Blogs

IMPACTful Discussions (TfP): Growing Together Through Community

By Karen Gaines posted 18 days ago
As we close out the fifth year of the Teaching for PROWESS (TfP) project, we can’t help but smile at how far we’ve come. What began as an idea to improve how math is taught at two-year colleges has blossomed into something much bigger—a supportive, growing community of educators committed to active learning, meaningful and sustainable change, and collaboration. TfP is more than just a project. It’s become a network of people who are learning, sharing, and building something powerful together. Through hands-on experiences like Summer Institutes , site visits , reverse site visits , and tools like the Vision and Transformation Catalyst Toolkit ...

IMPACTful Blog: SPICE Treasure Hunts

By Jillian Miller posted 06-17-2025
One thing that the SPICE project is focusing on is creating resources that can be used for years to come and that can be used outside of the specific ITYC call (though as a dedicated two-year track, this is where 2Y math faculty should apply). One of the ways we’re doing that is by creating Treasure Hunts. These treasure hunts take you through different parts of the process one at a time, and then we have both asynchronous discussion forums and a synchronous virtual debrief. Though the synchronous events happen one time (for now), the discussion forums persist and anyone who comes to the group can do the work and continue the discussion at any time. Grant ...

IMPACTful Blog: Supporting Proposal Incubation and Creation for Educators at Two Year Institutions (SPICE) Project

By Jillian Miller posted 06-10-2025
Writing grants can seem completely overwhelming, even as faculty have amazing ideas on how to better teach their students, how to get their students more engaged, and how to make sure their students are prepared for their careers and the world. And the IUSE: Innovation in Two-Year Colleges program is a great opportunity to support faculty in doing these things. This project focuses on helping two-year faculty through the grant writing process by sharing resources, connecting with faculty who have projects that have been funded, and connecting to other faculty to make sure that they are not alone in the education reform process. We will be hosting virtual ...

IMPACTful Discussions (Innovative Teaching and Learning): AI and You

By Rob Eby posted 05-03-2025
HAL: Let me put it this way, Mr. Amor. The 9000 series is the most reliable computer ever made. No 9000 computer has ever made a mistake or distorted information. We are all, by any practical definition of the words, foolproof and incapable of error. HAL: I know I've made some very poor decisions recently, but I can give you my complete assurance that my work will be back to normal. I've still got the greatest enthusiasm and confidence in the mission. And I want to help you. If you are a fan of the film “2001: A Space Oddity” you recognize the above quotes. If you are not, in short so as not to give spoilers, HAL is an AI computer built to help ...

IMPACTful Discussions (RMETYC, Equity, DevMath): Equity in Action: Using Research to Influence Change

By Frank Marfai posted 04-02-2025
In a key chapter of the book Vital Directions for Mathematics Education Research edited by Jeremy Kilpatrick in 2013, Jo Boaler and colleagues spoke to the need of having more “foxes” in mathematics education (see reference, chapter attached to this post). To quote a portion of their abstract, “Mathematics education researchers have produced many important research insights into how students learn mathematics, but relatively few of these insights have influenced the practice of classrooms. This chapter takes up Kilpatrick’s call for more “foxes” in mathematics education and considers the ways the field may move to work in more “foxy” ways. (pg. 189). In ...

IMPACTful Blog (Math Intensive): Mathematical Notation

By Robert Cappetta posted 02-20-2025
From our earliest days in school, mathematics notation presents a problem. Do we really need so many ways to express multiplication? 2x3 is the first notation children see. Later versions include 2•3, 2∗3, 2(3), and (2)(3). As kids move into algebra, so many of them struggle, so maybe the notation is part of the problem. Bob Davis, one of the early pioneers in mathematics education, preferred the notation with missing numbers represented by empty boxes and triangles. It makes more sense to put 7 into an empty box, rather than into an x in . An internet meme with a huge number of views is the arithmetic question 8 ÷ 2 ...

IMPACTful Blog (Math Intensive): Testing Challenges in Math Intensive Courses

By Robert Cappetta posted 01-15-2025
Since the pandemic, there has been an increased focus on providing calculus classes to remote learners. In the past, distance-learning students typically completed exams at college testing centers or approved off-site locations such as public libraries or military bases. However, the significant rise in the number of remote students has made these options increasingly impractical. In recent years, internet-based proctoring services have been used to maintain the integrity of the exams, but a quick YouTube search on “How to Cheat on Online Proctored Exams” yields several results including one video with 1.2 million views. A second concern with these systems ...

