Classroom note A Capstone Course for pre-service secondary mathematics teachers

Abstract

In the decade since the first of three National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Standards documents was published, there has been an unprecedented amount of attention to, and activity surrounding, issues in mathematics education at all levels. The Department of Mathematics at Baylor University has taken the first of several necessary steps to provide future mathematics teachers with the best possible preparation. The paper reports efforts at Baylor University to involve their secondary mathematics education students in new teaching methods and the use of technology in the teaching of mathematics at the secondary level. A number of examples are given of how pre-service mathematics teachers connect ideas across mathematics courses and develop personal self-confidence and a disposition to seek, evaluate, and use quantitative and spatial information in problem-solving.