The Blue Ribbon Mathematics Partnership Committee and the Institute for Math Learning at West Virginia University will sponsor an educational workshop Aug. 6-10 in the institutes new computer lab in Armstrong Hall.

The institute was created in January by WVU s Eberly College of Arts and Sciences to provide innovation and leadership for the University, state and nation in math education. It recently refurbished a computer lab in Armstrong Hall with more than 60 state-of-the-art computers and flat screen monitors. The lab is also equipped with the most advance smart board and teaching accessories available.

“The purpose of this institute is to provide professional development to mathematics educators, with the specific goal of improving the quality of teaching geometry,”said Laura Pyzdrowski, faculty member and director of the project.

The project will develop a core of North Central West Virginia mathematics teachers who will, among other things, strengthen their knowledge of teaching geometry, learn the appropriate way to integrate technology into the classroom and correlate the concepts taught in mathematics to real-world applications.

This session is the first of three workshops in response to an initiative adopted by the then-WVU System Board of Trustees challenging higher education institutions to engage in activities to improve math education. Funding comes from Eisenhower Professional Development Funds, Texas Instruments Geomath, Blue Ribbon Counties and WVU .

In the spring of 1998, public school administrators from counties in North Central West Virginia, in cooperation with administrators from WVU and WVU at Parkersburg, developed a committee to investigate the particular needs of math students in these counties. The Blue Ribbon Mathematics Partnership Committee was formed to organize and implement projects targeted to improve math education in the state.

Stephen West, chair of mathematics at State University of New York at Geneseo and recipient of the Chancellors Award for Excellence in Teaching, will be the workshops primary instructional consultant.

“My goals for the workshop are twofold,”West said.”First, I want to acquaint participants with the value of using dynamic geometry software in their classrooms. Second, I wish to investigate a variety of advanced topics in Euclidean and non-Euclidean geometry.”

The participants will enjoy hands-on opportunities in learning to apply technology in instructional settings and in develop their own instructional materials.

“Participants will develop a facility with the software by using the graphing calculators themselves to investigate theorems in advanced geometry,”West said.”It is my hope that the participants in the workshop will develop an appreciation for the power of the use of dynamic geometry software for investigating and hypothesizing theorems in geometry and that this appreciation will be transferred to their students.”