IMPACTful Blog (Math Intensive): Evolving Calculus Curriculum

By Robert Cappetta posted 01-15-2025
In the 1980s, the calculus reform movement brought forward some exciting ideas to improve how we teach those courses. These recommendations focused on using technology, solving real-world problems, and helping students communicate mathematical ideas clearly—both in writing and through discussion. The movement also introduced the "rule of three," encouraging students to approach key concepts graphically, numerically, and algebraically. Topics were carefully selected to connect with a variety of disciplines, and the emphasis shifted away from memorizing formulas and mimicking procedures. Furthermore, clear and simple language was preferred over complex mathematical ...

IMPACTful Blog - Developmental Mathematics - Motivating Students to Succeed

By Kim Granger posted 11-05-2024
For the past three years, I have taught both a stand-alone college algebra course as well as a college algebra with support (our version of a co-requisite) course every semester. I have used the same course calendar and the same tests for both groups of students. Both classes are “flipped” and class time is filled with active learning. Both classes meet 3 days a week: the stand-alone class meetings are 50 minutes long, and the co-requisite class meetings are 100 minutes long. I have discovered that the college-ready students are working harder and having more success than the students in the corequisite courses. Through the use of an electronic ...

IMPACTful Blog (TfP): Change is inevitable. Transformation is a choice.

By Karen Gaines posted 10-17-2024
It is my hope that the title of this blog (a quote from Heather Ash Amara) gets you thinking about what transformation really entails. Often change is thrust upon us by outside factors, but to truly transform, we need to make a choice to do so. Transformation (according to the Cambridge Dictionary) is ‘a complete change in the…character of something or someone, especially so that the thing or person is improved.’ As instructors, as well as people, we should always be striving to improve ourselves. AMATYC is doing its part to transform mathematics education in the first two years of college by continually updating our standards (as highlighted last ...

IMPACTful Blog - TfP - A Look at the AMATYC Summer Institute for Active Learning

By Scot Pruyn posted 10-01-2024
The Teaching for PROWESS (TfP) project continues to lead the way in transforming mathematics education in the first two years of college. Project leadership, along with faculty from Phase 1 and 2 colleges, kicked off Summer 2024 with the AMATYC Summer Institute for Active Learning, held at Clackamas Community College’s Harmony Campus in Portland, OR from June 19-22. This exciting event brought together 4-person college teams from Pellissippi State CC, North Iowa Area CC, Pennsylvania College of Technology, Arkansas State University - Beebe, Trident Technical College, Kansas City Kansas CC, Oakland CC, Gallatin College, Weber State University, Fox Valley Technical ...

IMPACTful Blog (Standards) - Embracing the Standards

By Karen Gaines posted 09-18-2024
Our colleagues in AMATYC have never ceased to amaze me. Their dedication to mathematics education, especially to our students in the first two years of college, is impressive. One of the best pieces of evidence to my claim is our set of standards found in Crossroads, Beyond Crossroads , and IMPACT written by AMATYC members over the past 30 years. These documents inform everyone about our strong conviction to provide the best possible mathematics education for our students. When was the last time you looked at these unbelievable documents? I must admit that I received a hard copy of Crossroads when I joined AMATYC back in 1996 and did not read ...

IMPACTful Blog (Standards Team): See what’s new in Beyond Crossroads Chapter 6!

By Mark Earley posted 09-09-2024
Over the past two years, members of AMATYC have worked in teams to update Chapter 6 in Beyond Crossroads , which is about Curriculum and Program Development. We have received feedback from members through three open forums in Summer 2023 and Summer 2024. We are now in the final stages of revising this chapter so it can go to the 2024 Delegate Assembly for approval, and we need your feedback! What revisions have your colleagues made? A team from the Statistics & Data Science ANet, led by Mark Earley, created two new sections not in the originally published document: one for statistics courses and one for data science programs. The team ...

IMPACTFUL Blog (Standards Team): See what’s new in Beyond Crossroads Chapter 6!

