Information about the Term Paper

You may hand in an optional term paper. Here are the details.

1. The paper should be about mathematics and should be somehow related to the teaching of mathematics in the K-8 level. It should not exclusively be about the teaching of mathematics, however. It should contain some actual mathematics (i.e. give some explanation of a mathematical concept, have some calculations or examples, etc.). You may choose any topic that interests you subject to these constraints.
2. A good source of ideas for such papers is the Math Forum at Swarthmore.  Search around.  There is a TON of information relevant to the teaching of mathematics at the elementary school level.
3. You should reference any outside sources (books, web sites, etc) that you use.
4. The paper will be awarded 0-10 points on roughly the following scale: 0-2 poor, 3-4 average, 5-6 good, 7-10 walk-on-water. It will be very difficult to write a paper that will receive 7-10 points -most will receive 3-6 points.  Any points earned will be added to your homework and quiz grade to make up for lost points (but not to exceed 100%).
5. Things that improve a paper:
   1. references to other books besides our textbook
   2. references to reputable web sites (you should indicate why you think the site is a reliable resource and not just someone's personal opinion)
   3. lots of correct math, calculations, formulas, explanations
   4. things that might be of interest in teaching elementary school... math projects you would like to use in a classroom setting and what their benefit might be, or puzzles, or aids to conceptualization of mathematical concepts, etc.
   5. typewritten, not handwritten
   6. includes figures or illustrations
   7. well written, well organized
   8. generally the longer the better, but quality matters as much as quantity
   9. the more mathematical, the better. You can also use any mathematics, definitions, or theorems that we discussed in our course in your paper.
6. The due date for these papers is Thu, Dec 7, during the fist ten minutes of class. Under no circumstances will a late paper be accepted. You may hand in your paper at any time before then if you wish.

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This page was last  updated on Friday, August 18, 2000 03:15:32 PM. © Ken Monks