Developmental Math Coordinator Report

George Alexander

August 31, 2000

The 1999-2000 academic year proved to be a very exciting year for developmental math in the UW Colleges. I think we were able to make some great strides last year in understanding our developmental math program. Now it is time to act on recommendations for building a sensible and consistent program that will best serve to benefit our students with developmental needs. In particular, I will be making efforts to ensure that all students in the UW Colleges have access to the most appropriate courses for their needs (through availability of courses and the development of alternate course formats). I will also be working on implementing new class size limits (once approved by the vice chancellor), program assessment, and a promotion of the benefits of developmental education for our students.

I extend my personal welcome to all new members of the department, and especially to those assigned to teach developmental mathematics. Please feel free to call on me (galexand@uwc.edu or 608-758-6627) for course and teaching advice anytime during the year. You may also want to check out materials available on our developmental math website at rock.uwc.edu/galexand/devmath/devmath.htm. You can also find my reports and recommendations from last year there if you wish to review or catch up on that information.

Developmental math instructors should also be thinking about professional development opportunities. We plan to hold the annual developmental math conference again this coming January; stay tuned as plans begin to take shape. There is some strength behind the idea of extending this to a two-day event this year; please let me know your thoughts. Also, we found last year that we can request central 136 funds for professional development relating to developmental education. It would be worthwhile to attempt to get approval for another proposal or two again this year. Such proposals should be for the benefit of the developmental math program, preferably involving department members from across the UW Colleges. One possibility would be to send members to the AMATYC conference, to be held November 9-12 in Chicago this year. I would welcome suggestions very soon, and I will help interested individuals in writing proposals.

Current business that we may be ready to act on as a department or as committees include the following:

A. Course Guidelines for Mat 081, 090, and 091.

Concurrent with the department's effort to complete course guidelines for each department course offering, I have been working on guidelines for the three developmental math courses. Through discussions with developmental math instructors and other interested department members, we have given much thought to revising and improving on the course syllabi for Mat 081 and Mat 091, which were adopted in 1990. The topic list for Mat 090 is new, as approved at the April 8, 2000 department meeting. Since the spring meeting, I added "content-based department proficiencies" for all three courses (there were no established proficiencies before), and I brought these course guidelines into the accepted standard department format.

I recommend that the department approve all three course guidelines. It is intended that these guidelines be active documents, subject to change as the need arises. They will provide instructors, staff, students, and other institutions with information that will help in course planning, advising, placement, and transfer of credits.

B. Assessment Plan for Mat 091.

With approval of the course guidelines, we have the basis for proceeding with the assessment plan for Mat 091. This plan is consistent with the department's other course assessment efforts in its format and implementation. I will be primarily responsible for carrying out the assessment with cooperation from instructional staff. I hope that the ongoing assessment will give us valuable information about the effectiveness of the course and about the needs of unsuccessful students in particular.

C. Variable Credits for Developmental Courses.

Our current catalog listing of developmental math courses includes ranges for credit levels that do not reflect current usage or expectations. I will be forwarding a recommendation to the curriculum committee to change the Mat 081 credit range from 1-3 to 2-3 and the Mat 091 credit range from 2-4 to 3-4.

D. Recommendations for Revision of Department Bylaws.

There are also a few items in the current department bylaws concerning developmental math that may need updating. I will bring these up in detail for action at the spring department meeting. In the meantime, I would welcome any thoughts or input you have about these items.

1. (section II.D.)The change in class size limits (from designating developmental math as "intensive skills" courses) will need to be formalized in the bylaws after approval from the vice chancellor.

2. (section II.G) Final grades of "R" are allowed in Mat 081, Mat 091, and Mat 105. I think that we ought to extend this to all developmental math courses (to include Mat 090) and Mat 105.

3. (section II.F) Other language in the bylaws also neglects Mat 090, but may be outdated and unnecessary. I will give thought to improving the language to better reflect the current program.