New Life and Reform at AMATYC 2013

The AMATYC conference (Anaheim, October 31 to November 3) will include several sessions on New Life-inspired efforts to reform developmental mathematics.  I will be doing a general session on the New Life model at the conference, and other sessions will focus on particular implementations.  Over the next month or so, I will be posting a detailed schedule.

This conference will not include a workshop on the New Life courses; this workshop was done at last year’s conference and the materials are still available at http://dm-live.wikispaces.com/workshop2012  If you want to know more about the details of MLCS (Mathematical Literacy for College Students) and AL (Algebraic Literacy), I plan to create some additional 5-minute presentations about each — they will be posted on the “Instant Presentations” page (https://www.devmathrevival.net/?page_id=116)

Some related work will also be available at the conference — the Dana Center “New Mathways Project” will have sessions.  When the mini-program is available, I will post a summary of all reform-related sessions.

 
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Acceleration in Developmental Mathematics

Whether it is the recent Achieving the Dream conference, reports from Complete College America, or even education blogs, “acceleration” is a hot topic; acceleration is deemed ‘a good thing’.  Is it?

In physical contexts, acceleration is the second derivative of a position function … the rate of change of the rate of change.  To model acceleration, a valid position function has to be established (along with technical requirements such as continuity).  We can estimate acceleration outside of these limitations by use of numeric methods; however, numeric methods can not yield results appropriate for comparisons of different conditions in a scientific manner.

In education, what is ‘acceleration’?  The applied definition is something like “progression to college mathematics done significantly faster” (usually compared to a tedious sequence of traditional developmental mathematics).  Assessment of acceleration models in education is most often done by anecdote — we now get n% of students through their college course in two semesters, and previously we only got t% through.  This corresponds to the numeric methods for physical situations; are the results valid?

Before we can interpret results from acceleration efforts, we need to have a valid model for position.  We do not currently.  The traditional mathematics curriculum in the first two years is primarily a historical artifact continued though social inertia.  We (mathematicians) have not established what mathematics is required and how this mathematics should be ‘packaged’ into steps; without these steps (courses), we lack valid measurements of progress — which is the heart of the acceleration work.

The AMATYC New Life model (Developmental Mathematics Committee) and the Dana Center (University of Texas – Austin) “New Mathways” provide a consistent message about a package (sequence) that offers a scheme to measure valid progress.  Here is a segment of the New Life vision of the curriculum:

With all of the attention on developmental mathematics, there is a tendency to neglect the critical courses which follow:  pre-calculus needs to be a proven preparation for calculus, college algebra needs to be a proven preparation for other STEM courses, and general education mathematics needs to be proven preparation for other quantitative needs.

Until we tackle this large problem area, acceleration may (or may not) be a waste of effort — getting students to the on-ramp faster does not help if the highway is going in the wrong direction (or if the highway is full of unneeded hazards).  Acceleration efforts make the statement that the college mathematics is both a reliable and a valid position (goal); this statement is questionable.    In this way, I see acceleration as sharing a risk with modularization — they both will tend to entrench existing curricular structures at a time when we need to re-build the structure.

Acceleration is done through a variety of methods, and someday we can determine which method is valid for our position function (curriculum).  Until we get closer to that goal, I would not invest significant resources in acceleration.

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Quantway(tm) Materials, available — the Dana Center “FMR” course

The Dana Center (University of Texas – Austin) has launched an updated web site.  As part of this, the original Quantway™ materials (version 1.0) are available along with other documents — see http://www.utdanacenter.org/higher-education/new-mathways-project/new-mathways-project-curricular-materials/foundations-of-mathematical-reasoning-course/  

To get the Quantway information, you need to scroll down to the end of that page.  If you want general information on the New Mathways project, go to http://www.utdanacenter.org/higher-education/new-mathways-project/

This site is part of the New Mathways Project.  I’ve talked before about their project; the first course in their paths has now been named “Foundations of Mathematical Reasoning” (FMR).  It looks like this course will be shared by all 3 paths that will be developed — statistics, quantitative reasoning, and STEM.   The learning outcomes for FMR will be adapted from the Quantway outcomes, which were adapted from the New Life MLCS course.  The position of FMR in a math curriculum is very similar to that of MLCS; the Carnegie Foundation Quantway program is different in that students are tracked from the start … both New Mathways and New Life provide a flexible structure at this level.

The fact that 3 reform efforts share a curricular element (the first course) is part of my optimism that we can create basic change in developmental mathematics over the next several years.

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Math Lit (and New Life) at Achieving the Dream 2013

I am finally going to be able to attend the Achieving the Dream conference (Anaheim, February 2013) … see http://www.achievingthedream.org/DREAM2013 .  My college is sharing a workshop time with Muskegon Community College, and part of this workshop will be on our new Mathematical Literacy course (MLCS in the New Life model).

For others who are attending, I am thinking of having a “Birds of a Feather” on New Life and basic reform efforts in mathematics (Thursday, February 7 at 11am).  If you are attending the conference and interested, please let me know!

I’m looking forward to seeing a diverse crowd at “DREAM 2013”.

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