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A new instructor-aided, self-paced learning program for Intermediate Algebra, Math 120, is expected to remedy the high failure rate for the course.
About half the students who enroll in Math 120 at UNM fail the course, according to the Albuqueruqe Journal.
This fall, the UNM administration implemented a pilot program to replace the course with the Math Learning Lab. The program focuses on mastery learning, a learning style that sets expectations that students meet at their own pace before moving forward in the course.
Interim Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Mark Peceny said students who fail Math 120 can’t complete the core curriculum, because Math 120 is a prerequisite for all courses that satisfy the mathematics core requirements.
“If this many people are having trouble in Math 120, they can’t even get to the course that they need in order to fulfill the core curriculum,” Peceny said. “To serve all those students who are struggling with math, we figured we needed to look for a better way to deliver that instruction so that more students would succeed.”
Peceny said students enrolled in the course will be required to come to the math learning lab for three to four hours per week, but that all lectures will be available through the online component of the course. Teachers, graduate students and some undergraduate students will be on hand to assist the students in the lab.
Peceny said this style of instruction allows students to get help while they are working on assignments, which is when students need instruction most.
“Rather than spending three hours in the classroom listening to a lecture … we’re saying ‘the time we really want to see you is when you’re working on your homework,’” he said. “We want you to be in a facilitated learning environment so that when you’re doing your homework and trying to understand how to implement the equations, you can do it in an environment where you can get some one-on-one help.”
Peceny said the course is split into three modules and that students must pass each module with at least 80 percent proficiency before moving on to the next module. He said students enrolled in the pilot program this semester who do not complete all the modules will receive an ‘incomplete’ for the course, but in the future, the course may be split into three one-credit courses rather than one three-credit course so that students can complete each credit individually.
“This is less of a pilot project and more of a first run to get some experience in using this model,” he said. “Only a couple of sections are being taught in the emporium style in the fall and then all sections of Math 120 will be using this form of instruction in the spring.”
Pre-calculus director Tamra Mason led the faculty group that investigated a variety of options to restructure the math course.
The group decided to implement a pilot project to test the effectiveness of the new learning strategy, which is being conducted in ESCP 107. The University will fully implement the new teaching style in spring 2013.
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The new Math Learning Lab, which will be on the top floor of the Centennial Science and Engineering Library, is being designed and will open in spring 2013. The new lab will include 125 computers for math students who are studying and completing assignments for the course and an additional 15 computers reserved for testing.
The course will utilize the ALEKS program, a mathematics learning system designed specifically for mastery learning. The new lab will cost about $1 million, most of which will come from building replacement and renewal funds and about $300,000 of which will come from the College of Arts and Sciences I&G reserves, according to Peceny. A small contribution from Student Housing Services will fund a refreshment stand in the lab.
The pilot program is listed in Math 120 sections 028 and 029 on the fall 2012 class schedule, and there were spaces available in the sections at time of publication.
Mason said mastery learning allows students to reach the same level of mastery at their own pace rather than the traditional math course structure that often leaves some students behind.
“In the new model, students have an individualized learning plan and work through material they are ready to learn,” she said. “If students are motivated, they can work through the topics in the class quicker than a traditional class allows.”
UNM President Robert Frank, who implemented the same program at Kent State University, said the new lab will allow students to learn fundamental math skills that they often lack when they enroll in the course.
“Our math results have been very weak,” he said. “If you look at the performance of our students, we have very high failure rates in that class because what we see is that the students that come in, their preparation for that class is quite variable, and we see that their skills are all over the place.”
Frank said that because the lab is self-paced, students can learn the necessary fundamental skills and the University will be able to ensure students only move forward when they are ready.
“With our new program, we can teach those foundation skills, go back, re-assess foundation skills, and if the students lost competence, we can re-teach the student those skills, bring them back to competence and go back and reassess and assure that students maintain mastery,” he said. “That’s why this new program is so superior.”
