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The MACIMISE Graduate Program Kicks Off in Saipan
Member's of PREL's MACIMISE online graduate program in Saipan
The Mathematics and Culture in Micronesia: Integrating Societal Experiences (MACIMISE) inaugural Institute was held in Saipan from July 4–15 at Saipan Southern High School (SSHS). Attending were 18 Pacific Islanders from American Samoa, Hawai‘i, the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), and the Republic of Palau.
According to Dr. Sandy Dawson, MACIMISE Project Director, “The first goal of the project is the development of elementary school mathematics curricula sensitive to local mathematical thought and experience. A necessary prerequisite for the achievement of this first goal is to recapture and honor the mathematics developed and practiced in the various communities.”
Of the 18 participants, 10 are pursuing doctorate degrees, and 8 are seeking masters degrees from the College of Education, University of Hawai‘i, Mānoa under a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to Pacific Resources for Education and Learning (PREL).
PREL is the lead organization for the NSF grant, whereas the University of Hawai‘i, College of Education, is providing the courses and the professors to teach those courses. For the MACIMISE Institute in Saipan, the courses are being taught by Dr. Neil Pateman, Dr. Joe Zilliox, Dr. Paul McKimmy, and Dr. Sandy Dawson. Dr Tom Craven, Co-Principal Investigator (PI) on the NSF grant, was also in attendance at the Institute. Visiting scholars who attended the Institute were two professors from the University of Guam, Dr. Donald Rubinstein and Dr. Nick Goetzfridt.
In the words of Dr. Dawson, “This Institute marks the beginning of a journey as participants embark on five years of work in bringing to light the mathematics existing in the cultural practices of their home islands.”
The Institute could not have been held without the assistance of Saipan Southern High School’s principal, Craig Garrison, and Ms. Dora Miura, a MACIMISE participant and math teacher at the school.
Participating in the program are, from American Samoa: Tauvela Fale and Paul Tauiliili; from Chuuk State, FSM: Danie Mamangon, Miuty Nokar, and Dion Bernard; from the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI): Dora Miura; from Guam: Bea Camacho; from Hawai‘i: Andrea Aiona; from Kosrae State, FSM: Rhoda Velasquez, Tulensru Waguk, and Penina Tulensru; from the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI): Sweeny Term; from the Republic of Palau: Epi Moses and Lucia Tabelual; from Pohnpei State, FSM: Deeleeann Daniel, and Tendy Liwy; and from Yap State, FSM: Jerry Fagolimul and Cal Hachibmai.
(Posted Thursday, July 22, 2010)