SACSCOC Fifth Year Interim Report
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Assessment : 2012 - 2013 : Educational Programs :
Mathematics BA
Mathematics BA
2 Goals 2 Objectives 2 Indicators 4 Criteria 3 Findings 2 Actions
| GOAL: Deliver A Lower-Level Curriculum With Appropriate Discipline Specific Skill Sets |
| Objective |
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| Mth142 (Calculus I): Students will demonstrate the following knowledge and skills: differentiation of standard mathematical functions, apply the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus to evaluate integrals, and use calculus techniques to solve optimization problems. |
| Indicator |
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All students in the program are required to complete Math1420. Students will be administered a final exam containing some common questions developed and approved by the faculty teaching Math1420. The exam will require the students to demonstrate the knowledge and skills mentioned in the objective. |
| Criterion |
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| On the final exam, 70% of the students will provide the correct derivative for a given mathematical function. |
| Finding |
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| Of the 83 students reported, 62 (or 75%) successfully produced a correct solution to a particular problem regarding differentiation of a single-variable function. This is sufficient, although we would like to see at least an 80% success rate. |
| Criterion |
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| On the final exam, 70% of the students will use the appropriate calculus techniques to solve an optimization problem. |
| Finding |
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| Of the 83 students reported, only 28 (or 34%) successfully produced a correct solution to a particular problem regarding optimization of a single-variable function. This is insufficient. Upon inspection, it was not students' calculus skills that kept them from submitting a correct solution, but rather their skills in creating the correct function to optimize. It is hoped that our new precalculus course, MATH 1410, will contribute to students' increased ability for modeling phenomena with single-variable functions. |
| Criterion |
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| On the final exam, 70% of the students will correctly evaluate a definite integral using the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus |
| Finding |
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| Of the 83 students reported, 63 (or 76%) successfully produced a correct solution to a particular problem regarding integration and the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus. This is sufficient, although we would like to see at least an 80% success rate. |
Actions for Objective:
| Action |
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| We will compare the performance of students in MATH 1420 (Calculus I) that have taken our new precalculus course, MATH 1410, with the performance of students that either complete precalculus prerequisites in high school, at community colleges, or by other means. |
| GOAL: Deliver An Upper-Level Curriculum With Appropriate Discipline Specific Knowledge |
| Objective |
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| Students preparing to graduate will demonstrate advanced mathematics knowledge and skills. |
| Indicator |
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| Students will complete a project requiring them to use technology to create conjectures and then provide a proof of their conjecture. |
| Criterion |
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| At the end of the semester, 85% of the students submitting their project will receive a rating of 8 out of 10 or better according to the attached rubric. |
Actions for Objective:
| Action |
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| This course was taught by a new faculty member, and the department chose not to burden our colleague with such a request. The activity will resume in Spring 2014. |
| Previous Cycle's "Plan for Continuous Improvement" |
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Last year, we indicated we would try to address our lack of success in calculus by having companies provide the department with demonstrations of on-line homework software. Because of scheduling problems, these demonstrations did not take place until the spring. We also had two professors try teaching calculus in a way that required more student interaction and a great deal more written explanation from students. While we did not expect too much of an impact on the skill objectives of differentiation and integration, we did hope there would be some benefit with the applied problem. Sadly, this was not the case - in either the traditional classes or the experimental ones. At this point, we are not sure how we plan to proceed, although we will be meeting with publishers to determine possible alternatives.
As for our upper division classes, assessment over the past two years shows we seem to be meeting our objective - at least for one or two upper-division classes. It is probably time to turn our attention to some of the other upper division classes. |
| Update on Previous Cycle's "Plan for Continuous Improvement" |
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We are doing well with teaching the "nuts and bolts" of calculus, but can do better having students apply knowledge learned in prerequisite courses to the material presented in calculus. This is a challenge, considering we have no control over the material presented elsewhere, but with a new placement exam, we can at least identify those students that are deficient.
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| Plan for Continuous Improvement |
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We will implement a new placement exam for MATH 1420/1410.
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