Presentation matters

Next semester, I'm going to start off by placing a much higher emphasis on presentation to my algebra classes. My experiences this quarter indicate that this is actually a foundational part of their math education. It has a number of benefits:

1. It sets the standard of reading and following directions carefully
2. It forces students to think about what they're doing and exposes their lack of thought
3. It makes the papers significantly easier to grade
4. It outlines a style of thinking that encourages logical and organized thought
5. It prepares them for more difficult and more complicated algebraic maneuvers down the line

I've made some adjustments and most of my Math 097 students are on board with the presentation (and I hope they're seeing their current material of adding/subtracting/multiplying polynomials as a clear extension of these things). Jason is considering writing up a document about these algebraic presentation things, and I might help him out if I can.

The Standard Syllabus

Every class deserves its own syllabus, but a lot of the content in a syllabus remains static from one class to the next. I spent much of this afternoon reflecting on the common content and pulling it together into a single document. I call it the "Standard Syllabus" and you can find it by following this link.

There are three components to the syllabus.

The first is a set of pithy comments that address the basic philosophical approach to teaching and assessment.

The second piece is a short essay to help students think about how they actually learn math. Just as problems are broken into two types on the first page (computation and concepts), their main structure for learning is also broken into these two components. Homework builds up the computational skill and classroom time will be spent trying to build up the conceptual framework. I think what I have now is an acceptable form, but it may be changed later.

The third piece is a layout of the expectations that the students should have of me and what they should expect from themselves (it's also what I expect of them). I think it's vital to the students' education that they actually own their own education. They must be responsible for it and I've made that explicit in having the space for them to sign their name. I admit it feels a little contrived, but I will gladly exchange that for being able to make this point absolutely clear to them.

First Day of Class Quiz

I've been toying around with an idea to overcome some of the hurdles discussed in this post. In particular, I want to change students' perception of what math is really about and the negative perception that they either are not good at math or cannot become good at math (obviously, I'm not talking about all students, since some don't have this problem).

My idea is to open up the class with a quiz. It's not so much a quiz as a self-assessment. I want to get them to start thinking differently from the beginning. My mind is geared right now towards my Elementary and Intermediate Algebra class (Math 097, Section 3). Here are some of the questions I want to ask (besides name, email, and those things):

1. Why are you taking this class?
2. What are the necessary skills required to be good at math?
   
3. What do you hope to gain from taking this class?
   
4. On a scale of 1-5 with 5 being "highly proficient", rate your mathematical ability.

I want to do a last day of class something where I give this back to them and have them evaluate the class. This is still a work in progress.