Learning Outcome 1 Valencia Students’ Core Competencies (TVCA) Reflection

Think, Value, Communicate, and Act (TVCA) have been important competencies for me to teach in my classes.  I truly believe they are important, and all classes should emphasize these competencies.  When preparing to teach a class, I reflect on the content, my presentation, and the assessments and how they are related to Think, Value, Act, and Communicate.  For my tenure project, I decided to focus on Think, Act, and Communicate in creating my active learning notes. 

In my learning notes, I have incorporated the competency of THINK by having the students analyze data, utilize facts and formulas, create informed conclusions, and gain the ability to interpret the conclusion in the context of the problem through the use of word problems.  In selecting word problems, I wanted to be sure that I had such problems for almost every concept, covered the word problems that were on the state exam, and developed word problems for topics that did not typically have realistic word problems, such as factoring and radicals.  I have found that word problems can be difficult to teach due to the critical thinking required and the multiple levels of intelligence needed, but the end result is worth it.  Students end up making a connection with what they are learning and with the purpose behind it.  These word problems truly promote thinking.

EXAMPLES OF WORD PROBLEMS

For the competency of ACT, the students will develop a project in which they will relate the material learned in the course to something in their lives, such as determining which cell phone plan to purchase, which loan option is better to purchase a car, or other similar tasks.  I call the project, “What did you learn?”  I prepare a detailed handout for the project, but I do not assign the students a concept.  I feel they should have some creativity in what they chose and how they apply it.  The students discuss the projects in groups and can work individually or in a group.  Once the projects are completed, the students will present the projects to the class.  This project allows the students to act on what they have learned.

EXAMPLES OF “WHAT DID I LEARN?” PROJECTS

The Communicate competency is very important in a mathematics course.  In creating the study notes, I wanted to make a book in which the students would be actively working on the problems.  The active learning notes are designed to first pose a question, second, introduce a lesson, and then provide practice problems for what students have learned.  The students are asked to work on their problems individually and then compare solutions in their group.  This allows for thoughtful discussion, and the students are able to communicate their strengths and weaknesses in the material. This has been a very powerful teaching tool for me.  I can repeat a topic five times, and a student may not be able to understand, but a fellow classmate may say something a little differently, and the student will understand immediately.  Also, when the students are communicating, they also are learning by discovery.  They are discovering solutions rather than just being told the answer.  Mathematics is a subject that needs to be communicated, and students need to be allowed to have some conversations and debates on problems to truly learn. 

            Overall, I do feel that the competencies of TVCA are essential to every class.  I use the active learning notes to pose questions and allow students to discover how to solve the problems using the concepts through Thinking, Acting, and Communicating.