Ignite AMATYC 2012 Second Half

Reducing
Remediation
Through
Partnerships
Ted Koukounas
Academic Chair, Mathematics and Science
Associate Professor of Mathematics

Remedial Mathematics at
SCCC
๏ Two Remedial Mathematics Levels
๏ Pre-Algebra
๏ Algebra I
๏ High percentage of High School students
place in at least one of these courses.
๏ Increase the time needed to complete
their program
๏ Increase likelihood of attrition

Developmental Course Facts
Pre-Algebra Algebra I

Equivalent to 7th - 8th Grade Math in NY Equivalent to 9th - 10th Grade Math in NY

No Calculators Same concerns as Pre-Algebra +

Students frustrated More abstraction

Faculty frustrated More formulas

Resources are depleted More understanding
Full time teaching load
More critical thinking
Coordination
More linear and quadratic equation
Release time
More graphing
Assessment
More of “solve for x”

College Placement Tests
๏ Inconsistent
๏ Only a few major exams for such a big
decision
- CPT, ACT, etc.

๏ Non -Standard definition of Remedial
Mathematics and Non-Standard
Placement Policies
๏ “Instantaneous” placement that does not
necessarily reflect TRUE knowledge

CPT/ SAT/ Regents
๏ Piecewise function to Placing Students
๏ Placement is “Okay” at Best
๏ Local IE office for current data
๏ More discussion
๏ Another presentation

CPT Placement at SCCC
Combined CPT Developmental Course Mathematics Course Level
Arithmetic/Algebra Score

<99 Pre-Algebra Developmental

100-134 Algebra I Developmental

>134 Varied as per program College Credit-Bearing
requirements

* Students with an 80 or greater on any Regents should not be placed into Pre-Algebra

Developmental Math
Placement at SCCC
Semester N Percent

Fall 2006 5280 41.9%

Fall 2007 5394 44.2%

Fall 2008 5864 47.2%

Fall 2009 6548 52.6%

Fall 2010 6908 50.9%

Fall 2011 6721 53.1%

Why so much remediation?
๏ Lack of Knowledge
๏ Lack of Preparedness
๏ Time Lapse
๏ Testing and Advising
๏ Lack of student emphasis
- Testing unreliable

๏ Poor Coordination between HS and
College regarding shared expectations

What can we do to help
students?
๏ Students, teachers, and high school
administrators need to know what
happens to their students upon HS
graduation
๏ Inform the discussion
๏ Work collectively
๏ Better Alignment
๏ SUNY- State University of New York
Taskforce for Remediation

HS/ College Partnerships
๏ Encourage the discussion
๏ No Finger Pointing
๏ Mutual Benefits
๏ Curriculum Based
๏ Guidance Counseling
๏ Local Support Necessary
๏ Everyone Wins!

College Commitment
๏ Resources
๏ Honesty and Transparency
๏ Follow Through
๏ Support
- Time
- Fiscal
- Programmatic

HS Responsibilities
๏ Receptive to discussions
๏ Respond to action
๏ Inform parents
๏ Programmatic requirements
๏ Fiscal support

Remediation Pilot
๏ Substantive meetings
- Make contact with the right personnel

๏ Share mutual information
- Honest comparisons
- Shared expectations
- State goals

๏ Identify student deficiencies
๏ Develop a remediation plan for students
prior to college application

College Responsibilities
๏ Up to date Institutional Data
๏ FERPA Compliance
๏ Confidentiality
๏ Resources

Process Begins
๏ Students requiring remediation identified in
their junior year by an SCCC developed
and HS administered Diagnostic Exam
๏ If needed, students remediate at HS with
the SCCC recommended curriculum
during their senior year
๏ CPT testing occurs after the remediation
process
๏ Review Pilot Results and make
adjustments as necessary

Three-year study
Semester Remedial

Fall 2010 66.7%

Fall 2011 45.6%

Fall 2012 31.1%

Who Benefits
๏ Students
๏ High School
๏ College
๏ Math Chairs and Deans
๏ Faculty

Constraints
๏ Not much is being done
๏ Everyone is interested
๏ Too much testing
๏ Bottlenecking of resources
๏ Faculty feel stretched
- PARCC
- Math Regents
- Performance expectations

SUNY Remediation Task
Force
๏ Reduce Remediation SUNY-wide
๏ Inform Discussion
๏ Make Recommendations
- A Stronger Education Pipeline that Reduces
the Need for Developmental Education
- Stronger Remediation Practices
- More Effective State Funding Policy

