Minicourses
Thursday - April 22
8:30 am - 11:30 am

Session 49 - Macintosh Lab (Moscone 112)
Hi Tech, Lo Tech, and No Tech Explorations in Area, Volume, Fractals, and More 
Middle/High School (8--12) Minicourse (Admission by Ticket)

Technology is recommended to teachers as an important and essential tool for learning, but technology is not often presented together with other tools. This workshop will show how technology can work best when used together with other "low tech" methods. Participants will work through a variety of activities using The Geometer's Sketchpad as well as a spreadsheet program. Previous experience using either of these types of software is not necessary. The activities will also require the use of blocks, paper for folding, dot paper, containers of water, dice, mirrors, and a laser.

Masha Albrecht (mashaa@wenet.net)
Galileo Academy of Science and Technology, San Francisco, California 
Anna Werner
Key Curriculum Press, Emeryville, California
Marti Bush
Galileo Academy of Science and Technology, San Francisco, California

Presider: Marcia Lomneth, University of California--Berkeley, Berkeley, California
 
1:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Session 262 - Macintosh Lab (Moscone 112)
Using Turtle Math Throughout Elementary Mathematics 
Elementary/Middle School (2--8) Minicourse (Admission by Ticket)

Turtle Math is an enhanced version of the Logo computer language plus a set of 72 activities. This minicourse includes (a) demonstration; (b) discussion of learning in that environment and a brief introduction to the research base, design, and features of Turtle Math; (c) an overview of the 7 topical areas with examples of activities; (d) several hands-on experiences with or demonstrations of activities, including in-depth investigations of the mathematics involved; (e) a final discussion of learning, the software environment, teaching suggestions, and integration into the elementary school mathematics curriculum based on five years' experience with teachers and their students. Related website: http://www.walkway.buffalo.edu/bblocks/

Julie Sarama (jsarama@coe.wayne.edu)
Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan 

Presider: Douglas H. Clements, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York

Friday - April 23
8:30 am - 11:30 am

Session 471 - Macintosh Lab (Moscone 112)
Rethinking Proof with Sketchpad
High School (9-12) Minicourse

This minicourse will present a brief analysis of different functions of proof within mathematics that underlie a radically different approach to the teaching of proof within a dynamic geometry environment (compare De Villiers, 1990, 1995). In this approach, proof is first introduced as a means of explanation rather than verification, and only later are other functions of proof, such as discovery, verification, systematization, etc., introduced. Participants will actively participate in Sketchpad activities that have been classroom tested and illustrate the main features of this approach. 

Michael D. De Villiers (mdevilli@pixie.udw.ac.za)
University of Durban --Westville, Durban, South Africa

Presider: Masha Albrecht, Key Curriculum Press, Berkeley, California
 
1:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Session 712 - Macintosh Lab (Moscone 112)
Computers, Graphing Calculators, and the World Wide Web - Using Technology to Stimulate Learning in AP Statistics 
High School/College (10--13) Minicourse (Admission by Ticket)

Participants will solve statistical inference problems in different ways: using the TI-83, "traditionally," and with a statistical software package. Then, participants will use a Web-based learning module that focuses on the same statistical concept. A variety of tools will be used to summarize data both graphically and numerically. Participants will investigate World Wide Web resources to clarify difficult probability and random-variable problems. Simulation activities on both the calculator and the Web will be shared. The focus of this minicourse will be on both statistical content and teaching strategies. See Website: http://www.oven.ccds.charlotte.nc.us/starnes/ori/teacherres.html

Daren S. Starnes (dstarnes@oven.ccds.charlotte.nc.us)
Charlotte Country Day School, Charlotte, North Carolina 

Sheila McGrail (mcgrail@ccds.charlotte.nc.us)
Charlotte Country Day School, Charlotte, North Carolina
 


 
Saturday - April 24
8:30 am - 11:30 am

Session 932 - Macintosh Lab (Moscone 112)
Dynamite Hands-On Classroom Explorations Using Cabri II Geometry Software
High School (9--12) Minicourse (Admission by Ticket)

Dynamic Geometry Systems (DGS) like Cabri II provide the catalyst for interesting, enlightening, and educationally sound classroom explorations that teach students higher-level-thinking skills as well as the power and beauty of mathematics. This minicourse will offer participants hands-on experience with a variety of classroom-tested explorations for both algebra and geometry classes. Technology will be used to access the problem-solving and exploration process through investigation, conjecturing, and discovery. Explorations will include topics from synthetic and analytic geometry and from a high school algebra curriculum. Previous experience with computer-based DGS is desirable.

Charles B. Vonder Embse (chuck.vonder_embse@cmich.edu)
Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, Michigan 

Eugene Olmstead
Elmira Free Academy, Elmira, New York
 
1:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Session 1137 - Macintosh Lab
Find It, Track It, Map It, Time It:  Mathematics and Applications of a Global Positioning System (GPS)
High School/College (9--14) Minicourse (Admission by Ticket)

At the heart of a Global Positioning System (GPS) is triangulation, or, more accurately, trilateration, the determination of an unknown location using known distances. This minicourse will help participants develop the fundamental mathematical concepts of GPS, starting with one- and two-dimensional analogies and extending to the three-dimensional case of the Navstar GPS maintained by the U.S. Department of Defense. Hands-on activities, many from the NASA-NCTM Mission Mathematics project, will support participants' explorations into the mathematics and illustrative applications of GPS.

Roger Day (day@math.ilstu.edu)
Illinois State University, Normal, Illinois 

Presider: Dan Miller, Millikin University, Decatur, Illinois

Major Speakers
Workshops & Minicourses
S2K Minicourse & CWaC Technology as a Tool Sessions