PreparingStudentsforElementaryStatisticsorMathfor.pptVIP

I didn’t talk about: (Ask me) continued 1 What are some details about what are in our other modules? How similar is the preparation needed for our three college-level courses – in topics and in level? What percentage of our students do we expect to take this kind of course? How do we prepare teachers to teach it? * End of the talk * Preparing Students for Elementary Statistics or Math for Liberal Arts Mary Parker Austin Community College /mparker/jmm10/ January 14, 2010 * Purpose of the Course MATD 0385, Developing Mathematical Thinking, is designed to give students practice in the appropriate habits of mind to help them succeed in college-level mathematics courses. It does not include enough algebra to be appropriate for students preparing for College Algebra. * Purpose of this talk To give you ideas about how to find / adapt materials to offer an alternative course to Intermediate Algebra, if you wish to do so. * Outline of this talk Characteristics of our students Choosing our topics and materials Discussion of our approach to “Exponential Growth” in some detail Conclusions What I didn’t talk about. (Ask me.) * Our students Most of the students who enroll in MATD 0385, Developing Mathematical Thinking, at ACC are students who made C’s in Elementary Algebra and/or who have failed Intermediate Algebra (often multiple times.) (Students can qualify to go on to Elementary Statistics, Math for Liberal Arts, or Math for Measurement with an Assessment Test score equivalent to approximately the end of Elementary Algebra. ) * Our students’ attitudes and characteristics Most students in the class Are grateful to have an alternative to Intermediate Algebra. Feel sure that math is supposed to be taught in a “rote” fashion. Are not skilled at organizing their homework and study time. * Preparing for later courses None of the courses for which we are preparing these students are organized in a way that a “rote” learning method is going to be very successful. We b