Mathematics Subcommittee
(Gregory, Blose, Devaprasad and J. Swedene in an advisory capacity)
LSSU graduates will be able to analyze situations symbolically and quantitatively in order
to make decisions and solve problems.
The courses included for this portion of General Education are MATH110 or higher or PHIL205.
In practice, the courses taken for the mathematics requirement are typically MATH110, 111,
112, 140, 151, 207 and PHIL205. MATH131 will be included as of the Fall 2009 semester. In
each course the instructor evaluates the students - there is no common evaluation of content
due to the diversity of content in the courses.
However, we were able to reach a common ground as to what should be the desired outcome
for all students in their Gen Ed Math requirement, which was included in the 2008 revision of the
outcomes: analyze situations symbolically and quantitatively in order to make decisions and
solve problems.
The following is our suggested assessment plan:
1.
Courses should have clearly defined objectives that are measurable. Each instructor will
be responsible to evaluate the course and determine that the General Education
requirement (above) has been met. This will take a different form depending on the
specific course.
2.
Course assessments such as exams can be reviewed to determine the class average
per objective and compare with other courses, semesters, etc.
3.
Students will be surveyed on the completion of each course, asking for their opinion on
how they feel they are able to meet the General education objectives in the course. The
survey could include a limited number of questions determining how the students feel
about their success with the General Education outcome. It has been shown that such
an assessment can be valid. (See
http://www.ls.wisc.edu/gened/Assessment/commA_surveyreport.pdf)
The survey could be attached to the final exam, or class time during the last week of the
semester may be more appropriate, since students are not focused on their grade and
finishing the exam. The School of Engineering accompanies the survey with a short
verbal Q&A session on the objectives with the students conducted by the faculty
member or a colleague. As you may know, the engineering departments have instituted
(and subsequently used) this type of course assessment for about 10-12 years, and they
found that the verbal Q&A on each objective allows them to better understand where
things went well and where it didn't, in addition to the written comments (since, in many
instances, the students do not take the time to write details coherently).
In regards to measuring the General Education Mathematics outcome on the senior level,
please note the disparity as to when students take their required mathematics (or philosophy)
course and the quantity of courses taken that involve quantitative reasoning. Many majors insist
on the mathematics requirement be taken early, especially engineering and science, whereas
others allow students to take the requirement later. In addition, many students leave their
mathematics requirement as late as possible due to a dislike of the discipline. Also, quantitative
reasoning is not a part of many non-mathematical courses, whereas writing is. Therefore, it is
difficult to determine the ‘value added’ of the mathematics requirement at any time during the
students program except at the end of the particular course. If the remainder of the students’
program does not include many quantitative reasoning requirements and the course was taken
early, the value may dissipate before an assessment during the senior year. On the other hand,
a student taking several courses involving quantitative reasoning will have a much different
result.