Rationale As our economy is changing and becoming information based, the demands and pressures on our students are changing with it. Learning is no longer static. Students need to know how to access new information, keep their expertise up to date, collaborate and be cognizant of the many technological tools available. It is becoming increasingly important that they take charge of their own learning and become confident in their ability to master new concepts. Redesigning calculus to include labs and field trips is an attempt to address these needs without compromising the rigor or contents of the course. It is manifested in the student comments how successful we have been in that direction

Implementation (pedagogy) Under the redesign, the curriculum is presented in a series of collaborative projects that go hand in hand with the traditional "textbook order". The students develop familiarity with the concepts taught by applying the mathematical theorems and concepts to calculate concrete quantities. During this process, they learn to depend on each other and build a supportive community within our classroom. Some of these projects are based on field trips we take to local organizations, industries or businesses that use calculus in their practices. Such field trips ignite interest in the subject matter and help our students get a vision and focus for their studies.

Implementation (technology) Tablets are used to directly record and analyze data collected in science labs. Because they are easily portable and convertible, students record the data in Excel spreadsheets and can perform some basic calculations instantly at the lab. The wireless network makes Mathematica notebooks and applets accessible during class. The Tablets provide a platform for student collaboration and communication. Classroom Presenter is used to get feedback and review during class. Students give class presentations using the free handwriting features of the Tablet PCs. Finally field trips to industries, businesses and organizations help connect the classroom to the scientific workplace.

Impact on Student Learning The success and retention rates in the classes taught with the redesign were compared against the historical data from 120 sections of Calculus II The retention rate was at an average of 87.0%, up from 76.7% and the success rate was 78.3% up from an average of 68.7%. A record high 95% - 100% consistent attendance rate was noted while 17% of the students in Fall of 2005 and 26% in Spring of 2006 improved their performance by 1-2 letter grades after the deployment of the redesign. Because students were learning much more than the standard curriculum, it was necessary to test whether the traditional topics were covered in the same depth. A control class with similar student body composition was used, and students in both the control and Tablet classes were asked common test questions. Confidence intervals were constructed that showed the performance of the two groups not to be of significant difference. The faculty involved have been engaged and inspired by the new methodologies and the Tablet Technology team is expanding to include faculty in neighboring community colleges. Contra Costa College and Los Medanos College mathematics professors, once funding is secured, plan to use Tablet Technology in their Calculus classroom. It is telling how a student put it: "For the first time in my life, I considered the actual practical applications of Mathematics, let alone Calculus, in our daily lives."

DVC students Sara Layton and Matt Prato are recording data in the Physics Lab. In teaching, the focus must be on the student. When students are taught by investigating math topics through collaborative hands on research projects they get more involved, better motivated and therefore more successful in their quest for learning. Tablet technology brings in an abundance of such learning experiences. Students are truly appreciative of these new learning experiences

Impact on Teaching Current research [1] , [6] has shown that introductory engineering courses should aim to provide students with an understanding of the global and social context in which science and mathematics are used as processes of investigation and problem solving.  In the last decade there have been a multitude of successful programs in engineering and science education that reach out to the community and encourage experiential learning, such as the National EPICS Program [2], the global classroom (GC) at East Carolina University or the explorations of science in the Abacoa Greenways in Florida Atlantic University [4].  The advancement of mobile technology has made possible to remove the barriers of the classroom and make the student the focus of the learning.  Furthermore the inquiry based collaboration in the classroom teaches students team building, critical thinking, confidence in their skills how to be independent learners.

Quick Facts Department: Mathematics Courses Impacted: Mathematics 193, Calculus and Analytic Geometry II Mathematics 292, Calculus and Analytic Geometry III Student Impact: 130 students Number of Faculty Involved: 4 mathematics faculty This project is funded in part by an HP Technology for Teaching grant.

Contact Us     PI Despina T. Prapavessi, Ph. D Mathematics Department [email protected] Tel: (925) 685-1230 ext.2845 Dept. Fax: (925) 687-2557   Jenny Smith Mathematics Department [email protected] Tel: (925) 685-1230 ext.2302 Dept. Fax: (925) 687-2557   Ted Nirgiotis Mathematics Department [email protected] Tel: (925) 685-1230 ext.2841 Dept. Fax: (925) 687-2557 Sam Needham Mathematics Department [email protected] Tel: (925) 685-1230 ext.2839 Dept. Fax: (925) 687-2557

References  [1] Narum, Jeanne L., Ed. 'Recommendations for Action in Support of Undergraduate Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics' Project Kaleidoscope: Washington, 2002 . Report on Reports http://www.pkal.org/documents/ReportonReports.pdf [2] (NSF Award-DUE #0231361) National EPICS Program. http://epics.ecn.purdue.edu/ [3] (NSF Award-DUE # 0536839) Inquiry Based Learning in Mathematics.. [4] (NSF Award-DUE #0088211) Discovery Based Science and Mathematics in an Environmental Context. [5] (NSF Award-DUE #9952306) Demos with Positive Impact [6] Narum, Jeanne L., Ed.' Recommendations for Urgent Action; Transforming America

This project supported in part by an HP Technology for Teaching grant.