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Tammy Muhs General Education Program Mathematics Coordinator University of Central Florida

Course Redesign: A Way To Improve Student Success and Faculty Productivity. Tammy Muhs General Education Program Mathematics Coordinator University of Central Florida NCAT Redesign Scholar. About UCF:. University of Central Florida Metropolitan university

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Tammy Muhs General Education Program Mathematics Coordinator University of Central Florida

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  1. Course Redesign: A Way To Improve Student Success and Faculty Productivity Tammy Muhs General Education Program Mathematics Coordinator University of Central Florida NCAT Redesign Scholar

  2. About UCF: • University of Central Florida • Metropolitan university • 56,235 students (expected to reach 59,000+ in fall 2011) • 2nd largest university in U.S.

  3. College Algebra: • Annual enrollments – 4000+ students • Issues with course drift due to the many different instructors • Large lectures - 384 students per class (3 hours lecture, 1 hour recitation) • Independent sections-49 students per class (3 hours lecture) • Mixed mode sections -21 students per class(1 hour lecture with online component) • Withdrawal rate more than double traditional, lower success rate, lower cost, less space

  4. Motivation to Redesign College Algebra: • Success Rates: Pass rates were down, withdrawal rates were up • Space: Too many students, not enough classrooms • Budget: We needed to do more, with less

  5. National Center for Academic Transformation (NCAT): • UCF Goal – “Fix” College Algebra • NCAT Goal - Increase learning outcomes and success rates while decreasing cost • Received the NCAT Grant in Spring 2008 • Grant actually cost us money-we received knowledge • Create a student-centered learning environment

  6. Cost Reduction: • Change the mix and number of faculty teaching the course • Combine smaller sections into one larger section 5 2 50 1 50 6 3 1 1 50 7 50 50 350 4 50 50

  7. Productivity Improvement: • Coordinate all sections of the same course by using a Course Coordinator • Benefits • Remove redundancy resulting in improved productivity • Prevent course drift resulting in consistency in course content • Drawbacks • Faculty buy in • Weak Coordinator may result in many sections with issues as opposed to a single or couple of sections

  8. NCAT Redesign Models: • Emporium (Lab) Model*** • Replacement (Hybrid) Model*** • Fully Online Model • Supplemental Model • Buffet Model ***Typically produces the best results in terms of student learning and cost for Mathematics courses

  9. Borrowed Space for Pilot:

  10. Face to Face Class Hour: • Students spend one hour in class • Review concepts from the previous week • Highlight upcoming material • Receive administrative information • Classroom Response System (iClicker) is used to keep students engaged

  11. MALL Hours: Students spend a required three hours in the Mathematics Assistance and Learning Lab (MALL) • Online hw and quiz assignments are completed for the most part in the lab • Proctored environment • MALL staff provide on-demand assistance for students

  12. Online Testing: • Testing is completed online in a proctored environment using a password system • Immediate feedback • Free response questions or multiple choice • Challenge week • ADA time accommodation adjustments • Integrity violations almost non-existent • Cost savings

  13. MALL Staffing: • Faculty • Peer tutors • Undergraduate and graduate mathematics students • Graduate Teaching Assistants • All are required to complete assignments • Become test proctors during testing weeks • Complete training about 14 hours a semester • College Reading & Learning AssociationInternational Tutor Program Certification

  14. Course Redesign Improved Success Rates:

  15. Cost Savings: • Actual dollar savings • Capacity to serve more students in the same space • Reduction in repeated course attempts

  16. Ways to Spend the Savings: • Course improvement or redesign • Offering additional courses • Serving more students • Distance learning sections • Reduction in teaching load • Training • Balance the budget

  17. Presidents Class Size Initiative (PCSI): • Renovated Space for the Mathematics Assistance and Learning Lab (MALL) • Provides funding for six faculty members committed to improving learning in General Education Program Mathematics • Provides funding for peer tutors and MALL expenses

  18. Mathematics Assistance and Learning Lab (MALL): From Renovation to CompletionPhase I - 95 computers (Spring 2010)Phase II - 100 computers (Summer 2010)Phase III - 120 computers (Spring 2011)

  19. PCSI-Small Within Large: • Students register in sections of 19 students • Creates a learning community • In-class community • Virtual community • Between 15 and 18 of these 19 student sections meet together, at the same time, in a large lecture hall one hour each week

  20. Mentors and Progress Monitoring: • Top GTAs are called Mentors • Meet with teaching team weekly • Communicate with students • Hold seminars and test reviews • Help with classroom management • Progress Monitoring • Students Progress is monitored weekly • Faculty meet with at risk students • Students receive weekly feedback via email Communication has been shown to have an important role in learning and understanding mathematics (Knuth & Peressini, 2001)

  21. HistoricalSuccess Rate:

  22. Final Exam Scores:

  23. Instructional Interaction: • Anonymous student surveys in fall 2009 with similar results in fall 2010 • 90.79% of the students felt the redesigned course offered at least as much instructional interaction as their other courses • 60.97% indicated that there was considerably more interaction when compared to their other courses

  24. Results and Course Offerings: • Producing favorable results • Active learning has been shown to be an effective method of improving learning outcomes (Prince, 2004, Twigg, 2003) • Increased course offerings • Intermediate Algebra fall 2010 • Precalculus spring 2011 • Trigonometry fall 2011

  25. Next Generation Learning Challenges (NGLC): • AASCU and UCF Grant • Working with 20 collaborating institutions • Blended Learning Course Redesigns • Math, English, and Other courses

  26. Math Component of NGLC: • Supported Math Course is College Algebra • Other courses include Intermediate Algebra, Precalculus, and Basic Math • Course delivery fall 2011 or spring 2012

  27. Resources Available: • Two group math training sessions are scheduled • Coursesites Template course for a model • Actual course with homework and assessments that can be copied and modified • Institution will schedule an initial consultation to review and discuss their particular needs

  28. Additional Resources: • Ongoing discussion throughout the duration of the project • Opportunity to submit course deliverables to receive feedback prior to and during the delivery of the redesigned course • Generic training to adapt an existing curriculum to a blended learning format considering established effective practices

  29. Questions: Please feel free to contact me at Tammy.Muhs@ucf.edu

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