Frameworks for Mathematics
And Collegiate Learning Course Outcomes
Build community and connect to campus resources.
Make personal connections with peers, instructors, and other campus support personnel.
• Students actively participate as members of identifiable teams throughout the term, and visit with
instructors and campus resource center personnel.
Locate and use support center services.
• Students identify and take advantage of support services on campus, including academic advising,
career counseling, financial aid services, libraries, disability services, and tutoring services.
Develop and maintain motivation for college success.
Develop and pursue useful goals.
• Students set, monitor, and adjust long-term personal, professional, academic, and social goals.
Apply strategies to maintain motivation.
• Students maintain their motivation by focusing on controllable academic behaviors and using
strategies to monitor and manage their attitudes, emotions, and thoughts when facing challenging
tasks or academic setbacks.
Develop a process for replacing negative, self-defeating habits with positive habits.
• Students identify habits and beliefs that have interfered with their success and learn to apply
metacognitive awareness to plan, monitor, evaluate, and reflect on their learning and to seek and
use feedback to improve performance.
Develop and use study strategies and skills.
Employ critical thinking skills when approaching challenging tasks.
• Students formulate questions, hypothesize and test hypotheses, draw inferences, interpret
evidence, formulate conclusions, evaluate accuracy and credibility of evidence, and identify
diverse approaches to issues.
Demonstrate organization and management of time and study materials.
• Students create and maintain a distributed study schedule and employ time-management strategies.
Describe how to store and retrieve information from memory.
• Students investigate factors that influence memory as well as specific information-processing and
organizing strategies.
Demonstrate effective reading and note-taking strategies that enhance retention and comprehension.
• Students learn and apply strategies for identifying key concepts in lectures and readings,
organizing class notes, and increasing reading comprehension.
The Charles A. Dana Center at
The University of Texas at Austin
Learning Outcomes
Identify and apply effective strategies to use before, during, and after taking an exam.
• Students develop strategies for preparing for exams, taking exams, and reviewing performance.
Demonstrate written and oral communication that is appropriate to context and that effectively conveys
meaning and logic.
• Students develop written and oral arguments that are insightful, purposefully organized, logically
supported, audience appropriate, and effectively delivered.
Use technology throughout the course.
• Students use college email to communicate, software to complete assignments, and a technology
platform (such as Blackboard) to submit assignments.
Find direction in college.
Identify future college and career pathways.
• Students explore the characteristics and required skills of various career paths and consult with
advisors and instructors to determine an appropriate path to follow.
The Charles A. Dana Center at
The University of Texas at Austin
Learning Outcomes
Copyright 2013, the Charles A. Dana Center at The University of Texas at Austin with
support from the Texas Association of Community Colleges
All intellectual property rights are owned exclusively by the Charles A. Dana Center at The University of Texas at
Austin or used under license from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Per our mutual
agreement, the Texas Association of Community Colleges does not have rights to create derivatives.
Unless otherwise indicated, the materials in this resource are the copyrighted property of the Charles A. Dana Center
at The University of Texas at Austin (the University), with support from the Texas Association of Community
Colleges. No part of this resource shall be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any
means—electronically, mechanically, or via photocopying, recording, or otherwise, including via methods yet to be
invented—without express written permission from the University, except under the following conditions:
a) TACC and codevelopment institutions in Texas may use all or part of this publication to carry out the
activities of the New Mathways Project in Texas.
b) Faculty and administrators in institutions of higher education may reproduce and use copies of the material
for their personal use without obtaining further permission from the University, so long as all original
credits, including copyright information, are retained.
c) Organizations or individuals other than those listed above must obtain prior written permission from the
University for the use of these materials, the terms of which may be set forth in a copyright license
agreement, and which may include the payment of a licensing fee, or royalties, or both.
We use all funds generated through use of our materials to further our nonprofit mission. Please send your
permission requests or questions to us at this address:
Charles A. Dana Center
The University of Texas at Austin
1616 Guadalupe Street, Suite 3.206
Austin, TX 78701-1222
Fax: 512-232-1855
dana-txshop@utlists.utexas.edu
www.utdanacenter.org
Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do
not necessarily reflect the views of The University of Texas at Austin. The Charles A. Dana Center and The
University of Texas at Austin, as well as the authors and editors, assume no liability for any loss or damage resulting
from the use of this resource. We have made extensive efforts to ensure the accuracy of the information in this
resource, to provide proper acknowledgement of original sources, and to otherwise comply with copyright law. If
you find an error or you believe we have failed to provide proper acknowledgment, please contact us at
dana-txshop@utlists.utexas.edu.
