Glen H. Cope Provost University of Missouri-St. Louis AASCU July 26 - 28, 2012

 ◦ ◦ ◦ At the University of Missouri-St. Louis in 2003 College Algebra was a bottleneck. 55% of students were passing the course Some students took it 6 or 7 times but could not pass, keeping them from graduating Math faculty taught College Algebra in the traditional way with three 50-minute classes per week, mostly lecture, with homework, quizzes, and exams.

  With help from the National Center for Academic Transformation (NCAT) UMSL College of Arts and Sciences Associate Dean Terry Thiel led a redesign of College Algebra ◦ ◦ ◦ The results were dramatic: Pass rate went from 55% to 78% in three years Most students like College Algebra Average student passes it the first time; most of those who don’t, usually pass on the second try

   Classes now have 70 – 90 students in each class with one instructor and several teaching assistants One 75 minute lecture/discussion per week Students are scheduled in the Math Technology Learning Center with the instructor and teaching assistants available to help them do the assignments and practice doing the math until each concept is mastered

 ◦ ◦ The Math Technology Learning Center (Math TLC), was built for the purpose of teaching the redesigned College Algebra course $350,000 to refit and furnish an old bookstore space with computer desks in round “pods” to facilitate student collaboration, computers, and other equipment Each desk has a bicycle flag to use to get help

 ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ The Players Associate Dean Terry Thiel, a biologist and innovator Shahla Peterman, senior teaching professor Department Chair Other faculty Teaching Assistants

 ◦ The process: National Center for Academic Transformation Roadmap to Redesign (R2R) Program guided the process. Models are available at: http://www.highereducation.org/reports/pa_core/c ore.pdf

 UMSL was selected to participate, at our expense

  ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ If you ask them now, the faculty will say: They saw the need They wanted to improve college algebra They used the Roadmap to Redesign (R2R) The campus helped with the space redesign, computers, and software Shahla Peterman talks about the process and results: http://elixr.merlot.org/case stories/technology--learning/reimagining learning-spaces?noCache=503:1335885623

 ◦ ◦ ◦ The politics of the process: Professor Shahla Peterman will tell you now that when Associate Dean Terry Thiel proposed the changes, she opposed them, as did her colleagues They said math needed to be taught with lectures, homework, exams, and traditional methods Terry Thiel insisted they look at other universities that had implemented “math emporiums” to see how they worked

   Starting in 2003 when the program began, Dean Thiel saw the need for radical change Acceptance by NCAT to redesign College Algebra began the process of converting to technology assisted teaching/learning ◦ ◦ Math faculty objected Computers can’t teach math My lectures are essential

     Dean Terry Thiel, math faculty, and technology staff visited several other campuses that had math emporiums Those visits convinced some that there was a valid alternative that might work at UMSL Other faculty didn’t see the possibilities Most who visited were intrigued and skeptical Small Core decided to go forward

 ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ The course redesign experiment started by using software from textbook companies in existing computer labs There was some improvement in student success Some software wasn’t satisfactory Labs weren’t designed for group collaboration and help from peers, teaching assistants, and faculty Problems reinforced faculty reluctance to change

 ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ Faculty objections again Students won’t learn without more lecture time Software doesn’t teach like I do It’s too impersonal Students won’t come to the software sessions Students can cheat on the electronic tests I don’t want to teach this way, it isn’t going to work

   Shahla Peterman describes herself and her colleagues as changing to the new blended learning way of teaching college algebra “kicking and screaming” It just won’t work! ◦ Some of the objections related to space Without a purpose-built computer lab, they couldn’t see how it would work

 ◦ ◦ ◦ Dean Terry Thiel worked with the Information Technology Services unit of the campus to redesign a centrally located unused former bookstore space for use as the Math Technology Computer Lab – Math TLC Cost $350,000 Round pods of six computer stations to encourage collaboration and help L-shaped room allowed instructor station at the L junction for visibility

      The Math TLC opened with great fanfare It was bright, inviting, and fun, with bicycle flags to summon help and plenty of help at hand Students liked to come there to do math Faculty and Teaching Assistants enjoyed helping students learn college algebra Pass rate went from 55% to 78% in three years Some students came to the MTLC to study other courses because they liked the atmosphere

  ◦ ◦ ◦ Math TLC has used several software packages in conjunction with textbooks for College Algebra – currently use MyMathLab Other courses taught and software used in Math TLC Trigonometry – MyMathLab Basic Calculus - MyMathLab Basic Probability and Statistics – Cengage Learning product

   The Math faculty are fully supportive of the Math TLC and teaching College Algebra, trigonometry, basic calculus, and probability and statistics in the redesigned course format Math faculty were not early adopters Associate Dean Thiel pushed the proposed course redesign and essentially forced it to happen, which the math faculty then embraced and now endorse

    Adding courses to the redesign project to be taught in the MTLC Increasing Math faculty enthusiasm for additional courses, especially at upper levels If we succeed in bringing more courses into the program, we may need another MTLC We need to maintain enthusiasm in current and new math faculty for technology enhanced learning

  Lumina Foundation Changing Picture: Pockets of innovation point the way to a better higher-ed system,” pp. 1 – 21.

Focus

, Winter 2007, “A Teresa Thiel, Shala Peterman, and Monica Brown, “Addressing the Crisis in College Mathematics,” 44-49.

Change

, July/August 2008, pp.