Mathematics at the 2019 Undergraduate Student Success Summit

Rounding out the summit day, Sara Clark, along with Elizabeth Jones, mathematics instructor for the Educational Opportunities Program (EOP), and Cub Kahn, OSU Hybrid Initiative Coordinator, facilitated a round table discussion thinking beyond the traditional textbook order of topics when redesigning a course.

Clark, Jones, Riverstone, Rockwell, and Williams also presented a poster highlighting the benefits to students and faculty of the online grading tool Gradescope.

Mathematics Instructors Participate in a AMS Conference in Florida -- Sara Clark, Lyn Riverstone, Dan Rockwell, and Katy Williams were also part of the “Main Attraction” at the American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges’, AMATYC, 44th Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida this past November. AMATYC’s mission is to “provide high quality professional development, to advocate and collaborate at all levels, and to build communities of learners for all involved in mathematics education in the first two years of college”.

Clark, Riverstone, and Williams, along with Elizabeth Jones, Math Instructor for the Educational Opportunities Program, presented a talk entitled An Active, Adaptive Approach to Teaching and Learning College Algebra. The talk focused on the recent redevelopment of College Algebra, MTH 111, and outlined the challenges and successes of incorporating active learning in the classroom and adaptive online technologies outside of the classroom.

Dan Rockwell presented a mini session at the AMATYC conference entitled Getting Out of the Classroom: Calculus Field Trips for Adults. Rockwell discussed how the activities he uses in his calculus courses that get his students out of the classroom to see math in the real world.

Clark, Jones, Riverstone, and Williams also took advantage of a concurrent conference, Accelerate, put on by the Online Learning Consortium, OLC, also taking place in Orlando at the same time. The OLC’s mission is to create community and connections around quality online and digital learning while driving innovation.

The four math instructors presented a talk with Cub Kahn, OSU Hybrid Initiative Coordinator, and Susan Fein, OSU Ecampus Instructional Designer, on A Team Approach to Redesign of a Large-Enrollment, High-Failure-Rate Course in a Blended, Active and Adaptive Format. The group discussed the process of the collaborative effort used to redesign College Algebra as a blended, active, and doubly adaptive course. Clark, Jones, Riverstone, and Jones also participated in a discovery session about Retelling the Story of College Algebra with an Active and Adaptive Approach for Student Success and Engagement. The session detailed how the order of the college algebra content was completely reimagined to introduce all function types on day one of the course, engaging students early and building big ideas from the start. Williams summed up the experience,

"Going to Florida was a great opportunity to present at two national conferences. It was gratifying to receive such positive feedback from so many colleagues across the country!” -Katy Williams