Download or read book Improving Student Success in Calculus written by and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The quality of education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields is an issue of particular educational and economic importance, and Calculus I is a linchpin course in STEM major tracks. A national study is currently being conducted examining the characteristics of successful programs in college calculus (CSPCC, 2012). In work related to the CSPCC program, this study examines the effects on student outcomes of four different teaching strategies used at a single institution. The four classes were a traditional lecture, a lecture with discussion, a lecture incorporating both discussion and technology, and an inverted model. This dissertation was guided by three questions : (1) What impact do these four instructional approaches have on students' persistence, beliefs about mathematics, and conceptual and procedural achievement in calculus? (2) How do students at the local institution compare to students in the national database? And (3) How do the similarities and differences in opportunities for learning presented in the four classes contribute to the similarities and differences in student outcomes? Quantitative analysis of surveys and exams revealed few statistically significant differences in outcomes, and students in the inverted classroom often had poorer outcomes than those in other classes. Students in the technology-enhanced class scored higher on conceptual items on the final exam than those in other classes. Comparing to the national database, local students had similar switching rates but less expert-like attitudes and beliefs about mathematics than the national average. Qualitative analysis of focus group interviews, classroom observations, and student course evaluations showed that several implementation issues, some the result of pragmatic constraints, others the result of design choice, weakened affordances provided by innovative features and shrunk the differences between classes. There were substantial differences between the inverted classroom in this study and successful implementations in the literature. I identified a set of departures that forms a list of best practices for inverting classrooms. Students in all classes felt that prior calculus experience was a prerequisite for their current calculus class, and that class sessions felt rushed. These concerns implicate the constraints imposed by the curriculum shared by the four classes.
Download or read book Transformational Change Efforts Student Engagement in Mathematics through an Institutional Network for Active Learning written by Wendy M. Smith and published by American Mathematical Soc.. This book was released on 2021-05-05 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The purpose of this handbook is to help launch institutional transformations in mathematics departments to improve student success. We report findings from the Student Engagement in Mathematics through an Institutional Network for Active Learning (SEMINAL) study. SEMINAL's purpose is to help change agents, those looking to (or currently attempting to) enact change within mathematics departments and beyond—trying to reform the instruction of their lower division mathematics courses in order to promote high achievement for all students. SEMINAL specifically studies the change mechanisms that allow postsecondary institutions to incorporate and sustain active learning in Precalculus to Calculus 2 learning environments. Out of the approximately 2.5 million students enrolled in collegiate mathematics courses each year, over 90% are enrolled in Precalculus to Calculus 2 courses. Forty-four percent of mathematics departments think active learning mathematics strategies are important for Precalculus to Calculus 2 courses, but only 15 percnt state that they are very successful at implementing them. Therefore, insights into the following research question will help with institutional transformations: What conditions, strategies, interventions and actions at the departmental and classroom levels contribute to the initiation, implementation, and institutional sustainability of active learning in the undergraduate calculus sequence (Precalculus to Calculus 2) across varied institutions?
Download or read book Increasing Student Success in Developmental Mathematics written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2019-12-18 with total page 123 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Board on Science Education and the Board on Mathematical Sciences and Analytics of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine convened the Workshop on Increasing Student Success in Developmental Mathematics on March 18-19, 2019. The Workshop explored how to best support all students in postsecondary mathematics, with particular attention to students who are unsuccessful in developmental mathematics and with an eye toward issues of access to promising reforms and equitable learning environments. The two-day workshop was designed to bring together a variety of stakeholders, including experts who have developed and/or implemented new initiatives to improve the mathematics education experience for students. The overarching goal of the workshop was to take stock of the mathematics education community's progress in this domain. Participants examined the data on students who are well-served by new reform structures in developmental mathematics and discussed various cohorts of students who are not currently well served - those who even with access to reforms do not succeed and those who do not have access to a reform due to differential access constraints. Throughout the workshop, participants also explored promising approaches to bolstering student outcomes in mathematics, focusing especially on research and data that demonstrate the success of these approaches; deliberated and discussed barriers and opportunities for effectively serving all students; and outlined some key directions of inquiry intended to address the prevailing research and data needs in the field. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussion of the workshop.
