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Rebecca Patterson

Novato students learn algebra on the job - Marin Independent Journal - 0 views

  • Williams' students are participants in the Novato Algebra Academy — a three-week program created by the North Bay Leadership Council and the Novato Unified School District that debuted Aug. 1. Based on a similar program in Santa Rosa, the Algebra Academy helps English language learners from Novato's middle schools master formulas and solve tough equations — and then shows them how businesses, government and athletes use that analytical process on the job.
  • "I met with the owners of each business two months ago to talk about what math they use and to create lesson plans based on that," Griffin said. "Most of it is basic algebra: you create equations, and you solve for different variables."
  • "Algebra is part of the required curriculum everybody must take if they want to be admitted to the CSU or UC systems," Murray said. "But a lot of students don't realize that they needed algebra until they start applying to colleges. Many of these students are not only English language learners, but the first in their family to even get an idea about going to college. So we want to provide them what assistance is out there."
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  • That's particularly true of Williams, who began working as a treatment plant intern while still a teenager. Now 22, Williams has created several YouTube videos on wastewater math. He ended his presentation last week by showing his students one of the questions from the plant operator examination — a complex equation whose answer required at least a page of careful analysis — and assuring them that they had the skills to complete it."All the algebra you've learned? You know all these formulas," Williams said. "And this problem is just one formula stacked on top of another."
    • Rebecca Patterson
       
      Know formulas or know concepts?
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    On the job math training
Rebecca Patterson

Va. Community Colleges Dive Headfirst Into Remedial-Math Redesign - Students - The Chro... - 0 views

  • Mr. DuBois wanted the system to become smarter in how it invested in people, talent, and technology, as well as do a better job of taking advantage of its size and resources.
    • Rebecca Patterson
       
      Glenn DuBois, the chancellor
  • One study by the college system found that only 16.4 percent of students sent to developmental-math classes ever managed to pass a college-level math course.
  • Recent high-school graduates are among the most vulnerable. They become frustrated when they learn they can't immediately enroll in credit-bearing classes, and they sometimes leave college even before taking a single course.
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  • Institutions are equally affected. A recent report by the Community College Research Center put the annual cost of remediation at $1.9-billion to $2.3-billion at community colleges and $500-million more at four-year colleges.
  • There is growing recognition that the traditional semester-long course sequence used by many community colleges doesn't work, says Michael Lawrence Collins, associate vice president for postsecondary state policy at Jobs for the Future, a Boston-based nonprofit that studies education and work-force issues. It's inefficient to have students take up to a year and a half in remediation when many need just pieces of what they're being taught.
  • The Virginia system is betting on that promise. Its colleges will soon replace their semester-long developmental-math courses with nine units, which can be taken as one-credit classes or Web-based lessons with variable credit hours that allow students to complete more than one unit in a self-paced computer lab and classroom. The number of units that students are required to complete will depend on their placement-test scores and intended program of study. Students focused on the liberal arts will have to show competence in only five units, for example, mastering basic algebra concepts such as linear equations. Students who plan to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, math, or business administration must complete all nine units.
  • Although he has help from a tutor in the class, it's a lot to juggle, he says. Mr. Wyrick does like how the Web-based class allows him to peek at students' quizzes in real time and track their progress a lot faster than by sorting through homework and test papers himself. "It allows me to intervene even before they ask for help," he says.
  • There is one certainty. The Virginia Community College system is not the only one anticipating the outcome. Equally curious are researchers and other colleges searching for successful ideas. "There is a risk," Mr. Collins says, "but there is also power in being that bold."
  • The Virginia Community College system is poised to find out. Starting in 2012, it will adopt a new systemwide developmental-math curriculum that will allow students to focus only on those math concepts they haven't already mastered rather than taking a series of semester-long math courses.
  • Half of all incoming students in the system need developmental education—and three-fourths of those students fail to graduate or transfer within four years.
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    Great article on a Community College network taking a chance to revamp its remedial math program. Read on!
Rebecca Patterson

Teachers' externships show real-world use of classwork | The Des Moines Register | DesM... - 0 views

  • Jobs in science, technology, engineering and mathematics are growing at four times the rate of other career sectors, says the partnership, and Iowa's economy increasingly relies on high-tech jobs.
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