Two Programs to Increase Success Rates in Community College Math Classes Sarah Miller

The Community College of Baltimore County – Essex7201 Rossville Boulevard

Baltimore, MD 21237-3899(443) 840-2630 smiller10@ccbcmd.edu

AFACCT ’14 Conference, hosted byPrince George’s Community College

Session 2.6 01/09/14 11:40 am – 12:50 pm

TEN TESTS TO

SUCCESS

FIVE COMMERCIAL

BREAKS

TEN TESTS TO

SUCCESS

DEVELOPED THROUGH MY

PARTICIPATION IN PROJECT ACCCESS

INTERMEDIATE ALGEBRA

3RD COURSE IN DEVELOPMENTAL

MATH SEQUENCE

“Remedial math is a dream killer for many students. More than 70 percent of community college students start (and too often end) in noncredit developmental classes. Remedial math has become the largest single barrier to student advancement.” - Tomin

“We must find a better way to serve our developmental mathematics students.” - Sarah

• Daily homework.• At random quizzes to assess homework completion.• 3 tests throughout the semester.• Test review sheets before each test.• Regular tests were not cumulative.• Cumulative final exam.

• Students were not completing homework.• The ‘threat’ of a quiz was not enough to get a

student to do his homework or to get him to come to class.

• Since the tests were not cumulative, poor retention of material.

• Low overall success rates. • Too many students were ‘swarming’ my office

hours before exams.

• The only ‘homework’ my students took seriously, were the test review sheets!

• The only days which I had perfect attendance were test days.

“Give Lots of Tests and Lots of Test Review Sheets!”

10 Test Review Sheets.–Much longer since this was to be all of the

homework which they would be doing for the semester.– Review sheets focus on the given topic but also

include cumulative review of prior topics.

10 Tests. – Shorter, 30 minutes instead of an entire class period.– Cumulative.

Still a cumulative final exam.

A SAMPLE REVIEW SHEET

A SAMPLE TEST

For Test Review Sheet Completion

1) Do the Review Sheet without looking at the answers.

2) Access the answer key, check your answers, retry any which you got incorrect.

3) If all else fails, watch the test review sheet solutions video!

BE A BROKEN RECORD ABOUT THE FACT THAT STUDENTS MUST FOLLOW THE THREE

STEPS!

“The path to becoming an astronaut is harder than I thought!”

“ I can teach it to you, but I can’t learn it for you.” - Sarah

“Unfortunately, my magic wand doesn’t work!” (I actually wave a magic wand!)

“Just because you sit in class, and understand what is said, doesn’t mean you have learned it. You need to practice, practice, practice!!!”

MY MUSIC ANALOGY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ix6R9Yt7iwY

“I can watch it expertly performed. It makes perfect sense when I read through the music…, but until I spend hours and hours practicing it for myself, I will not have mastered it.”

… It’s the same with math!

“There’s a certain athleticism to doing math. It’s not enough to just be able to work through problems. You must be able to work through them quickly and accurately. To become quick and accurate, you must practice, practice, practice.”

etc…

etc…

• Students were working outside of class!

• Slight Increase in daily attendance: 80% 85%

• Students were no longer flogging my office hours.

• Decreased test anxiety for students since they had more ‘practice’ taking tests.

• Better performance on final exam since the 10 tests had all been cumulative.

• Higher Success Rate: 51% 71%

“I have failed this class twice before, but this time I am coming to class, doing the review sheets and passing!”

“The review videos are great!”

“I don’t feel so overwhelmed doing it this way. I still wait til the night before the test to study, but we have so many tests that I’m studying a lot.”

“I like the 10 tests idea because its not as stressful.”

FIVE COMMERCIAL

BREAKS.

Sponsors…

THE FINE PRINTMicromessaging to Reach and Teach

Every Student, a professional development program for teachers, is designed to in-crease the participation and success of their students in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), with an emphasis on underrepresented populations, including women. Educators, including secondary and post-secondary faculty, learn how they can use the power of micromessages (small and often subtle, yet powerful messages) to improve classroom pedagogy and increase the enrollment, retention, performance and completion of students in STEM.

Class Premise:

My Premise:

Little Changes can make a big difference in attracting more students (in general) to STEM fields.

THE PROBLEMS….

THE PROBLEMS ARE EVEN WORSE FOR FEMALES IN THE STEM PIPELINE.

THE PROBLEMS CONTINUED….

MY DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS STUDENTS:

SMALL CHANGES WHICH I HAVE MADE TO MY CLASSROOM.

Study my seating chart!!! Know every student’s name by the second or third class session.

Call on EVERY student EVERY day!

SAMPLE SEATING CHART

SEND REGULAR EMAILS…

WELCOME EMAIL THE FIRST WEEK

“ARE YOU STUDYING RIGHT NOW?” EMAILS JUST BEFORE TESTS

Make a connection with ALL MY STUDENTS!

