The ?
Department of Mathematics and Statistics
Northern Arizona University
Most of the following slides are from an NCAT
workshop, hosted by UCF 3/24/2012
Dr Barbara Boschmans
TRADITIONAL INSTRUCTION
Seminars
Lectures
WHAT’S WRONG
WITH THE LECTURE?
 Treats all students as if
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they are the same
Ineffective in engaging
students
Inadequate individual
assistance
Poor attendance and
success rates
Students fail to retain
learning
WHAT’S WRONG WITH MULTIPLE
SECTIONS?
 In theory: greater interaction
 In practice: large class size
 In practice: dominated by the same
presentation techniques
 Lack of coordination
 Inconsistent outcomes
WHAT DOES NCAT MEAN BY
COURSE REDESIGN?
Course redesign is the process of redesigning whole
courses (rather than individual classes or sections) to
achieve better learning outcomes at a lower cost by
taking advantage of the capabilities of information
technology.
WHY REDESIGN?
Look for courses where redesign will have a high impact –
let’s make a difference:
 High withdrawal/failure rates
 Students on waiting lists
 Students turned away – graduation bottleneck
 Over enrollment of courses leading to multiple majors
 Inconsistency of preparation
 Difficulty getting qualified adjuncts
 Difficulty in subsequent courses
TEAM EFFORT IS KEY
Each team included
 Administrator
 Faculty experts
 Technology expertise
 Assessment assistance
120 REDESIGNED COURSES
 160,000 students nationwide
 Improved student learning: 72% Equivalent
student learning: 28%
 Cost reduction: 37% (9% to 77%) Annual
savings: ~$9.5 million
 Other outcomes
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Increased course-completion rates
Improved retention
Better student attitudes toward the subject
Increased student satisfaction with the mode of instruction
WHY DO STUDENTS FAIL MATH?
“The primary reason many students do not
succeed in traditional math courses is that
they do not actually do the problems. They
generally do not spend enough time with
the material, and this is why they fail at a
very high rate.”
REDESIGN CHARACTERISTICS
 Redesign the whole course—not just a single class
Emphasize active learning—greater student engagement
with the material and with one another
 Rely heavily on readily available interactive software—
used independently and in teams
 Mastery learning—not self-paced
 Increase on-demand, individualized assistance
 Automate only those course components that can
benefit from automation—e.g., homework, quizzes,
exams
 Replace single mode instruction with differentiated
personnel strategies
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Technology enables good pedagogy with large #s of students.
THE MATH EMPORIUM:
ACADEMIC GOALS
 Enhance quality by individualizing instruction
 Assess students’ knowledge in much smaller subject-matter
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chunks
Provide feedback and direction to allow students to make up
for specific deficiencies
Provide help 75 - 80 hours per week
Incorporate examples and information from other disciplines
Make changes in the course as it proceeds; continuous
improvement as a built-in feature
THE MATH EMPORIUM:
CHARACTERISTICS
 Move classes to a lab setting
 Permit the use of multiple kinds of personnel
 Allow students to work as long as they need to master
the content
 Can be adapted for the kinds of students at a
particular institution
 Allow multiple courses the same time
 Include multiple examples in math
WHY DOES THE EMPORIUM INCREASE
SUCCESS?
 Active learning: Students spend the bulk of
their course time doing math problems.
 On-demand help: Students get assistance
when they encounter problems in doing
math.
 Modularization: Students spend more time
on things they don’t understand and less
time on things they have already mastered.
WHY MODULARIZATION?
 “Currently, all students spend the same amount of class
time working on course elements.
 The traditional model does not allow for variances in skills
areas or learning differences.
 Modularization will target skills areas for each student,
thus speeding up student learning.
 The learning environment should give more time to
deficient skills and less time to those skills at which they
are already competent.”
"Students learn math
by doing math, not
by listening to
someone talk about
doing math."
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?
 The Emporium Model works and the Linked Workshop
Model works.
 Modularization works.
 It’s possible to improve quality while radically reducing
costs in developmental and college-level math.
 Math students at all levels will flourish by using
technology appropriately.
ASSIGNMENT
 What are the obstacles to starting a redesign of
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developmental or college-level math at your campus?
What issues do you need to consider?
What evidence would help you overcome the obstacles?
What information do you need to gather?
What process, if any, might help overcome the obstacles?
Choose one person to make note of any specific
questions.
NAU Courses Phase 1 MAT 100
 Course Coordinator: Shanna Manny.
 Fall 2012 will have 800-900 students.
 It is a 2-credit hour course and students will spend 2
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scheduled hours in the ? and one extra hour (required) in the
?.
Who will guide these students? TAs?
What text will be used? Trigsted?
Will there be assessments before the exam?
Other questions?
NAU Courses Phase 1 MAT 108
 Course Coordinator: Katie Louchart.
 Fall 2012 will have 350 students.
