Essence of the Project According to the authors, in the same way that all students should be able to write an essay on any subject, all students should be able to look at a problem, situation or experiment and ask suitable mathematical questions. They should also have some idea of how to apply mathematics to solve a problem. This is inevitably tied to reducing math anxiety among students. These two courses consist of reading and writing assignments in math, in which two college-prep courses are integrated. The latter occurred by using mathematics as the subject of the course's readings and writings and by using Math Chats and writing entries to support and reinforce the mathematical concepts. The professors share: "we help reduce math anxiety by emphasizing that learning mathematics is partially like learning a foreign language, with its own vocabulary and symbols". This model is part of the curriculum developed through the Mathematics Across the Curriculum (MAC) project: http://www.mac3.amatyc.org/ Project Objectives 1. Increase student retention and academic achievement in college prep math and reading; 2. Encourage student academic involvement and motivation; 3. Reduce students' time to degree completion; 4. Expand student-focused goals; 5. Foster learning as a social act through collaborative and cooperative learning.

Professors Lourdes Espana and Isabel Rodrigiez-Dehmer attend the 2007 annual CASTL Cluster Meeting in Boulder, Colorado

MDC Magazine September 2008 Divide and Conquer How Miami Dade College Professors Are Applying Math Across Multiple Disciplines Not long after professor Isabel Rodriguez-Dehmer brushed up on her rusty algebra skills, she stood before a class and discussed the seven steps of factoring polynomials, a type of algebraic expression.... read more

Professor Espana engages her students in "real life" math

The team shared project outcomes at Miami Dade College's Conference Day, March 1 2007. "Making Mathematics Friendly and Indispensible Across the Curriculum" reflects the collaboration between MDC campuses and academic departments to promote student success in mathematics.

Isabel Rodriguez-Dehmer, Professor in Reading, presents the project on MDC Conference Day, 2007

Project Fundamentals The project focuses on collaborative and cooperative learning; i.e. students work in teams, they have the opportunity to learn actively, they create new knowledge together, through shared discovery of patterns, relations, and functions. The students also search together for pre-set RIGHT answers to problems or questions. They use the language of mathematics to express mathematical ideas precisely and post them to the discussion board (WEBCT-Math Chats) the discussion board allows students to evaluate and analyze the mathematical thinking and strategies of others. Problem-based learning includes activities such as the study of the Tsunami Project ( i.e. conversions of currencies donated by countries, the ecological & restoration impact the countries involved). This project allowed students to work through real simulated issues to the learning goals of the course to strengthen their ability to collect and analyze data about those issues. Writing and speaking across the curriculum- these two communicative skills are the fundamental components of the interdisciplinary experiences. Through the web-enhanced software programs i.e. mymathlab, coursecompass and the webct the discussions offer a useful block of time to share experiences on how they recognized and used connections among the mathematical ideas. Ongoing reflection is another essential component of our learning community. Because these experiences allow the time, space, instruction, and encouragement students need to examine what they have learned, how they have learned it, and how that learning might be applied in other situations, they enhance inferences and predications skills. Frequent Testing (group and individual) the strategy encourages students to look at the test and learn to do item analysis, monitor and reflect on the appropriate strategies to correct and understand how mathematical ideas interconnect, and build on one another to produce a coherent whole.