Your Students… Where Are They Headed? What Do They Need? (with your help)

1. Your Students…Where Are They Headed? What Do They Need?(with your help) Jeff Morgan Chair, Department of Mathematics Director, Center for Academic Support and Assessment University of Houston

2. Shameless Advertising • High School Mathematics Contesthttp://mathcontest.uh.edu • Houston Area Calculus Teachers Association AP Calculus Workshopshttp://www.HoustonACT.org • EatMath Algebra I Teacher Workshopshttp://www.EatMath.org

3. (continued) • Online Practice AP Testing in Calculus and Statistics (info at http://www.HoustonACT.org) • Online Practice AP Chemistry Testing(Beginning Spring 2009) • Online Materials (see http://online.math.uh.edu) • UTeach Replication (teachHOUSTON)

4. Technology Tool Tips • PDF Annotator • Mimio Notebook • WinPlot • Bamboo Tablet

5. Back to Business…Interesting Trends and Observations

6. Fall Freshmen Math

7. Fall Calculus I, II and III Math 2433 enrollment: Summer 06 = 62, Summer 07 = 106.

8. Fall Math Below Calculus

9. Concerns • Prerequisite Knowledge • Arithmetic • Graphing Knowledge • Algebraic Skills • Student Performance • Independence • Responsibility

10. Previous AttitudeThey are adults. Let them find their own way.Current AttitudeForce them to work hard.

11. 2003 - Actions In MathematicsBelow Calculus I • Improved Placement Testing - Fall 2007 • No Adjunct or Graduate Student Instruction • Mandatory Attendance • Daily Class Grades • Daily Written Homework • Weekly Online Quizzes • Online Course Materials • Increased Tutoring Availability • Common Exams and Common Grading • Improved Instruction and Course Coordination

12. 2007 - Actions In Calculus I • Improved Placement Testing – Fall 2007 • Mandatory Attendance (40%) • Daily Class Grades (40%) • Weekly Written Homework (75%) • Weekly Online Quizzes (100% 2005) • Online Course Materials (100% 2005) • Increased Tutoring Availability (2003) • Common Exams and Common Grading (2005) • Improved Course Coordination (2005) • Peer Pressure

13. Performance Data - College Algebra Improved performance with increased standards.

14. Performance DataPreCalculus Maintained performance with increased standards.

15. Performance DataCalculus I Time will tell…

16. The Bottom Line Students will only work as hard as you require them to work. If you want more from your students, then demand more.

17. Which Missing Skills Are Crippling Students in College?(…the same ones that cripple them in your classroom…) • Simple Arithmetic • Simple Algebraic Manipulation • Graphing and Understanding Basic Shapes • Simple Geometry • Critical Thinking • A Sense of Responsibility

18. Simple Arithmetic

19. Example – Basic Fractions

20. Example – Integer Manipulation

21. Solutions • Restrict calculator usage. • Encourage drill and kill arithmetic for 5 minutes each day.

22. Simple Algebraic Manipulation

23. Example – Facts Through Experimentation

24. Example – Facts Through Experimentation (if they are proceeding to calculus)

25. Comments • Not everything has to be memorized. • Encourage students to experiment. • We expose students to so much of the forest, that they don’t know the difference between an oak and a pine. • Students need to be able to organize their work.

26. Example – Lines 1

27. Example – Lines 2

28. Example – Lines and Quadratics

29. Graphing and Understanding Basic Shapes

30. Please…

31. More…

32. You Can’t Keep Yourself From Reading “Stop” (this is a different drill)

33. Example – Why Shape Is Important?

34. Example - Growth

35. Notes • Your students will be required to create simple graphs without a calculator, and also think about the shapes of simple graphs. • Your students should know everything about lines and parabolas (except foci), square root, 1/x, sine and cosine. • Your students should have seen an asymptote.

36. Simple Geometry

37. What Geometric Concepts are Important? • Pythagorean Theorem • Areas of triangles, rectangles and circles. • Circumference of rectangles and circles. • The sum of the angles in a triangle. • The facts associated with isosceles and equilateral triangles. • Triangle trigonometry (if they are proceeding to calculus). Honestly, that’s it!

38. Combining Arithmetic, Algebra and Geometry

39. In General, We Are Happy If Students • Can do simple arithmetic and basic algebra. • Know everything about lines. • Know everything about parabolas (except foci). • Can solve linear and quadratic equations. • Can factor simple quadratics, complete the square and use the quadratic formula. • Have seen an asymptote. • Know the shapes of basic functions (nothing tricky). • Know the area formulas for circles, rectangles and triangles, and know the perimeter of a circle and a rectangle. • *Know the trig functions at the special angles. • Can organize their work.

40. Critical Thinking Can your students find the error in an argument? Can your students combine ideas without seeing a previous example? Do your student know the difference between a definition and an example?

41. Example – Simple Critical Thinking

42. A Sense of Responsibility This Is The #1 Employer Requirement!