Math 201: Math, Education and Access to Power

Spring 2010

Graded 2.0 Unit Seminar, Official Meeting Times Mondays 5:00-6:25 Fowler 310.

Instructors:    

Texts: 1. radical equations: Civil Rights from Mississippi to the Algebra Project by Robert P. Moses and Charles E. Cobb, Jr.

2  Supplementary text excerpts will be provided as needed.3.

CBL Component:  Our community partners for the course are the members of the Northeast Education Strategy Group. Initially, the Math Department has worked the most closely with the math teachers at Franklin High School.  Franklin is a large high school in LAUSD and is located nearby in Highland Park. A large number of students at Franklin have to take and pass algebra 1; but many fail to do so. We have worked with the teachers and students at Franklin in order to support their algebra 1 program. One of the main ways we have been supporting improvements in algebra education and learning in northeast Los Angeles is through Bob Moses’ Algebra Project. More recently, we have expanded our activities to working with Luther Burbank Middle School, Academia Avance, a local charter school in Highland Park, the Young People’s Project and the Algebra Project. This participation will translate to 2 hours per week of active participation at the high school either tutoring, observing and assisting in class, or working on a project with a particular teacher or community partner. This community-based activities provide us with a context in which to explore issues associated with mathematics education, especially at the high school level, as well as the issues associated with being “mathematically literate” in society.

Class Format:  This is a seminar-based CBL course and the community experience, as described above, provides the framework for our discussions and research.  We will meet once a week as a group throughout the semester. At these meetings we will discuss readings, have invited speakers, hear progress on your community experiences, etc. You are expected to spend twice as much time engaging with the community partner as we spend in a "formal class setting."

Course Work and Expectations: Most weeks there will be a reading assignment which will provide a jumping off point for our class discussion. Because this course is so discussion based, attendance is very important. You will each get an opportunity to format a list of discussion questions for one week’s readings. You will submit regular written reflections about your community based experiences regularly throughout the semester. 

Course Grading:           50%--Participation.

                                    50%--Written reflections.

Last Updated: Monday, January 25, 2010