Collaboration between University and High School Mathematics Teachers

For three years, 1993-1995, the Division of Mathematics and Computer Science was involved with the Emporia School District in a very innovative project. Each semester, a university faculty member teamed with a high school faculty member to teach a class in the high school setting as well as one in the university setting. This was made possible by the successful funding of the National Science Foundation Teaching Enhancement proposal entitled, A Collaborative Partnership between High School and University Mathematics Faculty. This project also funded a three week summer workshop with 20 mathematics teachers from the surrounding school districts. These workshops included such current topics as chaos theory, number theory and its use in cryptology, and the reform efforts in calculus. Both aspects of the project were highly successful and all participants, school district and university faculty, found this partnership to be rewarding. The presentation will include some of the logistics of accomplishing the team teaching component as well as a reflection of the benefits of the collaboration. The discussion period will allow participants to discuss the value of such collaborations and to suggest areas for improvement and possible extensions.