The first of two conferences focused on math instruction and completion in community colleges got underway with a bang in Foster City. Uri Treisman, professor of mathematics and of public affairs at The University of Texas at Austin, laid a foundation of inquiry about developmental education, the struggle of math faculty to raise success rates from 25% to 30%, bright spots of change occurring in the delivery and content of math courses, the need to stop the dumbing down of math courses, and the struggle to change and reinvigorate the structure of colleges. Dr. Treisman focused on five areas in which community colleges needed to focus on:
- Content
- Structure
- Delivery Methods
- Instructional Support
- Faculty Support
The last example that he shared involved a community college in Georgia. At the college, math faculty invite students from the previous semester that earned an “A” in their class to come and speak to the new semester’s students. A simple effort that promotes student success with actual student success. Instead of the usual fears and anxieties that many students have during the first weeks of a math course, they are shown that success in obtainable and real. Some of the reports and studies that Uri mentioned are listed below.
- Predicting Success in College: The Importance of Placement Tests and High School Transcripts (CCRC Working Paper No. 42)
- One-Shot Deal? Student’s Perceptions of Assessment and Course Placement in California’s Community Colleges by Andrea Venezia, Kathy Bracco, and Thad Nodine
- The Critical Role of Mathematics for Community College Students – Dissertation by Pamela Mery, Ed.D. Read the article about Pamela and her dissertation on the California Acceleration Project’s website
Morning Panel Presentations
Statway/Quantway Overview
presented by Karon Klipple, PhD
[scribd id=90161491 key=key-1qw0wi3p9swlqyr5v0et mode=slideshow]Afternoon Breakouts
Math Performance Success: Elementary Algebra – Statistics Hermonio Hernando, Mehrdad Khosravi, Rich Lopez @ De Anza College
