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Math Attitudinal Survey Assessment Results

The Math You Need When You Need ItIncorporating quantitative skills to improve student success in introductory geoscience laboratory courses

Jacquelyn Hams, Department of Earth Science, Los Angeles Valley College, Valley Glen, CA 91401 hamsje@lavc.edu

Figure 1a.

Introduction

Student Profile

Classroom Implementation

Los Angeles Valley College (LAVC) is one of the nine two-year colleges that comprise the Los Angeles Community College District. LAVC is located in the eastern San Fernando Valley, just north of downtown Los Angeles. The college enrollment is approximately 18,500 students. Student profile statistics for the college and TMYN surveyed classes are presented below.

TMYN modules were incorporated into LAVC classes as a pilot project in the summer 2010. The following modules are typically used for the Geology and Oceanography laboratory classes during the semester:

• Unit Conversions• Hypsometric Curves• Density• Slopes• Best Fit Line• Plotting Points

LAVC Primary Language

LAVC Ethnicity Math Attitudinal Survey Ethnicity

Math Attitudinal Survey Age

Math Attitudinal Survey Language

LAVC Age

“The Math You Need When You Need It” (TMYN) tutorial program is used at Los Angeles Valley College to provide supplemental instruction and give students the quantitative knowledge they need just before they use it in geoscience courses. TMYN modules were incorporated into an introductory Oceanography lecture class as a pilot study during summer 2010 and are currently used in the introductory Oceanography and Geology laboratory courses. This poster summarizes the implementation process, as well as results from the module assessments and a student attitudinal survey towards math.

Figures 1a and 1b below are tables prepared from current Oceanography and Geology introductory laboratory syllabi and illustrate how topics from the laboratory courses correlate with the TMYN modules.Geology Laboratory topic TMYN Module/s

Course Introduction TMYN Orientation TMYN Pre-test

Topographic Maps Slopes

Plate Tectonics Unit Conversions Rearranging Equations

Earthquakes and Seismology Plotting PointsBest Fit Line

Minerals Density

Oceanography Laboratory topic TMYN Module/sCourse Introduction TMYN Orientation

TMYN Pre-test

Bathymetry Hypsometric CurvesPlotting PointsBest Fit Line

Properties of Water Density

Plate Tectonics Unit ConversionsRearranging Equations

Figure 1c. (left) is a screenshot of the gradebook feature in TMYN tutorial program. Instructors can select questions to be assessed, assign point values, and view the total points. Grade information can also be downloaded into excel format and exported into other grading programs if needed.

Students complete TMYN modules in the computer lab before completing the class laboratory exercise for that class session.

Figure 1b.

Figure 1c.

Students complete practice problems and quizzes for each module before taking the final assessments.

The graph on the left shows the assessment results of the six modules incorporated into the summer 2010 pilot study.

Excellent Good Fair Poor

05

1015202530354045

14

36 43

7

How would you rate your past math expe-riences?

% Students

VeryImportant

Neutral

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

62

15 23

How important are math skills in your life?

% Students

BC

Not sure

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

5439

8

What was the average grade in these math classes?

% Students

Very Comforta

ble

Comfortable

Moderatel

y Comforta

ble

Uncomfortable

Very Uncomforta

ble

0

10

20

30

1531 31

815

What is your comfort level with mathemat -ics?

% Students

AlgebraGeometry

TrigonometryGeneral

Mathematics

05

101520253035404550

46

3115

8

What is the highest level of math class you took in high school?

% Students

General Mathematics Pre-Algebra

AlgebraGeometry

05

10152025303540

3139 39

23

What math classes have you taken in college?

% Students

020406080

100

64

84

90 7478

98

Oceanography Assessment Scores Summer 2010 Pi-lot Project

Unit Conversions

Hypsometric Curve

Density

Slopes

Best Fit Line

Plotting PointsAver

age

scor

es (%

)

020406080

100

55

80 51

Geology Lab Assessment Scores Fall 2010

Unit Conversions

Rearranging Equations

Interpreting Graphs

Aver

age

scor

es (%

)

020406080

100

35

94 8888

Geology Lab Assessment Scores Spring 2012

Slopes

Plotting Points

Interpreting Graphs

Best Fit Line

Aver

age

scor

es (

%)

020406080

100

9479

96 76

Oceanography Lab Fall 2012

Reading Points from a Curve

Best Fit Line

Plotting Points

Rearranging Equations

Aver

age

scor

es (%

)

657075808590

89 75

Oceanography Lab Fall 2011

Best Fit LineRearranging Equations

Aver

age

scor

es (%

)

020406080

100

60

8477

7055

Average scores for different classes using the same TMYN Modules

Unit Conversions

Best Fit Line

Rearranging Equations

Interpreting Graphs

Slopes

Aver

age

scor

es (%

)

8% 23%

30%

23% 15%

Have TMYN practice problems and assess-ments helped you understand the textbook

charts/diagrams and prepare you for the assignments in class?

AlwaysFrequentlyOccasionally Rarely Never

How do students feel about math? Many instructors have anecdotal evidence but data driven evidence of students’ attitudes, previous background and comfort level with math is collected as part of the implementation of TMYN program at LAVC. The graphs below display the results of representative questions from a Math Attitudinal Survey administered to students using TMYN instructional modules.

Conclusions

TMYN modules have been used in multiple earth science lab classes continuously since the summer 2010. The following conclusions are based upon results of the student surveys and are supported by the assessment data.

• 92% of the students completed all or some of TMYN modules and assessments.

• 31% of the students learned the most from the Unit Conversions modules.

• 33% of the students felt that the Unit Conversions modules were the most challenging.

• 54% of the students felt that Plotting Points was the easiest module.

31%

61%

8%

Did you complete all of TMYN modules?

Completed all modules

Some

None

TMYN modules are currently incorporated into classes based on the type of laboratory exercises covered in class. The graphs below show the average assessment scores from each of the laboratory classes using TMYN modules. The last graph shows average assessment scores from different classes which used the same module.

• 60% of the students reported that TMYN modules helped them understand quantitative material presented in the class.