Sit in on one or more graduate classes (in particular, the pro-seminar for first year doctoral students, a math or math
education course, or some other course that fits your interests). With sufficient
lead-time, it may be possible to get copies to you ahead of time of the readings for
the class(es) you’ll be sitting in on, so you can make better sense of the class discussion.
Sit in on a course in the teacher preparation program.
Meet with our graduate students and get their insight on our graduate program. Usually, we can arrange for students to meet with you over lunch or dinner or to arrive
early or stay late at a class you’ll be sitting in on. Since you’ll interact with
a variety of students during your graduate studies, you may wish to talk with students
outside of math education as well as math ed students. Depending on your interests
and situation (e.g., if you’re coming to graduate school after having taught for many
years, if you have a family, if you have strong research interests), there may be
specific students who can be particularly helpful.
Meet with mathematics education faculty in the Mathematics Education Program, Teacher Education Department, Department of Statistics and Probability, Mathematics
Department, or Lyman Briggs College. Depending on your interests, you’ll probably
also want to meet with other faculty (e.g., faculty who share other of your interests).
If you wish to talk with faculty who won’t be available during your visit, ask whether
there are other ways to connect with them (e.g., by phone, meeting at a conference).
Visit a Professional Development School. These are schools that have a particularly strong relationship with MSU. Many interns
and seniors in our teacher preparation program are placed at these schools, and the
College of Education supports several initiatives involving teachers at these schools.
In addition, they are often sites for research done by professors and graduate students.
Attend semi-regular events (e.g., a meeting of the Math Learning Research Group, a Math Ed Colloquium or other
math ed talk). (See Community)
Look through the Math Ed PhD Program Handbook posted under Current Students.
Note
Specific things may or may not be possible depending on the timing of your visit (e.g.,
math ed courses often meet once a week for 3 hours, the Math Ed Colloquium is once
a month or so, one of the professors you want to talk to may be out of town). If you
have some leeway in your schedule, ask if there are better or worse dates for visiting.
It will likely be easier to set up a useful visit if you have the help of someone
here at MSU, in particular, the Assistant Director, Lisa Keller. If you’ve already been admitted into the program, a temporary advisor should have
been assigned to you, and that professor can help set up your visit. The more the
person who’s helping to arrange your visit knows about your interests, the more likely
it is that s/he will be able to arrange things that can help you decide whether MSU
is the school for you (e.g., setting up meetings with faculty and graduate students
who have interests related to yours).
You will likely be asked to share your CV and academic statement in advance of your
visit if you have not yet submitted those materials via your application gradportal.
That way, faculty and graduate students with similar interests can be scheduled in
your campus visit itinerary.
