Welcome back to school! We want to thank you for participating in our summer programs and helping us continue to reach more teachers across Nebraska, and online, each year. In summer 2015, 457 distinct teachers and graduate students in math education took a course through the Nebraska Math and Science Summer Institutes or other NebraskaMATH programs for a total of 875 registrations in 49 math, science and pedagogy classes. We appreciate your support of our programs and hope that you will continue your graduate education with us.
Courses were held in Grand Island, Gretna, Hastings, Holdrege, Kearney, La Vista, Lincoln, Omaha, Scottsbluff and Trenton. If there is a particular course that you would like to have come to your area in summer 2016, please let your ESU staff development officer know before December 2015. We are happy to bring courses to you or offer them online when and where there is sufficient demand.
For those of you who have taken several courses, you might want to consider applying those credits toward a master’s degree from UNL. You will need to declare a major and formally apply to UNL Graduate Studies before you reach 18 credit hours (six courses).
The UNL Department of Mathematics offers an online master’s degree for math teachers of grades 7-12. The Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT), with a major in mathematics, does have an option for minoring in teaching, learning, and teacher education or a specialization in the teaching of middle-level mathematics. It is preferred that at least seven courses (21 hours) of the 12 total courses are math courses that would count toward your major in mathematics. The other courses can be TEAC courses from teaching, learning and teacher education, or you can choose to take all 12 courses in math. All of the MATH courses that end in “T” count toward the MAT, as do some others, as well as any other pedagogy courses listed in the NMSSI course catalog. You can apply at any time throughout the year. For more information, start here: http://online.unl.edu/mat.
Most primary teachers prefer pursuing the Master of Arts degree offered by UNL’s Department of Teaching, Learning and Teacher Education. Teachers usually choose to pursue the MA’s Option II, which requires a minor (such as a minor in mathematics). This is a popular option and degree for elementary teachers. It is preferred that at least seven of the 12 total courses must count toward your major in teaching, learning and teacher education. If you choose to minor in mathematics (the recommended route), then any MATH courses that end in “P” would count toward a minor in math. The application deadlines are March 1 and Oct. 1. For more information: http://cehs.unl.edu/tlte/programs/masters-programs.
Feel free to contact Lindsay Augustyn at laugustyn2@unl.edu with any questions.