It has been well documented that Moore Method is highly effective in university settings and with hard-working students.  We will demonstrate that it is also a successful way to teach high school students, including under-prepared and unmotivated ones.  What does Moore Method really look like in a ninth grade public school math class?  What does the teacher actually do in the classroom?   How do you know this works?  Here we will explore these questions while illustrating key elements of Moore Method with real-life examples from the 2011-2012 school year.

As scholars of mathematics we recognize that in our research the ability to ask good questions is as critical a skill as the ability to answer them. Inquiry-based  learning can give us a means of helping our students engage in research, for  through our IBL pedagogies we give our students good models for authentic  questioning. Through IBL we show them that mastery of even the most  mundane mathematical tasks involves a process of discovery, paving the way for  their entry into our disciplinary community of scholars. In my presentation I will lead a discussion in which we build a bridge between the IBL classroom and  the processes that underlie our, and our students', efforts at original research.  Participants are kindly asked to come with one or two current research projects  in mind, preferably ones involving (or potentially involving) undergraduates.

Panelists: Martha Siegel, Towson College, Chair of the CUPM  David Bressoud, Macalester College, Member of the CUPM  Michael Pearson, Executive Director, MAA  Beth Borroughs, Montana State University and Chair of COMET

Every decade or so the Committee for the Undergraduate Program in Mathematics (CUPM) of the MAA writes a curriculum guide to help mathematics departments evaluate and improve their curricula.  The last curriculum guide was released in 2004;  planning for the next guide is under way.  The CUPM and several other MAA committees are structured to encourage discussion of effective practices both in terms of content choices and pedagogical approaches.  Recent scholarship on teaching and learning supports the idea that active learning is central to the process of learning mathematics.  Panelists will describe the goals of the MAA and CUPM in the creation of the guide.  The presentation will be followed by an open discussion of ways in which IBL can (or should!) inform the work of the Curriculum Guide Steering Committee. 

Moderator and Organizer - David Clark, SUNY - New Paltz

Panelists: Judith Covington, LSU at Shreveport  Todd Grundmeier, California Polytechnic Institute  Gary Richter, Southwestern University   Keith Voss, The Lawrenceville School.