Having been a student involved in the secondary education math program, I feel as though I should express my frustrations with those leading me in my schooling.

To graduate with a degree in secondary mathematics, one must take a series of cohorts that covers various math topics. While one going into the teaching field would expect to be taught various strategies and approaches to teaching math, this was not the case in several of these classes.

Throughout my course of study, I learned how to use the N-Spire, an expensive calculator that my professors expect administrators and math teachers to incorporate into the curriculum. I felt as though I was being taught to use an expensive piece of equipment to market to my future employers.

While I was not pleased with the education I was paying for, I kept my mouth shut because my professors stressed the importance of students being able to explore mathematics using tools such as the N-Spire.

They constantly reassured us that what we were learning was based on research that proved that this calculator is a crucial tool for learning through exploration.

It is disheartening to hear that the research may not be unique to the setting in which I was learning, and that the research they were claiming as their own may not have been discovered by CMU faculty.

In every class on CMU’s campus, professors include a section on student professionalism that includes a portion regarding plagiarism.

Students risk credit, their grades and expulsion from the university for plagiarism. Professors should be held to the same standards that they impose upon their students.

I would hope that the university I have attended for six years would not hold a double standard.

Danna Galvin
Saint Clair senior

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