1. The Program

The Department of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Delaware offers a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics Education. The program is designed to prepare competent secondary school mathematics teachers. The fundamental goals of school mathematics are to teach students to understand, reason, and communicate with mathematical concepts, solve problems arising from new and diverse contexts, and develop a sense of their own mathematical power. The philosophy underlying the Mathematics Education program is consistent with the current reform ideas in mathematics education, which emphasize the importance of thinking, understanding, reasoning, and problem solving.

Mathematics is a dynamic body of knowledge that is continually enriched through conjecture, exploration, analysis, and proof. In order to develop their future secondary school students' mathematical thinking and reasoning skills, the students in the Secondary Mathematics Education Program themselves must have well-established content knowledge. Thus, the program contains a broad range of mathematics courses, including Calculus, Introduction to Proof, Algebra, Discrete Mathematics, Probability, Statistics, Foundations of Geometry, and Mathematical Modeling. Students in the program will acquire mathematical knowledge and develop mathematical reasoning and thinking skills necessary for teaching mathematics in secondary schools.

Competent mathematics teachers must have not only deep mathematical knowledge but also significant pedagogical content knowledge about how to teach mathematics. Thus, the program also includes various courses in education, psychology, pedagogy, and field experiences necessary for teaching mathematics in secondary schools. Students in the Secondary Mathematics Education Program are provided opportunities to learn general educational processes as well as the processes of teaching and learning of mathematics. They are also provided opportunities to learn the psychological, social, and developmental nature of their future secondary school students, as well as instructional approaches and assessment techniques. Students in the program are exposed to not only the current reform ideas in mathematics education, but also to the appropriate use of technology as a learning and teaching tool in mathematics classrooms. They will use technologies such as Maple and SAS in their learning of mathematics, and graphing calculators, Geometer's Sketchpad and other tools in teaching secondary mathematics in school.

The Secondary Mathematics Education Program also contains an extensive field component, which enables students in the Program to learn all aspects of being a mathematics teacher through apprenticeship. Field experiences are provided in sophomore, junior, and senior years.

The program in Secondary Mathematics Education is a four-year program, and the sample curricula in this handbook show how it is possible to graduate in four years. But it should be noted that the Department expects students to be able to start either in MATH241 or MATH242, Calculus and Analytic Geometry A or B.

Students who need to take a precalculus course (e.g. MATH117), or who need to take three semesters of a foreign language may need longer to complete the program, unless they are able to take courses during the Winter and/or Summer sessions.

Note 1: All teacher education candidates must meet established criteria for admission into upper-division professional education study. These criteria include: Minimum cumulative grade point average; minimum grade point average in courses within their major; successful completion (grade of C- or better) of prerequisite courses and field experiences; and passing scores, as established by the University Council on Teacher Education, on Praxis I.

Note 2: Students must provide proof of having taken an appropriate academic content area test (e.g., Praxis II) or a state-designated academic content knowledge test (e.g., New York State test in the appropriate area) in order to receive recommendation for certification.

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2. Advising

Students planning to complete the certification requirements in the secondary mathematics education program should consult with members of the Secondary Mathematics Education Committee.

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3. Required Courses

University Requirements

• ENGL110 (minimum grade C-)

• First Year Experience

• Discovery Learning Experience (EDUC400, a required course, satisfies this requirement)

• All students admitted in  Fall 2010 or later must complete 12 credits that meet the University Breadth Requirements.

• Three credits in an approved course or courses stressing multicultural, ethnic, and/or gender-related content (EDUC419, a required course, satisfies this requirement)

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College Requirements

• Three credits in a second writing course (after completion of 60 credits) (MATH308, required for the major, satisfies this requirement if taken after completion of 60 credits)

• Foreign language 107 or 112 (or, for students with more than 4 years of high school foreign language or the equivalent, satisfactory performance on a proficiency test in that language)

• Six credits in Group A

• Six credits in Group B (MATH308, required for the major, is in this group)

• Six credits in Group C

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Department Major Requirements (C- or better required for all courses)

• MATH210, MATH242, MATH243, MATH245, MATH302, MATH308, MATH349, MATH350, MATH450, MATH451 and MATH540

• One of MATH512, or MATH518

• One of MATH315, or MATH401, or MATH503, or MATH508

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Professional Requirements (C- or better required for all courses)

• MATH279, MATH379 and MATH380 (capstone course for the major)

• EDUC419, EDUC413, EDUC414 and EDUC420

• EDUC400 and MATH382

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Required Related Work (C- or better required for all courses)

• CISC106 or CISC108 or CISC181. CISC 106 should be taken in the spring semester. CISC 106 is reserved for engineering majors in the Fall.

• A two-semester sequence (8 credit) laboratory science (courses designed for non-majors in a discipline do not apply, except for CHEM 103-104)

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Electives

Nine additional credits in mathematics or in related disciplines at the 300 level or above. (Courses not approved for math majors cannot be counted towards these 9 additional credits. Courses in other disciplines can be in CISC, ECON, PHYS and STAT from an approved list maintained by the Department of Mathematical Sciences)

After required courses are completed, sufficient elective credits must be taken to meet the minimum credit requirement for the degree, a total of 124 credits.

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4. Student Teaching (EDUC400, 9 credits): Prerequisites

• Completion of MATH380

• Completion of all required math courses with a GPA of 2.5 in these courses and a grade of at least C- in each course

• An overall GPA of 2.5

• Passing scores on Praxis I.

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5. Student Teaching (EDUC400, 9 credits): Application

Student Teaching is only offered during the Spring semester. All students planning to student teach must complete student teaching application forms on-line (see student application procedures) by the end of February of the preceding year. For any questions related to student teaching contact the program director.

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6. Required MATH and EDUCATION courses

Course	Prerequisites	Corequisites (taken before or simultaneously)	Offered *
MATH210		MATH221 or MATH241 or MATH242	Fall, Winter, Spring
MATH242	MATH241		Fall, Winter, Spr., Summer
MATH243	MATH242		Fall, Winter, Spr., Summer
MATH245	MATH242 and MATH210		Fall, Spring
MATH302		MATH243	Fall, Winter, Spr., Summer
MATH308	MATH241		Spring
MATH315**	MATH210		Spring
MATH349	MATH230 or MATH242		Fall, Spring
MATH350	MATH210 or MATH230	MATH243	Fall, Spring
MATH401 **	MATH245		Spring
MATH450	MATH350 or equivalent		Fall, Spring
MATH451	MATH349 and MATH245		Fall
MATH503**	MATH302 or equivalent		Spring
MATH508**	MATH243		Spring
MATH512**	MATH302 or equivalent		Fall
MATH518**	MATH243 and MATH350		Fall
MATH540	MATH245		Fall
MATH279	MATH241		Spring
MATH379		MATH380	Fall
MATH380*		MATH379	Fall
MATH382	MATH380	EDUC400	Spring
EDUC400	MATH380	MATH382	Spring
EDUC413	NONE		Fall, Spring
EDUC414	NONE		Fall, Winter, Spring
EDUC419	NONE		Fall, Winter, Spring
EDUC420	NONE		Fall

* Course offering may vary from year to year depending on enrollment and other factors. Check with the corresponding department for actual offering before registering for courses.

** One of these four courses.

** One of these two courses.

* Capstone course for the major.

Note: Courses with same background color are corequisite.

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7. Check List (PDF file)

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8. Sample Curricula

These sample curricula are provided for guidance only - they don't have to be adopted. Only the requirements listed above must be followed.

Sample Curriculum (no MATH241)

Sample Curriculum (with MATH241)

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