Well, It’s been a bit too long since PCMI Ended: I promised to follow up on the work that the working group at PCMI did in Reasoning with Data and Chance .
You can find the abstracts of their work here , and what they took away from the process here.
I was struck by a number of things during the working group process.
One of the biggest “take ways” I got from working with my colleagues through this process:
People (including our students) will ask and work hard on answering their own questions, as long as they are given the encouragement and incentive to do so. For myself, it’s often easier to worry about what people have to or should learn, and lose focus about what people might want to learn in mathematics or statistics. Everybody was very excited about sharing with colleagues during the process and after the process. It reminds me of how important it is for me to allow my own students to create their own discoveries and to share their work with others. I have enough experience as a teacher to figure out ways to “klll both birds with one stone,” and simultaneously teach the curriculum while nurturing curiosity and wonder.
…which is why I’m moving full-bore on developing a new course for my school. Stay Tuned.
roughlynormal
roughlynormal 