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MJ Author

05/14/2019 Added

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

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[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.

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