January 2001 — Features

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Faculty and Reference Librarians A Virtual Dynamic Duo

X@XOpenTag003Mathematics and Statistics at SFCC: One Department's Transformation

X@XCloseTag003Early in 1994, the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at SFCC embarked upon a comprehensive review of its curriculum. The decision to enact curricular reform coincided with a change in department leadership, and with the influence of external organizations engaged in a national dialogue on the evolution of instructional technology in mathematics education. Both the change and growth in the department over the past six years have not occurred without challenges. Reduced funding for professional and scholarly activity, along with concerns regarding equity and quality in educational opportunity, have been prominent players in the struggle for advancement. Yet, the department has successfully embraced technology and its valuable role in the mathematics classroom; pedagogy has also been updated so that innovative teaching and learning strategies are commonplace.

The resulting plan to enact this self-reflection of the departmental curriculum was identified as Project COMPUTE (Curriculum Overhaul in Mathematics with Pedagogy Updating and Technology Enhancement). Project COMPUTE provided a clear strategy for ushering the department into a technological era. Although technological innovation and its incorporation in the classroom were goals, these were not the only goals of the project. The implementation of research-based pedagogical changes designed to enhance mathematics learning for all students was equally important.

Six years ago, few faculty members in the department had access to personal computers as a means of incorporating technology in teaching and daily use. At the time, one or two teachers used graphing calculators in the instructional delivery of algebra. The teaching format of the majority of the faculty was fairly uniform, grounded in the theory of passive teaching and learning that was popular in the classroom of past decades. Classes invariably hosted a chalk and talk lecture, in which mathematics faculty talked while writing on the chalkboard. Students sat passively, listened, and dutifully took written notes.

 

X@XOpenTag004Project COMPUTE

X@XCloseTag004Faculty in the department applied for and won an NSF grant that became the source of funding for two instructional computer labs, which opened in a blue ribbon cutting ceremony in the fall of 1995. Initially, these department labs were equipped with non-Pentium computers, 15 of which were available for student use in pairs. One was reserved as the lead computer for instructor modeling and on-screen projection of concepts. Due to rapid changes in technological hardware and software, these computer labs were upgraded in the summer of 1999 to state-of-the-art Pentium computers, operating at 400 MHz in the Windows 95 environment. Offering 125 MB of RAM and a 6 GIG hard drive, each new computer is equipped with floppy, CD-ROM and internal ZIP drives, as well as a large screen color monitor. Various software programs, which are specific to mathematics – MATHCAD, DERIVE, CONVERGE, MINITAB – are available in these computer labs and are incorporated in the daily instructional delivery of subject matter.