The Fields Institute Turns Twenty-Five 170725 Final book with covers | Page 170

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Eric Muller
college, and university). Participants included mathematics
school teachers and co-ordinators, college mathematics
instructors, university mathematics instructors and professors,
as well as representatives from publishers and industry.
Anyone interested in mathematics education was welcome and
there were no formal requirements to become a member. I
shared with the Forum the contacts I had with members
of the Ontario Association for Mathematics Education,
Ontario Mathematics Co-ordinators Association, Ministry of
Education (mathematics), Canadian Mathematical Society,
Canadian Mathematics Education Study Group, Mathematics
Association of America, and the International Commission of
Mathematics Instruction.
The structure of the meetings has remained basically the
same over the years, and the Steering Committee develops and
communicates the Agenda for the upcoming meeting. During
the early meetings, a number of across-level themes emerged
and a few were selected by the steering committee for further
study. Attendees were invited to participate in developing and
contributing to the themes. Committees were formed, and
time was allocated during subsequent meetings to discuss the
chosen themes. As far as I can remember, all the committees
were headed by a member of the Steering Committee. Some
very topical and useful information and sites were developed
and placed on the Fields websites for easy access by anyone
interested in mathematics education in Ontario.
What were some of the themes?
A group worked
on developing information to encourage school students
to become mathematics teachers; this included a list of
Mathematics Departments that offered Concurrent Education
programs. Another group studied mathematics courses in
Ontario colleges. As the information became outdated the
sites were removed from the Fields website.