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Project History |
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Welcome to AlgebraLAB. Integrated-Access STEM Sites is very proud of host this curricular content and
will be continuing to develop additional resources during coming years.
This project was developed during the years 2003-2005 in conjunction with a Florida Department of Education
Enhancing
Education Through Technology (EETT) Competitive Grant, a National Council of
Teachers of Mathematics' Edward G. Begle Grant for classroom-based research in precollege
mathematics, and Volusia County
Schools.
AlgebraLAB was originally conceived as a math curriculum designed to reinforce
the topics and skills needed by students enrolled in physical science courses
to be successful. Over the past two years, content addressing almost 40
topics in Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry, and Reading with over 185 skills has
been developed.
This development of integrated math and physical science courses included topics from
Algebra I, Algebra II, Geometry, Statistics, Trigonometry, Physics and Chemistry
enabled students to see the practical applications of their mathematics skills
and to understand the importance of math in discovering accurate, data-driven scientific
conclusions. The online environment was critical because it allowed students access
to content both at school and at home. The site provided immediate diagnostic assessment
to the teacher and feedback to students that reinforced understanding of content
or provided just-in-time remediation of the math skills that might have been hindering
the student’s learning in science.
The digital XML format used in AlgebraLAB's development allowed teachers to organize not only their documents,
but the data contained within them (questions, answers, topics, skills, standards,
diagrams, lectures). Students that incorrectly answered questions or realized that they needed refreshing
on a former topic of study could in real-time initiate queries to find explanations
and additional practice problems to re-teach the desired skills.
Throughout this curriculum project, participating math, science, and reading teachers effectively
incorporated online curricular materials into their lessons, implemented new technology-based
teaching strategies, and integrated active-learning environments that allow them
to facilitate their students’ learning. When the project was started in 2003, the following comments were contributed by county and school administrators who were members of the grant's advisory committee.
Dr. Nicolene Junkins
Director of K-12 Curriculum and Program Accountability
Volusia County Schools
The curriculum that has been developed for AlgebraLAB will serve as a model of technology integration – particularly their focus on building lessons and practice pages to increase student skills in reading, mathematics, and science. Throughout the project, Mrs. Colwell maintained a strong dialogue with my office, which was in charge of overseeing their progress, as well as district technology and content specialists.
All aspects of the Volusia County Best Practices are incorporated into their plan. They are desiring to improve academic excellence through the development of a comprehensive, relational curriculum; through the involvement of family and community; through an internet approach that facilitates access and equality issued in our diverse student population; through the involvement of high performing instructional staff; and through the professional development of the teachers as they are introduced to new technologies in the delivery of Reading in the Content Area.
As Volusia County looks to the future, AlgebraLAB and LearningXchange, with its conprehensive, district-based standards database, will provide us with dynamic tools for the infusion of technology into the curriculum.
Mrs. Patricia Graham
Principal
Mainland High School
At Mainland, we
are excited that the AlgebraLAB and LearningXchange projects will empower more teachers to follow in the technology
footsteps pioneered by Mrs. Colwell through her online physics program that was initiated during the five years
of the USDOE Technology Innovation Challenge Grant, Career Connection to Teaching with Technology. As we transition
to our new facility, plans are already in place to partner the physics and mathematics
curriculum through AlgebraLAB’s integrated online programming and by scheduling
algebra and physics classes in adjoining classrooms. Teachers will be able to team
both curriculum and daily activities. Students participating in the program will
be able to collaborate in problem-solving and to extend their learning opportunities
to any location with Internet access. We are eagerly anticipating a new level of
enthusiasm as students are motivated to be more focused and productive as they achieve
higher levels of understanding.
Mrs. Cheryl Salerno
Assistant Principal for Curriculum
Mainland
High School
Our goal at Mainland High School is to continually improve the access and application
of technology in education. By revising the curriculum to incorporate technology
standards that address academic instruction, and by providing teachers with initial
and sustained staff development that addresses classroom climate and the facilitative
role of the teacher, we hope that the integration of technology with education will
become as natural to students and teachers as using a chalkboard, whiteboard, or
overhead projector.
The Entire Advisory Committee
An entire listing of the advisory committee can be seen on the following page.
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