Blogs

IMPACTful Blog: Do we teach the way we were taught?

By Frank Marfai posted 22 days ago
Stigler and Hierbert (1999) note that teaching is cultural, and that we teach the way we were taught. Foreign born instructors when coming to the United States, may have experienced a “culture shock” which had required them to vary their approaches to teaching mathematics. Likewise, mathematics teachers in the United States, through the process of professional development and studying research, have professionally grown in their teaching practices. Some have experienced this growth also through observing international colleagues and students. We invite you to join our conversation this month with your experiences related to this topic. Sources: ...

IMPACTful Blog - Quantitative Reasoning

By Gregory Foley posted 03-19-2024
I have always loved mathematics and been fascinated by mathematics in nature—from the Fibonacci sequence in the spirals on pinecones and the heads of sunflowers to fractals in trees and coastlines. Over the past few decades, however, I have come to realize that many students like more practical applications than these, such as the mathematics of personal finances and health decisions. Lynn Steen, Bernie Madison, Iddo Gal, Ellen Peters, the MAA’s special interest group of quantitative literacy (SIGMAA-QL), and the National Numeracy Network have opened a new world to me— and consequently to my students! I have learned that quantitative literacy enhances and ...

IMPACTful Blog - Quantitative Reasoning

By Rick Powers posted 03-08-2024
Quantitative reasoning (QR) is often associated with mathematics and science courses, but it goes beyond those areas. Colleges and universities are integrating QR skills into various academic settings, from the humanities to the arts. In this blog post, we explore how institutions like Wellesley, Millikin, and Carleton are expanding the reach of QR education by offering courses in unconventional disciplines. Wellesley College has a foundational QR requirement, coupled with a Data Literacy (DL) requirement ( https://www.wellesley.edu/qr/requirement ). One of the latter courses is “Network Analysis for Art History,” where students are doing the following: ...

How can digital platforms help us pursue proficiency through students’ engagement?

By Lucie Mingla posted 02-04-2024
How can digital platforms help us pursue proficiency through students’ engagement? One of IMPACT’s pillars is Proficiency . The National Institution of Health (NIH) proficiency scale describes an individual’s level of proficiency in a particular competency. 1 - Fundamental Awareness (basic knowledge) 2 - Novice (limited experience) 3 - Intermediate (practical application) 4 - Advanced (applied theory) 5 - Expert (recognized authority) In a similar way we think of proficiency in learning a topic, or skill in class. To become proficient means to become an expert on the field. However, mastering the concepts and skills can only ...

IMPACTful Discussion/Blog - Linear Algebra

By Robert Cappetta posted 01-02-2024
In several discussions with members of the Math Intensive Academic Network, we have identified several challenges with the linear algebra courses taught at two-year colleges. These include prerequisite courses, curriculum design and transfer issues. Additionally, advances in technology provide opportunities that were previously unavailable. Some two-year colleges require an advanced prerequisite like multivariate calculus (Parkland College, Monroe Community College), others integral calculus (College of DuPage, College of Southern Nevada, Miami Dade College), and still others differential calculus (Bucks College, Community College of Baltimore County, ...

IMPACTful Discussion/Blog - Curiosity in Assessment

By Luke Walsh posted 10-06-2023
When educators reflect on the assessment implemented in their courses, there are many curiosity perspectives that can take shape. For example, the assessment results could lead to a curiosity about why some students were successful and why some students struggled. Or, in other words, was there an inequity in the assessment that privileged a group of students? I have been curious about the format of tests and how each format can provide a barrier for a certain type of student. While some students are more successful with a very structured test format, like timed, seated, and paper, other students experience a high level of anxiety with a structured format and ...

