Monthly Archives: November 2013

Redesign Process and Implementation

Wrapping up the first full-scale semester of Math Literacy

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Whew!  I should have posted long before this, but this first semester has been a whirlwind.   Some background on our redesign (also see the About page):

The short version: Parkland College’s Mathematics Department undertook a developmental mathematics redesign project in the Fall of 2011, as a response to retention issues in College Algebra and Precalculus.  By the Fall of 2012, we had committed to a two-track design, keeping the traditional Beginning and Intermediate Algebra track (redesigned to be more rigorous) for students headed to College Algebra and Calculus, and creating a new Mathematical Literacy course (also rigorous, but with different content) for students headed to Gen Ed Statistics or Liberal Arts Mathematics.  In addition to adding a new track, we also split all of our courses into half-courses.  Essentially this has no impact on the curriculum, simply turning what used to be a midterm grade into an actual grade on their transcript for the first half of the course.  This allows students to start over at midterm if they are not passing after the first half of the course, and to only have to repeat the second half of the course if they are successful in the first half but not the second.

So, an update on our progress and challenges.  After running one pilot section in Fall 2012 and two in Spring 2013, this semester we went full-scale with 13 sections of Math Literacy, plus 5 restarts at midterm.  I am one of two course coordinators, tasked with getting the class up and running, and training new instructors.

Successes

  • This class is different, and students realize that right away
  • Students are working on math instead of falling asleep
  • We’re engaging in applications right from the start, every day, and students are realizing that they can do it
  • Speaking for myself, I feel revived and am loving teaching

Challenges

  • Technology: Students and new instructors alike are expected to learn three different systems (ALEKS for skill homework, Desire2Learn for dropboxes, and Excel) from the first day.  While the Excel work starts small and builds, the other two systems each have their own learning curve.  Learning all three at once is a LOT.  We need a course management system that combines the functionality of ALEKS and Desire2Learn. We are hoping our textbook publisher can come through on this one.
  • Expectations: While students are fully informed by advisors that this class will be different, I’m not sure we’ve done the best job explaining WHY.  We need to be more transparent about our rationale for the pedagogy, the need to engage and learn how to learn, and the reasoning behind each of the assignments.  Students are not seeing how the skills, applications, technology, and reflections pieces all contribute important aspects to the learning process.
  • Support for part-time adjuncts: Some of the above falls on the coordinators.  I’m not sure we have done the best job of communicating all the rationale to our new instructors, so that they can pass that along to their students and teach confidently.  We will be trying to improve a lot in this area, now that the nuts and bolts have been dealt with this first semester.

We have learned a lot, and I am excited to continue this work next semester.