Design Mathematics Writing Projects That Are Based on Issues and Questions Justifying the Mathematics

Mathematics teachers at Glenbrook South High School in Glenview, Illinois, have designed mathematics writing projects based on issues and questions that justify the mathematics they expect their students to learn. These projects help to establish links between a unit in a mathematics course and the mathematics of business and commerce. On the basis of the teachers' experience and research, McConnell (1995) outlines the following guidelines and characteristics for project-based curriculum development:

• "A project should furnish links to other academic disciplines or to the world in a way that supports later learning or uses previous learning.

• The central idea of the project should be one that is significant for mathematics, for another subject, or for general education.

• The project should require measurement, and the acquisition of data, mathematical analysis, and a final paper or communication that represents the student's synthesis of the ideas embodied in the project.

• The project should advance the learning of mathematics appropriate at a particular stage in the curriculum.

• Projects for younger students should take at least a day and increase in length and complexity as the students progress through the curriculum.

• ...There [should] be evidence that students are becoming mathematized (Romberg, 1992) during their engagement in the project." (p.198)

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