Developmental Mathematics Revival!

Sticky Math

In the world of web design, there is a concept called ‘sticky web pages’ or ‘sticky content’ … the concept being that a design can encourage people to click on links and/or return to the page. [A brief explanation at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sticky_content, and some tips at http://techtips.salon.com/sticky-pages-10404.html.]

If you are changing your developmental math program … are you creating ‘sticky math’? Are students motivated by the design to spend more time than required? Are students inspired to take more math than is required?

I can hear the cynics among us thinking ‘That is just not reasonable — students just will not do more math than required’. Well, this is not a question of past evidence … this is a question of the over-arching goals of a math curriculum. Are we providing the absolute shortest (and presumed negative or neutral) experience with mathematics … or do we seek to provide appropriate mathematics in an attractive manner that inspires students to be more mathematical?

I have been thinking about this concept for quite a while. Historically, developmental mathematics has been an overly long series of courses to prepare students for the ‘good stuff’ (calculus, in that paradigm). Some of the current redesign efforts have a deliberate goal of getting students out of mathematics as quickly as possible — often via a set of modules, of which most students need a proper subset. This “quick out” approach is an understandable reaction to the old courses, and has appeal to people outside of mathematics (like administrators and policy makers). Most “modularized developmental mathematics redesigns” are based on a quick out for students.

We can do better than a “quick out” methodology. A common theme of the emerging models for developmental mathematics — New Life, Carnegie Pathways, and Dana Center Mathways — is students are capable of learning sound mathematical concepts presenting in an engaging fashion, which will result in some students being inspired. Some students will be inspired to work harder on one course or just parts of it; other students will be inspired to consider taking additional mathematics.

Reasoning about quantities, core ideas about proportionality, key ideas of algebraic reasoning, and concepts of functions are components of ‘sticky math’. Even some traditional polynomial algebra can be ‘sticky’, though not when presented as a series of procedural skills disconnected from broad ideas. However … the most fundamental ingredient for ‘sticky math’ is the faculty students work with. Technology has strengths and a role to play; by itself, technology is not enough.

However you redesign or reform your developmental mathematics courses, I encourage you to create sticky math experiences for all of your students. Provide the ‘good stuff” (important mathematics) with faculty deeply engaged with the learning environment. Inspire your students!