Three Quinnipiac University educators are working with middle school math teachers from Hamden and North Haven to create a Math Teachers’ Circle, where teachers in New Haven County can practice open-ended, inquiry-based problem solving and rekindle their joy for mathematics.
Karen Bliss, assistant professor of mathematics in the College of Arts and Sciences;Lucie Howell, director of Bristol-Meyers Squibb Center for Science Teaching & Learning; andJoel Vaughan, assistant professor of mathematics, recently attended the national Math Teachers’ Circle workshop at the American Institute of Mathematics in Washington, D.C. with teachers from Hamden and North Haven middle schools.
The program is designed to engage middle school math teachers in an ongoing dialogue about math with students, colleagues and professional mathematicians and provide guidance materials and resources that will enable the teachers to develop more dynamic open-ended problem-solving techniques in the classroom.
“I’m so excited to be a part of this team,” Bliss said. “I see this as a great way for me to be able to support local math teachers while also helping me understand what issues my students will face in their careers.”
The Math Teacher Circle will provide another way for North Haven Public Schools to work closely with Quinnipiac, said Tracey Romberg, a North Haven Public Schools mathematics coordinator.
“This project will provide North Haven teachers the opportunity to work with mathematicians from Quinnipiac, who will share their expertise in the field,” she said.
The Bristol-Meyers Squibb Center for Science Teaching & Learning has a long history of working with teachers and students throughout Connecticut to help foster science, technology, engineering and mathematics-focused learning outcomes.
“Anything Quinnipiac can do to strengthen our partnership within the community locally has a really positive impact here at Quinnipiac,” Howell said. “It connects our math faculty with teachers in the school districts and helps them to better understand what math it is that students are coming into college with.”