Please register for the meeting	Directions to the Institute: www.fields.utoronto.ca/aboutus/directions.html
	Parking information: www.fields.utoronto.ca/resources/members.html#parking

Light refreshments will be available starting at 9:30 a.m. and lunch will be served at a convenient time during the meeting.

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INFORMATION FOR SPEAKERS AT THE FIELDS INSTITUTE
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Fields staff will assist you with all audiovisual equipment before your talk. Our standard audio-visual equipment provided for a talk with slides is a screen with data projector and Fields laptop computer if needed. In addition our lecture room is equipped with chalk boards for your use. The standard options for slides are:
1. The preferred and most reliable option is a PDF file presented on a Fields computer. Please bring your slides on a USB key or send them in advance to : inquiries@fields.utoronto.ca
2. A PowerPoint presentation (any format) from your own laptop. Please bring your laptop at least 15 minutes in advance of the talk so we can assist you with the set up.

Please contact inquiries@fields.utoronto.ca if you have any questions about the AV set up.
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AGENDA

Theme: Research Day

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10:10 AM - 10:40 AM Immaculate Kizito Namukasa (Western University)
Title: Classroom practices supporting mathematics curricula in the Montessori system

Abstract: Providing teacher education and on-going professional learning opportunities that offer additional learning to what teachers might have learned at school and university is increasingly recognized as a central way to support high quality and demanding mathematics curricula. I report on a study how the mathematics-for-teaching training and ongoing professional development interact with classroom practices in the Montessori school system in Ontario. The research questions are: (1) what knowledge and competencies do Montessori teachers need and learn? (2) How does this learning make its way and come to life in their own teaching? (3) And how do classroom practices further change teacher's knowledge? In the presentation, I share preliminary analysis of data on the mathematics knowledge, the affective characteristics-beliefs and comfort levels, and the pedagogical practices of teachers in one Montessori school system.

Bio: Immaculate Kizito Namukasa is currently involved in research on the use of manipulatives -concrete, virtual and apps-in teaching. This interest has led her to research in private schools using 18th century tried and true philosophies of teaching using well-planned teaching materials and structured classroom environments. Previously she has produced video resources on math-for-teaching through problem solving in which Ontario teachers are featured (http://www.edu.uwo.ca/faculty_profiles/cssal/namukasa_immaculate/resources.html). She has also worked with teams of teachers in Africa and Southern China exploring how mathematics-for-teaching may differ with geographical contexts. This summer Immaculate (in collaboration with Drs. George Gadanidis and Donna Kotsopoulos) worked with teachers who are interested in teaching kids to code as well as to learn computational skills (see http://www.researchideas.ca/coding). From September 2012 to September 2014, Immaculate served as a journal editor for the Ontario Mathematics Gazette.
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10:40 AM - 11:10 AM Catherine D. Bruce (Trent University)
Title: Connecting spatial reasoning to math learning

Abstract: What do we mean by spatial reasoning and why is it important for learning? As a follow-up to a previous Fields event on spatial reasoning, in this talk, Cathy Bruce of Trent University will explore how spatial reasoning plays into mathematics learning and how it can connect to mathematics classroom practice. She will also present research that she and her Spatial Reasoning Study Group (SRSG) colleagues have been doing, including presenting findings from a knowledge synthesis project and the continued exciting outcomes of the Math for Young Children (M4YC) research work. In particular, Cathy will feature the learning of a group of K-2 children and their teachers at one school over a period of two years. She will also pose some larger questions about how disciplines are, and are not, 'talking' to one another as it relates to mathematics education issues.

Bio: Dr. Catherine D. Bruce is an Associate Professor at Trent University where she is Director of the Centre for Teaching and Learning, and teaches mathematics methods courses at the School of Education and Professional Learning. Her research interests are centered on mathematics learning, teacher efficacy, professional learning models, and technology use in mathematics education. Cathy is currently studying aspects of spatial reasoning for learning mathematics thanks to federal research funding focused on Math for Young Children, teacher-researcher collaborations, and related knowledge synthesis. More about her research and publications can be found at www.tmerc.ca.
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11:15 AM - 12:00 AM Short Oral Communications (15 minutes each):

1. Amy Lin (Brock University)
Title: Multimodal learning of mathematics around touchscreens

Abstract: Traditionally, mathematical thinking has been associated with individual intellectual processes. The mind was responsible for processing the content, moving from the concrete to the more abstract ideas. Researchers are now starting to challenge this assumption and multimodalities including bodily motion are considered to be working together with the brain when engaging in and learning mathematics. Computer interfaces such as touchscreens, tablets, and smartphones enable designers to create tasks that embed actions for the user. This study addresses questions related to embodied interactions and how they can support visual-spatial reasoning of children. Spatial reasoning educational apps were designed for touchscreen interfaces using theoretical perspectives on embodied cognition, providing opportunities for children to access learning through multimodalities. These apps will be used in an exploratory study to be completed this spring on a small group of children and modifications will be made based on their feedback. A larger comprehensive study will research the effect of both cued and spontaneous gestures on spatial reasoning of young children.

Bio: Amy Lin's background in the sciences and the arts helps explain why her passion in mathematics education is to develop both the logical and creative aspects of the subject. She is currently working on her PhD at Brock University in math education and a teacher and math coach at Craig Kielburger SS. She is often asked to speak on mathematics teaching and learning around the province and beyond and she is an author on a number of mathematics resources for students and teachers at both the elementary and secondary levels. She has initiated and successfully led many professional development projects in school boards in Ontario. Amy has won awards for teaching and leadership, and has worked as a teacher, department head, math coach, a program consultant, a ministry researcher and provincial lead.

