Conversations among Colleagues was designed in 2003-2004 to facilitate conversations between and among mathematicians, mathematics educators and leaders in mathematics education. In 2015, the Conversations Among Colleagues became the official conference of the Michigan Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators (MI-AMTE).

2023 Session Types

Sessions should actively engage participants in conversation about topics of interest to the mathematics education community, especially in relation to the preparation and continuing professional development of teachers of mathematics Pre K-College.

Crossover with GVSU's Math In Action: The 2023 Conversations Among Colleagues (CAC) conference is being held in conjunction with the GVSU Math In Action (MIA) conference, with shared keynotes and conference themes, and conference organizers are planning ways to support crossover attendance between the conferences where appropriate. 

Session Types: This year's CAC conference will offer two session types:

• Full sessions: 60 minutes. Suitable for paper presentations, discussions, and mini-workshops, full sessions span a full one-hour block with 10 minutes between blocks.
• Short sessions: 25 minutes. Designed for more targeted conversations, short sessions will be paired to form full session blocks with 5 minutes mid-block for discussion and transition.

Conference modality: Both the 2023 CAC and 2023 MIA conferences are being offered as hybrid conferences, with participants having the option of either attending in-person at GVSU's Allendale Campus or attending select sessions remotely via Zoom. Consequently, there are three modality options for presentation proposals:

• In-person only: you will present in-person at GVSU's Allendale Campus and your presentation will only be accessible to in-person participants. 
• Hybrid: you will present in-person at GVSU's Allendale Campus and your presentation will be accessible to both in-person participants and online participants via Zoom.
• Remote: you will present remotely via Zoom, from a location of your choice. Your presentation will be accessible to both in-person and online participants. For in-person participants, we plan to set up a "stream room" where participants will gather and watch your presentation together.

Presenters

Up to 3 presenters receive free registration for the conference. Student presenters or co-presenters are welcome! Students must co-present with a K–12 teacher or professor. If you have questions or wish to register additional co-presenters, please email us at [email protected].

Most MIA sessions are offered for State Continuing Education Credit Hours (SCECH), and we plan to support crossover attendees by doing so for the CAC sessions as well. Please submit a 2-page resume or vita with your proposal to allow us to offer your session for SCECH credit.

Technology

All conference rooms are equipped with the following:

• Windows computer with the ability to open PowerPoint, PDF, and web-based presentations.
• Ceiling mounted projector and screen
• Wired and wireless access to the Internet. We will provide a guest login and password for computers and wifi.
• DVD player with speakers
• Document camera
• Whiteboards
• You can connect your own laptop to the projection device. Presenters must supply their own adaptors for VGA or HDMI.

Software available on the GVSU network includes:

• Mathematics: Microsoft Office (including Excel), Fathom, Geometer's Sketchpad and GeoGebra, Green Globs, Mathematica
• Statistics: Camp Tools, JMP, SAS, SPSS, WinBugs
• Multiple web browsers
• Adobe Acrobat Reader

You will have an opportunity to ask attendees to bring specific technology (such as a phone or laptop) to your session, if you wish. Conference organizers can also supply a limited number of Chromebooks (lightweight laptops with web access) to support more technologically involved sessions.

If you'd like to give a remote presentation from a location other than GVSU's Allendale campus, presenters will need to provide all technology required for their presentations. Unfortunately, we cannot provide access to any software that you don't already own. You will be presenting from your own computer, and so if you require access to any special software, you must already have that software installed on your own computer.

In the presenter proposal form, you will have the opportunity to suggest ways conference organizers can support you and your participants. We will let you know what we can do as soon as possible.