Math Made Relevant

Contributed by Kate Kramer, Instructor of Earth Science & Geology

We’ve all heard it… “I don’t do math” or “math is scary.” But the truth is everyone uses some form of math everyday, and math certainly isn’t scary (zombies are scary). But what can instructors do to help dissolve students' math anxiety? I’ve been working with a program called The Math You Need, When You Need It (TMYN) to help assist students with lacking math skills.

The basic premise of TMYN are web-based modules that help students succeed with mathematics in introductory geoscience classes (don’t teach geoscience? Good news… we are currently working on modules for other science courses, too). Recent studies show that these tools help "level the playing field" by supporting students in learning, reviewing mathematical skills, and reducing math anxiety in geoscience courses.

TMYN provides a direct link between quantitative math skills and the geoscience classroom. I use the modules to support many topics in the laboratory and lecture portions of Physical Geology. We currently apply modules about converting units, rearranging equations, calculating density, understanding graphs, and interpreting slope and topographic lines.

Students have commented on how prepared the modules have made them in the classroom, and the overlapping usefulness of the modules in other courses, such as, “the website is a good review of material I haven’t used in a while” and “I get math now.” My implementation of TMYN has been one of my most successful teaching strategies, as it supports my students with lecture and laboratory quantitative skills.

A Short Approach to Writing Across the Curriculum

Contributed by Christine Grela, Instructor of Psychology

As we discuss excellence in teaching, I am reminded of the work I did to help develop the Writing across the Curriculum (WAC) Rubric in 2006. Writing seems to be such an essential skill we want to develop in our students, and it is also an obvious way to assess their ability to comprehend course information and to think critically.

Although some instructors have embraced the WAC idea and rubric, I know there has been concern across campus that perhaps writing doesn’t really have a place in “my” course, or that “this” isn’t the kind of class that writes a lot of papers. So, when I received information about paragraph writing and how it can be integrated across the curriculum by simply evaluating paragraph responses, I got excited.

Perhaps we can truly make writing a form of assessment across the curriculum if we keep it short! Check out what the Center for Teaching and Learning at the University of Texas at Brownsville have done with this paragraph handbook.

What do you think about writing in your discipline? Would paragraphs be appropriate and easy to assess for you?

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