Engaging Students by Inspiring Their Hearts and Minds

By Jennifer Ackerman posted 09-22-2023
As a math teacher, how often do you hear, “this is the last class I need to graduate” or “I just want to get through this class”? The growth of quiet quitting by employees is something that math instructors have experienced for years in their classes: students performing the minimum amount of work that they can to get through and pass the class. Students frequently attempt to memorize content that they’re required to know. They’ll memorize formulas and steps without any real understanding. They keep trying to memorize more and more until eventually, they reach a tipping point where they can’t keep up and it all comes crashing down. What if instructors could get ...

IMPACTful Discussion/Blog - Change to Precalculus and Calculus Curricula?

By Robert Cappetta posted 07-11-2023
There are demands to change the precalculus and calculus curricula. Do students still need to learn topics like synthetic division or Descartes’s Rule of Signs? Might it be valuable to increase the use of real data analysis in those courses? As technology evolves, what do students really need to know from the calculus curriculum? Are the techniques of integration as important today as they were a generation ago? What should be the role of infinite series in an evolving curriculum? Since most traditional differential equations problems can be solved immediately with technology, should the course become more theoretical, more applied, or disregarded completely? ...

IMPACTful Discussion - a Brief History of AMATYC's Signature Documents

By Evan Evans posted 01-01-2023
The Standards Committee 2023 New Year's resolution: To make IMPACT a living document and update AMATYC’s three signature documents; Crossroads, Beyond Crossroads, and IMPACT . Here is a brief description and history of our Signature Documents : Crossroads (1995) The purpose of Crossroads in Mathematics: Standards for Introductory College Mathematics Before Calculus is to address the special circumstances of, establish standards for, and make recommendat ions about two-year college and lower-division mathematics programs below the level of calculus. Three sets of standards for introductory college mathematics are defined in Chapter ...

IMPACTful Thoughts - Mathematics and Applications for Careers

By Christine Mirbaha posted 10-11-2022
Many community college students are focusing on programs that help them learn or reinforce the skills needed to land their desired job or advance within their current work environment. Others are in STEM programs that are preparing them for immediate entry into the field of their dreams. Providing meaningful applications of mathematics for career programs in various courses is engaging and motivating to students. Their proficiency in these applications is essential to their success in the workforce. Join us as we explore various aspects of applications of mathematics for career programs.

IMPACTful Thought - Flipped Teaching

By Kim Granger posted 09-05-2022
More than likely, you have heard about flipped teaching. Many faculty, upon hearing about the flipped teaching model, recognize that it makes a lot of sense and recognize that it would be an effective way to engage students in the classroom with the result being increased student success. Perhaps you have considered using the flipped teaching model but have not gotten started yet, with the fear that it is an overwhelming task and you are just too busy right now. If you know that flipped teaching would benefit your students and if you are interested in discovering some ways to flip your class without flipping out, then this is a great time to get started. ...

IMPACTful Thought - Small Changes for Student Success

By Kelly Spoon posted 08-01-2022
Back when the Statistics Anet hosted IMPACT Live! in May , Mark Earley posted the following discussion question: “What is the biggest change you've made to your introductory statistics class in the last 3 years? Why did you make the change and what impact has it had on your students?“ While there are some big changes I’ve made in my classroom over the years (like flipping my class or trying standards-based grading), some of the most impact ful changes in terms of student success have been small changes. This ties into the theme that the Innovative Teaching and Learning Anet and Project ACCCESS had for this month’s Impact Live! : A small idea ...

IMPACTful Thought - Student Success in Data Science

By Evan Evans posted 07-04-2022
Author: Rachel Saidi In looking broadly at student success, one can define it based on outcomes, principles, and practices. Joe Cuseo of Marymount College wrote a column, “The Big Picture,” in Esource for College Transitions, which was published by the National Resource Center for First-Year Experience & Students in Transition (2007). Cuseo defined student success in terms of the following: Student Retention (Persistence): Entering college students remain, re-enroll, and continue their undergraduate education. Educational Attainment: entering students persist to completion and attainment of their degree, program, or educational goal. Academic ...

