UOIT helping explore ways to improve student learning in mathematics

What makes some students succeed at mathematics while others struggle? How can educators best develop strategies to help students learn and retain their math skills? 

The University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) recently played a key role in helping teams of teachers, principals and students from Ontario, Alberta and Norway explore these questions and more. On May 4 teacher candidates in the university’s Faculty of Education (FEd) hosted a math and science enrichment day for student delegates of the Norway-Canadian (NORCAN) partnership who were visiting campus.

Participants had fun doing math geocaching exercises as well as completing LEGO robotics challenges. They were also given rotating leadership responsibilities as they moved through the different stations. The university was just one of the stops for the NORCAN delegation, which also spent May 2 to 4 participating in math and learning exercises at Monsignor John Pereyma Catholic Secondary School in Oshawa, Ontario and Tecumseh Vista Academy K-12 in Tecumseh, Ontario.

NORCAN is a collaboration between Union of Education Norway, the Alberta Teachers’ Association, the Ontario Teachers’ Federation and the Ontario Ministry of Education. The partnership focuses on:

• Addressing locally identified challenges in improving student learning in mathematics.
• Developing a coherent and systematic approach to supporting teacher leadership in schools and communities.

“As a leader in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education, the University of Ontario Institute of Technology is a natural fit for helping provide special math enrichment activities to students,” said Joe Stokes, Associate Registrar, Enrolment Services, UOIT. “Through our great facilities we are able to provide students with access to ideal learning spaces where they can participate in these types of activities.”

“Math education is crucial, as it helps open the doors to so many different career opportunities for students,” said Michael Owen, PhD, Interim Dean, FEd. “Researchers in the University of Ontario Institute of Technology’s Faculty of Education focus on how students learn math concepts and on teacher development in this area. The faculty always seeks to improve how future teachers can help students improve math comprehension and subsequently carry on with science, technology, engineering and math-related studies at the post-secondary level.”