Gian Pagnucci & Edel Reilly

Project Overview

The goal of this collaborative inter-disciplinary teaching project is to link pre-service teachers (in elementary mathematics) and veteran teachers (in English) in a joint effort to develop these teachers’ pedagogical skills, particularly in regards to technology and language teaching issues. The Association of American Colleges and Universities makes this claim: “Fostering students’ abilities to integrate learning—across courses, over time, and between campus and community life—is one of the most important goals and challenges of higher education. The undergraduate experience can be a fragmented landscape . . . But an emphasis on integrative learning can help undergraduates put the pieces together” (2004). Project CEMENT aims to build on these AACU goals.

Students Involved in the Project

Initially, students taking part in Project CEMENT will be drawn from two different courses.

Mathematics 151: Elements of Mathematics
Undergraduate students in this course explore mathematics concepts that teachers need to understand to be effective classroom practitioners. These students are primarily in their first or second year at IUP. Roughly half of these students are elementary education while the rest are working in a variety of disciplines, especially family and consumer education, special and deaf education, speech education, and Spanish education. These students are all beginning teachers working to prepare themselves for careers as teachers.

English 703/803 Language and Cognition
Graduate students in this course are at both the Master's and Doctoral level. These students are either experienced teachers or aiming to become future teachers. These students are well versed in a variety of issues related to the teaching of first and second languages, reading, writing, speaking, and listening.

Project Co-Directors

Dr. Gian Pagnucci is a Professor of English in the Graduate Studies in Composition and TESOL Doctoral Program at IUP. He has published a number of works on narrative research, technology, composition pedagogy, and collaboration. Dr. Edel Reilly is an Assistant Professor of Mathematics at IUP. She has published several articles on teaching mathematics through writing. Her current area of scholarly interest is on mathematics education. Dr. Pagnucci and Dr. Reilly have also co-published an article about the interdisciplinary Project High M.A.R.C.S. That project focused on helping mathematics middle school students create mathematics based story books.

Project Research Foci

Students working on Project CEMENT will conduct research on one of the following topics of study. Topics will be assigned by the Project Co-Directors:

• calculator use in the classroom
• technology and software use for early elementary education (Kindergarten-3rd grade)--especially Jump Start World softare
• technology and software use for late elementary education (4th grade-6th grade)--especially Math Blaster software
• problem solving
• reasoning
• the need for mental mathematics and the ability to do estimation
• standardized testing in the elementary/middle school years (grades 3-8)

Project Phases

Project CEMENT involves 7 phases of collaboration by the participants. To view an outline of the project phases, click here:

• Project CEMENT Phases

To view individual Project CEMENT materials, click the link below:

• Project CEMENT Web Sites

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