Third incoming class for the Professional Diploma in Mathematics for Teaching (PDMT) began their evening lectures in UCD (Posted 14/10/14)
In September 2014 the third incoming class for the Professional Diploma in Mathematics for Teaching (PDMT) began their evening lectures in UCD.
The PDMT is a programme for teachers who are teaching secondary school mathematics but do not meet the Teaching Council requirements for registration as mathematics teachers. The diploma course is a small but important part of Ireland’s initiative to upskill mathematics teachers.
The diploma runs over two years, with lectures taking place on two evenings a week. Each year the teachers take five modules, which are taught from September until June. The modules run consecutively, each for six weeks, for a total of 30 weeks.
Lectures are delivered by video link (google hangout) from one of the participating centres in Ireland, and each evening class consists of lectures and interactive sessions where one of the UCD local lecturers interprets and explains the content and the problems posed during the course of the evening’s broadcast.
In year 1 there are 24 hours of lectures for each module, 18 of which are live and 6 of which are recorded and watched at home by the students. For a given module, each student attends 3 hours of lectures at UCD every week, for 6 weeks. In year 2, 12 lectures are live and 12 are recorded. The students attend UCD for 4 weeks out of the 6 weeks when the module is delivered.
Each module is supplemented by 3 tutorials of 2 hours each, and students must complete two assignments for each module. There are final
examinations taken in UCD in September, April and June of each academic year.
In year 1 the modules studied are Calculus 1, Calculus 2, Algebra 1, Algebra 2, and Probability Theory.
In year 2 the modules studied are Statistics, Geometry, Calculus 3, History of Mathematics, and Applied Mathematical Modelling.
The School of Mathematical Sciences lecturers who work on this diploma are Professor Rod Gow (director), Dr Mary Hanley and Dr Anthony Brown.
The diploma is run and mainly funded through grants administered by the University of Limerick (UL), and Dr Kevin Hutchinson is the liaison link with UL. The School of Mathematical Sciences also contributes money, and more importantly, the goodwill and the time of its staff as a service to the state and its educational structure. This is one of the important and useful activities of the School of Mathematical Sciences and of UCD that is not measured by any indicators or rankings.
Typically 90 to 100 students have attended UCD in their first year of PDMT studies. This year 97 students are pursuing their first year of studies for PDMT at UCD.
