June 22-252009

(Insert Title Slide for Session 1A)

Workshop Materials:

• Notebook

• CD-ROM

• Also posted online at http://mathtlc.uwstout.edu/FIPSE_WorkshopInfo.html

Workshop Agenda:

Day 1: Monday, June 22

• Software Registration and Course Creation • Syllabus Development

• Lunch (Courtesy of Pearson Education/MyMathLab)

• MyMathLab Software Overview• Course Customization I

Workshop Agenda:Day 2: Tuesday, June 23

• Using MML Homework/Test Manager Part 1• Using MML Homework/Test Manager Part 2

• Lunch (on your own) 

• Features in the summer 2009 MML Update • Using the MyMathLab Gradebook • Course Customization II • Overview of Thursday’s Breakout Sessions

• Optional Evening Work Session

Breakout Sessions

Workshop Agenda:Day 3: Wednesday, June 23

• Course Customization III

• Lunch (Courtesy of Pearson Education/MyMathLab) 

• Quiz and Test Procedures • Course Customization IV

• Optional Evening Work Session

Workshop Agenda:Day 4: Thursday, June 23

• Morning Breakout Sessions and Course Customization Time

• Lunch (on your own)

• Workshop Evaluation • Afternoon Breakout Sessions and Course Customization

Time• Wrap-up and Send-off

(No evening session tonight)

3UW-Stout Math TLC Program Highlights:• The UW-Stout Math TLC program has served 3000+

students in lower level math since the Fall of 2004.• Failure/withdrawal rates have been reduced by:

• 52% in Beginning Algebra • 39% in Intermediate Algebra

• An estimated 400 more students passed introductory algebra courses than would have passed without the Math TLC program.

• The fall-to-spring retention rate for first-year students who took Beginning Algebra last year exceeded the rate for all first-year students.

Program Highlights (continued):

• The Math TLC program has cut the minority student achievement gap by 80%.

• The Math TLC has received four external grant awards, including a 3-year, $450,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education FIPSE program and over $50,000 in first-year funding from the UW System for a two-year minority achievement gap reduction project.

• Grant-funded course redesign workshops developed by the Math TLC teaching team have been attended by a total of 34 educators from 22 institutions in 8 states.

Why programs like this are needed:• Across the nation, over 40% of students

entering college are unprepared for college-level mathematics coursework.

• 11% of students place into remedial math.

• 43% fail to successfully complete the course at first try.

• Over 30% of students place into pre-college-level intermediate algebra.

• 38% don’t pass on the first attempt.

(National Data taken from Principal Indicators of Student Academic Histories in Postsecondary Education, U.S. Dept. of Education, March 2004.)

Potential Impact on Retention:• National and local studies show the single

strongest predictor of retention from first to second year of college is taking and passing a math class in the first year.

• In each of the past four years at UW-Stout, nearly 45% of first-year students placed into Math 010 (Beginning Algebra) or Math 110 (Intermediate Algebra).

• Non-pass rates averaged 30% in 2000-2004.

• This puts more than 200 students at high risk of dropping out each year based on this risk factor alone.

Why are students failing math classes taught using the traditional teaching approach?

1. Not doing homework

2. Not attending class

3. Not using instructors’ office hours

4. Not using available tutoring services

The new approach:

Since Fall 2004, for all sections of Math 010/110:

• Homework is graded daily via MyMathLab and counts towards course grade.• Daily lectures complement online work, attendance is taken and earns credit points.• Instructors hold office hours in classroom.• Tutor lab next to classroom is geared specifically to these two classes.

Basics of the New Approach:

1. Daily computer-graded homework• Counts toward the course grade (~25%)

• MyMathLab software provides online help for each problem, any time, anywhere

• Immediate feedback; each problem can be repeated until student gets it right

• Gives instructor daily information on students’ progress

Basics of the New Approach:2. Regular class

sessions:

• Dedicated classroom for Math 010/110

• Attendance counts towards grade (~5%)

• In-class lecture complements online work

• “Live” homework help available in class every day

• Quizzes/tests: all done online in MyMathLab but must be taken in the classroom or with a proctor

Basics of the New Approach:3. Open tutor lab for one-on-one help

• Located right next to regular classroom• Specifically targeted to Math 010/110• Staffed 50 hours/week:

• Each Math TLC instructor holds a portion of weekly office hours in the open lab• Undergraduate student tutors provide peer-to-peer assistance.

Our peer tutors are specially trained in:

• Using MyMathLab

• Course content

• Techniques for working with math-anxious students.

5-Year Cumulative Results:

• Number of homework assignments: Math110: 35-38 per semester,

plus 11 practice quizzes/tests

Math 010: 20 per semester, plus 7 practice quizzes/tests• Median Time Spent: 95 minutes per day• Assignments submitted:

96% in Math 110, 97% in Math 010• Average homework score:

94% in 110, 95% in 010

Homework:

Quiz and Test Results:

• Math 010:– Quiz average: 77.1% (5 quizzes)– Test Average: 72.4% (midterm, final)

• Math 110:– Quiz average: 71.4% (7 quizzes)– Test Average: 70.0% (4 exams + final)

Attendance Results: At lectures:

90.6% for Math 110

91.2% for Math 010

At tutor lab:

Weekly visits averaged 150-200 out of total enrollment of ~350.

