Saturday, February 23, 2013

Presentation handout

This is a handout I often distribute at presentations.  It can be downloaded.  For more specific information on our course objectives, please email me.


Monday, February 18, 2013

MyMathLab demo now available for Math Lit

If you'd like to see what the MyMathLab course will look like for our book, Math Lit, you can preview it by creating a course in MyMathLab.  Go to "Create/Copy Course" and search by the book name or Almy or Foes.

Click on any graphic below to enlarge it for easier viewing.















Once it is copied, this is what you'll see.















We use MML for the skill component of the course so that students can practice all the skills that are developed in a way that will help them develop mastery.  Additionally, an ebook is available as well answers to the conceptual homework in the text.

To guide students through the book structure, tabs correlating to cycle parts are available, each with the set of steps students complete to learn a lesson.  They include participating in the lesson, doing MML homework, and doing conceptual homework with answers provided for checking their work.


















Within the instructor resources is a link to the Instructor Appendix, a document that supports instructors in teaching the course, cycle, and lessons.  Additionally, there is a link to a webinar I gave about the MLCS course.

Sunday, February 17, 2013

This and That: An Update

Although travel season never really ends for me, it does have its busy and less busy times.  I'm in the busy season now, traveling every weekend for the foreseeable future.  Recently I worked with the Maricopa college system in Phoenix on redesign.  It's interesting to see how large college systems work to implement change.  There are always challenges to redesign; they just vary due to things like size, funding, culture, and facilities.

I've been speaking at a series of three sessions to educate faculty in Illinois on new pathways courses.  We've had events at Southwestern Illinois College and Parkland College. Our remaining event is on March 2 from 10 am to 1 pm at College of DuPage.  Any faculty or administrator in Illinois is welcome to attend and learn more about the types of pathways courses we're testing in Illinois, the data to date, and when we'll be voting as a state.

Intermixed with the Illinois events, I'm speaking on MLCS in Houston this week for TCCTA.  Next month I'll be in Washington state (both Seattle and Spokane) for events to talk about pathways courses.  Then it's on to ICTCM in Boston and then IMACC at Robert Allerton Park in Monticello, IL.

Throughout this time, I'm doing training workshops with schools as they plan pilots.  Heather and I are working on the online course we'll teach on pathways this summer.  Information for registration should be coming in the next month or so.  Communication is often easier with face-to-face workshops, but it's hard to be everywhere at once.  The online course will give us an opportunity to provide training for MLCS on a much larger scale and in the convenience of your own home.

Lastly, we are in the home stretch of finishing the book, Math Lit.  A demo course in MyMathLab will be available very soon.  We've already seen a sample of it and it's fantastic.

It's been a lot of work for me and many, many others around the country who are committed to providing new developmental math avenues for students.  Seeing that work come to fruition is truly exciting.  Hearing about students enjoying new courses and feeling success in a math class for the first time makes all of it worthwhile.

Friday, February 1, 2013

New website for the book, Math Lit

Pearson has created a website for the book, Math Lit.  You can check it out here.  More information will be added to the site this spring.