SEMINAL

MJ Author

05/14/2019 Added

91 Plays

Description

Students are enjoying more success calculus classes thanks to a changes at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Searchable Transcript

Search:

[00:00:00.280](upbeat music)
[00:00:03.040]Success in this University of Nebraska Lincoln
[00:00:05.720]pre-calculus classroom doesn't come with
[00:00:08.310]a traditional lecture.
[00:00:09.530]Two different groups at this table
[00:00:11.166]and they had two
[00:00:11.999]It's about active learning and small groups,
[00:00:14.420]with the professor as a guide.
[00:00:16.550]It gives students
[00:00:18.983]an opportunity to have this kind of conversation
[00:00:22.300]and not just passively listening
[00:00:24.272]and thinking they get it, but then go home
[00:00:27.500]and realize they don't.
[00:00:28.860]You work at it like in a group and check
[00:00:31.010]each other's answers, and maybe one of us would get it,
[00:00:33.880]but the other one won't, so then you have to teach it,
[00:00:36.170]and I think that really helps you remember
[00:00:39.330]how to do it yourself, too.
[00:00:41.030]Efforts to improve the way we teach calculus
[00:00:43.680]are part of a five-year National Science Foundation
[00:00:46.590]funded research program.
[00:00:48.580]The Seminal grant is all about helping math departments
[00:00:51.390]to change their culture to be all about active learning
[00:00:55.050]and actively engaging students as the norm
[00:00:57.240]instead of lecture as the norm,
[00:00:58.570]particularly for freshman courses.
[00:01:00.960]It brings the talent and the expertise of
[00:01:03.760]mathematicians, math educators, graduate students,
[00:01:06.590]and other faculty to the table
[00:01:08.840]to try to improve and transform calculus education.
[00:01:13.360]The nation needs a workforce strong in science,
[00:01:16.570]technology, engineering, and math,
[00:01:18.490]the so-called STEM fields, but too often, students struggle.
[00:01:22.980]Nationwide, depending on the kind of institution,
[00:01:25.640]anywhere from 25 to 50 percent of students fail
[00:01:28.490]their first math class, and additionally, about 50 percent
[00:01:31.380]of people nationwide switch away from a STEM major
[00:01:34.040]after their freshman year, often because of their
[00:01:36.600]negative experience in a mathematics class.
[00:01:38.571]UNL is one of Seminal's leaders.
[00:01:41.370]The program brings together 15 institutions to make
[00:01:44.650]changes, gather data, and determine what works
[00:01:47.740]in the classroom.
[00:01:48.970]This is a function of S.
[00:01:51.110]At Nebraska, changes include redesigned
[00:01:53.660]classrooms, new teaching methods, longer classes,
[00:01:57.190]and undergraduate learning assistants.
[00:01:59.780]Both the instructor and I kind of walk around
[00:02:02.030]and facilitate discussion and have people
[00:02:05.120]work on the problems and talk them through it,
[00:02:07.150]answer questions.
[00:02:08.470]Strong leadership is a key factor
[00:02:10.550]for effective change.
[00:02:12.120]Coordination of courses helps provide
[00:02:14.380]a uniform experience and community.
[00:02:17.380]We've also, then,
[00:02:18.340]been working on the sustainability.
[00:02:20.100]There's a first-year math taskforce at UNL that oversees
[00:02:23.680]freshman and sophomore math courses
[00:02:25.761]and keeps and eye on them, and evaluates
[00:02:28.921]and helps to keep the rigor of the exams going.
[00:02:32.060]So the exams have gotten harder,
[00:02:33.790]while our success rates have gone up.
[00:02:35.767][Narrator] Researchers are compiling what they learn
[00:02:38.480]to share with other institutions.
[00:02:40.920]At Nebraska, changes add up to success.
[00:02:44.180]The pre-calculus classes at UNL,
[00:02:46.030]the success rate tended to be around 62 percent.
[00:02:49.160]The same courses now, since 2015, have been
[00:02:52.132]very steady at 80 percent success rate.
[00:02:55.060]In Calculus 1, success rates have gone from about
[00:02:57.380]62 percent to over 75 percent.
[00:03:00.360]Or in Calc 2, they hit 80 percent.
[00:03:02.540]I feel really great, and I'm doing well.
[00:03:04.060]I'm doing better than my Calc class from last semester,
[00:03:07.120]so this is pretty sweet, and I'm pretty excited.
[00:03:09.890]Researchers believe efforts to infuse
[00:03:12.470]active learning in the classroom
[00:03:14.090]will lead to student success.

The screen size you are trying to search captions on is too small!

You can always jump over to MediaHub and check it out there.

Comments

0 Comments

SEMINAL

Description

Searchable Transcript

Comments icon comment

Related Channels

Comments