Fall 2024 Schedule

Join us for an informal check-in about what we're trying this semester, what projects we have underway, and how the start of the semester went!

A discussion of how we are mentoring graduate teaching fellows, best practices, and what past fellows have found to be useful.  

What trends are we seeing in AP Calculus scores?  How is that manifesting for BC mathematics students?  Relevant reading links:

https://www.wsj.com/us-news/education/advanced-placement-exams-test-scores-higher-f4dce3c2 

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/18/us/college-board-ap-exams-courses.html  

https://fordhaminstitute.org/national/commentary/9-thoughts-advanced-placement-takedown-times 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AP_Calculus#   

As time allows: AP Pre-Calculus was offered for the first time in the 23-24 school year.  Discussion of requests to re-consider the role of AP Statistics in fulfilling the core (or not).  

Title: Collaborative Problem Sets for MATH1103

Description:  I recently taught MATH1103 Calculus II for Math/Science Majors during Summer 2024 in an online asynchronous format. Students were not required to meet in person or online at any particular time, though they did need to complete coursework by set deadlines. In order to create interaction between the students and encourage collaboration, I created structured weekly group problem sets, where students were required to complete their own part of the problem set and provide feedback on their peers' work. Their grade was a combination of their individual score, along with others' scores. Students seemed to respond well to this format for several reasons, and I'm curious what ideas people have for adapting this to an in-person environment. 

In this week's seminar we will discuss Building Thinking Classrooms in the Post-Secondary Context, based on the ecent seminar, hosted by OLSUME, led by Peter Liljedahl and others. (See abstract below.)

We invite people to watch the recording here and come to discuss what it means to "get more students thinking, thinking more, thinking longer." in our classrooms. 

Even if you can't watch the recording before-hand, come to learn about how Ellen and others have used aspects of this in their classrooms. 

Abstract of the OLSUME seminar: Peter Liljedahl's book Building Thinking Classrooms provides a roadmap for teachers to "get more students thinking, thinking more, thinking longer." In this OLSUME seminar, Peter Liljedahl will outline the principles of his book and dive into several of the 14 teaching practices that research shows optimize conditions for students to think, which increases their engagement and learning. Building Thinking Classrooms has a large K-12 audience, but the ambitious goals and research-based strategies can also help frame instruction for math educators in a higher education context. Christine von Renesse and April Strom will share how they leverage these strategies in their college classrooms. 

Title: Critical Transformations in Undergraduate Instruction

Title: Continuing the conversation on math anxiety 

Description: Math anxiety takes up cognitive resources of students, affecting both success in current math courses and also potential future math engagement. This is a salient topic for math departments--past teaching seminars have explored the research on math anxiety and suggested possible interventions. This topic also frequently comes up in consultations from other disciplines at the Center for Teaching Excellence, where folks are interested in developing resources for all instructors encountering math anxiety in their students. In this session we will recap some of the educational/psychological research on math anxiety and then open up a discussion among attendees about challenges and strategies they have found effective. Laura thanks attendees in advance for their wisdom! 

Recording is here.

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