WHAT ARE WE DOING?

1. WHAT ARE WE DOING? Michael Eurgubian Santa Rosa Junior College, Petaluma Campus California Mathematics Council, Community Colleges December 10, 2011 meurgubian@santarosa.edu

2. WHAT I DID AT EACH SCHOOL Contacted someone to make an appointment Studied College Catalog, Website, Schedule of Classes Snooped around the Campus Chatted with Scheduled Department Chair or Dean Peeked in on Assessment Center Visited Every Tutorial Center (Math Labs, Campus Learning) Sampled Cafeteria Fare Drove Home or Crashed in Lonely Hotel Room

3. WHAT IT ENTAILED Four Week – Long Trips Three 2 – 3 Day Trips Many Day Trips

4. SCHOOLS VISITED Los Angeles West College Santa Monica College Santa Barbara City College Ventura College Taft College College of the Canyons Mount San Antonio College Chaffee College San Bernadino Valley College Riverside College Barstow College College of the Desert Crafton Hills College Modesto College Columbia College College of Alameda Contra Costa College Berkeley City College Merritt College Laney College City College of San Francisco College of San Mateo Canada College Lake Tahoe Community College Sierra College Sacramento City College American River College Mendocino College College of the Redwoods Shasta College

5. SCHOOLS VISITED Los Angeles Valley College Los Angeles Pierce College Moorpark College Los Angeles Mission College Fullerton College Santa Ana College Golden West College Coastline College Long Beach City College Los Angeles Harbor College Pasadena City College Glendale College Las Positas De Anza College Solano College San Diego City College San Diego Mesa College Cuyamaca College Mt. San Jacinto College Palomar College Mira Costa College Saddleback College Southwestern College Yuba College Woodlands College

6. SCHOOLS VISITED Merced College Reedley College College of the Sequoias Antelope Valley College Cerro Coso College Bakersfield College Porterville College Fresno City College West Hills College Butte College Feather River College College of Marin Hartnell College Cabrillo College Monterey Peninsula College

7. SCHOOLS YET TO BE VISITED Mission College West Valley College San Jose City College Chabot College Los Medanos College Napa Valley College Diablo Valley College Santa Rosa Junior College

8. DISCLAIMERS Not a Scientific Study or Census Much is based on hearsay Some schools yet to visit Remainder of schools might paint a different picture Talked to wrong person Impediments

9. Layout According to most, the perfect layout is one in which the Offices, Classrooms, and Math Lab are all in close proximity. 70% have this set – up Exceptions and breeches I have seen

10. DIVISIONS More than are mixed with Sciences About 5 teach CS classes About are mixed with other departments About are lead by Deans rather that department chairs In three schools, Math is its own division

11. CLASS SIZE About 70% of the colleges keep a class size of about 35 About 20% are 40 – 45 The rest have variable class sized per course Only two are outliers

12. CALCULUS SEQUENCE 5 – 5 – 5 30 % 4 – 4 – 4 25 % Numerous cases of combination Differential Equations / Linear Algebra Calculus Texts

13. TRANFER MAJOR / AA / AS C1 – 2 – 3 DE – LA 35 % C1 – C2 – C3 - Selection 45 % Other 20 % Plus Computer Science 20 %

14. WHO TEACHES WHAT At virtually every college, all teacher teach across the curriculum De – Facto – More than 90% of the calculus sequence is taught by full - timers In more that half cases, it extends to transfer level courses For every one full time person at a campus there are one the average 2 – 3 Adjunct

15. ONLINE CLASSROOM AND HOMEWORK Virtually every college’s math department offers online or hybrid classes Among those schools who have sited instructors assigning online homework, 50 – 60% of the faculty does Among those that do, MyMathLab 90% is the online program of choice Overall, online / Hybrid offerings make up no more than 15% of the offerings Exceptions

16. GRAPHING CALCULATORS AND COMPUTER SOFTWARE Graphing calculators in the classroom have fallen off significantly in last 10 years Integration in classroom activity has also significantly declined Only about 20% of the schools make some kind of graphing calculator option The TI 83 – 84 is most often used at all levels; the TI – 89 was rarely cited as a requirement Mathematica is used more than MAPLE

17. TEXTBOOK ADOPTION About 40% of the campuses have departmental adoptions on all texts (exceptions often for singletons) About 40% of the campuses require adoptions on sequence courses only Only a couple cited complete laissez - faire

18. SLOS Most mathematics departments found it easy to write course SLO’s and department SLO’s Variety of opinions on how to assess them Some departments have teachers imbed department problems in finals (approved) About a dozen schools give departmental final exams Most everyone is dead serious, not cynical Almost all cited accreditation warnings A few had aggressive longitudinal and diagnostic plans studies based on assessments

