2010 Midterm Survey – Math 180 Calculus Workshops
Overall students’ responses are similar to last year, except that this year the response rate is much
higher: 93% of registered students completed the survey, against 79% in 2009 and 81% in 2008.
Students’ engagement: Students seem to interact with their peers and the TAs as much as last year.
Working on things
unrelated to calculus
Listening to TAs
explain answers
Listening to
other groups
more than 75%
Talking to other members
of the group about the problem the
group is working on
75%
50%
25%
5% - 10%
0%
Listening to other members
of the group talking about the
problem the group is working on
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
Very few students reported to be spending time on things unrelated to calculus:
Q: Time
spent on
2008/09
things
(N= 370,
unrelated
81% of
to Calculus enrolled)
0%
46%
5%-10%
36%
25%
9%
50%
5%
75%
2%
>75%
2%
2010/11
2009/10
(N= 348,
79% of
enrolled)
57%
29%
5%
3%
1%
4%
(N= 377,
93% of
enrolled)
62%
28%
6%
1%
1%
1%
Students’ perceptions
Only about 11% of students (N=40) agreed with the statement “the workshops are a waste of time”,
same percentage as last year.
I'd like to move to another
group
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
My group functions
well
Strongly Agree
The workshops are a waste of
time
The workshop problems provide
useful practice for solving
problems on tests
The workshop problems are
related to material covered in
class
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
About 32% (N=13) of the students who think the workshops are a waste of time reported that their
group doesn’t function well.
Most of the students’ comments on the survey were very positive. A few examples:
Q: What is the one thing you find most valuable about the workshops?
“Problems I don’t understand are gone over in detail and discussion until everyone in the group understands. It
is also a gauge of how well I know the material so far, letting me know what I need to study”
“forced to work out questions yourself with minimum help”
“I really like working through the problems, there is a strong sense of accomplishment when I figure it out
before others”
“great to discuss so that I know how much I understand when I talk about it”
“hands on math experience. I don’t learn well from lectures, I have to actually do math”