Thank You!
๏ Continue the Discussion
๏ Discuss options for helping local school
districts deal with remediation at HS
๏ Familiarize yourself with the data from
your constituents
๏ Contact me for more details
๏ Ted Koukounas,
koukout@sunysuffolk.edu
631-548-2670

Flipping a
Developmental Math
Class with OER
(Open Educational Resources)

David Lippman
Pierce College, Lakewood, WA

Semi-flipped

http://www.flickr.com/photos/briandewitt/553384683
CC-BY-NC-ND

http://www.flickr.com/photos/en321/5120100 CC-BY-NC-ND

It began with OER

Beginning &
Intermediate Algebra
Tyler Wallace
$25 print, free online

Freedom
http://www.flickr.com/photos/timypenburg/5605056611/sizes/z/in/photostream/

Traditional
0
Answer HW
10
Lecture Concept

In Class
20
30 Lecture Examples
40
50
Practice in class
Review / Study
60
70
Practice at home
Out of Class

80

90

100

110
120

Traditional Semi-flipped
0
Answer HW Answer HW
10
Lecture Concept

In Class
20 Practice in class
30 Lecture Examples & Activities
40
Practice in class Lecture Concept
50
Review / Study
60
Practice at home Video Examples
70
Out of Class

80 Practice at home
90

100

110
120
Review / Study

Semi-flipped
Develop core concepts Answer HW
Practice in class
Discovery activities & Activities

Contextual activities Lecture Concept

Video Examples
Individual practice
& assistance Practice at home

Review / Study

Semi-flipped
Answer HW
Practice in class
& Activities

Semi Individualized: Lecture Concept

Skip if they know it Video Examples

Rewatch if they need to Practice at home

Review / Study

Planting a garden
Cost for a
Bushes: $3 per foot
5 ft by 5 ft garden?

8 ft by 8 ft garden?

n ft by n ft garden?

Flowers:
Soil: $4 per $2 per foot
square foot

Q: Bob has $10,000 invested in two
accounts, one paying 4% interest and
the other paying 6% interest. He earned
$520 interest last year. How much does
he have invested in each account?

A: Read your statements, Bob!

Q: Bob is retiring with $1 million. He
can invest in a safe CD earning 1%, or a
riskier bond account earning 4%. He
wants to live on interest, and needs
$30,000 a year to live on. What’s the
minimum he needs to invest in the bond
account?

How many toy cars are there?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/53380495@N02/4993931189/in/photostream/

How many toy cars are there?

Seriously, that’s all you give them at first

http://www.flickr.com/photos/53380495@N02/4993931189/in/photostream/

In 2007, the carbon dioxide concentration in the air was
about 382 ppm (parts per million). By 2011, the
concentration had increased to 390 ppm. If the
concentration continue to grow linearly,
a) Write an equation of a line that describes the
concentration, C, of carbon dioxide t years after 2007.
b) If this trend continues, when will the carbon dioxide
concentration reach 410 ppm?

The function s(t) = 3(t – 8)2 + 297 gives the approximate
spending (in billions of dollars) by the US Dept of Defense t
years after 1990.
a) Find the approximate spending in 2004
b) Find the year(s) in which spending was $309 billion.

What Not to do in a
Developmental
Math Redesign

Erin Cooke
Gwinnett Technical College, GA

“Redesign is self-paced…”
๏ Students hear “Nothing has to be done
today!”
๏ Students make everything with a due date
(and some without) a higher priority

Results
๏ Students save most of the work until the
last few weeks of the semester
๏ Some miracles will happen - students will
do 12 weeks of work in 3 weeks
๏ Many students do not complete the course

Instead…
๏ Have a pacing guide with due dates
๏ Give students due date sheets they fill in
๏ Give a penalty for missing due dates
๏ Remind students that they can work ahead
and cheer them on!

“The instructors are on the
same page - I sent the email.”
๏ No, really, they are not
๏ Just because an email has “everything”
the instructors needed does not mean they
are trained
๏ Only the person who wrote the syllabus
finds the syllabus interesting

Results
๏ Faculty feel lost, uninformed
๏ Students get misinformation and inherit
the lost feeling
๏ Redesign satisfaction may decline
because it feels “undirected”
๏ Faculty acquire more pigment-challenged
follicles

Instead
๏ Let the faculty experience a module!
๏ Put the course materials in a course
- Syllabus
- First day of class PowerPoint
- Student handouts
- Summary sheet of Redesign

๏ Put a quiz at the end of the materials and
require 100% from all math faculty

“Everything the students need
is in the syllabus”
๏ Syllabi can be confusing
๏ If instructors do not like reading the
syllabus, most students will not either

Result
๏ Students are unsure about what is
expected of them
๏ There may be many “Well, can I…? What
about…?” questions from students
๏ Worse than many questions is no
questions!

