Abstract
This project is reforming and enhancing the learning of mathematics
in line with educational research and current nationwide calls for
changes in pedagogy in mathematics education. Technology is being
utilized in mathematics courses to teach techniques such as collaborative
learning, learning by discovery, and concept exploration. The project
is adapting and implementing technology based on methods from NSF
Instrumentation and Laboratory Improvement (ILI) projects at SUNY
A&T Cobleskill in New York, Shoreline Community College in Washington,
and Queensborough Community College in New York. The mathematics
department is allocating one classroom for a mathematics laboratory
to run software including Derive and Scientific Notebook with Maple.
All calculus classes are meeting in this classroom along with a
select subset of classes in Math for Elementary Teachers, Intermediate
Algebra, and Precalculus. On-line quizzes are being prepared. As
a two-year college, students are being prepared for transfer to
four-year colleges and universities as well as for life-long learning.
The mathematics laboratory is fostering motivation, innovation,
and learning.
Project Overview:
The University
of Wisconsin Colleges (UWC) is a publicly supported two-year institution
with 13 campuses located in small- and medium-size towns throughout
the state. The UWC offers freshman- and sophomore-level university
courses in the liberal arts and pre-professional programs to approximately
11,000 students, and confers a general education Associate Degree.
The primary mission of the UWC is to prepare students for transfer
to a baccalaureate institution. (The state has a separate system
of two-year campuses for vocational-technical training.) With our
guaranteed transfer program with the baccalaureate-granting UW campuses,
our lower tuition costs (as compared to those UW campuses) and our
accessibility to communities throughout the state, we are the preferred
choice for students wishing to transfer to particular baccalaureate-granting
UW campuses. UW-Waukesha is the largest of the 13 UWC campuses,
with 50 full-time and 27 part-time faculty in 17 departments offering
an array of courses in 29 disciplines. Approximately 46 percent
of all entering students transfer to a four-year campus; approximately
70 percent of those who transfer earn a bachelor’s degree. UW-Waukesha
this semester has 1,771 students, all of whom are commuters.
Twenty-two percent of the students are non-traditional (i.e., 25
years of age or older); 57 percent are women; 58 percent are first-generation
college students (i.e., students from families in which neither
parent graduated from college); and 7 percent are from racial or
ethnic minorities (reflecting the current state percentage for these
same groups).
The UWC academic
departments are organized as they would be if the institution were
single-sited; i.e., there is one institution-wide department per
discipline. All 13 campuses offer courses from a common curriculum.
UW-Waukesha’s Mathematics faculty consist of six tenured faculty
members, one tenure-track faculty member and three part-time instructors.
The Mathematics
department offers introductory courses in mathematics including
three semesters of Calculus and one course in Linear Mathematics
(which includes differential equations). Mathematics for Elementary
Teachers is also offered every spring. (See Appendix 1 for a complete
list of mathematics courses offered.) Our department is the
largest on the campus, serving about 850 students each semester.
The purpose
of this grant is to develop a computer-oriented classroom and lab
that would be dedicated for use by mathematics courses on our campus.
All of our Calculus series courses would be held in this classroom,
along with a select subset of classes in Mathematics for Elementary
Teachers and Intermediate Algebra through Pre-calculus. Most of
our current textbooks have technology-based explorations for various
mathematical concepts (see Appendix 2 for a listing of our current
textbooks). We also plan on further developing existing models of
on-line quizzes for most of our courses, starting at the Intermediate
Algebra level. These on-line quizzes can be created with a mathematics
software called Scientific Notebook, and can be graded for students
with the click of their mouse. We also plan on adapting and
implementing parts of the NSF Instrumentation and Laboratory
Improvement (ILI) projects at SUNY A&T Cobleskill in New York,
Shoreline Community College in Washington, and Queensborough Community
College in New York.
Innovations or Unique Successes
to Date:
On-line quizzes for the courses below have been developed by the Principal
Investigator.
Different activities the lab was used for since the lab was fully
functional in spring 2000:
- Use of "PowerPoint" presentations.
- Use of "Journey
Through Calculus" c.d.
- Use of "Scientific
Notebook" by instructors to write class materials, to
write on-line quizzes/exams, and for demonstration purposes.
- Use of Scientific Notebook by students to
write reports, perform complicated mathematical calculations,
and graph functions.
- Use of Derive
for demonstrations and projects (mostly in the Calculus series).
- Use of "Logo"
programming and "Excel" in Mathematics for Elementary
Teachers course.
- Use of "Geometer's
SketchPad" in Geometry for Elementary Teachers and Trigonometry.
Additional Information:
Titles of courses affected by project so far:
- Mat 105 (Intermediate Algebra)
- Mat 110 (College Algebra)
- Mat 113 (Trigonometry)
- Mat 130 (Mathematics for Elementary Teachers)
- Mat 132 (Geometry for Elementary Teachers)
- Mat 211 (Business Calculus)
- Mat 221 (Calculus and Analytic Geometry I)
- Mat 222 (Calculus and Analytic Geometry II)
- Mat 223 (Calculus and Analytic Geometry III)
Description of equipment or instrumentation and the setup of
the lab:
Our Math Lab consists of 16 computers (Pentium III 550), one projection
unit (Sharp) with a screen to project on, and a laser printer
(HP LaserJet 4050N).
Below is a grid explaining the actual layout of the classroom.
There is a projection screen above the whiteboard toward the center
of the room that can be pulled down when the ceiling projection
unit is in use.
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WHITEBOARD
Door
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MAT 01
INSTRUCTOR COMPUTER
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MAT02
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MAT03
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MAT04
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MAT05
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MAT06
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PRINTER
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MAT07
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MAT08
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MAT09
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MAT10
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MAT11
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MAT12
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MAT13
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MAT14
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MAT15
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MAT16
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This website was last modified on May 30, 2000.
If you have any questions, or would like to know about our project,
you can e-mail the investigators:
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