Mathematics Conference Enhances Future of Southern Miss Gulf Coast Students
Wed, 11/10/2010 - 02:56pm | By: Charmaine Williams Schmermund
The University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast was well-represented among the 4,000 math educators at the 2010 National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Regional Conference in New Orleans.
Billie Tingle, visiting instructor in the Department of Curriculum, Instruction and Special Education, and her students attended the two-day conference. The elementary education majors used the conference as a field trip for Tingle's mathematics in the elementary grades course. Through this course, students focus on methods and materials that are most effective in teaching math to elementary school students.
“As a student, the NCTM conference was extremely beneficial to me as I learned new and crucial math strategies for the classroom,” said Southern Miss senior Nicole Hoda of Kiln, Miss. “I also had the opportunity to collaborate with other pre-service teachers and get advice from in-service teachers currently in the field.”
“This conference exemplified what I was teaching to my students,” said Tingle. “My students attended the conference to make an investment in their future students' academic growth and success. They were able to select from over 200 sessions and gallery workshops by learning new strategies for creating and implementing the mathematics standards in which their future students will have a deeper understanding of the concepts.”
“These newly learned strategies and activities can be implemented as our students prepare for their internships at schools along the Gulf Coast next semester,” added Tingle.
For more information about the Southern Miss Gulf Coast Department of Curriculum, Instruction and Special Education, visit www.usm.edu/gulfcoast/gcedpsy.