The University of North Carolina at Greensboro will conduct a three-and-one-half-year program to enhance 20 experienced middle school mathematics teachers in integrating calculator use into the mathematics classroom and curriculum. Participants will also design instructional materials which take advantage of calculators and will prepare themselves as leaders for communicating their new knowledge to colleagues. Each teacher will participate in a six-week summer session and 6 to 9 days of follow-up activities during each of the three years of the project. Participants will earn a total of 18 graduate credits which may be applied toward a Master's degree in the School of Education. Topics to be studied include functions and graphing for middle school teachers, teaching problem solving, probability and statistics, research in mathematics education, and using advanced technology to teach mathematics. The project design also calls for the development of case histories which will evoke the effects of the intervention in helping teachers learn to use calculators in teaching mathematics. Participants will present workshops in their own school districts and through the Greensboro Area Mathematics and Science Education Center and the North Carolina Mathematics and Science Education Network. In all, over 1,000 second- wave teachers and several parent groups should be effected by the project. Cost-sharing by The University of North Carolina at Greensboro and local school districts accounts for 46% of the NSF budget. Integrating calculators into the mathematics classroom and documenting the change in teacher and student behavior as a result of such teacher enhancement is clearly a worthwhile enterprise.