Instead
๏ Give the key points in as many ways as
possible
- PowerPoints
- Handouts (think colorful and hole punched)
- Email
- Signs in the room

๏ Flow charts are great!

“Students are fine - I haven’t
gotten any questions.”
๏ Students know there was a lot of
information on the first day
- Students feel they should already know
everything

๏ Mimicking classmates does not
necessarily mean they are doing the right
things.

Result
๏ Students work on the wrong assignments
๏ Do not know proper protocol for the class
– attendance, notes, testing, etc.
๏ Students quit attending class or withdraw

Instead
๏ Keep an eye on students via the
gradebook
๏ Send supportive emails and encourage
them to ask questions
๏ Tell students in class to check their email
๏ Remind the class this is new and is it
perfectly normal to feel uncertain.

“Redesign is on - so advisors
and students know about it.”
๏ Knowing of Redesign is much different
than knowing about Redesign
๏ There will be many students who do not
know why they are attending lecture in a
computer lab
๏ Advisors may have incorrect information

Result
๏ Students and advisors are hesitant about
Redesign and will search for F2F
alternatives
๏ Students may be told they have a faster
path than they do

Instead
๏ Change the name of the course to include
Redesign
๏ Have a link to a video explaining (briefly)
about Redesign
๏ Inform administration about Redesign

“We’re set! All our bases are
covered!”
๏ Welcome to education! (you must be new)
๏ Students are creative and will work hard to
think of something that the entire
department did not think about or plan for

Result
๏ There will be periods of chaos for
instructors and students
๏ The program looks unorganized or
unplanned
๏ Happy hour sales at local pubs and
restaurants go up

Instead
๏ Know that new situations are possible
๏ Decide who needs to be involved in
“immediate” policy decisions
๏ Have those people on speed dial and in
one email contact

The most important parts?
๏ Keep a positive attitude, roll with the
punches and do not utter the words “self-
paced”

๏ No time for questions, but feel free to
applaud, whistle and cheer wildly!
(or sit and smile quietly)

Thank you!!

Students Helping
Students:
Passing the Baton
of Success
Through Film

By Martha Whitty, Washington, DC

๏ Math 090: Introductory
Algebra

What you’ll Need:

-1 digital movie camera

-1 tripod
-1 microphone

-1 Computer with editing software

-1 DVD burner
- Some blank DVDs

“If you do the homework, you won’t
have to study. Doing the homework
IS my studying.”

“Even if it makes the tutor mad, just
keep telling them to go over and over
it because you HAVE to get it.”

“Though this does take a lot of time, I
have made myself sample tests. I
make sure to put problems I struggle
with on the sample test.”
๏ the sample test.”

“If you miss class, it’s your job to find out
what you missed. The teacher’s not going
to want to re-teach the work and your
friends may not want to help you either.”

“I paid attention a lot in class. I think
that’s the key.”

“If you miss a day, you miss a lot.
Messing up one time will mess you
up throughout because everything’s
connected in Math.”

“I sit in front on purpose. I never sit in
the back of the room because that’s
where all the chitter-chatter is.”

“You have to come to class and that’s
as simple as it is. Just get up and
come… sleep ain’t that precious.”

“Me personally, I always came to class,
but I always came late. You would think
5-10 minutes is nothing but that 5-10
minutes always put me so far behind.”

“Do your homework when you’re supposed
to do it and not at 3 o’clock in the
morning, the night before it’s due.”

“Ask questions even if you’re the only one
asking them. You never know if
someone else has that same question.”

“Come in with an open mind and leave
your old feelings behind. These
teachers really want to help you.”

“You’ve got to DO the problems, not just
look at them. Because just seeing it,
you won’t remember how to do it.
Happened to me a lot… mm, mm, mm.”

“I noticed my friend was getting better
grades than me so I would get her to
help me.”

“Think about what you want to become
in life and use that to press yourself.”

“Make sure you get a professor who
explains things well. That helps a lot.”

“To face your challenges would be a nice
self-accomplishment. Also you’ll be able
to help others in the future.”

Slip-Slidin’ Away!
Ann E. Commito
Frederick Community College
Frederick, Maryland
acommito@frederick.edu

John A. Commito
Gettysburg College
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
jcommito@gettysburg.edu

Linear, circular, spiral, cylindrical
Wood, bamboo, metal, plastic, paper

Basic Slide Rule: Logarithmic Scales

body cursor slide

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90

Log scales make slide rules powerful.