 It is a 3-credit hour course and students will spend 1 hour in
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class (in HLC), 2 scheduled hours (required) in the ?, and
one extra hour (required) in the ?.
What text will be used? Trigsted?
Should we have a TA/undergrad tutor in class and then have
them be in the lab?
Should there be mastery of homework before taking quizzes,
mastery of quizzes before taking tests?
Benchmark questions on MAT 108 final this spring.
UCF Face to Face Class Hour:
 Students spend one hour in class
 Review concepts from the previous week
 Highlight upcoming material
 Receive administrative information
 Classroom Response System (iClicker) is used to keep
students engaged
 When a holiday prevents the class from meeting, we
use media exercises for the class activity grade
UCF MALL Hours:
Students spend a required three hours in the
Mathematics Assistance and Learning Lab
(MALL)
• Weekly online hw and quiz assignments
• Students get unlimited attempts on hw due night
before class
• Students get 7 attempts on associated quiz due day
of class
• MALL staff provide on-demand assistance
• Students are in a proctored environment
UCF Online Testing:
 Test Scheduling System (Testing Cal)
 Scheduling open for a week and students have multiple
time options available
 Testing is completed in a proctored environment using a
password system
 Immediate feedback
 Free response questions or multiple choice
 Challenge week
 ADA time accommodation adjustments
 Integrity violations almost non-existent
 Cost savings
UCF MALL Staffing:
 Faculty
 Students
 Complete all assignments, become test proctors during testing
weeks, and complete training about 14 hours a semester
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College Reading & Learning AssociationInternational Tutor Program
Certification
 Peer tutors ($8.50-$9.00 per hour)
 Undergraduate and graduate mathematics students ($8.50-
$10.00 per hour)
 Graduate Teaching Assistants
UCF Mentors and Progress Monitoring:
 Top GTAs are called Mentors
 Meet with teaching team weekly
 Communicate with students
 Hold seminars and test reviews
 Help with classroom management
 Progress Monitoring
 Students Progress is monitored weekly
 Students receive weekly feedback via email
Communication has been shown to have an important role in learning
and understanding mathematics (Knuth & Peressini, 2001)
NAU Courses Phase 1 MAT 114
 Course Coordinator: Matt Fahy.
 Fall 2012 will have 900 students.
 It is a 3-credit hour hybrid course and students will spend 1
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hour in class (in AMB), 2 (or 3?) scheduled hours (required)
in the ?.
Big change: instructors will teach one day then be in the lab
the other day.
Testing will be done in AMB.
Can the quizzes be put online?
Other questions?
NAU Courses Phase 2 MAT 125
 Course Coordinator: Amy Rushall.
 Fall 2013 or 2014?
 We need a new space before adding more courses!
 Other questions?
Other People Involved
 TA Coordinator: Matt Fahy
 Placement Coordinator: Katie Louchart
 Peak Performance: Amy Rushall/Katie Louchart
 FYLI Liaison: Amy Rushall
 Assessment Coordinator: Brian Beaudrie
 IT
 Lab Manager: to be hired
 Tutor/Undergraduate Tutor Supervisor: to be hired
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Fall 2012 Open Lab Hours
 M-Th 2:00-9:00
 F 2:00-5:00
 Su 5:00-9:00
Can be adjusted if needed!
Emporium names at other places
 Central Florida - The MALL (Mathematics Assistance and
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Learning Lab)
Idaho - Polya Math Learning Center
Alabama - Math Technology Learning Center
Weber State - The Hub
LSU - The Math Lab
Jackson State – SMART (Survive, Master, Achieve, Review,
Transfer)
We need a name (right now)!
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Mathematics Achievement Center, a.k.a. the MAC
LCM: Learning Center for Mathematics
ACM: Achievement Center for Mathematics
Mathematics Emporium (Classroom) ME or MEC
T-SMiLE: Technology-Supported Mathematics (not sure what the i can stand for?) Learning
Emporium
Center for Mathematics Learning and Activity
Mathematics Active Learning Center
Center for Actively Learning Mathematics (CALM)
Center for Actively Learning Mathematics-Using Technology (CALM-UT)
Center for Actively Learning Mathematics-Integrating Technology (CALM-IT)
The Summit OR Trailhead
EMPIRE: The mathematics emporium integrating technology redefining education
MathSpace
CAMP : Center for Accelerating Math Performance or Computer Aided Math Proficiency
Math Activity Galleria (MAG)
Lumberjack Math Center (LMC)
Just-in-Time Math Center (JIT-MC)
WORDS 
Mathematics
Emporium
Learning
Space
Center
Galleria
Lumberjack
Achieve(ment)
Just-in-Time
Engage
Educational
Technology
Active/Activities/Actively
Contact Information:
Carolyn Jarmon
cjarmon@theNCAT.org
Barbara Boschmans
Barbara.Boschmans@nau.edu
Tammy Muhs
Tammy.Muhs@ucf.edu