This version 2.0 was developed in Microsoft Word.
July 2013 release.
As always, we welcome your comments and suggestions for improvements. Please contact us at
dana-txshop@utlists.utexas.edu or at the mailing address above.
About the Dana Center
The Dana Center strengthens our nation’s education systems to provide a reliable path to upward mobility for all
students. Our work focuses on mathematics and science education, with an emphasis on strategies for improving
student engagement, motivation, and persistence. We are dedicated to nurturing students’ intellectual passions and
ensuring that every student leaves school prepared for success in postsecondary education and the contemporary
workplace—and for active participation in our modern democracy.
We advocate for high academic standards, and we collaborate with local partners to build the capacity of education
systems to ensure that all students can master the content described in these standards. We help our partners adapt
promising research to meet their local needs.
We develop innovative curricula, tools, protocols, instructional supports, and professional development systems that
we implement through multiple channels, from the highly local and personal to the regional and national.
a resource from
The Charles A. Dana Center at The University of Texas at Austin
In partnership with the Texas Association of Community Colleges
Frameworks for Mathematics and Collegiate Learning
Version 2.0 (2013)
We provide long-term technical assistance to school and district leadership teams, advise community colleges and
states, and collaborate with national partners on work such as our Urban District Leadership Networks, Academic
Youth Development project, Advanced Mathematical Decision Making course, and the New Mathways Project.
We have significant experience and expertise in the following:
• Standards development and implementation,
•
systemic reform, and district capacity
building
• Education leadership, instructional coaching,
•
and teaching
K–14 course design and development, learning
networks, and programs for bridging critical
transitions
Research, content development, and publishing
The Center was founded in 1991 at The University of Texas at Austin. Our staff of nearly 80 researchers and
education professionals has worked with dozens of school systems in nearly 20 states and with 90 percent of Texas’s
more than 1,000 school districts. We are committed to ensuring that the accident of where a child attends school
does not limit the academic opportunities he or she can pursue. For more information about our programs and
resources, see our homepage at www.utdanacenter.org. About the New Mathways Project
The NMP is a systemic approach to improving student success and completion through implementation of
processes, strategies, and structures based on four fundamental principles:
1. Multiple pathways with relevant and challenging math content aligned to specific fields of study
2. Acceleration that enables students to complete a college-level math course more quickly than in the
traditional developmental math sequence
3. Intentional use of strategies to help students develop skills as learners
4. Curriculum design and pedagogy based on proven practice
The Dana Center is developing curricular materials to implement these principles through three accelerated
pathways—Statistical Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning, and STEM-Prep. The pathways are designed for students
who have completed arithmetic or who are placed at a beginning algebra level. The three pathways have a common
starting point—a developmental math course that helps students develop foundational skills and conceptual
understanding in the context of college-level course material.
In the first term, students will also enroll in a co-requisite learning frameworks course to help them acquire the
tenacity—and strategies—necessary to succeed in college. These strategies include setting academic and career
goals that will help them select the appropriate mathematics pathway.
In addition to the curricular materials, the Dana Center is developing tools and services to support implementation of
the four principles. These include an implementation guide, data templates and planning tools for colleges, and
training materials for faculty and staff. The NMP is being developed through a partnership between the Charles A.
Dana Center and the Texas Association of Community Colleges.
For more information about the New Mathways Project, see
www.utdanacenter.org/higher-education/new-mathways-project.
For more information about the Texas Association of Community Colleges, see www.tacc.org.
About the Frameworks for Mathematics and Collegiate Learning Course
Frameworks for Mathematics and Collegiate Learning is a semester-long course developed as a part of the New
Mathways Project. The course teaches concepts from the learning sciences to help developmental math students
acquire the strategies and tenacity necessary to succeed in mathematics, in other college coursework, and in their
future careers.