Multiply
Divide
Reciprocate
Powers and roots
Natural log
Sine and tangent
Hyperbolic sine/tan
Conversions
Multiple operations

0.7
y = log x
0.6

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
0 1 2 3 4
-0.1

-0.2
1.5 x 2 = 3

log 1.5 + log 2 = log 3

+ =

1.728 x 10-6 ? 1.728? 1.728 x 109 ?

0.0120? 1.20? 1200?

You have to be smart
to use a slide rule!

You need to estimate the answer
before you get it!

You need to have common sense!

Slides rules were in use
for 350 years.

They are historically important.

They are part of our
material and social culture.

1614
Napier
logarithms

1620
Gunter
logarithmic scales

1630
Oughtred
slide rule

1675
Newton
hairline (cursor)

1850
Mannheim
standardized scales

1800’s
Industrial 250+ different designs
Revolution Duplex slide rule

20th Century
Slide rules rule!

Engineering Architecture Mathematics
Industry Radio Statistics Space R&D

http://sliderulemuseum.com/

Slide rules are cool!


Icon of industry


Tool for the future


Manly, too!


Mind and body


Oughtred Society
http://www.oughtred.org/

International Slide Rule Museum

Improving
Communication

Jennifer Greenwood
Carroll Community College
Westminster, MD

Teaching Math Online
๏ Improve and encourage communication
๏ Designed for an online population
๏ Consider modifications for classroom
students

Help Students To:
๏ Ask for help
๏ Understand the help they get
๏ Build relationships

I have not had success using:
๏ Email
๏ Phone calls
๏ Office hours

The fix:
๏ Flexible
๏ Accessible
๏ See it
๏ Hear it
๏ Interact with it

Technology must be practical
๏ Easy to use
๏ Inexpensive
๏ No special equipment

Skype
๏ Internet program
๏ Free account
๏ Live video chat

Skype:
You only need a computer
and the Internet

Skype:
You don’t need a webcam or
microphone

Skype Screen Share
๏ Student watches your screen
๏ Work a solution while student watches
๏ Discuss the process with student

Writing on the Computer
๏ Use any program with Drawing Tools
๏ Write with the mouse

Record Online Sessions
๏ Post video to web for others
๏ YouTube

Increase Communication
Office hours vs. Online help

Flexibility
๏ Time
๏ Determine Your Limits

Reconsider What Comes
Home
๏ Grade papers, plan lessons during office
hours
๏ Communicate with students at home

In Short…
๏ Go beyond office hours, phone, and email
๏ Use technology to enhance
communication
๏ Teach all students as you would in class

Want to know more?

Jen Greenwood
jgreenwood@carrollc.edu

Flipping Back
to the
Future
Evan Evans
Project ACCCESS Cohort 4
eevans@frederick.edu

Greek Era
Knowledge is
gained through
dialogue

The Learner is
an active
participant

University Era
Initially
Student-Centered Learning

University Era
Lecture Based Instruction

Flip Teaching:

Form of
Blended Learning

Because It Works

Evan Evans
Project ACCCESS Cohort 4
eevans@frederick.edu

Super Computation
AMATYC, 2012 – IGNITE!
Jacksonville, FL

J. Sriskandarajah
jsriskandara@madisoncollege.edu

Audience,
Think of a 3 digit number,

Say 270

The final answer is……
The sum of five 3 digit numbers is a
4 digit number with 2 as lead digit and the
remaining three are, original – 2

2268

Audience,
Another 3 digit number please!

Say 581

Here’s my number or its 9 th

complement is….

418

Now you have three 3 digit
numbers….

270+581+418

One more 3 digit number
please….

Say 999

And my next number is its 9 th

complement …..

000

Now you have a total of 5
three digit numbers and the
sum of these five numbers….

270+581+418+999+000

Same as the final answer
given soon after the first
number!

2268
Mathemagics

www.wisc-online.online.com/
Objects/ViewObject.aspx?ID=
GEM3309

Add a notch…

This time, sum of
seven 4 digit
numbers…

Audience, 4 digit number
please….

Say 1776

The final answer is 31773

Subtract 3 from your
original number and
insert a 3 as the
leading digit

Another 4 digit number
please….

Say 2012

My number is its ninth
complement

7987

Another 4 digit
number, please…
Say 1881
By now one should
know, my number is its 9th

compliment 8118

One last 4 digit number
please….
Say 9999

And my number is

0000

And the sum of
1776+2012+7987+1881+8118+9999+0000

Is same as what we predicted before!

31773!

Thank You!

Numerical Fulcrums

A Mathematical Exploration
from Prealgebra to
Post-Calculus

Richard Zucker
Irvine Valley College

What is a Numerical Center?