Download or read book A Plan for Increasing Student Success in Business Calculus at Delaware State University written by Sherman Nathaniel Miller and published by ProQuest. This book was released on 2008 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the late 1990s, the failure rate of business students at Delaware State University in both finite mathematics and business calculus courses reached an estimated fifty percent. In response, students were given Blackboard assignments and an algebra placement examination to establish the classes' academic preparation for handling both finite mathematics and business calculus courses. During blackboard assignments, students were required to write out the instructions and problems before attempting to develop answers. It became apparent that significant textbook reading deficiencies existed in both courses. The algebra placement examination highlighted a significant background deficiency in fundamental algebraic concept knowledge. These academic background deficiencies in reading and algebra suggested that direct instruction may have needed augmentation to meet the needs of a background deficient population. A teaching research effort was undertaken to find teaching variants on direct instruction or to propose alternative teaching methods to help background deficient populations become successful in finite mathematics and business calculus courses. The lecture teaching style was assessed where it was learned that lecturing should stay under 50 percent of the class period for both finite mathematics and business calculus and classroom activities should occupy the remainder of time to avoid problems with students maintaining their attentiveness. The material coverage in the courses following an exponential teaching model was assessed where the initial portion of the semester focused on filling in background deficiencies, and in the later portion there was an accelerating material coverage pace. Experiments were run dropping test scores on one test to evaluate the impact on student dropout rates that suggested only the first or second test should be dropped to avoid good students becoming mediocre performers when they realize they have earned an "A." Some good students may fail to master the higher-level material in the course if they lose their focus in the latter portion of the semester. Course dropout rates ran roughly ten percent. The use of direct instruction was found to be satisfactory for teaching finite mathematics when used along with three teaching supplements: the Modified Bragg Grading System, the Exponential Teaching model, and a capstone project. In an assessment of direct instruction with background deficient business calculus students it was concluded that the significant algebra background need was too high to port the finite mathematics-teaching model over to business calculus. Students were put into teams to work on class assignments where the teacher selected what team member would present the team's work on the blackboard to insure individual accountability. Teams anchored with academically strong students proved to work well with business calculus coupled with the exponential teaching model and the Modified Bragg Grading system. Employing the Wulff misalignment model of the student's mathematical background deficiencies, course content, and teacher teaching style offers a framework for insight into some future actions that Delaware State University may want to take. Recommendations are offered including: (1) hiring a faculty teaching consultant, (2) developing workshops on the cooperative learning style of teaching, (3) expanding the registration system to control students taking courses without necessary prerequisites, (4) giving instructors a copy of student course taking history, (5) offering teaching consultancy to instructors with high student failure rates, (6) granting tenure based on teaching excellence, (7) apprising students of consequences for course dropping decisions, (8) suggesting to teachers the need to teach reading, and (9) empowering instructors to drop students for non-attendance in class. A detailed discussion of the improvement effort covering both finite mathematics and business calculus is in Appendix C, "Demystifying Business Calculus: Teaching with a Practical Business Mindset." A key achievement in this improvement effort is to encourage both finite mathematics and business calculus students to pursue academic excellence instead of exploiting a "just passing" strategy.
Download or read book Learning and Understanding written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2002-08-06 with total page 588 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book takes a fresh look at programs for advanced studies for high school students in the United States, with a particular focus on the Advanced Placement and the International Baccalaureate programs, and asks how advanced studies can be significantly improved in general. It also examines two of the core issues surrounding these programs: they can have a profound impact on other components of the education system and participation in the programs has become key to admission at selective institutions of higher education. By looking at what could enhance the quality of high school advanced study programs as well as what precedes and comes after these programs, this report provides teachers, parents, curriculum developers, administrators, college science and mathematics faculty, and the educational research community with a detailed assessment that can be used to guide change within advanced study programs.
Download or read book Teaching and Learning of Calculus written by David Bressoud and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-06-14 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This survey focuses on the main trends in the field of calculus education. Despite their variety, the findings reveal a cornerstone issue that is strongly linked to the formalism of calculus concepts and to the difficulties it generates in the learning and teaching process. As a complement to the main text, an extended bibliography with some of the most important references on this topic is included. Since the diversity of the research in the field makes it difficult to produce an exhaustive state-of-the-art summary, the authors discuss recent developments that go beyond this survey and put forward new research questions.
