non-stem developmental math courses
TRANSCRIPT
MATD 0485 “Developing Mathematical Thinking”
• Advance preparation for Non-STEM college-level topics
•Removing the algebra barrier
• New meaning of “mathematics;” relevant to non-STEM students
• Prereqs: comfort with decimals, fractions, percents; reading skills
Why collaborate?
• Students collaborating • Active learning in the classroom
• Appropriate pacing for students
• Reinforce concepts by speaking them
• Individualized, targeted help from instructor
• Instructors collaborating • Time & labor management--too big to do alone!
• Better quality of materials after group revision process
• Support, informal training, idea swaps
Expanding Statistics Coverage
MATD 0485 Developing
Mathematical Thinking
MATH 1332 College
Mathematics (Liberal Arts)
MATH 1342 Elementary Statistics
(Health & Social Sciences)
• Identifying needs of Liberal Arts vs Statistics students
• Statistics preparation: Intermediate Algebra vs Developing Math Thinking
• Changes to degree requirements, esp. Nursing. No college-level math!?!
My Typical Class Day (varies by instructor!)
•Instructor introduction (5 - 20 minutes)
•Students in groups for activity work (30 - 40 minutes)
•Individualized support from instructor (on-going)
•Whole class: Fine-tune/check answers/prep for next activity (10 - 15 minutes)
•More group work (30 - 45 minutes)
•Final clarification/check; assign reading & homework (5 - 10 minutes)
Student Buy-in
• Consistency & structure
• Obvious relevance
• Success breeds success
• Learning how to be a college student
Intro to Data Collection & OrganizationPart 3: Organizing Categorical Data
Your turn! Choose a Reader for your group. The Reader’s job is to read aloud as everyone follows along.
Implementing statistics content
Setting the tone with students
•Data is messy
•Data is interesting!
Training faculty to teach (and get over anxiety about!) stats
•In-person sessions
•Online training for deeper understanding
•Faculty mentors
Wrap Up
Faculty buy-in• Stats• academic freedom/varied levels of collaboration
Challenges• spectrum of instructor involvement (boredom to overwhelm)• insecurity with stat content• group pacing (monitoring group speed)• inadequate reading levels• writing complete sentences
Recommendations
• 100% contextual
• instructor website with activities & keys
• ongoing mandatory trainings
• faculty mentor/point-person
Thanks!Anne VanceAssociate Professor of Mathematics
Colleen HoskingAssistant Professor of Mathematics
MATD 0485: Developing Mathematical Thinking Semester 16 Weeks Monday/Wednesday
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday *Adjust schedule as needed to accommodate for Labor Day (fall) and MLK Day (spring)*
Introduction – Syllabus Activity or some other ice breaker Unit 1, Section 1: Critical Reading and Expressing Mathematical Ideas Reading & Writing in Math Activity, pts 1 & 2 Unit 1, Sections 2: Estimating with Percents Estimating Percents Activity
Unit 1, Sections 3: Solving Percent Problems Using Equations Estimating and Problem Solving with Percents Activity Percent Increase and Decrease Problems Activity
Unit 1, Section 4: Estimation Estimation Activity Start Unit 1, Section 5: Problem Solving Guess and Check Activity Start General Problem Solving Strategies Activity
Finish Unit 1, Section 5: Problem Solving Finish General Problem Solving Strategies Activity Unit 1, Section 6: Inductive & Deductive Using Patterns to Solve Problems Activity Using Deductive Reasoning to Solve Problems Activity
Start Unit 1, Section 7: The Metric System and Dimensional Analysis Metric System Activity Start Unit Conversion Activity
Finish Unit 1, Section 7: The Metric System and Dimensional Analysis Finish Unit Conversion Activity Unit Conversion Activity: Square and Cubic Units
Start Unit 1, Section 8: Logic and Venn Diagrams Venn Diagrams and Logic Activity Venn Diagrams and Counting Activity
Finish Unit 1, Section 8: Logic and Venn Diagrams Venn Diagrams and Two-Way Tables Activity Unit 1 Review
Unit 1 Exam (Option: If behind schedule, review on this day and put Unit 1 Exam in testing center)
Unit 2, Section 1: Reading an Applied Math Textbook Unit 2, Section 2: What are Data? Unit 2, Section 3: Collecting Data Unit 2, Section 4: Organizing Categorical Data Introduction to Data Collection & Organization Activity
Unit 2, Section 5: Collecting Data to
Understand Causality
Reading our Statistics Textbook
Statistical Studies Activity
Unit 2, Section 6: Visualizing Variation in Numerical Data Visualizing Variation in Numerical Data: Histograms Activity
Unit 2, Section 7: Summarizing Important Features of a Numerical Distribution Describing Distributions: Shape, Center, and Spread Activity
Technology Day in the computer lab (if possible at your campus), otherwise instructor will demonstrate software Using Technology in Statistics (StatCrunch) Activity
Unit 2, Section 8: Visualizing Variation in Categorical Variables Graphing Different Types of Variables Activity
Unit 2, Section 9: Summaries for Symmetric Distributions Unit 2, Section 10: Summaries for Skewed Distributions Numerical Summaries Activity
Finish Unit 2, Section 9 & 10 Unit 2, Section 11: Comparing Measures of Center Comparing Measures of Center Activity
Unit 2, Section 12: Using Boxplots for Displaying Summaries Boxplots Activity Unit 2 Review
Unit 2 Exam (Option: If behind schedule, review on this day and put Unit 2 Exam in testing center)
Start Unit 3, Section 1: Patterns of Change Introduction to Mathematical Tables Activity Introduction to Pattern of Change Activity
Unit 3, Section 1 (continued) Linear Patterns of Change Activity
Unit 3, Section 2: Exponential Patterns of Change Percent Increase and Decrease Review Activity Exponential Patterns of Change Activity
Unit 3, Section 2 (continued) Summarizing Patterns of Change Activity
Unit 3, Section 3: Visualizing Variability with a Scatterplot Scatterplot Activity
Unit 3, Section 4: Modeling Linear Trends An Introduction to Writing Linear Equations Activity Modeling Linear Trends Activity
Unit 3, Section 5: Writing Linear Equations & Graphing Writing Linear Equations & Graphing Activity
Unit 3, Section 6: Writing Exponential Equations & Graphing Writing Exponential Equations & Graphing Activity
Unit 3 Review Summary of Writing Linear and Exponential Equations Activity
Unit 3 Exam
Projects Projects