2. Margo Kondratieva (Memorial Univeristy)
Title: Helping in-service mathematics teachers to adopt a problem solving approach

Abstract: The problem solving approach in teaching mathematics is emphasized by many contemporary curricula. The graduate course that I teach introduces in-service teachers to the practice of solving mathematical problems. The central project of this course asks students to work in teams on six problems looking for multiple solutions at the elementary, junior and senior levels. Analysis of the participants' contributions reveals that by completion of this course many teachers experience a radical change in the level of confidence and desire to implement this approach in their practice. In this talk, I will give more details coming from five years of observations.

Bio: Margo Kondratieva is an Associate Professor at Memorial University of Newfoundland. She is jointly appointed at the Faculty of Education and Department of Mathematics and Statistics. She received a PhD degree in mathematics in 1994. Her research interests include cognitive and historical developments of mathematical knowledge, challenge and mathematical giftedness, mathematical paradoxes, intuitive and rigorous mathematical logic, the role of technology in assisting mathematical thinking, interconnectedness and unity of mathematical knowledge, teachers' use and interpretation of mathematical problems. Her work had been published in more than twenty refereed papers and book chapters as well as presented at international conferences.

3. Lauren DeDieu (McMaster University)
Title: Writing to learn mathematics in a differential equations course

Abstract: The use of writing to learn mathematics at the university-level is a pedagogical tool that has been gaining momentum. Due to a variety of approaches and contexts, a course that could particularly benefit from the use of writing is a first course in differential equations. The setting of this study is a second-year differential equations class where written assignments have been incorporated into the course. By analyzing survey results and students' written work, Miroslav Lovric and I have been trying to understand the extent to which students view writing as an effective learning strategy. In this talk, I will discuss our results.

Bio: Lauren is a Ph.D. candidate at McMaster University studying pure mathematics. Her research lies in the intersection of algebraic geometry and combinatorics. As well, she has a strong interest in tertiary mathematics education: in particular, psychological determinants of student success in mathematics and the role of programming in the mathematics curriculum.
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12:00 PM - 12:30 PM LUNCH BREAK (Light refreshments provided)
12:30 PM - 1:00 PM POSTER PRESENTATIONS (See below)

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1:00 PM - 2:00 PM Peter Liljedahl (Simon Fraser University)
Title: Building Thinking Classrooms

Abstract: We know that problem solving is an effective and important way for students to learn to think mathematically and to acquire a deeper knowledge and understanding of the mathematics they are learning. This is why it is so important that we find ways to enable teachers to introduce problem solving into their classrooms. But there is much more to this than the identifying of problems or the teaching heuristics. Even an infusion of problem solving into mandated curriculum does not necessarily allow the goals of problem solving to be realized. The reason for this is that the implementation of problem solving in a classroom full of students, that are not used to problem solving, by a teacher who is not experienced with problem solving, is not a fertile setting for success. The early challenges that teachers often faces may be enough to cause them to abandon their efforts. What such teachers needs are a set of tools to help them have early success in their endeavour - to allow them to see the benefits of problem solving first hand and to build up the fortitude and commitment to make it a regular part of her teaching. In this workshop we will look at a series of such tools, specifically designed to build a classroom environment conducive to problem solving, and present the results of research that investigates their effectiveness in helping teachers to kick-start the use of problem solving in the classroom. Results indicate that a problem solving environment and culture can be quickly established even in very traditional classrooms.

Bio: Dr. Peter Liljedahl is an Associate Professor of Mathematics Education in the Faculty of Education and the Associate Dean Academic for the Office of Graduate Studies and Post-Doctoral Fellows at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada. Peter is a co-director of the David Wheeler Institute for Research in Mathematics Education a senior editor for the International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, and the coordinator of the Secondary Mathematics Master's Program in the Faculty of Education at SFU. Peter is a former high school mathematics teacher who has kept his research interest and activities close to the classroom. He consults regularly with teachers, schools, school districts, and ministries of education on issues of teaching and learning, assessment, and numeracy.
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2:00 PM ADJOURNMENT
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Poster Presentations:

Students' misconceptions of trigonometric circle
Elahe Aminifar, Shahid Rajee Teacher Training University, Iran
Maryam Majidifar, Iran

Teacher candidates' online math-for-teachers journals: A search for mathematical surprise
Rosa Cendros Araujo, Western University

Concept Maps: Empowering students to learn
Marja G. Miller, University of Western Ontario

Community in the elementary mathematics classroom: Student engagement in face-to-face and online environments
Kiran Pain, York University and Toronto District School Board

Effective and fiscally responsible mathematics teacher education?
Steven Khan, Brock University

Exploring the impact of changes in Ontario's senior mathematics curriculum on student success in STEM programs
Gurpreet Sahmbi, OISE, University of Toronto

The relationship between middle school students' self-regulatory skills and problem-solving performance
Zeynep Sonay Ay, Hacettepe University and Visiting Scholar in OISE.

Self-Directed Professional Development and the Elementary Mathematics Teacher.
Chloe Dawn Weir, University of Western Ontario

Proof Construction and Reconstruction: An Investigation in Undergraduate Mathematics
Kitty Yan, OISE, University of Toronto

See Meeting archive

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