Download or read book Increasing Student Success in Developmental Mathematics written by Linda Clare Casola and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page 110 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The Board on Science Education and the Board on Mathematical Sciences and Analytics of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine convened the Workshop on Increasing Student Success in Developmental Mathematics on March 18-19, 2019. The Workshop explored how to best support all students in postsecondary mathematics, with particular attention to students who are unsuccessful in developmental mathematics and with an eye toward issues of access to promising reforms and equitable learning environments. The two-day workshop was designed to bring together a variety of stakeholders, including experts who have developed and/or implemented new initiatives to improve the mathematics education experience for students. The overarching goal of the workshop was to take stock of the mathematics education community's progress in this domain. Participants examined the data on students who are well-served by new reform structures in developmental mathematics and discussed various cohorts of students who are not currently well served - those who even with access to reforms do not succeed and those who do not have access to a reform due to differential access constraints. Throughout the workshop, participants also explored promising approaches to bolstering student outcomes in mathematics, focusing especially on research and data that demonstrate the success of these approaches; deliberated and discussed barriers and opportunities for effectively serving all students; and outlined some key directions of inquiry intended to address the prevailing research and data needs in the field. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussion of the workshop"--Publisher's description.
Download or read book Minority Serving Institutions written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2019-02-05 with total page 255 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There are over 20 million young people of color in the United States whose representation in STEM education pathways and in the STEM workforce is still far below their numbers in the general population. Their participation could help re-establish the United States' preeminence in STEM innovation and productivity, while also increasing the number of well-educated STEM workers. There are nearly 700 minority-serving institutions (MSIs) that provide pathways to STEM educational success and workforce readiness for millions of students of colorâ€"and do so in a mission-driven and intentional manner. They vary substantially in their origins, missions, student demographics, and levels of institutional selectivity. But in general, their service to the nation provides a gateway to higher education and the workforce, particularly for underrepresented students of color and those from low-income and first-generation to college backgrounds. The challenge for the nation is how to capitalize on the unique strengths and attributes of these institutions and to equip them with the resources, exceptional faculty talent, and vital infrastructure needed to educate and train an increasingly critical portion of current and future generations of scientists, engineers, and health professionals. Minority Serving Institutions examines the nation's MSIs and identifies promising programs and effective strategies that have the highest potential return on investment for the nation by increasing the quantity and quality MSI STEM graduates. This study also provides critical information and perspective about the importance of MSIs to other stakeholders in the nation's system of higher education and the organizations that support them.
Download or read book The Transition from High School Mathematics to First Year Calculus written by Naazneen Ann Bauck and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 102 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Student preparedness for first-year calculus has been an ongoing concern for post-secondary programs and their respective career paths. Researchers have investigated the benefits and pitfalls of prior calculus knowledge, and the general development of academic competence in an effort to improve student success and retention. Most of the literature is survey based, rather than anecdotal, and serves to inform universities about their own student populations, rather than to inform incoming students about how to be successful. This study compares the perspectives of students and lectures based on anecdotal responses to related questions, and identifies the expectations and habits that are different from students' high school experiences. The results showed most differences were in regards to the amount of time students needed to spend on homework problems, their problem-solving skills and level of engagement with their homework; and the level of self motivation and independence that was needed for success.
Download or read book Academic Math Mindset Interventions in First year College Calculus written by Joseph Franklin Hunt and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Freshman calculus is in the policy spotlight. This gateway course’s well-documented high failure rates impede students’ timely completion of baccalaureate degrees. The Mathematical Association of America launched a large-scale study of calculus instruction documenting the breath and intensity of efforts to increase student success. Concurrently, economic studies reveal high returns on investment for mathematics-dependent majors. This study examines whether brief, low-cost interventions targeting freshman calculus students’ beliefs about (1) the nature of intelligence, (2) the course content’s relevance to their goals, and (3) whether they belong to the community of successful mathematics students, can increase their academic performance. To this end, I developed and implemented 3 academic “math mindset” interventions. Each consisted of a video of former calculus students ostensibly reflecting on their experiences and their development and adoption of 1 of the 3 targeted math mindsets: growth (“math intelligence increases with effort”), purpose (“math is relevant to my future”), or belongingness (“I am a valued member of the mathematics community”). The videos lasted between 2 and 4 minutes and were embedded in online homework assignments in 18 first-semester calculus courses. The study included 663 participants. My measures include a validated test of conceptual understanding of differential calculus and self-report surveys of regulation of cognition, task value, control of learning, and self-efficacy. I observed no large significant effects of the interventions on the outcome measures. Unbeknown to me, a similar intervention was administered to all incoming freshmen during the same year; this could have contributed to the lack of positive results. A growing research base has demonstrated the effectiveness of academic mindset interventions in raising K-12 students’ academic achievement and persistence. This study explored the possible effectiveness of such interventions on college freshman. It provides an important reminder that mindset interventions are not guaranteed to deliver positive results, even when they address crucial student beliefs, and that contextual factors play a considerable role in their effectiveness. It adds to the developing suite of mindset interventions that may produce positive outcomes under other circumstances, and it provides educators with useful insight about the practical applications of academic mindsets in calculus classrooms.