A NEW FIRST DAY SURVEY

*TAKE NOTES ON THE PERSONAL INFORMATION GIVEN TO YOU BY A STUDENT.

*BRING THIS PERSONAL INFORMATION BACK UP TO THE STUDENT AT A LATER DATE IN THE FUTURE.

Tailor the application problems you do during class to the majors of your students…

Use actual student names in the application problems…

If you like doing problems like this, consider a career in the __________ field….

“Students don’t care what you know until they know that you care.”

Lots of Little Changes…and One Big Project!

A PLAN TO RECRUIT

STUDENTS TO STEM FIELDS

WHY?“STEM majors earn $500,000 more than non-

STEM majors over a lifetime.”

“2.4 million job vacancies in STEM anticipated in the US between through 2018.

Georgetown's Center on Education and the Workforce predicts that the total number of STEM jobs will grow 26 percent between 2010 and 2020

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/linda-rosen/the-truth-hurts-the-stem-_b_3900575.html

“A 2012 report by President Obama’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology stated that over the next decade, 1 million additional STEM graduates will be needed.

http://spectrum.ieee.org/at-work/education/the-stem-crisis

http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2073703_2073653_2073690,00.html

…. AND IF I CAN’T CONVINCE YOU TO CHANGE YOUR MAJOR, I’LL WORK TO CONVINCE YOU TO TAKE MORE MATH.

Students who take higher-level math courses earn higher salaries.

Highest Math Completed vs. Yearly Salary Averages

“The annual earnings of those who have taken calculus is about 65 percent higher than the earnings of those who have only completed basic math.”

http://www.achieve.org/files/BuildingBlocksofsuccess.pdf, 2010

PROJECT DESIGN HIGHLIGHTS First day survey including, “What is your major?”

Design and use worksheets, one for each chapter covered in the course, and also a mid-term project. Each to:

a) Reinforce the importance of STEM.b) Introduce a different STEM career.

At the end of each chapter, give short video “commercials” which encourage students to continue to the next higher math course along a STEM track and also to consider STEM related majors.

Last day survey including, “What is your major?”

Have you ever considered a career as an Actuary?

Have you ever considered a career as a Pharmacist?

Have you ever considered a career as an Natural Resources Engineer?

Have you ever considered a career in CyberSecurity?

Have you ever considered a career in transportation engineering?

(Listed on the 2012 Forbes Report on Best Paying College Majors

http://www.forbes.com/pictures/lml45edfef/civil-engineering-majors/

WORKSHEETS

A Midterm Project on Meteorology

There were 9,640 atmospheric and space scientists employed in the United States as of May 2011, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The average salary paid to the workers was $90,860 a year.

http://work.chron.com/average-national-salaries-meteorologists-8831.html

In an 2011 article entitled 10 JOBS WITH REALLY LOW UNEMPLOYMENT, published bv U-T San Diego, atmospheric sciences / meteorology placed second behind actuarial science.

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2011/Nov/07/10-science-jobs-really-low-unemployment/

VIDEOS USED:

1st Day: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bnMBhO0LnU

After Chapter 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8twBGoGRqc&feature=related

After Chapter 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfeBQxmx1kY

After Chapter 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwitRltCfyc

After Chapter 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biWQZlUl-vE

After Chapter 5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlLRrE72wVc

Last Day: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlnLAOCZDWI

THE MORAL OF THE STORY!!!!

“All college majors are not created equal!”

THERE ARE GOOD MAJORS OUTSIDE OF STEM TOO!

Examples forensic science, health-sciences, finance etc…

My favorite example from finance….

rtPeAInvest $1200 at 7% annual interest rate. How much will your investment be worth in 40 years? ($19,700)

Invest $1200 at 7% every year for the next 40 years. How much will your investment be worth?

RESULTS: STEM MAJOR DECLARATIONS

RESULTS: STEM MAJOR DECLARATIONS

Pooled Classes

1st Day Last Day20% 31%

GRADES SUMMARY: MATH 163

CONCLUSIONS:

10% increase in STEM Majors from beginning to end of term.

Slight increase in student success rate.

These early statistics show that the chosen interventions may be effective in recruiting students to STEM fields and to increase student success in the course. Further data needs to be collected before effectiveness can be confirmed.

Create “Small Measurable Changes” - Claudia Morrell

“Teachers change the world… one student at a time.”

"Any genuine teaching will result, if successful, in someone's knowing how to bring about a better condition of things than existed earlier."- John Dewey

LOOKING FORWARD…. MY NEXT VENTURE

Adding self –help tips, inspirational quotes, etc.. to the tops of all of my handouts…

I'd rather look back at my life and say "I can't believe I did that" instead of being there saying "I wish I'd done that"

What will you do this term to try to improve upon your methods?