Taking On A Developed Writing Class In Mathematics
Curtis D. Bennett (presenting) and Jacqueline M. Dewar
In Fall of
2003, Curtis Bennett took on the teaching of the two-semester workshop course
for freshman mathematics majors at Loyola Marymount University. The
course was initiated ten years ago and focuses on problem solving, mathematical
writing and presenting, and math careers and culture. The course is
designed to address important attitudes and skills that are necessary for
success in a mathematics major. Foremost among these are mathematical
communication and problem solving. A major issue in taking on this course
has been learning strategies for teaching a non-traditional mathematical
writing intensive course. We present what factors assist in a
"successful" transfer of a non-traditional mathematics course from a
developer to a user; that is, what will promote the preservation of the essence
of the class (the growth in students' ability to communicate mathematically an
present mathematical reasoning, the increase in their ability and confidence in
problem solving, and the development of a student community). In
addition, we will compare and contrast the different views of the developer and
the user, and how this affected assignment choice, daily lessons, and student
learning.