Download or read book Explanation and Reflection in Calculus Learning written by Daniel Lee Reinholz and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 171 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This dissertation focuses on explanation and reflection in mathematics and offers an instructional intervention for supporting student learning. Explanation and reflection are considered hallmarks of deep understanding; they are also tools for promoting learning. The primary context of study was calculus, because it is often considered a gatekeeper that prevents students from accessing higher-level mathematics and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) careers. Simultaneously, there is concern that even students who are successful (in the conventional sense) lack deep mathematical understanding. I collected both conventional and deeper performance measures, because both have implications for learning and performance. Over three semesters of instruction I used design-based research methods to iteratively develop and refine an intervention. The intervention, Peer-Assisted Reflection (PAR), used peer-review and self-reflection as means to promote explanations. The core PAR activities required students to: (1) engage in meaningful problems, (2) reflect on their own work, (3) analyze a peer's work and give and receive feedback, and finally (4) revise their own work based on insights gained throughout this cycle. PAR was supported by other aspects of the instructional environment, such as adequate training and opportunities for students to explain their ideas regularly during class sessions. The first semester (pilot study) took place in an introductory algebra classroom in a community college; the second and third semesters (Phases I and II) took place in an introductory college calculus course in a research university. The purpose of the pilot study was to refine theoretical principles to create an effective instructional intervention. Phase I was the first full implementation of the intervention, and Phase II served to replicate and extend the findings from Phase I. During Phases I and II quasi-experimental methods were used to compare students in an experimental section to students in parallel sections of the same course. I collected the following data: students' common exams, pre- and post-surveys about beliefs, student interviews, video observations of class sessions, copies of students' PAR assignments, and audio records of student conversations. Students in the experimental sections were more successful in calculus than their counterparts in the comparison sections. During Phase I the experimental success rate (A's, B's, and C's in the course) was 13% higher than the comparison section. The difference in success was 23% during Phase II, due to iterative refinements of the intervention. These improvements were statistically significant on common department exams in Phase I (average exam score 73.03% vs. 66.84% and 67.32% in the two comparison conditions) and Phase II (average exam score 75.20% vs. 64.17%). Improvements were evident on both conceptual and procedural problems. Students in the experimental sections also improved their written explanations and demonstrated improved persistence in problem solving. In sum, engaging in PAR helped students improve their: success rates, exam scores, written explanations, and persistence. Because PAR is not grounded in specific mathematical (or formal) content, it should be a broadly applicable intervention for improving student learning in a variety of contexts. The findings of this dissertation also contribute to a theoretical understanding of peer-analysis and self-reflection as tools to promote explanations. For example, explaining to an authentic peer audience helped students focus on their communication, rather than just finding the correct answer. The findings also provide further evidence of the importance of conceptual understanding; by engaging in PAR, an intervention specifically targeted at improving explanations, students also improved their success on measures of procedural understanding.
