Building a High School Math Research Curriculum

For decades, all honors students at North Shore High School in New York were required to write a mathematics paper. In 1991, these papers were eliminated, and a new elective, "Investigations in Math Research," was added to the course catalog. Research is not an innate skill, and now, students of all ability levels who wanted the research paper experience could to take a dedicated course. The new course, taught by a high school teacher, was designed to totally immerse students into researching mathematics, technical writing, and oral presentation skills. The article, written by a North Shore High School teacher and students who have taken the course, describes the history of the class, and how students go through the process of choosing and implementing their research.