MATH 312 FOUNDATIONS OF GEOMETRY

Spring 1998

Office: S208A
Voicemail: 773-794-2556
Web: www.neiu.edu/~bhdayton/students/

TEXTS:: D.Farmer and T. Stanford, Knots and Surfaces, AMS; D.Farmer, Groups and Symmetry, AMS

Course Purpose This course is not intended to prepare you to teach the current elementary or secondary geometry curriculum. Rather the purpose of this course is to expand and broaden your knowledge of geometry to prepare you to possibly teach the new geometry curriculum of the 21st century. I hope to be able to convince you that geometry is not about proof or triangles. In addition, the selection of topics is chosen to be compatible with MATH 421 Modern Geometry.

Student Objectives/Outcomes At the end of this course students will be able to 1) identify, describe, compare and classify a wide variety of geometric figures, 2) visualize and represent geometric figures with special attention to developing spatial sense, 3) explore transformations of geometric figures, 4)represent and solve problems using geometric models, 5) understand and apply geometric properties and relationships and 6) develop an appreciation of geometry as a means of describing the physical and non-physical world. (From NCTM standards, grades 5-8)

Method of Instruction This course will consist of about 20% lecture, 25% small cooperative group work, 25% discussion groups and 15% student experiments and 15% student presentations. The students will be provided information above and beyond that which appears in the texts for the course, and which is designed specifically to meet the student outcomes. The students will learn to work in cooperative groups and engange in discussion groups which will report their results to the larger group.

Method of Evaluation About 50% of the course grade will be based on daily class work and homework. This includes unannounced quizzes, pretests, writing assignments and group work. These will be graded on the basis of completeness, correctness, presentation and the extent to which the student shows that he/she understands the underlying mathematical concepts. There will be no makeups for work missed. Several grades will be dropped but regular attendance will be necessary for a good grade in this course. A project assigned towards the end of the course will count 10% (it will not be returned but will become part of your departmental portfolio) There will be 2 tests each counting 20%. They are scheduled Wednesday, February 25, 1998 and Monday, May 4, 1998 at 4:00 PM. These may be partly essay exams. Note that graduate students in the M.S. Math SCED graduate program will be graded on a different scale from undergraduates.