REU Site: Mathematics Research Experience for Pre-service and for In-service Teachers

伊利诺伊州立大学职前和在职中学数学教师联盟(ISU REU)将在2017年、2018年和2019年夏季提供离散数学项目。ISU REU是一个为期八周的暑期研究体验，面向8名职前和4名在职中学数学教师。参与者探索离散数学的研究主题，重点是实验、可研究问题的表述、仔细的推理和辩护，以及清晰、准确的报告。所研究的主题主要集中在图和超图设计、仿射和射影设计、图和超图分解和标号、图着色和向量空间划分等领域。该项目的另一个重点是由REU参与者为芝加哥公立学校(CPS)区的12名高中生开发和实施为期一周的数学研究营。REU参与者以三名本科生、一名实习教师和一名教师导师为一组，就一个或多个具有共同主题的问题进行工作。参与者每周在校园里呆上30个小时，有一名教职员工随时待命。该项目的主要目标是为参与者提供一个真正的研究机会，帮助他们成为高素质的教师，能够满足国家对提高学生熟练程度的需求，并适应我们技术社会不断变化的需求。为教师提供真实的数学研究体验，培养他们作为数学家的思维习惯，然后可以鼓励和培养他们未来的学生。CPS学生数学研究营在REU第六周期间举行，旨在让REU参与者有机会将他们在REU期间学到的知识应用到高中课堂环境中。在网站的最后一周，项目小组将大部分精力用于准备成果以供传播，其中包括在联合数学会议和其他场所的陈述。每个REU项目通常会产生一个或多个会议报告，许多项目还会产生在本科或专业期刊上发表的论文。这项提议由数学科学部和本科生教育部的罗伯特·诺伊斯教师奖学金计划共同资助。

The Illinois State University REU for Pre-service and In-service Secondary Mathematics Teachers (ISU REU) will offer projects in discrete mathematics during the summers of 2017, 2018, and 2019. The ISU REU is an eight-week summer research experience for 8 pre-service and 4 in-service secondary mathematics teachers. Participants explore research topics in discrete mathematics with emphasis on experimentation, formulation of researchable questions, careful reasoning and justification, and clear, precise reporting. Most of the investigated topics are in the areas of graph and hypergraph designs, affine and projective designs, graph and hypergraph decompositions and labelings, graph coloring, and vector space partitions. An added emphasis of the project is on the development and implementation, by the REU participants, of a one-week Mathematics Research Camp for 12 high school students from the Chicago Public School (CPS) district. REU participants work in teams of three undergraduates, one practicing teacher, and a faculty mentor on one or more problems with a common theme. The participants are on campus for 30 hours each week with a faculty member available at all times. The main objective of the project is to provide a genuine research opportunity for the participants, helping them to become highly qualified teachers who can meet the national demands for increased student proficiency and adapt to the changing needs of our technological society. Providing teachers an authentic mathematics research experience develops in them the habits of mind of a mathematician that can then be encouraged and fostered in their future students. The math research camp for CPS students is held during the sixth week of the REU and is intended to give the REU participants an opportunity to apply what they learned during the REU in a high school classroom setting. In the final week of the site, the project teams devote the bulk of their energy to preparation of results for dissemination, which includes presentations at the Joint Mathematics Meetings and other venues. Each REU project generally produces one or more conference presentations, and many also produce papers published in undergraduate or professional journals. This proposal is co-funded by the Division of Mathematical Sciences and by the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program of the Division of Undergraduate Education.