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Showing posts from May, 2015

Finally! A Win! How I expressed my concerns and students actually listened.

I had a Win yesterday! A capital 'W' Win! It kind of made my day and thought I'd share it with you all. This term I am teaching an alternative pathway mathematics course. Traditionally students are expected to take anywhere between 1-4 remedial mathematics courses, for which they don't get college credit. These courses are not college-level (below 100-level), so they get credits for taking them but they don't apply to degree programs or requirements. For each remedial math course a student takes their chances of failing (and subsequently) dropping out increase. So to help non-STEM students get around these courses  (which are frequently focused on STEM students) many colleges and universities are trying these alternative pathway courses. Many other organizations and publications have talked about this trend. One of the instructional methods in the course is group work. There are a number of times in a class where I or my co-teacher might say "Let's