A new regulation may make this certificate easier for teachers who already have some university mathematics courses.

CONTENT:

• MATHEMATICS:
  
  • MATH1202 Concepts and Topics in Mathematics
  • MATH1203 Concepts and Topics in High School Mathematics
  • MATH1204 Introduction to Geometry
  • MATH1190 Pre-Calculus Review
  • MATH1210 Introductory Calculus I
  • MATH1211 Introductory Calculus II
  • MATH2320 Linear Algebra 1

• STATISTICS:
  
  • MATH1216 Introduction to Mathematical Statistics

• COMPUTING SCIENCE:
  
  • CSCI1226 Introduction to Computing Science and Programming

• EDUCATION:
  
  • EDUC5523 Teaching Methods for Mathematics

All courses in the certificate program must be passed with a grade of C or better.

ENTRANCE REQUIREMENTS:

• Students entering the program will normally be required to have a B.Ed. or equivalent.

• MAT1210 has Grade 12 precalculus (or equivalent) as a prerequisite; this prerequisite is satisfied by MATH 1190. Students who have not passed MATH 1190 will be required to pass a pretest before taking MATH 1210.
• MAT courses numbered 1211 and above have MAT1210 (and in some cases MAT1211) as prerequisites; they can thus not be taken until MAT1210 has been successfully completed.

• MAT1202 has academic Grade 12 mathematics (or equivalent) as a prerequisite; this can be taken as a noncredit course at Saint Mary's or elsewhere.

SUBSTITUTIONS AND RETAKES Department of Education regulations used to forbid any course that had ever been used for teacher certification credit from being taken again as part of an upgrading program. However, recent (June 2004) changes in regulations now permit up to 40% of such a program (here, 4 half courses) to consist of retaken courses that would normally form part of the program, provided the university is satisfied that the teacher would benefit, in the sense of becoming a stronger mathematics teacher, from retaking these courses. For instance, a teacher whose university mathematics exposure was restricted to first year calculus twelve years ago, or who passed that course with a D, would probably benefit from retaking the course. On the other hand, a teacher who has an honours degree in mathematics and has been teaching it at the high school level for much of the time since then would probably not need to retake courses. Students who think that they may wish to take advantage of this option should speak to the Department of Mathematics and Computing Science before choosing their courses.

TRANSFER CREDITS:

Under special circumstances students may obtain permission to transfer credits from another institution. Under no circumstances, however, can more than 2.5 such credits (five one-semester courses) be transferred. Moreover, no course that has already been used towards a B.Ed, towards a degree used to gain admission to a B.Ed. program, or towards a previous license upgrade may be transferred; this does not change with the new regulations (see above).

ACCESSIBILITY TO PART-TIME STUDENTS:

Most of the "basic" courses in this program are available in the evenings or in the summer. The number of courses that are available at these times will vary from year to year. (Students should be aware that many courses available as substitutes are more likely to be offered during daytime hours.) If there is sufficient demand, it may be possible to offer courses at times and/or places designed specifically for the convenience of students in this program.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

For more information about the program:
Department of Mathematics and Computing Science, Saint Mary's University,
Phone: 420-5784;
Email: mathcschair@cs.stmarys.ca

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