Building a Learning Attitude — Hope

Perhaps you have a person like this in your classes.  A person who believes that struggle means that the other person has not done their job.  A person who gets discouraged because problems come up that are not her fault.  A person who believes that 20 years of completion means that they have shown sufficient achievement.

In fact, I am sure that most of us have a member of our math faculty like this (or several).

Yes, the description is for a faculty member.  She has asked me what I do when students will not contribute in class, and what to do with behavior problems; she has shared frustrations with students who don’t do their part.  In some ways, the New Life project exists for faculty like this, as a way to give hope and engage all faculty.

“If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.” (Nelson Mandela)

We want progress.  Progress is not measured by the 50 exceptional programs; progress is measured by what all of our students experience.  We face a challenge much less complex than President Mandela did when apartheid was ended in South Africa; to make progress, he knew that all people must be included in the work.  To exclude a group just meant to exchange places with them, and prevent progress.

“We Have Met The Enemy and He Is Us” (Walt Kelly, “Pogo”)

The only way to make progress is together.  We need the discouraged and cynical faculty, just as they need us. They need our hope for a better future, and we need them so progress is real, and has a chance of lasting.  To exclude people from our work is to reduce our probability of success.  Inclusion means dialogue, even when uncomfortable.  We share values about mathematics, though we may have different perspectives based on our experiences.

Do not give up on other faculty.  Keep up a dialogue.

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Algebraic Literacy: Finding a Textbook

One of the new courses coming to a college near you is “Algebraic Literacy”, a modern course that prepares students for a STEM path (and related work).  This position in the traditional curriculum is held by ‘intermediate algebra’.

For a brief comparison of these courses, see the chart below:

In this chart, “MLCS” refers to the Mathematical Literacy for College Students course (also known as Math Lit, and similar to Quantway I).

One of the issues with the Algebraic Literacy course is finding textbook materials.  Books being written for this course are not available yet.  However, there are materials available which have enough similarity to be used.

One book I have learned about recently is “Algebra: Form and Function” (Wiley publishing, 2010).  This book was written by a team connected with the calculus reform efforts, and is designated as a ‘college algebra’ textbook.  However, the book does not assume that students have the higher background; it’s quite accessible by students in an Algebraic Literacy course.  For a quick look, see this link to the Course Smart page:  http://instructors.coursesmart.com/9780471707080

You can also find more information on this text at the Wiley page http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-EHEP000346.html

 
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