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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
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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.
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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.
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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."
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DVC students Sara Layton and Matt Prato are recording data in the Physics Lab.
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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
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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.
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Quick Facts
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Department: |
Mathematics |
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Courses Impacted: |
Mathematics 193, Calculus and Analytic Geometry II
Mathematics 292, Calculus and Analytic Geometry III |
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Student Impact:
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130 students |
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Number
of
Faculty Involved: |
4
mathematics faculty |
This project is funded in part by an HP Technology for Teaching grant.
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Contact Us
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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
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Ted Nirgiotis
Mathematics
Department
[email protected]
Tel: (925) 685-1230 ext.2841
Dept. Fax: (925) 687-2557
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Sam Needham
Mathematics
Department
[email protected]
Tel: (925) 685-1230 ext.2839
Dept. Fax: (925) 687-2557
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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
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