2009 Canadian Mathematics Education Forum
Simon Fraser University Vancouver, April 30 - May 2, 2009 cms.math.ca/Events/CMEF2009/
Schedule of Events        

Schedule of Events

Block Schedule

A printable version of the block schedule is also available.

Block Schedule

Pre-Forum Event: PIMS Changing the Culture

CMEF 2009 participants are invited to the annual PIMS Changing the Culture conference, which will be taking place on Thursday, April 30th, at the SFU Vancouver, 515 Hastings Street. There is no additional charge for this event, but registration is required.

Opening

The 2009 Forum officially begins with Opening Remarks at 8:30 am on Friday, May 1, in the Fletcher Challenge Theatre, Room 1900, SFU Vancouver, 515 Hastings Street.

  • Opening Remarks - Friday, May 1, 8:30 - 10:00

Working groups

A primary purpose of the 2009 Forum is the production of concrete materials and resources (booklets, modules, examples, web-pages) to support mathematics education at all levels. To facilitate this, a call went out in early 2007 for project proposals. In response, more than 40 proposals were received, some already well developed and ongoing, and others at the idea or design stage. With the objective of promoting collaboration of participants with like interests and complementary perspectives, these projects were grouped into a total of thirteen working groups.

Most of these groups embrace several projects many of which have been active for some time. This work, and further cooperative work will continue throughout 2008-09 leading to a culminating meeting at CMEF 2009. In the meantime opportunities might exist for participation at different levels in some of these working groups. Details about the working groups are available here.

  • WG - Parts I and II - Friday, May 1, 10:30 - 12:30 and 15:30 - 17:00

    During these sessions each of the 13 working groups will meet separately. Roughly half the participants at the Forum, researchers, teachers and graduate students, will be involved in these WG's which have already been operating for over a year. However most of these consist of a few (between 2 and 6) related projects at different geographical locations, so that in many cases the researchers have had limited personal contact. Thus this will be an important occasion for them to consolidate their progress and begin assembly of their resource package. It needs to be emphasized that each of the WG's has been charged with the task of resource production, either written documents or web-based resources, in both curriculum and assessment. One might have seen already from the abstracts of the teacher presenters the call for inquiry-based resources that are tied to the curriculum and are usable in the classroom. Indeed, production of such resources is a significant objective of the Forum.

    The remaining half of the participant who are not so far connected with a WG will be able to choose one or two of the WG's and attend their sessions. The setting is informal so interaction and discussion will be fostered.

  • WG - Part III - Saturday, May 2, 08:30 - 10:15

    Parallel presentations with cognate WG's together.

    In this session, WG’s will be grouped into related clusters. The objective here is communication, sharing of information and problems, discussion and feedback. Again those who are not associated with a WG will be able to choose one or two of the clusters and attend their sessions.

  • WG - Part IV - Saturday, May 2, 13:30 - 15:15

    Back to individual WGs, for reflecting on feedback and finalizing the work.

  • Working Group Presentations - Saturday, May 2, 8:30 - 10:00

    Working groups summarize and present their work.

Plenary sessions and Panel discussions

All plenary talks, panel discussions, and the closing sessions, will be held in the Fletcher Challenge Theatre, Room 1900, SFU Vancouver, 515 Hastings Street.

  • Plenary 1 - Thursday, April 30, 16:30 - 17:30 (joint with Changing the Culture conference)

    Reconsidering Basic Mathematical Assumptions in Teacher Education
    Rina Zazkis, Faculty of Education, Simon Fraser University

    My focus is on examples that increase teachers' mathematical understanding and their pedagogical sensitivity. I suggest that examples that persuade teachers to reconsider 'basic assumptions' used in teaching and learning of mathematics, or to become explicitly aware of these assumptions, serve as a means toward this end. By 'basic assumptions' I refer to assumptions related to mathematical content, rather than those related to the nature of learners or learning processes. That is, 'basic assumptions' are parts of information used in mathematical activity, but not mentioned explicitly in statements or tasks. I distinguish between different kinds of assumptions: mathematical conventions, shared understandings, and assumptions that present unintended constraints to problem solving. I exemplify and discuss each of these kinds in relation to the goals of teacher education.

  • Plenary 2 - Friday, May 1, 14:00 - 15:00

    Making School Mathematics Functional: A Stool Needs Three Legs
    Hugh Burkhardt, Shell Center for Mathematical Education, University of Nottingham

    Hugh Burkhardt has been at the Shell Center for Mathematical Education at the University of Nottingham since 1976, as Director until 1992. Since then he has led a series of international projects, notably Balanced Assessment and MARS (Math Assessment Resource Service). Hugh takes an 'engineering' view of educational research and development -- that it is about making a complex system work better, with empirical evidence the ultimate guide. His core interest is in the dynamics of curriculum change, seeing assessment as one important 'tool for change' among the many that are needed to help achieve some resemblance between goals of policy and outcomes in practice.

