The Teacher Education Environment at UNL

Mathematics education is based in College of Education and Human Sciences on UNL’s campus. There are no formal designated faculty positions in mathematics education within the Department of Mathematics and Statistics. There is, however, a long and healthy history of cooperation between faculty in College of Education and Human Sciences and the faculty in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics. Lewis, who has served as chair of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics for the past 14 years, has played a major leadership role in establishing the partnership between College of Education and Human Sciences and the Department of Mathematics and Statistics. He is also active in mathematics education on a national level as evidenced by his role in chairing the steering committee that produced The Mathematical Education of Teachers document.

Elementary education majors at UNL have a three-course, 9 credit hour mathematics requirement. The courses include Math 200, Mathematics for Elementary School Teachers, Math 201, Geometry for Elementary School Teachers, and Math 203, Contemporary Mathematics. All three mathematics courses are generally taken prior to CURR 308, the math methods course in the Elementary Teacher Education Program, and students are left on their own to make any connections between the content of the required math classes and what they are learning in math methods and field experiences. Often, the math courses are viewed by students (and occasionally by advisors) as irrelevant experiences to be endured.

The current Elementary Teacher Education Program at UNL has been in place since 1992. The basic structure of the program allows for practicum linked to methods courses with a primary aim to help students build connections between theory and practice. The program includes 23 hours of general teacher education requirements, 23 hours or eight discipline specific methods courses, including math methods, and 23 hours of field experiences including five different practicum experiences and student teaching. All students choose one of six areas of concentration. For mathematics, students take an additional 6 hours of mathematics and an additional math methods course for their concentration.