Developmental Math Coordinator Report
George Alexander
I extend my personal welcome to all new members of the department, and especially to those assigned to teach developmental mathematics. I hope to have the chance to meet all of you soon. Please feel free to call on me (galexand@uwc.edu or 608-758-6627) for course and teaching advice anytime during the year. You should check out materials available on our developmental math website at http://rock.uwc.edu/galexand/devmath/devmath.htm. You can also find my reports and recommendations from previous years there if you wish to review or catch up on that information.
Going into the 2002-03 academic year, I have a newly revised two-year contract to work as the Developmental Math Coordinator for the UW Colleges. Last year, I reviewed the position description with Vice Chancellor Margaret Cleek and department chair Tom Peneski. The revised position description is based on a 50-50 split between teaching and program administration duties. On the teaching side, I will be responsible for one section of Mat 091 each semester at UW Rock County as well as the new online version of Mat 091 each semester. For the campus course, I am continuing full use of the ALEKS software for assessment, learning and evaluation modes. The online course has a more traditional basis in textbook and instruction.
My administration duties will
include making campus visits to each UWC campus over a two year period. I will
plan to visit about 3 campuses each semester, starting with Baraboo,
Developmental Math Updates:
The UW Colleges have purchased the full seven-library content from Academic.com for the coming academic year. Students will have access to online modules for help in math, writing, biology & chemistry, business & economics, and study skills. Obviously, the math and study skill sections will be of most interest to our students. We already have Blackboard entry sites providing easy access for Mat 091, 105 and 110 students. Pat Fellows indicated to me that she can upload students into these Online Math Labs for all students in these courses. Students will need a “Click 2XL” CD to install required plug-ins on their home computers. Faculty and staff can also have access to the Blackboard lab sites; let me know if you are interested. The Math II library includes topics up through Calculus and Statistics; we (the department) can develop Blackboard sites for other courses above Mat 110 as well now.
The Fall 2002 semester sees the kick-off for two DE
developmental math courses. I will be teaching Mat 091 online each semester.
Enrollment for fall has been closed at 28 students. The interest level sounds
great, and I am all ready and excited about starting this course next week.
Alice Bishop (Baraboo) will be teaching Mat 081 in the spring semester via
compressed video. The geometry course will serve students at Baraboo,
The Developmental Math and Math Curriculum
committees have been discussing possible changes to a few course descriptions
(especially listed credit ranges). I plan to be involved with the appropriate
forces to institute these changes as part of the standard catalog revision
cycle that starts up this September. The following changes are under
consideration:
Mat 081 (Topics in Geometry). The current description lists this course as 1-3 non-degree credits. However, all campuses offering this course currently do so at 3 credits. The official department syllabus (1990) for this course contains a topic list that is impossible to cover adequately in a 1-credit course and very difficult in a 2-credit course. Also, since students are enrolled in this course as an alternative to the admissions requirement of 1 year high school geometry, the course needs to cover enough to satisfy our expectations.
Mat 085 and 087 (Topics in Geometry). These are courses equivalent to Mat 081, but currently listed as 2-3 non-degree credits. These should also be changed to 3 credits.
Mat 091, 095, and 097 (Elementary Algebra) are all listed with a credit range of 2-4 non-degree credits. These courses are currently offered for 3 or 4 credits on our campuses, never 2. With the amount of expected material to cover in preparation for Mat 105 and the needs of the developmental students, Elementary Algebra should never be a 2-credit course. In fact, many instructors are arguing in favor of more 4-credit offerings.
Mat 090, 092 and 094 (Basic Mathematics) are currently listed as 2-3 non-degree credits. This matches with current usage. The course descriptions say that these prepare the student for Mat 091/095/097, but no condition is given to indicate readiness to advance. I recommended last spring that we require a final grade of "C" or better in Mat 090/092/094 (when students are required to take Basic Mathematics) to advance to Mat 091/095/097. This would be consistent with the requirement of a "C" grade in Elementary Algebra as a prerequisite for Mat 105. The sticking point is that not all campuses have Mat 090 available to students. Can we establish a prerequisite condition that would only apply to about half of the UWC students? Should we allow campuses with Mat 090 to set their own advancement conditions?
Mat 099 (Mathematics Tutorial) – proposed new course listing.
This course offering would provide a compliment of
courses for students who struggle with ENG and MAT and/or are high risk. A student who scores low in ENG and MAT
placement exams - which is common – could take MAT 091, ENG 098, ENG 099, MAT
099 and LEC 100 Fr Seminar) for 13 credits their 1st semester. This array of courses would provide
tremendous support and opportunity for individual attention - plus increase the
likelihood of retention. In addition, tuition revenue (through 136 funds) could
be used to strengthen the learning skills and support centers.
LEA 105 (Basic Mathematics) - This course appears in the catalog
and has a description identical to Mat 090, yet has not been used in recent
years. We may be able to delete the course reference and utilize the Mat 090
numbering exclusively instead.
All campuses should offer a course sequence that makes it possible for students with Mat 090 level placement scores to succeed. I will continue to promote campus course offerings that provide the highest possible access for all students with developmental math needs. Department guidelines require mandatory placement into Mat 090/091 based on placement test cut-scores for campuses that have a Mat 090 option. Without Mat 090, these same students are being placed directly into a standard Mat 091 course, often with poor results. Your individual efforts to adopt new Mat 090 sections on your own campuses will also be appreciated. I can provide you with campus specific data if you need it to help make the case.
Campus options, in order of preference, are as follows:
1) Offer one (or more) sections of Mat 090 face-to-face for 3 credits;
2) Offer a combined Mat 090-091 single semester sequence for 5 credits (2 credits of 090 and 3 credits of 091);
3) Offer at least one section of Mat 091 for 4 credits (students with lowest placement scores should take this section instead of a 3-credit course)
Student Services have been using the new placement test score reporting system this year (due to changes coming from UW System). We need to take a close look at test scores, registration patterns, and course results to try to determine if the placement test is giving us the desired results. I plan to gather information this semester so that we can try to assess the effectiveness of the test’s evaluation accuracy. I would appreciate hearing even anecdotal campus information on the distribution of students in math courses compared to previous years.