    Thus he is an ideal person to bring his own experience to bear on our two principal resource themes, curriculum and assessment. We have asked him to be provocative and thereby to set the stage for a fruitful discussion of his ideas.

  • Plenary 3 - Saturday, May 2, 11:00 - 12:00

    The Vantage Point of Publisher: One View of Curriculum Development
    Steven Rasmussen, Key Curriculum Press

    Steve was a leader of The Geometer's Sketchpad geometry software development team and also the editor of Discovering Geometry: An Inductive Approach. He has served as the principal investigator on two National Science Foundation projects: one to support teachers using technology in teaching geometry and the other to promote discovery and cooperative learning through professional development.

    Steve has a bachelor's degree in mathematics and a master's degree in mathematics education from Temple University. He taught secondary mathematics for seven years in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Emeryville, California.

    Steve is a past secretary and board member of Women and Mathematics Education, an NCTM affiliate, and has served on the board of the California Mathematics Council - Northern Section. He is currently vice president of the Emery Education Foundation and a member of the Education Department Advisory Board of the University of California Berkeley Extension. He has given hundreds of workshops on geometry and other topics at local, state, regional, national, and international professional meetings.

    In his address, Steve will observe that constraints imposed both on and by publishers often operate to thwart innovation and limit the availability and market success of new programs particularly ones that move us away from what one of our speakers has described as the "white- knuckle grip on traditional mathematics teaching." Steve will propose some alternative "publishing" models that may, in the future, enable innovative mathematics programs to thrive.

  • Panel I - Friday, May 1, 8:45 - 10:00

    What did I need then? What do I need now?

    Chair:Egan Chernoff – University of Saskatchewan
    Panelists: Ann Arden – Osgoode Township High School Ottawa, ON
    Cindy Clarke – Prairie View School, SK
    Michael Finnigan – Yale Secondary, Abbotsford, BC
    Darien Shannon – New Westminster Secondary School, BC
    Shannon Sookochoff – Victoria School of Performing & Visual Arts, Edmonton, AB

    This strategically placed presentation will set the tone for the meeting. We are here to listen to the voice of the teachers. We want to better understand both their years of education and their years of service. What is the nature of the community, the support and the resources that they need at both stages of their professional growth and work. This voice will inform our future research agenda and will guide the formation of collegial support structures, both personal and web-based. We anticipate 40-50 minutes of presentation followed by 30 minutes of discussion and response from researchers.

  • Panel II - Friday, May 1, 19:00 - 20:30

    Presentation and Discussion of the Burkhardt Plenary

    Chair:France Caron – Université de Montréal
    Panelists: Frederic Gourdeau – Université Laval, QC
    Philippe Labrosse – Commission scolaire Marguerite-Bourgeoys, QC
    Katie Pirquet – Teacher, SD 62 Sooke, (retired), BC
    Eric Robert – Leo Hayes High School, Fredericton, NB
    Christine Suurtamm – University of Ottawa

    A panel consisting of researchers, teachers and students will have been given a copy of the Burkhardt paper and each will have prepared a response, though current circumstances will certainly lead to significant updates and modifications. In this 90 minute session we will have time for an extended plenary discussion.

  • Panel III - Saturday, May 2, 16:00 - 17:30

    Presentation and Discussion of the Rasmussen Plenary

    Chair:Harley Weston – University of Regina
    Panelists: Lorraine Baron – K-12 Mathematics Curriculum Coordinator, Kelowna, BC
    Richard DeMerchant – British Columbia Ministry of Education, Victoria, BC
    Mathieu Gauthier – École Mathieu-Martin of Dieppe, Dieppe, NB
    Miroslav Lovric – McMaster University, Hamilton, ON
    Nick Nielsen – Delphi secondary alternative, TDSB, Toronto, ON

    Again a panel consisting of researchers, teachers and students will have been given a copy of the Rasmussen paper and will have a chance to respond. In this 90 minute session we will have time for an extended plenary discussion at which a wide range of publishing models can be compared. This discussion is critical to the programme of the 2009 Forum as one of its objectives is to be an effective generator of teacher resources.

Closing

Discussion: Looking towards CMEF 2013

  • Closing session - Sunday, May 2, 10:30 - 12:30

Social events

  • There will be early registration and a welcoming reception on Thursday, April 30, from 17:30 to 19:00, in the Segal Centre, Room 1400, SFU Vancouver. 3
  • On Friday, May 1, 20:30 - 21:30, there will be a reception in the Segal Centre, Room 1400, SFU Vancouver.
  • On Saturday, May 2, 19:00 - 21:30, there will be a buffet dinner reception in the Segal Centre, Room 1400, SFU Vancouver.

© Canadian Mathematical Society, 2008-2009 : http://www.cms.math.ca/