Nerds form Internet project
By Shayna Strang, staff writer
Posted on February 19, 2007

The Internet isn’t just for chatting anymore.

Recently, a group of IDLS students met with sixth graders from Thomas Harrison Middle School to start a math project that will last for five weeks and involve extensive research and communication over the Internet for all the students.

They call it the Math Nerds project.

“The idea is to give them an opportunity to look at math differently,” said Brian Nussbaum, a mathematics teacher at THMS. “It also gives JMU students the opportunity to interact with younger students.”

Last fall, Nussbaum was a student in one of Laurie Cavey’s graduate classes at JMU, where he found out about the project. The project was designed as part of Cavey’s MATH 108 class, which is one of the courses required for early and elementary education majors.

“Our job as JMU students and future teachers is to help guide our partner as best as possible in researching their assigned task,” junior Marie Pulley, one of the education students involved in the project, said.

But many of the students found that the sixth graders were teaching them as well.
 
“These students are quite advanced sixth graders,” Nussbaum said. “Some of the conversations they’ve been having are incredible.”

Currently these middle-school students are taking a course that will take them through sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade level coursework in one year, he said. They will also be taking each Standards of Learning test within the school year.

For Pulley, the best part of the research was being able to work with the sixth graders.

“They are so brilliant and bright for their age, and it is incredibly encouraging to see that,” she said.

This semester’s project began Jan. 30 when these talented sixth-grade students spent the day at JMU and experience a day of college life, Nussbaum said. Students from Cavey’s two MATH 108 classes were then paired up with a sixth grader and the research began. Each small group was given a topic, such as decimal representations for real numbers, to research and prepare to present by the conclusion of the project.

“Our end goal is to present a well-researched and unique approach to each investigation,” Pulley said.

After their initial meeting, the two sets of students will regularly communicate with each other on the Math Nerds Web site to finish the project. Each group will research the history and application of their topics and explore beyond the basics of what he or she previously learned. Nussbaum also gives his students in-class time where they can visit Web sites, send e-mails and get help involving their topics.

“The project is about helping them to see that math is more than what they see at school,” Nussbaum said.