Course instruction focuses on four main content strands:
Building community and connecting to campus resources: Classroom activities help foster a sense of
belonging in the classroom so as to build trust among peers and with the instructor. Both in class and outside of
class, students will explore campus resources via face-to-face meetings with academic advisors and financial
aid representatives and visits to learning centers and libraries.
The Charles A. Dana Center at
The University of Texas at Austin
Introduction
Frameworks for Mathematics and Collegiate Learning
Version 2.0 (2013)
Developing and maintaining motivation for college success: Students identify values, beliefs, and attitudes
about themselves and how those values, beliefs, and attitudes influence their performance in college. Students
will develop a system to monitor and manage their attitudes, emotions, and thoughts when faced with academic
challenges. They work to curtail self-defeating habits, such as attributing failure to uncontrollable factors, and to
create a productive mindset by focusing on controllable behaviors.
Developing and using study strategies and skills: Students demonstrate critical thinking skills and work to
enhance their self-regulatory thoughts and behaviors. Some classroom activities focus on how the brain works,
including memory and brain plasticity. Students also identify, select, and implement appropriate time
management, notetaking, test-taking, reading, and oral and written communication strategies.
Finding your direction in college: Students set and work toward academic, personal, and occupational goals.
They engage with their instructor and their academic advisor to select math coursework for future semesters and
will complete a semester-long career project that help them identify skills and competencies they should build
while in college.
Frameworks is intended as a 3-credit-hour college-level course, so students should be able to start accumulating
college credit in their first semester. Students will complete numerous written assignments, including journal entries
and formal reports, and will also deliver oral presentations. Students will complete initial assessments as well as
assessments at the end of the course to measure changes in their use of study strategies and in their values, beliefs,
and attitudes around their academic work.
About the Development of This Course
Version 1.0 (released spring 2013)
The development of this course began with the formation of the Frameworks for Mathematics and Collegiate
Learning design team, who set the course objectives and created the course outline. The team members were:
Angela Bush-Richards, Ph.D., research associate, Charles A. Dana Center, and lecturer, the University of Texas
at Austin
Pam Millsap, dean of general education programs, College of the Mainland, Texas City, Texas
Julie Phelps, professor of mathematics, Valencia College, Orlando, Florida
Nancy K. Stano, research associate, Charles A. Dana Center, and doctoral student, the University of Texas at
Austin
Lynda Villanueva, vice president, academic and student affairs, Brazosport College, Lake Jackson, Texas
The Dana Center then convened four development teams (see acknowledgments), constituting a broad coalition of
representatives from nineteen community colleges across Texas (and two from outside Texas), including dedicated
mathematics and student success faculty and student support administrators. Each team provided valuable
information focused on one of the following thematic strands identified by the Frameworks design team:
• Motivation
• Strategies and skills
• Building community and connection to campus resources
• Finding direction in college
Nancy K. Stano, project lead, collaborated with the consulting writer, Dr. Liz Alexander, to incorporate the ideas
that emerged from these meetings. The materials were then reviewed by members of the development teams.
Version 2.0 (released July 2013)
This first version of these materials was field-tested at Brazosport College during the spring 2013 semester. The
Brazosport faculty (see acknowledgements) involved in the field-test functioned as key development partners whose
extensive feedback greatly improved the materials. In addition, members of the four development teams also
provided feedback that has been implemented in this version.
The Frameworks course was produced in Microsoft Word 2008 and 2011 for the Mac.
Version 2.0 is supplied in PDF form. The following are some issues to be aware of:
The Charles A. Dana Center at
The University of Texas at Austin
Introduction
Frameworks for Mathematics and Collegiate Learning
Version 2.0 (2013)
•
PDF files need to be viewed with Adobe Acrobat for full functionality. If viewed through Preview, which is the
default on some computers, URLs in the content may not render accurately.
•
We recommend you print the Course Overview as a guide to the electronic files.
•
The file names indicate the lesson number and whether the document is a lesson or some other component of
the course.