19. COMMUNICATION Three noted collegial relationships (inter – district) between schools San Diego County Colleges South Central Valley North Central Valley

20. REPEATABILITY Only two schools told me it has no impact, as they had already made the change

21. WHAT I DIDN’T DISCUSS BUT SHOULD HAVE

22. ASSESSMENT Most common assessment tool Accuplacer…….more than 60 % Followed by MDTP, about 20% Followed by Compass, just a couple Three colleges cited their own placement test Two colleges cited self – assessment, online Three colleges cited “affective” questions mixed into assessment process All cited an appeal process Some cited a fall back / intervention program More than 80% of the colleges said practice placement tests were available 20% of the colleges are planning to have, or already have an active “MATHJAMS” type program The (vast?) majority of our students place into developmental courses Virtually all said the department actively reviews cut – off scores

23. TUTORIAL SERVICES Not counting MESA, DRD, almost every college has both a campus wide tutorial center and a Math lab (exceptions are mostly small campuses) More than 75% of the colleges reported that instructors frequent tutorial centers About 30% reported that full time instructors schedule office hours there About 25% of the colleges allow instructors to get (lab) load Most centers operate Monday through Friday, 8 colleges reported Saturday hours Virtually all have sign – in requirements Chances that the campus tutorial director has math background – pretty slim A good Statistics tutor is hard to find

24. AA REQUIREMENT CHANGES IN CURRICULUM Less than a fourth of the colleges have pondered or have already created an alternative course to meet the new AA requirements A great proportion of them have failed the enrollment test! A handful use Geometry as the option Some use other discipline – based courses already in place to serve that cohort

25. SPLIT ALGEBRA Less than 30% of the campuses reported split elementary and / or intermediate algebra courses

26. Geometry

27. MATH FOR ELEMENTARY TEACHERS About to of campuses reported a course for

28. PRECALCULUS

29. LIBERAL ARTS MATH Robust at some schools, 1 – 2 at others

30. CONFLICTS WITH OTHER DEPARTMENTS Only one conflict was sited, over Statistics

31. CONDENSED CALENDAR Overall, equally split 16, 17, 18 Imposed by district for a handful (Original) Math / Science / FL Opposition

32. FOR ME………. THE MOST SURPRISING MOVEMENT…..

33. WHAT DO YOU THINK?

34. FAST – TRACKING !!! All but a couple of schools I visited Combination Basic Skills -- Pre – Algebra Combination Elementary -- Intermediate Algebra Combination Intermediate -- Pre - Calculus “STATWAYS” Programs / Grants In addition: Curiosity or interest to infuse Geometry somewhere

35. OTHER TRIVIAL MATTERS AND PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS

36. MOST BEAUTIFUL CAMPUS Cuyamaca College

37. MOST UNDER CONSTRUCTION COLLEGE Los Angeles Harbor College

38. PARKING PRICES Free…..Lake Tahoe, Redwoods, West Hills To 50 cents Most are $1 to $2 Only two were $3 Only one is $4

39. SINGLE BUILDING CAMPUSES Berkeley City College

40. MOST TECHNOLOGICALLY ADVANCED AND GREEN Berkeley City College

41. IMPOSSIBLE TO GET TO CAMPUS

42. MOST ETHNICALLY UNIQUE Glendale Community College About Armenian students

43. BIGGEST PERCENTAGE OF ONLINE CLASSES Coastline Community College all but Basic Math and Pre - Algebra

44. COLLEGE WITH THE MOST SATILLITES TEACHING MATH City College of San Francisco

45. PLACE I WOULD LIKE TO TEACH THE REST OF MY CAREER Santa Rosa Junior College

46. BEST NAME FOR A TUTORIAL CENTER The Hard Math Café Yuba College

47. MOST APPEALING MATH COURSE LISTED ON A COLLEGE CATALOG Mathematics of Poker Lake Tahoe Community College

48. OTHER COMMENTS The choices on the radio drastically change when you leave metropolitan regions “Right down the street” means about two hours in Los Angeles If a college is surrounded by four parking lots, remember where you parked your car There’s a construction project of some kind ongoing at about half the colleges The vast majority of students, teachers, and support staff are very serious and committed

49. WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO DO Finish up templates for each school in coming months, following up with contacts questions Have each department verify templates Ask for input from other schools I did not visit Create a grid for each “area of study” for all campuses, with demographics (Ask questions to ponder, or better, create) a blog of FaceBook page where people can ask questions / post advice Rest Get back in the classroom