Submitted Fall 2017
Abstract of Sabbatical Leave Application
APPLICANT’S NAME: JULIE HARLAND
DEPARTMENT: MATHEMATICS
CHECK (X) THE TYPE OF SABBATICAL LEAVE:
: Advanced Academic Studies
X Self-directed studies (may partially include academic studies).
(Select Advanced Academic Studies only if all 12 semester/18 quarter units are upper division/graduate credit. Otherwise, choose Self-directed studies.)
ABSTRACT
In the box below, clearly state the purpose(s) of the proposed sabbatical leave (try to keep the abstract 200 words or less).
My purpose is to create Open Educational Resources (OER) for math courses offered at MiraCosta at the precalculus level or below. These will be in the form of print quality materials, videos, or online math exercises. All work created will be accessible as free resources to students, teachers and the community-at-large on my website, YourMathGal.com.
Parts III & IV
Sabbatical Leave Application
(Use the following format for Parts III & IV to prepare these sections as described below.)
III. Identification of Objectives, Description of Proposed Activities & Documentation
Objective #1:
a. My Objective: To create Open Educational Resources (OER) for math courses offered at MiraCosta at the precalculus level or below. OER resources will be in the form of print quality materials, videos, or online math exercises. All work created will be easily accessible to students, teachers and the community-at-large on my website, YourMathGal.com.
b. How I plan to accomplish my objective and anticipated outcome: I will produce at least 100 OER items consisting of videos, computer exercises, or print quality materials. All items produced will be organized on my website, YourMathGal.com so they will be accessible to teachers, students, and the community-at-large. Below is a description of the exact process for creating each type of item:
· Videos: I plan what to record, write it down, prepare, practice, then do a screen capture. Videos will include step-by-step explanations. I review, and re-record or edit as needed. For a video made up of more than one cut, I piece together in a meaningful order, review, and edit. I then produce each video, check production results, file it, upload to YouTube, fill in all the required YouTube components, and test each video after it is processed. Last, I organize each video by topic on my webpage, creating links for easy access.
· Print Quality Materials: I decide content to focus on, then plan out and create original materials, using appropriate word processing and mathematical programs. These materials may include prose, exercise sets, or examples with solutions.
· Online Exercises in MyOpenMath: This requires knowledge of the language PHP in order to code. I will need to learn PHP in order to code, enabling me to create new exercises. Content in MyOpenMath is created by and edited by teachers. New exercises are continually being developed to improve the quality and diversity of exercises. New tools are developed over time, leading to the creation of better exercises. Learning PHP will enable me to code and create new exercises. Coding requires testing, and modifications to code are often necessary. I will also classify and organize exercises I create in MyOpenMath.
c. Documentation and estimation of time spent on my activity: I will provide an organized list of items created, and include links to videos and/or print quality materials, which will also be available on my website, YourMathGal.com. Online exercises will be accessible in MyOpenMath. I will also submit of log of hours.
Total Estimate of Hours for all objectives (minimum of 576 hours) = 576 or more hours
IV. Explanation of Contribution to District
A. Explanation of how my activities will contribute to my professional development:
Creating educational materials directly contributes to my professional development as a mathematics professor. My goal is to clearly and thoroughly explain mathematics so students will understand and enjoy it. This valuable activity helps students in my own classes as well as students in other MiraCosta College classes and the community-at-large. I grow professionally as I hone my teaching skills, broaden my technical skills, and meet an important demand for our 21st Century students: 24-hour free access to quality open educational mathematics materials.
B. Explanation of the anticipated short- and/or long-term benefits of your project on the following groups: students, department, college, and/or community. Include specific information on SLOs and/or PSLOs.
The top beneficiaries of my sabbatical are students. Our math SLO is: For a given set of problems the student will demonstrate quantitative reasoning by developing a problem-solving strategy, performing appropriate analysis and computation, and critically assessing the meaning of the conclusion or outcome. My videos and print quality materials provide the tools needed to achieve these outcomes as they focus specifically on critical thinking: problem-solving strategies, computations, checking their conclusions.
I am a lead and strong proponent of Open Education Materials in our department and at the college. The movement in education, and especially in California, is to provide more no or low cost options for materials to students. A new California law launching Spring 2018, SB-1359, requires notations in the schedule indicating which class sections use free digital materials, so there is a greater impetus for instructors to explore and implement low or no cost options. My project directly impacts the success of students in math and science classes by providing quality, free materials to any student needing to review or learn new material. Students across disciplines benefit as my OER materials may be used for review for a placement test—helping them to more quickly earn an AA, transfer, or enroll in a higher-level or transfer class. My project benefits the Math Department in many ways: Instructors may use any of my originally created materials for their classes. I will publish print quality materials using a Creative Commons license (see below) that allows instructors to use part or all of my materials that they may remix or augment to fit their own needs. MiraCosta College benefits as my videos are publicly hosted on YouTube, where students are directed to my website for more info about the College. This project benefits the community as a whole, as all of the work I create will be available to anyone—teachers, students, seniors wanting to further their knowledge on their own, etc.
Any print quality materials will be licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License