IMPACT Plus - Racial Equity in the STEM Math Pathway

By Helen Burn posted 06-17-2022
I remember our outpouring of commitment to building racial equity in the fall of 2020 as the effects of structural and ideological racism were brought into relief through the twin crises of the pandemic and police killings of unarmed African Americans. To be sure, the effects of structural racism were already well known by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color). Likewise, BIPOC students and colleagues have lived experiences with structural and ideological racism in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), while the various forms of racism remain hidden to racial groups that dominate STEM who hide behind the veneer of STEM disciplines ...

IMPACTful Thought - Definitions of Equity

By Benjamin Aschenbrenner posted 06-01-2022
I was at an equity summit in late February and the speaker, the incredible Dr. Luke Wood, was talking about why community colleges are struggling to support Black men (amongst other population subgroups). His definition of equity is worth sharing: “Equity refers to a heightened focus on groups that experience disproportionate impact in order to remediate disparities in their experiences and outcomes.” Equity is a word that I have been hearing on the radio in connection with the new CRT (critical race theory) bugbear that has emerged as a political rallying point. For people committed to educational equity, Wood’s definition is useful ...

IMPACTful Thought - Musing on IMPACT's Faculty Ownership Discussion

By Mark Earley posted 05-01-2022
Much attention is given to helping students develop ownership of their learning. It is equally important to keep faculty ownership in focus. That is why this month’s planning team from the Statistics ANet chose to develop our month around suggestions and conversations among statistics faculty who regularly engage in these activities as well as faculty looking for new ideas. We invite you to look around and join the weekly discussions aimed at increasing an instructor’s sense of ownership. IMPACT (2018) suggests three areas where faculty can take ownership in their introductory statistics courses: Creating a learning environment, Taking an ...

IMPACTful Thought - Focus on Collaboration

By Nancy Sattler posted 01-30-2022
Focus on Collaboration: History of the National Mathematics Summit Back in 2012, developmental mathematic redesign movement was sweeping the country. Faculty across the country were wondering what the impact would be in their classrooms. At the National Association for Developmental Education (NADE) conference held in Orlando that year, Paul Nolting and Hunter Boylan, then director of the National Center on Developmental Education (NCDE), discussed a possible joint summit with AMATYC. They knew that there were many parts of the puzzle and that there was a need to bring experts from different organizations together to share ideas. At the NADE conference ...

IMPACT Plus - Analyzing Student Work

By April Strom posted 01-18-2022
As we imagine the learning of mathematics as an active and engaging experience for students, we need to leverage what we know from research which encourages the use of student thinking to guide instruction. Instructional strategies, such as the use of “vertical non-permanent surfaces” (VNPS) as promoted in Building Thinking Classrooms by Peter Liljedahl, provide an essential window into student thinking. So, what does it mean to use student thinking when teaching? And in what ways can student thinking guide instruction? Let’s explore a traditional task first and then discuss thoughts on these questions. Consider the following task: ...

IMPACT Plus - Building Thinking Classrooms

By Scott Adamson posted 01-09-2022
You open the door to the classroom and your initial reaction is shock. It seems that chaos reigns as you notice students out of their seats as they talk with one another. Furthermore, the desks are not neatly arranged in rows, but seem to be randomly clustered into small groups as the students use the desk tops to set up laptop computers connected to microphones used for collecting data. Students are recording their work on the white boards that surround the room. Where is the teacher? You are not sure. Concerned with the outward appearance of this classroom, you enter the classroom to investigate. You stop at the first group of students and try to figure ...

IMPACTful Thoughts - Three Components of Student Engagement

By Scot Pruyn posted 12-31-2021
What are some of your common frustrations about student performance in your classes? Maybe students aren’t putting in the time necessary to struggle with problems and understand concepts. Or they provide surface-level responses to your questions that were designed to make them think more deeply and make connections. Perhaps you just want students to be more precise with their notation or vocabulary when writing or speaking about mathematics. The root of many of these issues is a lack of engagement. If students are going through the motions that they’ve learned through years of school will get them a passing grade, they are not engaged and we will see that ...