Miami Dade College

Spotlight on… MDC College-Prep Math Students!

This academic year, the College-Prep Math Competition (CPMC) was successfully conducted thanks to the collaboration among and support provided by a District-wide Learning Innovations Golden Apple grant and the administrators, directors, faculty and staffs of the Kendall campus College-Prep Math Lab, Department of Mathematics, Offices of Student Life and Student Affairs, McGraw-Hill, and local entrepreneur, Paul L. White.  This “meeting of the minds” was further evidence of the spirit of collaboration which was an integral component of the CPMC.

            During the major semesters, two individual (online) and three team (face-to-face) rounds of competitions were sponsored by Profs. Saleh and Austin-Hill, the math faculty who were awarded a Golden Apple grant in spring 2006.  Students currently enrolled in Basic Mathematics (MAT 0002), Basic Algebra (MAT 0024), Integrated College Mathematics (MAT 0020) and Intermediate Algebra (MAT 1033) were eligible to participate.  In each round of competition, students were given the opportunity to complete challenging problem sets that enhanced and furthered their knowledge and understanding of the mathematics that they were studying. 

Once again the entire Miami Dade College family has someone of which to be proud!  During the course of the academic year, one hundred college-prep mathematics students were recognized with certificates of participation.  The top three individuals and top three teams were recognized in their respective rounds with certificates of recognition and gift cards.  Victorious team members received additional lab hours as well.

            A round of competition is already planned for the summer.  And greater things are forthcoming in the fall with the formation of a Math Club.  A collaboration of the CPMC, Problem-of-the-Week Contest, and the Math Olympiad is anticipated and even greater institutional support is expected.

            Please feel free to contact the following individuals for further information.

bullet College-Prep Math Competition asaleh@mdc.edu or saustin@mdc.edu
bullet Learning Innovations lilt@mdc.edu
bullet Problem-of-the-Week Contest pbibby@mdc.edu
bullet Math Olympiad dtseng@mdc.edu

Submitted by
Suzanne S. Austin-Hill, Ph. D.
Co-sponsor, CPMC

 
 

Miami Dade College/ Math Retreat 2007

Mathematics faculty college-wide celebrated, yet again, the opportunity to convene Math Retreat 2007 on March 1-2. This year the focus was assessment, with the theme - "Student Assessment: Beyond Testing".

On opening day, the first-round of the College's assessment of the General Education Review initiative was displayed and discussed. The assessment was based on six tasks developed by faculty to address the ten Learning Outcomes of the college. The tasks were administered to selected classes across the college. Rubrics were created to assess each student as "emerging", "developing", "proficient", or "exemplary". "Proficient" and "exemplary" are considered acceptable ratings. The assessment results were low for all Learning Outcomes, with the majority of students scoring in the lower two categories. For the mathematics specific outcome, quantitative reasoning, only 19% of the students received an acceptable score. These results were from a pilot and will be used to provide baseline results.

Opening day also included a presentation entitled, "Rethinking Assessment" by a faculty member. The presentation engendered thoughts and questions related to the General Education Review results and the discussion scheduled for the second day of the retreat.

Day two began with an update of the Quality Enhancement Plan initiative. This plan supports frequent testing. Faculty members engaged in a lively discussion of their successful classroom experiences with frequent testing.

The highlight of the Retreat was the presentation by Dr. Robert Mayes from the University of Wyoming. Dr. Mayes is the Director of the Science and Mathematics Teaching Center. He shared his expertise in assessment. With his guidance, we grappled with developing assessments based on the concepts of "Enduring Understanding" and "Understanding by Design". Working within the standards-driven curriculum, "Understanding by Design" helps teachers clarify learning goals, devise revealing assessments of student understanding, and craft effective and engaging learning activities. Dr. Mayes stressed that addressing student assessment is critical to the learning process. It drives the ways in which faculty teach and greatly influences the outcomes that our students carry forward in their studies.

For further information concerning Math Retreat 2007 and the Quality Enhancement Plan, please contact Linda Burton at lburton@med.edu and Patrick Bibby at pbibby@mdc.edu, respectively.

Respectively submitted,
Linda Burton
MDC, Homestead Campus
305-237-5072