If you're teaching Applications of
Mathematics, then you will want to book a ticket to Nanaimo this summer. The Applications
of Mathematics Summer Institute, August 25-27th, gives teachers an opportunity to meet
with their colleagues to discuss teaching strategies in time for the start of the new
school year.
The Institute is structured around 5 hands-on
seminars. David Sufrin will discuss how the new Addison Wesley's grade 10 resources can be
used in the classroom. J. P. LeRoy's workshop will demonstrate how catapults can be used
to teach math relations. Rick Wunderlinch will explain how rockets, kinder eggs and the
CDL can be used to teach math learning outcomes. 'Applications of Math as a Rookie', with
Ryan Nold, is a must for first timers. Institute convenor, Bruce Podetz, will show how
Applied Mathematics can be taught on a shoestring.
Want more information? Just contact Bruce
Podetz at bpodetz@island.net or (250) 755-1547.
See you in Nanaimo!
Below is an abbreviated version of an article
that will appear in the next BC Business Educators Association newsletter. The article is
a synopsis of the findings expressed in a recent status report on the current state of TPC
12.
In speaking with entrepreneurs, often you hear
the same story. After months of assessing market demand and designing a good product, they
gathered their courage and opened for business. Then came the challenges. The advertising
was slower than anticipated. Competition was fiercer than expected. Customers were less
enthusiastic. A continual flow of troubles dampened the thrill of starting something new.
However, just when they were ready to throw in the towel, they began to experience a
steady trickle of success.
Technical and Professional Communications 12
has experienced much the same things its first two years of implementation. Despite a
growing base of support, challenges continue to keep TPC 12 from a broader mainstream
acceptance.
The business community and many post secondary
institutions had long complained that technical communication skills were not being
taught. High school graduates were excellent candidates for English 101, but lacked the
skills to communicate concisely in some academics or work environments. TPC 12 was
designed to teach these skills.
"TPC 12 forces the student to communicate
for a purpose," explains D.W Poppy teacher, Kathy Coles. "It increases their
awareness that communication is an art and a skill that can be done either well or
poorly."
The course teaches business and technical
communication against a backdrop of real-world problems. TPC 12 students find themselves
designing proposals, drafting business correspondence, writing site-evaluation reports,
creating information brochures or a host of other skill driven projects.
Ironically, although most post secondary
institutions value the skills taught in TPC 12, the course is not fully endorsed by the
universities or colleges. Universities state that it is too early to assess the rigours of
the fledgling course. Colleges take a softer position. TPC12 is generally accepted for
direct entry into vocational (trades), career (business) and occupational (technology )
programs, but not for academic programs. They will, however, allow TPC graduates to write
a placement test (Language Proficiency Index) to gain admission into academic and
university transfer programs. As a result, many students are reluctant to take TPC 12 for
fear that it will reduce their options.
Holly Williams, a Vancouver TPC teacher, is
quick to highlight the flaw in this reasoning. "The statistics show that a good
portion of English 12 students get less than C+. These students will not qualify for
university based on their marks, but could have benefited from the skills taught in TPC
12." With relatively few students proceeding directly to university, it would seem
that TPC 12 might actually open more post secondary opportunities than it closes.
TPC 12 graduates are less intimidated by the
challenges of work place writing. "I had a student who left us after TPC and started
a first aid business," recalls Leask. "Within months of graduating she was
writing a business proposal for the Ministry of Forests." Students gain confidence
through the applied nature of the projects, and are more ready to embrace a variety of
tasks. They come to appreciate the power of language.
Martha Oleson remembers the difficulty she had
at the end of one semester. Her TPC 12 students were so impressed with the relevance of
the course that they refused to return their textbooks. "They even offered to pay the
fines. They loved the course more than any other class they had taken."
Stories such as these make the difficulties of
starting a new course worthwhile. Any entrepreneur could sympathize with the challenges
that TPC 12 has faced. After all, starting something new is both a difficult and rewarding
adventure.