Download or read book The Knowledge Gap written by Natalie Wexler and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2020-08-04 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The untold story of the root cause of America's education crisis--and the seemingly endless cycle of multigenerational poverty. It was only after years within the education reform movement that Natalie Wexler stumbled across a hidden explanation for our country's frustrating lack of progress when it comes to providing every child with a quality education. The problem wasn't one of the usual scapegoats: lazy teachers, shoddy facilities, lack of accountability. It was something no one was talking about: the elementary school curriculum's intense focus on decontextualized reading comprehension "skills" at the expense of actual knowledge. In the tradition of Dale Russakoff's The Prize and Dana Goldstein's The Teacher Wars, Wexler brings together history, research, and compelling characters to pull back the curtain on this fundamental flaw in our education system--one that fellow reformers, journalists, and policymakers have long overlooked, and of which the general public, including many parents, remains unaware. But The Knowledge Gap isn't just a story of what schools have gotten so wrong--it also follows innovative educators who are in the process of shedding their deeply ingrained habits, and describes the rewards that have come along: students who are not only excited to learn but are also acquiring the knowledge and vocabulary that will enable them to succeed. If we truly want to fix our education system and unlock the potential of our neediest children, we have no choice but to pay attention.
Download or read book Student Understanding of Function and Success in Calculus written by Daniel I. Drlik and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 103 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a relationship between student success in calculus and student understanding of function. Student understanding of function was measured using two questionnaires, one of which is a modification of an existing measure based on APOS theory. The other I developed with items from the concept image literature. The participants of this study were 116 high school students who were enrolled in a first-year calculus course. The results of the questionnaires were aligned to course exam scores to determine connections between function understanding and rate of success in calculus. A major finding of this study is that students can be successful in a first-year calculus course without demonstrating a process level understanding of function at the beginning of the course. In general, a positive correlation between understanding of function and success in calculus was found. An item-by-item analysis of the two questionnaires revealed that students demonstrated competence, relative to their measured understanding of function, with items that are typically presented in standard mathematics courses taken prior to calculus, such as when provided a function as an algebraic rule and asked to calculate the value of the function. Also, students tended to justify decisions for solutions based on criteria not necessarily related to the definition of function. This however, appeared to have little impact on the level of success a student was able to achieve in calculus."--Boise State University ScholarWorks.
Download or read book Applications of Dynamical Systems in Biology and Medicine written by Trachette Jackson and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-07-06 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume highlights problems from a range of biological and medical applications that can be interpreted as questions about system behavior or control. Topics include drug resistance in cancer and malaria, biological fluid dynamics, auto-regulation in the kidney, anti-coagulation therapy, evolutionary diversification and photo-transduction. Mathematical techniques used to describe and investigate these biological and medical problems include ordinary, partial and stochastic differentiation equations, hybrid discrete-continuous approaches, as well as 2 and 3D numerical simulation.
Download or read book Does the Study of Calculus in High School Improve the Success Rate of First Year University Calculus Students written by Derrick Joseph Redden and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Master of Education Thesis
Download or read book Calculus written by Ron Larson and published by . This book was released on 2002-03-01 with total page 715 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Designed specifically for the non-math major who will be using calculus in business, economics, or life and social science courses, Calculus: An Applied Approach, 6/e, offers students added structure and guidance on how to study math. Special student-success-oriented sections include chapter-opening Strategies for Success; What You Should Learn—and Why You Should Learn It; Section Objectives; Chapter Summaries and Study Strategies; Try Its; Study Tips; and Warm-Up exercises. In addition the text presents Algebra Tips at point of use and Algebra Review at the end of each chapter. Enhancing the already strong emphasis on practical applications, this text makes the course more relevant to students by including updated and increased coverage of technology at point of use and sample post-graduation exam questions. Eduspace is Houghton Mifflin's online learning tool. Powered by Blackboard, Eduspace is a customizable, powerful and interactive platform that provides instructors with text-specific online courses and content. The Larson/Edwards Calculus course features algorithmic exercises and test bank content in question pools.
Download or read book E Learning written by Adilson Guelfi and published by BoD – Books on Demand. This book was released on 2012-02-17 with total page 198 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Technology development, mainly for telecommunications and computer systems, was a key factor for the interactivity and, thus, for the expansion of e-learning. This book is divided into two parts, presenting some proposals to deal with e-learning challenges, opening up a way of learning about and discussing new methodologies to increase the interaction level of classes and implementing technical tools for helping students to make better use of e-learning resources. In the first part, the reader may find chapters mentioning the required infrastructure for e-learning models and processes, organizational practices, suggestions, implementation of methods for assessing results, and case studies focused on pedagogical aspects that can be applied generically in different environments. The second part is related to tools that can be adopted by users such as graphical tools for engineering, mobile phone networks, and techniques to build robots, among others. Moreover, part two includes some chapters dedicated specifically to e-learning areas like engineering and architecture.
