Teaching mathematics in the 21st century brings new opportunities and challenges to the mathematics community, especially in the first two years of college. The American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges (AMATYC) has led the way in developing standards for intellectual development, content, and pedagogy. IMPACT: Improving Mathematical Prowess And College Teaching builds upon the content of Crossroads in Mathematics and Beyond Crossroads: Implementing Mathematics Standards in the First Two Years of College. It is research-based and uses the experiences of individuals invested in mathematics in the first two years of college. Information has been gathered for this document from AMATYC members and others through focus groups, personal interviews, and research by the writing team.
Goal
The goal of IMPACT is to improve mathematics education in the first two years of college by presenting clear guidance on how to impact the mathematical prowess of students. This guidance is meant to inspire faculty, departments, institutions, and policymakers to examine, assess, and take action to improve every component of mathematics education in the first two years of college.
Vision
When the ideas of IMPACT are implemented, students are empowered to be mathematically proficient and take ownership as they engage in the learning process. Faculty will focus on facilitating student success through building conceptual understanding and developing procedural fluency in each students’ chosen mathematical pathway with the support of their institutions.
IMPACT Live!
IMPACT Live! is the interactive online social multimedia portal of AMATYC. Feedback responses from presentations at the 2017 AMATYC National Conference helped shape the ideas regarding the online presence. It will include practical help in implementing the standards and be searchable in a variety of ways, particularly using keywords. It will contain electronic resources in various formats such as blogs, communities, news, lesson plans, worksheets, projects, and videos and will link these sources back to IMPACT. It is a portal that will provide opportunities for both synchronous and asynchronous interaction between members as well as a go-to resource.
Previous Standards Documents
Previous AMATYC standards documents can be found at www.amatyc.org by clicking on Publications.
Acknowledgements
This document would not have been possible without the vision and support of the AMATYC Executive Board, the Steering Committee, the National Advisory Council, writers, and reviewers of the various draft documents. We wish to thank the reviewers whose perspectives were considered at each stage of development. The Steering Committee wishes to thank McGraw-Hill Education for their support in the printing of this document.
Final Words
AMATYC’s standards merit continuous attention and review. The rollout of IMPACT and IMPACT Live! begins the ripple effect for the work on AMATYC’s mathematical standards. The standards will remain the same unless changed by the delegate assembly but the presentation and implementation of them will continue to evolve through the work of the Mathematics Standards in the First Two Years of College Committee whose focus is on promoting the AMATYC standards as well as maintaining the digital products to support those standards. This document is written by AMATYC members for faculty, departments, institutions, and policymakers to examine, assess, and take action to improve every component of mathematics education in the first two years of college.
Mary Beth Orrange, Chair
Erie Community College
Nancy J. Sattler, Co-Chair
Terra Community College