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Page 1: Meredith Denton-Hedrick Adjunct Associate Professor of Geology Austin Community College

Improving the Quantitative Skills of Introductory

Geology Students at a Large Urban Community College

Meredith Denton-HedrickAdjunct Associate Professor of Geology

Austin Community College

Page 2: Meredith Denton-Hedrick Adjunct Associate Professor of Geology Austin Community College

The Math You Need, When You Need ItMath Tutorials for Students in Introductory Geosciences

Dr. Eric Baer, Highline Community College [email protected]

Dr. Jennifer M. Wenner, University of [email protected]

Funding provided by NSF Grant Numbers DUE-633755 and DUE-633402 (Dec 2006-Dec 2009)

Sponsored by the National Association of Geoscience Teachers

Page 3: Meredith Denton-Hedrick Adjunct Associate Professor of Geology Austin Community College

Typical ACC Geology StudentNon-science majorNeeds to satisfy a degree requirement for

a laboratory science class“Math-phobic” or long out of practice Believes geology is not a quantitative

scienceExpects “geology will be easy” compared

to other sciences

Often intimidated and uncomfortable in an environment they expected to be math-free

Page 4: Meredith Denton-Hedrick Adjunct Associate Professor of Geology Austin Community College

What is TMYN?Quantitative tutorials for math remediation

Web-based, stand-alone moduleshttp://serc.carleton.edu/mathyouneed/index.html

Uses plain English

Presented in a geoscience context

You choose the modules that fit your course

Gives students math skills just before they will use them in a concurrent geoscience course

Page 5: Meredith Denton-Hedrick Adjunct Associate Professor of Geology Austin Community College

Why Use TMYN?Skirts prerequisite issue

Less time spent in class/lab reviewing quantitative topics

Accommodates wide range of math abilities in the classroom

Less instructor “hand-holding”

Page 6: Meredith Denton-Hedrick Adjunct Associate Professor of Geology Austin Community College

Why Use TMYN?Data shows that the tutorials are effective

Improved students across the board, not just developmental-level students

Students feel their needs are being supported

Improves student success and confidence

Student retention increases

Page 7: Meredith Denton-Hedrick Adjunct Associate Professor of Geology Austin Community College

Available TutorialsCalculating densityGraphingUnit conversionsRearranging equationsCalculating ratesSlopes and topographic mapsCalculating distances and angles with

trigonometryUnderstanding hypsometric curves

Page 8: Meredith Denton-Hedrick Adjunct Associate Professor of Geology Austin Community College

Module Design

1. Introduce the concept and present an algorithm for solving problems

2. Provide a set of practice problems with worked answers

3. Students demonstrate mastery with an online quiz

Page 9: Meredith Denton-Hedrick Adjunct Associate Professor of Geology Austin Community College

Module Design - IntroductionGive geologic context

Walk students through likely previous experience with the mathematical conceptMiles per hour, miles per gallon

Give students steps to approach similar problems

Provide resources to further explore the concept

Page 10: Meredith Denton-Hedrick Adjunct Associate Professor of Geology Austin Community College

Module Design – PracticeGive students practice with real problems

Practice the mechanics of the math Understand how the math applies to your class

Students work at their own pace

Provide worked answers to the problemsAnswers are hidden until they are ready to see

them

Give students confidence in their ability to do the math

Page 11: Meredith Denton-Hedrick Adjunct Associate Professor of Geology Austin Community College

Module Design - QuizOptional

Quizzes housed at WAMAP.orgWashington Mathematics Assessment and PlacementOpen-source CMS for mathematical problem solvingContact Eric or Jen for access and instructions

Quizzes designed by youChoose existing questions from libraryEdit existing questionsWrite new questions

Page 12: Meredith Denton-Hedrick Adjunct Associate Professor of Geology Austin Community College

Module Design - QuizInstructors can test:

Knowledge (allow students only one try)

Mastery (allow students to take quizzes multiple times)

Students can work through quiz at their own pace or can be timed

Software grades quiz, dumps data into gradebook

Eric and Jen would like to see your pre- and post-test data, but not required

Page 13: Meredith Denton-Hedrick Adjunct Associate Professor of Geology Austin Community College

Ways to Use TMYNOptional

for all students

for students who demonstrate poor math skills on a pre-test

Required

for students who demonstrate poor math skills students see this as punitive

for all students as part of lab exercises

for all students as pre-lab exercises

Page 14: Meredith Denton-Hedrick Adjunct Associate Professor of Geology Austin Community College
Page 15: Meredith Denton-Hedrick Adjunct Associate Professor of Geology Austin Community College

ResultsImproved preparedness for the lab

assignmentsLess direction and assistance required from

instructor

Scores on quantitative laboratory quizzes have increased by an average of 10 points

Assessments show that students retain their math skills for the duration of the class

Student feedback has been overwhelmingly positive

Page 16: Meredith Denton-Hedrick Adjunct Associate Professor of Geology Austin Community College

ChallengesTechnical glitches (rare)

Students can’t log in to WAMAP.orgSoftware doesn’t recognize “close enough”

answer

Implementation glitchesMaking quizzes optional didn’t work

Students who didn’t need it were the ones who did it

Students who need this the most sometimes just won’t do it

Page 17: Meredith Denton-Hedrick Adjunct Associate Professor of Geology Austin Community College

Questions?


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