Student Success Seminar - Basic Math Skills

[Gary Kaplan]

I have noticed that very often students in math classes as high as Calculus I can have difficulties in basic math concepts, and struggle with things like fractions, factoring, graphs, etc. I was interested in creating a Student Success Seminar at our college that would focus on some basic math concepts. This seminar would be offered to students who are enrolled in any class that makes use of basic math. 

Besides the sciences, students need to be able to interpret graphs and numerical data in a host of other classes. I would like to get some feedback, and see if there are those who have tried something like this. 

All suggestions are welcome! 

[Anne M]

This is a great idea.  I know that there are students who would be embarrassed to admit that they don't understand or remember some algorithmic process learned in elementary/middle school, yet they are perfectly capable of grasping higher level concepts.  For example, I wonder how much lack of understanding of long division affects polynomial division in precalculus?  Or why are students always making the same old mistakes from algebra:  (a+b)^2=a^2+b^2?

I would be curious if and how others have implemented something like this.

[Christopher Sabino]

I agree that this is a great idea.  It's common knowledge that students tend to have difficulty in courses due to gaps and misconceptions from previous courses.  I teach for the Math for Elementary teachers sequence. Once in a while, I get a calc. student in there.  They become stronger students as a result of taking a deeper, hard and conceptual look at the "basics." 

Too often, we reserve a course like the one you're describing to our developmental students.  But then those courses become so full that we still have trouble taking the time on number sense and other important conceptual ideas leading up to or involving algebra. 

At my school, I co-created a course called Introduction to College Mathematics as an accelerated model for students placing into our 2-course dev. ed. sequence. It's a 6 credit hour course giving us 2 hours and 50 minutes twice a week to (in a perfect world) take our time to explore number sense, the why's of algebra, etc. 

I would love for their to be an optional course like the one you describe for students at all levels. Perhaps conversations between calc. student and students in development students about some of the big misconceptions and number sense would be fruitful. I would design it similar to the first math for elem. teachers course. 

Of course, getting buy in from students and finding faculty to teach it in a way that isn't just a checklist of skills would involve some creativity. 

Thanks for starting this thread.

Chris Sabino

Harold Washington College

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[Jon Oaks]

Hi everyone,

My colleague is currently working on putting together a seminar of this type as his Individualized Learning Plan Project (i.e., probationary project). He is in the early stages of the project, which means he just means he wrote the survey that is going to go out to faculty teaching courses that have mathematical literacy as one of the common degree outcomes to survey those faculty on which skills they believe should be covered in a seminar of this type. I would be more than happy to see if he would be willing to share the results with everyone once the survey has been sent and the results have been analyzed. I'm sorry I couldn't have been of more help than this!

On a side note, though, I did run a student success seminar a few years ago titled, 'The Problem with Math is English,' that focused specifically on vocabulary and mathematical terms, but not focused on any specific mathematical concept.

Jon

Jonathan Oaks
Professor of Mathematics

AMATYC Midwest Regional Vice President

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Email: jonn...@gmail.com
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