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Courses

Fall 2008

Stat 39-Teaching Statistics with Demos, Activities and Projects
In this course students will explore the development and use of demonstrations, activities and projects in K-12 math education. Students will study the basis for these instructional approaches, examine the structure of well designed demos, activities and projects, and work in groups to create activities that they will use in a local classroom. The course includes a paid field placement (15 hours for the semester) working with a teacher in a local school.

MCB 98/198 (section 5) - It's Elementary! - Exploring Science with Young Students
Share your love of science! This seminar is for Cal students who are interested in fostering kids' natural curiosity and finding out about science education in K-5 classrooms. The course approach uses activity demonstrations, skill modeling, and discussions to explore the content and skill strands of the K-5 California State Science Standards, while highlighting important teaching techniques. Practical support from a team of experienced elementary teachers will help each student gain the skills to participate in a rewarding, paid field placement (15 hours for the semester) in a local elementary school. This is an excellent opportunity to explore teaching as a career (even if you eventually want to teach middle or high school) as well as a chance to inspire local elementary school students with science.


Educ. 195C - Teaching Mathematics and Science:A Focus on Equity and Urban Schools This course is designed to provide an initial foundation for teaching mathematics or science in urban schools. It focuses on defining the challenges for teachers of realizing equitable educational outcomes in a system that has a history of under-serving and under-preparing poor students and students of color. It strives to provide students with multiple disciplinary perspectives on why equitable outcomes are so essential to the students and their families and, ultimately, to the state and nation. The course also examines some of the unique qualities, needs, and assets of students who currently dominate the demographic composition of urban schools. Finally, the course engages students in an examination and analysis of promising instructional practices -- those that have demonstrated potential to turn the tide of mathematics and science achievement among urban youth. The course includes a paid field placement (30 hours for the semester) working with a teacher in a local school.

Math 152-- Mathematics of the Secondary School Curriculum II
The purpose of this course is to study the following math topics that are taught in schools -- Functions and quadratic functions, polynomial functions and basic properties, complex numbers and Fundamental Theorem of Algebra, roots and factorizations of polynomials, Euclidean geometry and axiomatic systems. This course is open to students who have completed Math 151 and have taken Math 54 and 113. The course includes an optional paid field placement (30 hours for the semester) in a local school.

Hist 100, section 004-- TBD
A complete description is forthcoming. Please check back. Crispin Barker has a Ph.D. in the history of science and medicine from Yale and completed his dissertation on the history of the molecular biology of aging and telomere biology. He is presently investigating the influence of radiation genetics and medical physics on early molecular biologists and the role of laboratories at Berkeley, Colorado, Yale, Harvard, and similar institutions in elucidating the synthesis and significance of DNA termini.

Hist 180 - The Life Sciences Since 1750
Since 1750 This course will survey the development of the sciences of living nature from the mid-18th to the late-20th century. Topics include scientific and popular natural history, exploration and discovery, Darwin and evolution, cell theory, the organizational transformation of science, physiology and experimentalism, classical and molecular genetics, and the biomedical-industrial complex. Emphasis is on the formation of fundamental concepts and methods, long-term trends toward specialization, institutionalization, professionalization, and industrialization, and the place of the life sciences in modern societies. Many lectures are illustrated by slides. Two midterms and a final examination. A paper may be substituted for part of the final examination.

PLEASE NOTE: If you are a mathematics or statistics major, there is a teaching track available in your major. Please contact your advisor to find out more about it.

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