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Dates of the
Program
The 2008 summer component
will be held from June 30 to August 8. The five academic year workshops
will be held approximately once a month at the Education Development Center (EDC) from September, 2008 through
April, 2009. The dates for the summer component in 2009 are not yet definite.
Components of the PFT Program
PROMYS for Teachers
consists of two major summer components and an academic year component that
includes workshops and an optional internship
program.
Content-based Professional Development
- In the first summer, new
PROMYS teachers will come to Boston University for an intensive six-week
experience of exploring deep mathematical ideas, focused primarily on number
theory;
- In the second summer, they will return to PROMYS for an additional summer
of more advanced mathematical activities.
During the two summer components, teachers will engage in intensive problem-solving
activities with the other teacher participants. These problem-solving activities
will run parallel to but separate from similar activities for high school
students.
Academic Year Workshops
During the academic
year, PROMYS teachers attend five full-day workshops offered jointly by
Education Development Center in Newton and Boston University's Department
of Mathematics. These seminars are designed to help teachers "unpack" the
pedagogical approaches used in PROMYS to enrich the school curricula. Another
important goal of the workshops is to establish an ongoing network (including
an electronic network) of teachers, mathematics educators, and research
mathematicians. Typical agenda items include:
- A few teachers share experiences,
activities, and student work from their classrooms.
-
The whole group works
together on some mathematics inspired by topics in the secondary curriculum.
-
Teachers collaboratively
plan lessons, inspired by their mathematics research experience in PROMYS,
working in the style of Japanese Lesson Study groups.
Developing Curricula and an Internship Program
Since 2001, a group of former PROMYS teachers, in concert
with Al Cuoco (EDC) and Glenn Stevens (BU), work together during the
academic year to develop a curriculum that can be delivered to other
secondary and high school teachers involved in professional development
training at the Park City Mathematics Institute (PCMI). Two teachers (with
financial support from PCMI) then go to Park City during the summer to
facilitate and lead the three-week long course.
The three-week course is focused on learning mathematics by working on
problems together (in the "PROMYS spirit"). The courses explore the
fundamental mathematics on a topic that is rooted at the secondary level
but related to the mathematical theme of the Institute. Careful work on
this topic allows teachers (and students) to understand exactly how
elementary and more advanced procedures in the specific content area are
derived and generalize. The course is structured so that each participant
can work at his/her own level. Those who are more mathematically advanced
may be asked to help those with less preparation.
The focus of this strand is entirely on mathematics, although opportunity
is provided within the course for reflection on the approach used by the
instructors and to consider the implications of such an approach for
teaching in secondary classrooms.
Teachers who have gone through the immersion experience themselves i.e. PROMYS teachers, and most recently, teachers who are candidates in the Master of Mathematics for Teaching (MMT) degree,
develop and deliver the curricula for the three-week
course taught at the Secondary School Teacher Program at PCMI. Each year, they develop
a new course:
Stipends
Teacher participants
will receive a stipend of $1,800 for their participation in the six week
summer component in 2008 and also in 2009.
Graduate Credits
Teacher participants
will receive 8 graduate credits in mathematics from Boston University for
their participation in the summer component of 2008. An additional 6 graduate
credits (4 in mathematics education and 2 in mathematics) will be awarded for the summer of 2009.
Assessment for the summer
program (for the first-year participants) is based on participants' work on
the daily problem sets and on the results of a midterm
exam and a final exam.
Requesting a Transcript
For past PFT participants:
To request a transcript online, visit the BU Student Link (opens in a new window). Click on Academics and then on Transcript Preview and Ordering. Type in your BU login name and Kerberos password. Click on Order a Transcript on the top right.
To request a transcript by mail, visit the Registrar Transcript Information page (opens in a new window) and follow the instructions.
Teacher Demographic
Most participants teach in Massachusetts schools. However, we also invite teachers from out-of-state. Recently, teachers from Connecticut, Maryland, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont have
participated in the program. Since PFT is a commuter program, out-of-state (and Western Mass.) teachers are responsible for their own living arrangements. One option is to apply for summer residency in a graduate dormitory. Information about this may be found at the BU Office of Housing (opens in a new window).
In addition, pre-service teachers from the BU School of Education have been participating
in PROMYS each year since 1991. Any graduate student who registers for PROMYS courses
CAS MA 547 and CAS MA 548 must first receive a stamped approval from the Instructor,
Professor Glenn Stevens.
Accompanying
Student
Each teacher participant
is invited to recommend a high school student to the PROMYS program. That
student may be admitted to PROMYS through the usual admissions
process for high school students. Students are admitted only for the summer of 2008.
However, it is possible that students will be invited to return for a second summer
to engage in advanced PROMYS activities.
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