Lessons from a Struggling Student

Teresa came to my office this week, in something of a desperation move. She has been struggling all semester in my beginning algebra class, and did not know what to do. Teresa is very thorough about doing homework; as a person returning to being a student after 15 years in the workforce, she knew how to follow through on her responsibility.

Teresa knew the course was going to be hard work, but it is part of her plan to get an associates degree in 18 months. When her performance was not at the passing level on the first test, she took immediate action; she hired a tutor, and bought an extra book to study. After the second test and still lower scores, she changed tutors and bought more books. Her motivation is outstanding; her commitment to the course is unequaled, and she seeks help at every opportunity. Routinely, Teresa would understand a topic but be unable to retain her knowledge through time. Teresa’s frustration was evident; she did not need to tell me that discouragement had caused her to shed quite a few tears.

How could I help such a student? What was wrong with her strategies?

Essentially, the problem with Teresa’s strategies is that they were oriented towards external sources, especially experts. People were answering her questions, and telling her what she needed to know. Teresa needed to move from a helpless perspective to an active role, one based on confidence in her own learning skills in understanding mathematics. In addition, Teresa needed to stop expecting frustration and failure … even though failure has been her constant companion for ten weeks in this course. Learning when expecting failure is nearly impossible.

Do we, as a profession, approach our work like Teresa? Are we looking for somebody else (‘experts’) to tell us the answer? Maybe if we just offer modules, mastery learning and extra help we will be successful. Do we expect to continue to get results like we have had before? Are we applying our impressive learning abilities to understand the root problems? Perhaps we can find the ideal text format and content organization … and solve the problem by using contexts that students see as relevant to their lives. Who owns the problem that is developmental mathematics?

I am completing my 38th year as a professional in developmental mathematics, and there have been ‘movements’ and ‘trends’ before. For the first time, there is actually an opportunity for us to build something new in developmental mathematics. Resist the temptation to accept solutions from the outside. We are mathematicians with keen insights into helping students understand mathematics, and we have access to information on designing a program to respond to the diverse mathematical needs of our students.

Come to the revival of developmental mathematics … and learn what that means for you and your students. Come to the revival of developmental mathematics … and imagine our courses dealing with some essential mathematical ideas in a manner that enables students to apply those ideas across other disciplines. Come to the revival of developmental mathematics … and reach for the goal of a program that enables students to reach their goals, and perhaps inspires them for higher goals. Come to the revival of our profession!!

Developmental Mathematics Revival!

Bringing a new vitality to college mathematics 2011 to 2019