204 is the Numerical Center
of the list 1 to 288.

A number is the Numerical Center
of a list of consecutive natural
numbers starting at 1 if it separates
the list into two groups that have the
same sum.

6 is the Numerical Center of the list 1 to 8.

Is every number a Numerical Center?

No, not 5.

35 is the Numerical Center
of the list 1 to 49.

595 = 595

Is 1 a Numerical Center?

? = ?

Arguably, yes.

Numerical Centers are like
buried treasure. Students of
all abilities can experience the
thrill of discovery!

Can you find other Numerical
Centers?
1, 6, 35, 204, 1189, 6930, 40391, …

Is there a pattern?
There is a recursion relation, but
I’ll let you find it.

One of my students was thrilled to
discover this recurrence relation that
depends only on the one prior number in
the sequence:

2 2
Cn 1 17 C n 1
6C n 1
1 8 Cn 1

Is there a general formula that
predicts the n th Numerical Center?

Several of my students derived the general
formula by studying Binet’s formula for Fibonacci
numbers.
n n
1 5 1 5
Binet’s Fn
2
n
5
Formula:
Numerical Cn ?????????
Center Formula:

Do Numerical Centers have any
interesting properties?
Their squares are also triangular numbers.

6

8

This shopping center is in Costa Mesa, CA,
not far from Irvine Valley College.

A Numerical Fulcrum is similar to a
Numerical Center, but the list of
consecutive natural numbers
doesn’t have to start with 1.
14 is a Numerical Fulcrum for the list
{4, 5, …, 19}.

9 is a Numerical Fulcrum
for two lists!

R.J. Liljestrom (my student in 2002) discovered and proved
a significant theorem about Numerical Fulcrums:

F is not a Numerical Fulcrum if and
only if 4F2 + 1 is prime.

For example:

• Since 101 = 4(52) + 1 is prime, then 5 is not
a Numerical Fulcrum.

• Since 9 is a Numerical Fulcrum, then
4(92) + 1 = 325 is composite.

Why is R.J.’s theorem significant?
In 1912 at the International Congress of
Mathematicians, Edmund Landau asked four
questions about prime numbers. His fourth
question was, “Are there infinitely many primes
of the form n2 + 1?”
One hundred years later, the question is still
unresolved.
Because of R.J.’s theorem, Landau’s question
is equivalent to asking, “Are there infinitely
many natural numbers that are not Numerical
Fulcrums?”

Maybe one of your
students will find the
answer!

Thank you
Richard Zucker
Irvine Valley College
rzucker@ivc.edu

Games to Learn Math

Presenter: Dan Petrak

Des Moines Area Community College
Email: dgpetrak@dmacc.edu
Twitter handle: dgpetrak

Is Math like a Game?

Goals? Yes Rules? Yes
Feedback system? Eventually…
Voluntary participation? Are you kidding me?

What are we missing?

Image from www.bigfishgmes.com blog

Engagement and Motivation!

Raph Koster – A Theory of Fun

Learning within Flow
 Optimal Learning comes from Desirable
Difficulty
 Students should be making errors if we
want to optimize learning
 Normally very uncomfortable

This is a natural dynamic for games!

Digital Games provide…
๏ Instant and non-threatening feedback
๏ Mentally Demanding
๏ Customized learning through leveling,
challenge, and game mechanics

Hard Fun!

Fun is the Feeling we get
from learning in Flow

๏ http://www.flickr.com/photos/seandreilinger/2187892869/sizes/o/

Why Digital Games for Math?

Image from www.bigfishgmes.com blog

Games can help the diverse
learners in our classrooms by

 Individualized and targeted instruction
 Remediation
 Optimized learning with Flow

Much of the skills based portions
of our math fit this model.

Hypothesize
๏ Feedback loop helps students construct
understanding of the rules.
๏ We crave patterns and we want to fit our
experiences into a schema.

Formalize and Practice

๏ We can help students
formalize what they are
experiencing.
๏ Games can also be
used to practice the
skills.

Image by Lisa Haney

Ultimately what is our goal?
๏ Deep procedural understanding
๏ Deep conceptual understanding

Digital games can help students
learn and practice math in a fun
and natural way

To learn more consider joining

Ignite AMATYC 2012 Second Half

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (8)

Viewers also liked

Viewers also liked (6)

Similar to Ignite AMATYC 2012 Second Half

Similar to Ignite AMATYC 2012 Second Half (20)

More from Fred Feldon

More from Fred Feldon (20)

Ignite AMATYC 2012 Second Half

Editor's Notes