By Mark Earley posted 09-09-2024
Over the past two years, members of AMATYC have worked in teams to update Chapter 6 in Beyond Crossroads , which is about Curriculum and Program Development. We have received feedback from members through three open forums in Summer 2023 and Summer 2024. We are now in the final stages of revising this chapter so it can go to the 2024 Delegate Assembly for approval, and we need your feedback! What revisions have your colleagues made? A team from the Statistics & Data Science ANet, led by Mark Earley, created two new sections not in the originally published document: one for statistics courses and one for data science programs. The team ...

IMPACTful Blog (Standards Team): See what’s new in Beyond Crossroads Chapter 6!

By Mark Earley posted 09-09-2024
Over the past two years, members of AMATYC have worked in teams to update Chapter 6 in Beyond Crossroads , which is about Curriculum and Program Development. We have received feedback from members through three open forums in Summer 2023 and Summer 2024. We are now in the final stages of revising this chapter so it can go to the 2024 Delegate Assembly for approval, and we need your feedback! What revisions have your colleagues made? A team from the Statistics & Data Science ANet, led by Mark Earley, created two new sections not in the originally published document: one for statistics courses and one for data science programs. The team ...

IMPACTful Blog - Teacher Prep - Time for an Update?

By Keith Nabb posted 07-18-2024
Contrary to the widespread belief that education is slow to change, mathematics education has seen frequent changes in the last few decades. Student needs have changed, resulting in a reformulation of what courses and pathways are meaningful for today’s students. Instructional technology has changed the ways teachers might introduce an idea. Today, Artificial Intelligence has the potential to radically reformulate pedagogy in light of both its power to illuminate thinking and the dangers of outsourcing such thinking. Is it time for mathematics educators to rethink what is important for K-8 students to know about mathematics? What do you think? What feelings ...

IMPACTful Blog (Teacher Prep): Do your students love math?

By Xianwei Van Harpen posted 07-01-2024
“I’ve always been terrible at math.” While common in mainstream American culture, this statement should concern us when coming from a prospective 3 rd grade teacher—someone who bears the responsibility of educating children in a variety of subject areas. Will this negative sentiment be passed down to his students? Will she allot less time to a subject she does not like or understand? Will a child’s creative solution fail to be recognized? We feel everyone can learn to love mathematics if they understand it. If students are given the space to explore and opportunities to share, this platitude may one day become, “I’ve always loved math. It has always made sense ...

SEAL-M Grant Repository of Math Lessons

By Ryan Kasha posted 06-25-2024
My name is Ryan Kasha, and I am a co-PI on an NSF funded grant at Valencia College on infusing active learning in mathematics. One of our goal of this grant is to build and share a repository of active learning lessons for mathematics. I am writing this blog to share this resource beyond my college. I hope you will explore and enjoy this resource. Successful Engagement: Active Learning in Mathematics (SEAL-M) , a 5-year NSF grant project, seeks to deepen community college mathematics faculty members’ understanding of active learning to emphasize knowledge construction leading to student success. Our project is a fun, collaborative way to take your teaching ...

IMPACTful Blog - The Synergistic Power of Interdisciplinary Teaching

By Jillian Miller posted 06-19-2024
SPECIAL NOTE: This blog has been posted on behalf of a QB@CC colleague, Joseph Esquibel . Joe teaches biology at Lansing Community College in Michigan. Hello! As a biology professor in this QB@CC interdisciplinary network, I’ve seen the impact of interdisciplinary education from a slightly different perspective. I was always interested in adding a numerical and quantitative focus to my teaching. However, it wasn't until I joined this network and worked closely with teams of math and biology faculty that I really reached this goal. My classes feel transformed. It is easy to think of classroom time as a zero-sum game, that time spent on one ...

IMPACTFUL Blog: Interdisciplinary Collaborations Empower Students & Faculty

By Jillian Miller posted 06-03-2024
“When am I ever going to use this?!” Math educators hear this question time and time again. Quantitative Biology at Community Colleges (QB@CC) is a 5-year NSF RCN-UBE funded project aimed at helping math instructors answer this age-old question for their students, especially their biology students who may not recognize the importance of quantitative skills in their chosen discipline. The primary objective of the project is to build a network of math and biology faculty from community colleges around the nation who work together to enhance students’ quantitative skills by creating, publishing, and disseminating open-access cross-curricular materials. Small ...