Mathematics Technology Upgrade

Dan Gruman and Carolyn Seeley, Department Chair

• $9,384 — Purchase two SMART Boards and stands, four Laptop Computers, and Maple 9.5 Software licenses. No subsequent funding is necessary.
• Impact 2000 students in grades 9-12 including lower-achieving students as well as IB students.
• Mathematics and Computer Science are the curriculum areas primarily involved, but sharing with Science students would also be possible

In light of the continuously changing and increasingly demanding state of education, the mathematics department is renewing its emphasis on keeping all students actively engaged in the educational process. Modern instructional methods of mathematics often emphasize that concepts should be taught from three perspectives: analytically, graphically, and numerically. Traditional approaches focus primarily on the analytic methods. Lower achieving students are often not successful in a traditional classroom setting and need to be actively engaged in a variety of ways. In order to meet the requirements of No Child Left Behind and Adequate Yearly Progress, it is imperative that we take advantage of a wide variety of instructional approaches.

With this new technology, more attention on the learning styles of lower achieving students can be provided, thus increasing their proficiency in mathematics. In contrast, IB students may also include Maple as a resource for developing math or computer science projects. Results will be tracked in Kansas State Assessment, ACT, ITED and Advanced Placement scores, as well as anecdotal evidence gathered from teachers regarding student participation and understanding.

Grant awarded October 2004