Math Lit LCC: Mathematical Literacy course at Lansing CC

My College is implementing a Mathematical Literacy course, beginning this semester.  I am teaching one of the two sections, with a colleague (a project ACCCESS fellow) doing the other class.  In case this would be of interest, I am planning on writing a post most weeks about the experience of teaching a course that is so different from the traditional curriculum.

As a curricular design issue, this Math Lit course (Math105) will serve as one of the math prerequisite options for 3 existing math courses for degrees (business math, art of geometry, and math – applications for living), and as a prerequisite option for a new statistics course the department is developing.  Students will have a choice to either take the traditional beginning algebra course or take this new Math Lit course.

We will be using the “Math Lit” textbook by Kathy Almy and Heather Foes, in a class test format.  Some of my weekly posts will relate to the use of this text, though I hope to talk more generally about mathematical literacy with a focus on the reasoning (algebraic and other) that the students will encounter

Our course, and the Math Lit textbook, are true to the design in the New Life model for the course called Mathematical Literacy for College Students (MLCS).  Although similar to the Quantway I course, the MLCS course is more flexible within the curriculum … we will have 4 math courses which follow our Math Lit course.  Also, the MLCS content is a bit more aligned with the basic mathematical ideas and values among math faculty; this is not saying that MLCS is traditional — it is not.  Rather, the observation is that more faculty will be able to be enthused about teaching MLCS, and MLCS can fit into our curriculum quite nicely.

Our classes start on January 14, with 2 class sessions per week.  I’ll post a “how did the start go” type of note after the class has met twice.  I hope you find the posts on this course enjoyable and/or helpful!

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categories Mathematical Literacy Course | | datetime January 12, 2013 3:48 pm

6 Comments

  • By Laura Bracken, January 12, 2013 @ 4:58 pm

    Jack,
    What is the “next course” for the students taking your pilot? What is the prereq?

  • By Jack Rotman, January 14, 2013 @ 12:47 pm

    Laura:
    After our Math Lit (Math105), students can take one of the following courses (which are some of the options for our math requirement):
    Math117 Math for Business
    Math118 Art of Geometry (used by graphics design & art students)
    Math119 Math – Applications for Living
    Students can also take these courses after completing our beginning algebra course.
    Our prerequisite to Math105 is ‘pre-algebra’.
    ~Jack

  • By Peter Brown, January 13, 2013 @ 9:26 am

    Jack, we will be following your travels on this.
    One question is: Math 105 is a transfer level course? Are there any prereq’s for getting in? We are still waiting for copies of Almy’s book from Pearson. I assume it is the same one…

  • By Jack Rotman, January 14, 2013 @ 12:50 pm

    Peter:
    Math105 is not a transfer level course, though the courses that follow it might be (Math119 — Math Applications for Living — transfers to some universities in Michigan).
    The math prerequisite for Math105 is ‘pre-algebra’.
    We did not have any difficulty getting copies (2) of the Almy & Foes text. If you want to send me an email, I can tell you who we have talked to at Pearson.
    [We got ours as part of our class testing of the book, so that may be why we have the copies; if you just want ‘desk copies’, they will most likely just send you a sample for one lesson or two.]
    ~Jack

  • By Laura Bracken, January 14, 2013 @ 1:08 pm

    What about intermediate algebra? For example, what if a student took Math 105 and then decided they wanted to change their major/career path and this required intermediate algebra and beyond?

  • By Jack Rotman, January 17, 2013 @ 11:32 am

    As you would expect, this issue (will they later need intermediate algebra) is a central issue. Our Math105 is not listed as a prerequisite to intermediate algebra; we would tell our students to take the placement test again after Math105 if they found that they needed intermediate algebra. We know this is an issue, but did not want to avoid changing because some students might find themselves in this quandary. Given the reasoning component of our math lit course, we are optimistic that students will have a reasonable chance of qualifying for intermediate algebra.

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