On April 6, Saratov State University hosted city workshop for math teachers dedicated to preparation to Unified State Examination – 2015.
The event was organized by the SSU Department of Mathematics and Informatics Basics, Saratov Administration Committee on Education, City Methodology Center, and Lyceum of Mathematics and Informatics. Among the participants were university and school teachers, representatives of the Federal Education Development Institute and “Prosveshenie” Publishing House.
Vice-rector for educational work E.G. Elina welcomed the participants. “Saratov University puts great emphasis on cooperation with schools, lyceums and gymnasiums. We hold the annual teachers excellence competition “Entering the Profession” for future teachers. Two corporate departments - in the Lyceum of Mathematics and Informatics and the Lyceum of Humanities and Economics – have been working for over a year. It provides an opportunity to work directly with school students and teachers”, emphasized Prof. Elina. “Teachers’ education is a priority area of our work. SSU is the only university in the region that prepares teachers. Our graduates could teach all subjects: from Russian language to PE, from Maths to Music”.
According to the Vice-rector, the city workshop is a great opportunity for teachers to share their experience of working with State Educational Standards. “It would be great if school students not only passed State Exam successfully but were prepared to study at university as well”, added Prof. Elina. In conclusion, E.G. Elina thanked the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics for organizing the event on city scale.
L.Yu. Zhivtsova, the Head of State Attestation Department of Saratov Region Ministry of Education, wished the workshop participants success in their work. She reminded that mathematical education strategy is a priority item for Russian government and regional education systems. L.Yu. Zhivtsova thanked Saratov State University which initiated and organized multiple methodological events. University professors are chairs of 11 out of 14 school subject commissions in the region. “Unfortunately, Math state exam results in the region are lower than country’s average. There is room for improvement”, said L.Yu. Zhivtsova
The workshop continued with award ceremony of the “Breakthrough” conference, a joint project of Saratov State University and the Lyceum of Mathematics and Informatics. This year, young researcher presented their works in five areas: “Applied Mathematics”, “Mathematical Breakthrough”, “First Step towards a Breakthrough”, “Mathematics and IT around us” and “Mathematics and IT around us (in English)”.
The workshop then continued with the report by the deputy head of “Prosveshenie” Publishing House E.V. Ergle. She spoke about the publishing house work and new educational standards. Today they are working on digitalizing learning packages which is required by the new standards. In her presentation, she showed the changes in Algebra and Geometry textbooks.
Federal Education Development Institute senior research fellow S.V. Panferov talked about mathematical education strategy implementation in Moscow and Moscow Region. The strategy was enacted by the government decree from December 24, 2013. Its goal is to bring Russian mathematical education to the world leading positions. Under the strategy, Moscow has launched a number of projects for teachers and school students. One of them is the system of part-time lyceum courses with distant learning workshops; another one is the exact science festival “Special Points” involving travel lecture series in Moscow suburbs. Some faculties of Lomonosov Moscow State University renewed the program of sponsored education for applicants from province. S.V. Panferov suggested Saratov Region could also take part in this program.
In the second half of the day, two sections opened: one for Math teachers, the other for Math education curators.
It was the final city seminar for Math teachers in the academic year 2014-2015. Everyone received certificates of participation.
