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A recent issue of the
Municipal University of Omaha (OU)/UNO Alumni magazine featured a group of distinguished
alumni. One of the alumni featured earned a Bachelor of Science in mathematics, with
a minor in English, from OU in 1955. The alumnus, Thomas Romberg, went on to receive
a Master of Science in secondary education from OU in 1959. After a short interval
as a high school teacher of mathematics in Omaha, he entered the doctoral program at
Stanford University to major in mathematics education, with a minor in mathematics, and
obtained his Ph.D. in 1967. He then joined the faculty of the University of
Wisconsin - Madison in mathematics education. Thirty two years later he is still at
UW-M, where he holds the title of Sears Roebuck Foundation-Bascom Professor of Education.
Dr. Romberg has devoted his professional life to improving learning
and achievement in mathematics and science among students in the nation's elementary and
secondary schools. He was at one time the Director of the National Center for
Research in Mathematical Sciences Education, a national project to improve the teaching of
mathematics, and now is the Director of the National Center for Improving Student Learning
and Achievement in Mathematics and Science for the U.S. Department of Education. He
is truly a leader in the movement to improve teaching and learning in mathematics; and the
origins of his interest and commitment can be found in his experience as an undergraduate
student of mathematics at OU.
When he entered OU in 1951, his intent was to get a Bachelor of
Science degree and a teaching certificate with a long-range goal to become a school
administrator. His parents were both teachers, and he had several uncles who were
school superintendents. After his first year at OU, he decided to choose mathematics
as his teaching field because mathematics was not difficult for him and jobs for
mathematics teachers were plentiful. However, three experiences during his
undergraduate years at OU changed his life.
First, during the time he was an undergraduate student in mathematics
the curriculum for a mathematics major was undergoing intense review and revision.
At the beginning of the 1950s, the courses taught during the first year of an
undergraduate program in mathematics covered a variety of topics in college algebra,
trigonometry, and analytic geometry. These courses were dropped and students began
their programs with calculus. In addition, new courses were added to the
curriculum. He was a student in the first modern algebra course offered at OU.
He had always assumed that the content of mathematics as a discipline had been fixed and
would remain the same forever. But his experience led him to be interested in the
history of mathematics, the rationale for change, and the difficulties associated with
changing long-held traditions. In the 1960s, he became involved in the "new
math" reform efforts; and in the last two decades, he has led the standard-based
reform efforts in the United States. The interest stirred so long ago continues to
guide his professional activities today.
Second, while taking mathematics courses at OU, he be |
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