Needs Assessment:
I would like to improve the passing rates and learning of students in MAT0024C Beginning Algebra. The success rate of Beginning Algebra on Osceola campus and college wide is low and is a major concern. Beginning Algebra is a gateway course, and the students’ success in this course has a major impact on their success in college. To help the students' learn and understand the material in order to be successful, I would like to improve the students’ issues of organizational skills (taking notes), relating to the material, study skills, and forming a learning community.
Learning Outcome:
I intend to examine proven strategies and research to improve learning for students in developmental mathematics courses. I would like to research the way the brain learns material, how various assessment techniques work, how to best use collaborative learning, and other methods that help learning. The research and proven strategies that I encounter will be the driving force in creating the active study notes. I will justify aspects of the study notes with the research I have learned. The active study notes will guide the students through the material, give the students a good notebook to study and learn the material, and provide the students with a clear organization of the course. There will be additional formative and summative assessments in a WebCT6 component to help supplement the active study notes.
Essential Competencies addressed:
Assessment- the active study notes will assess students’ learning through formative and summative assessments (documented problem solving, pair’s check, real life application questions/projects, quizzes, and exams)
TCA- the component of the active study notes will include the following:
THINK- through the active study notes, the students will analyze data, utilize facts and formulas, create informed conclusions, and be able to interpret the conclusions in the context of the problem.
ACT- there will be a project in the active study notes where the students will relate the material learned in the course to something in their lives or in real life, such as determining which cell phone plan to purchase, which loan option is better when purchasing a car...
COMMUNICATE- through the active study notes’ assessment components and group activities, the students will communicate their strengths and weaknesses.
Learning Centered Teaching Strategies- the active study notes will be created around learning. The design of the active study notes and the WebCT component will be to help the students learn and measure how much is learned through formative and summative assessment. Each lesson will begin by posing a question related to the new material for students to critically think about. For example, the introduction to graphing will be an application scenario that involves two variables in a linear relationship. The students’ goal will be to learn the material with real understanding of the concepts.
Life Map- there will be an assessment where the students must use Life Map to plan out their mathematics courses for their individual goals. For example, if the student’s goal is to earn a degree from the University of Central Florida, the student will determine all the mathematics courses required for that goal. Another example would be the if the student’s goal is to receive an A.S. degree from Valencia College, the student will determine the mathematics courses required for that goal.
Inclusion and Diversity- there will be an assessment in the active study notes for students to determine which learning style they possess. There will be various opportunities for students to learn in different ways. For example, there will be group activities using documented problem solving and pair’s check, which will address students’ unique strengths and needs as well as develop cooperation among students. Another example will be completing assessment activities independently on WebCT6. The goal here is to provide an opportunity to learn in different ways. All activities will be developed with the understanding that students learn differently and may or may not learn best working in groups, independently, on the computer, or on paper.
Conditions:
Time Line:
Fall 2006/Spring 2007: I will create and refine the active study notes and WebCT6 component.
Summer 2007: I will incorporate the study notes into my Beginning Algebra course and collect data. Then, I'll revise study notes and WebCT component if necessary.
Fall 2007 to Summer 2008: I will be working on Learning Outcome 2, which includes an Action Research Project.
Summer 2008: I will create the results report.
Fall 2008: I will share the results will the deans and mathematics faculty. I will also prepare a presentation for various workshops within Valencia College and conferences outside of Valencia College.
Products of Learning Outcome:
Active study notes for MAT0024C Beginning Algebra
Learning centered WebCT6 component