Total visits per semester average ~2800, vs. 80 visits all semester to the campus Tutoring Center for these two courses under the traditional teaching approach in Fall 2003.

Overall results for all students enrolled in remedial math:

52% drop in F/W rate for 5 years with Math TLC vs.

previous 4 years without(786 students took Math 010 in the Math TLC in the last 10 semesters)

In the 2007-08 school year, 93.6% of all first-year students who took the Level 0 (remedial) course returned for the following semester, exceeding the fall-to-spring retention rate for incoming first-year students in all four higher math placement levels that year.

Results to Date – Math 110:39% drop in F/W rate

for 5 years with Math TLC vs. previous 4 years without(2308 total students took Math 110 in the Math TLC in the last 10 semesters)

Combined estimated effect of the Math TLC program over the past 5 years:

~400 more students passed than predicted vs. the pre-Math TLC F/W rate.

This number translates to 4% of the entire Stout undergraduate student population over that period, many of whom would likely have dropped out if they hadn’t passed these math classes.

Estimated annual savings:–At least ½ FTE teaching position–$75,000-$100,000 in student tuition fees–Reduced student recruitment costs

Student Survey Comments: – This class completely changed my views on math.

Before this class I hated math and never wanted to do it. I hated math even in grade school! After this course I LOVE math and am considering a math minor. I’m even thinking of being a tutor in the Math TLC next year. I would never have imagined ME teaching and helping others with math.

– I just really appreciate all your help. Thank you for making me come to class every day.

– I learned more in this one course than I learned in all my math classes in high school.

Student Comments on the Software: – I loved Course Compass homework.– Very good, you got to see what we did wrong.– Was the best helpful tool ever.– Figuring it out on my own really helped me to understand

it. Using the “Show Example” and “Help Solve” features were nice to have.

– Course Compass is sweet.– The online videos and examples helped.– I loved the online homework and tests/quizzes. I believe

that helped me a lot!– Very, very helpful, you could look to see how to do the

problem if you just couldn’t figure it out.– It was very helpful, with step by step instructions and

online book.– Don’t get rid of it!

Please rate each of the following items on how much it helped you personally to learn the material in this course:

Item: 0 =

Not at all 1 =

A little bit 2 =

A fair amount 3 =

Quite a bit 4 =

Very much

Class Lectures

Homework Assignments

Open Lab sessions

Textbook

On-line help (tutorials, examples, videos, etc.)

My teacher

The student TA’s

Degree to which each item helped my learning

0.000.501.001.502.002.503.003.50

Additional classes now using

MyMathLab at UW-Stout:

•Concepts of Math•College Math 1•College Math 2•Finite Math•Calculus 1•Elementary Statistics

Program Costs:A. Startup (first year)

• Program Development

• Program Director/Administrator

• Facilities

• Classroom:

• Tutor Lab:

• Software/Textbooks

• Student Tutors

Program Costs:

B. Ongoing Costs (subsequent years)

• Program Director/Administrator

• Student Tutors/TAs

• Software Access Codes– NOTE: No new code needed for

• Subsequent course with same book • Repeating a course with same book

• Miscellaneous

Program Savings:Immediate: (from decreased failure rates)

• FTE savings • Software savings• Tuition savings

Estimated combined annual savings:

$120,000 - $150,000

Program Savings:Other potential savings & benefits:

• Higher Retention Rates • Program Reputation• Basis for Grant Funding

The proportion of under- represented minority students among the first-year class cohort of undergraduate students at UW-Stout has increased by over 50% in the past six years, from 4.3% of all students entering in the fall of 2003, to 6.6% in 2008.

Closing the Minority Achievement Gap

However, the math achievement scores of incoming minority students continue to lag behind those of other students.

• The average math ACT score of minority students was three points below the average for all other students.

• Minority students place into remedial level math at nearly 3 times the rate of other students.

With minority students placing into Level 0 math at almost triple the rate of other students,

a program focusing on increasing student success in this course could be expected to have a particularly positive impact on retention of minority

students.

Overall results for all students enrolled in

remedial math

Why is this new approach to teaching remedial math

working especially well for minority students?

From Diverse Online: Issues In Higher Education : A Real Fear, by Paul Ruffins, Mar 8, 2007.

.

Recommendations:• Provide role models in the form of a

highly qualified woman or minority instructor.

• Raise standards and expectations uniformly across all student groups.

• Encourage working in groups.• Accommodate different learning styles. • Create a comfortable climate for learning

and asking questions.

Work still to be done:• Although the 40-point achievement gap in remedial

math was reduced to 8 points last semester, there is still room for improvement.

• Although minority students who completed that semester passed Math 010 at the same rate as all other students, the withdrawal rate was over fourfold higher for minorities.

• To close this gap, a new grant-funded summer program will give first-year minority students an early introduction to the Stout campus and the Math TLC program.

The Math Lab Rap Songby Marvin Ealy, aka Eknolege

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