I arrived in Hungary, and am getting to know the Budapest Semester in Math Education (BSME) program. This program, now in its 3rd year of operation, is for undergraduate (and recent graduates) who are interested in the teaching of mathematics. They currently offer 5 courses that touch on different aspects of math education, and BSME students can also take BSM courses.
Yes, there is BSME and there is BSM, which is the Budapest Semesters in Math program, now in its 33rd year. They are not the same program, yet they hold classes in the same building, are both coordinated out of St. Olaf College in the US, and are generally nicely coordinated.
The 5 courses are the following, and I’ll write about them each in future posts.
Practicum – Visit math classrooms in schools around Budapest, and debrief.
Discovery Learning: The Pósa Method – Learn about the math instructional method developed by Lajos Pósa.
Problem Solving in Secondary School Mathematics – Develop problem solving skills, engage in mathematical tasks to foster deep math learning.
Concept Building through Games and Manipulatives – Just that, developing mathematical thinking through informal and formal hands-on learning.
Directed Research: Gender Issues in Mathematics – Think of this as a math education REU.
Tune in later for more details about these courses, and other aspects of BSME!