Some of the content for this course is derived from the Quantway™ course, which was developed under a
November 30, 2010, agreement by a team of faculty authors and reviewers contracted and managed by the Charles
A. Dana Center at the University of Texas at Austin under sponsorship of the Carnegie Foundation for the
Advancement of Teaching. Quantway™ is copyright © 2011 by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of
Teaching and the Charles A. Dana Center at The University of Texas at Austin. Statway™ and Quantway™ are
trademarks of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
Other Acknowledgments
Development of version 1.0 (released spring 2013) and version 2.0 of Frameworks for Mathematics and Collegiate
Learning (released July 2013) was made possible by a grant from the Greater Texas Foundation as well as a
partnership with Brazosport College made possible by support from the Achieving the Dream Catalyst Fund. The
statements made and views expressed are solely the responsibility of the authors. The publication was also supported
through a partnership between the Charles A. Dana Center at The University of Texas at Austin and the Texas
Association of Community Colleges. Unless otherwise noted, all individuals listed are affiliated with the Charles A. Dana Center at The University of
Texas at Austin.
Project Leads and Authors
Nancy K. Stano, research associate and doctoral student at the University of Texas at Austin
Lisa Brown, senior program coordinator
Consulting Writer
Liz Alexander, Ph.D., independent consultant
Authors
Brent Cooper, reference librarian, Brazosport College
Deborah Gilmore, student success faculty, Temple College
Terry Rafter-Charles, instructor, student life skills, Valencia College
Development and Review Team
Jaimie Whitehead Ashby, director of institutional research and effectiveness, Texarkana College
R. Wade Bradfute, Ph.D, professor in human development, Austin Community College
Treva Brown-Askey, professor of teacher education and developmental education, Lee College
Essie Childers, reading/learning frameworks professor, Blinn College
Toni Cuellar, director of admissions and records, Temple College
Florence Culp, mathematics professor, Central Texas College
Dani Day, associate vice president for teaching and learning, Collin College
Lindsay Estes, title V activity director/READE grant, Howard College
Tracey Fleniken, director of counseling and testing, North Central Texas College
Kristen Foxley, professor of mathematics, San Jacinto College
Jin Ha, assistant professor of mathematics, Northeast Lakeview College
Stacey Henderson, psychology professor, College of the Mainland
Bobbie Jo Hill, professor of mathematics, Coastal Bend College
Lana Jackson, Ph.D., first-year experience department chair and professor, Amarillo College
Allen Miller, instructor in mathematics, Northeast Lakeview College
Kelley O’Neal, director, student success center, Brazosport College
The Charles A. Dana Center at
The University of Texas at Austin
Introduction
Frameworks for Mathematics and Collegiate Learning
Version 2.0 (2013)
Julie Phelps, professor of mathematics, Valencia College
Terry Rafter-Carles, instructor student life skills, Valencia College
Juan Ricardo Sauceda, mathematics instructor, Laredo Community College
Tina Swiniarski, developmental education coordinator and mathematics instructor, Lamar Institute of
Technology
Paula Talley, division director of student success and mathematics instructor, Temple College
Michael Turpin, vice president of institutional planning, Kilgore College
Reviewers for Course Learning Outcomes and Course Curricula
Lisa Brown, senior program coordinator
Angela Bush-Richards, Ph.D., research associate and lecturer
Kathi Cook, manager of tools development
Lynda Villanueva, vice president, academic and student affairs, Brazosport College
Contributing Brazosport College Faculty and Staff
Dorothy Babbington, adjunct instructor, learning frameworks
Rachel Cloeter, adjunct instructor, learning frameworks
Brent Cooper, reference librarian
Melanie Cooper, adjunct instructor, learning frameworks
Barry Foster, instructor, learning frameworks
Robert Irizarry, instructor, learning frameworks
Kelley O’Neal, instructor, learning frameworks and director, student success center
Lynda Villanueva, vice president, academic and student affairs, Brazosport College
Tommy Zajieck, adjunct instructor, learning frameworks
Antonio Zamorano, adjunct instructor, learning frameworks
Editorial and Production
Sarah Searcy, lead editor
Ophella Dano, editor
Steve Engler, editor
Rachel Jenkins, consulting editor
Erica Moreno, project coordinator
Rachele Seifert, print production manager
Phil Swann, senior designer
The Charles A. Dana Center at
The University of Texas at Austin
Introduction