New concept teaches math, module by module
Originally published June 10, 2007 in The (Monroe, La.) News-Star
Last fall, the National Postsecondary Education Cooperative sponsored a national symposium in Washington, D.C., where the leading researchers in the country on the subject of academic success in colleges and universities discussed methods to increase student retention.
I was pleased that many of the intervention strategies discussed at the conference were programs that were already in place at the University of Louisiana at Monroe. The conclusion of the leading experts at this conference was that the method of teaching, especially teaching freshman students, had as great an impact on retention and graduation rates as any other factor.
The concepts of teaching methods were discussed openly with Provost Stephen Richters and a number of our faculty on my return from the conference. Realizing that even the highest quality students like those we attract at ULM encounter challenges and need support to transition successfully from one step to the next, our faculty decided to look at how we would redesign courses that would benefit ULM students.
The National Center for Academic Transformation, or NCAT, explores how to revamp the teaching and learning atmosphere of several core freshman subjects. NCAT's Roadmap to Redesign (R2R) philosophy has now caught the attention of many universities throughout the country.
Virginia Tech first piloted the mathematics R2R and its success was soon noted and implemented at other universities. LSU quickly followed suit and is now the leader in our state in this newly designed teaching philosophy.
Earlier this year, the University of Louisiana System Board of Supervisors hosted a meeting to discuss ways to implement R2R concepts. During these meetings, our faculty, which represented both the English and Mathematics Departments, agreed in principle to investigate and implement this new philosophy.
The Mathematics Department has taken the initiative to fully revamp the college algebra core courses for all freshmen. Their approach not only incorporates many of the R2R concepts, but also further addresses the needs of our students. The approach will incorporate new technology coupled with a modularity concept.
College Algebra with Review, a five-hour course, will be divided into group and individual instruction. Students will meet twice a week in small classes for normal lecture and then attend individualized learning sessions in the Mathematics Resource Center, where our faculty and graduate students will provide individual assistance.
During the individualized learning sessions, students will use a state-of-the-art software system to complete homework, to certify a level of achievement and to take quizzes and examinations. The three-hour College Algebra course will meet twice a week for small class lectures and will independently utilize the new technology and Math Resource Center.
While the students in these courses are completing their homework, the software will provide immediate feedback about the correctness of their work. They can then receive assistance either from online tutorial systems or from our mathematics faculty in the Math Resource Center. The R2R approach alleviates waiting for grades, as students will receive the immediate feedback they need to master the topics they study.
The college algebra courses will be divided into three modules. If a student is not successful in a module, then that student will be required to repeat the module during the current semester.
This is quite a change in the normal way of teaching. Typically, if students are not achieving, then they often choose to withdraw from the course and wait a semester or two before repeating that course.
With the modular approach, students can immediately repeat a module so they can continue to build on skills they already acquired. This teaching concept, called mastery learning, provides an avenue for higher success rates.
Typically, the withdrawal rate in college algebra at most universities ranges between 25 to 35 percent. Under their college algebra redesign, LSU observed a withdrawal rate of 6 percent this past fall semester and noticed a marked shift in their grade distributions.
Incorporating technology and modularity into ULM's math courses will better prepare our students for success in college algebra.