty Notes provide a framework and scaffold for developing student-directed solutions of the Technology Problem and completing the work of a course in accordance with a high standard of excellence.

The course will enrich the environment in which two-year college mathematics is perceived, taught, and learned. This activity will increase the college community's awareness of and interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Students in a Mathematical Journeys I course are expected to view mathematics through the lens of its connectivity to authentic open-ended science/engineering/technology situations, solve problems within the framework of the scientific method, and work in learning teams.

After implementing a course and sustaining it for a few academic terms, interested faculty may wish to seek out authentic technology situations in their college's area and use the Mathematical Journeys I paradigm to create their own Lab. In fact, the Mathematical Journeys I materials not only allow such initiative, outreach, and creativity, but encourage it.

The interdisciplinary course is supported by Marketing Plans and Management Plans. The Marketing Plans consist of an Initiating Plan and a Sustaining Plan that provide faculty with guidance frameworks for starting and continuing a Mathematical Journeys I course. The Management Plans are guides for day-to-day operation of a Mathematical Journeys I course.

AMATYC — Writing Team Members

Each Writing Team was composed of two faculty who are AMATYC members. After working on the initial Lab drafts, the team members met in an August 2001 workshop and prepared Lab evaluation drafts. With the evaluation process completed, the team members and the senior project team members completed the task of finalizing the Labs for publication.

Thank You

A special thank you must be extended to Dr. Susan S. Wood (AMATYC President 1999 – 2001), Mr. Philip Mahler (AMATYC President 2001 – 2003) and their respective Executive Board Members, including the Regional Vice Presidents, the Central Office, and Service Committees, for all of their help in completing this Project.

We would also like to recognize those professionals who participated in the process of evaluating the material in this book including: Technology Representatives, two-year college faculty Site-Testers in concert with two-year college Student-Testers, and Evaluators/Articulators from secondary schools and four-year colleges.

We would like to thank the Project's Advisory Board for lending its support to the Project. A thank you must be extended to Texas Instruments Inc. for providing partial support to the Project. We would like to recognize the support of the National Science Foundation's Advanced Technological Education Program Staff for always being there so the Project could move smoothly from inception to completion.

Partial support for this work was provided by the National Science Foundation's Advanced Technological Education Program through grant DUE 0100932.

During the time this resource and guide book was being developed, so many professional people were involved that it would be impossible to mention each and every one of them. Behind-the-scenes professionals from Capital Community College who assisted the project include members of the following departments – Science and Mathematics, Media Services, Business Office, Human Resources, Information Technology – and the Web Master. Their work is greatly appreciated by all of us who are in the classroom.

Mathematical Journeys I could not have been accomplished without the help and support of the administrators and Senior Project Team Members mentioned below.

Thank you, John, Pat, Peter, and Karen