Math Lit's approach to homework: MML and more

Our goal with the Math Lit book and course is to get students to be competent problem solvers who are college ready. To get there, we wrote and sequenced problems and activities designed with that end goal in mind. But to solidify concepts, students need to practice. Heather and I had used MyMathLab for years and loved it, but knew it was best suited to skill type exercises. We wanted students to do more than that in the Math Lit course, so we created the conceptual homework in the book. It provides students with much more involved problems, not exercises. Those problems require a student to apply what they've learned in the section. But they can't do that if they don't have the base level skills. That's where MyMathLab comes in.

The two types of homework work together and were designed as such. The MyMathLab homework wasn't an afterthought or haphazardly chosen. Like the text, much thought and care went into its development so that the goals of the course could be met. It's certainly a different approach to homework but the main thing is it works. Students develop skill understanding and then extend that understanding by being challenged with more involved problems. Unlike most commercial math literacy texts, the approach we use is effective. We have seen students year after year progress in their understanding and succeed in the subsequent college level courses.

Here are some examples:

For students to be able to solve a problem like this...

...they must have skills in exponents rules.

For students to be able to solve a problem like this...

...they must have skills in the distance formula and Pythagorean theorem.

For students to be able to solve a problem like this...

...they must have skills in writing equations of lines.

Math Lit 2e sampler available!

If you would like to know more about the second edition of Math Lit, please check out the sampler below. It has an overview of the book, a list of some of the changes that have been made, an updated table of contents, and a sample section. We have made many improvements to this edition based on the feedback we got from users. In short, we listened and have worked to create a book that is simpler to use, more flexible, and more functional. Nearly every section in the first edition is included but improved, streamlined, and updated. There are also new topics, new problems, new focus problems, and new sections. If you're teaching a 4 credit hour course, the text is very easy to customize to work for your course. If you want to teach the course online, we've made that possible too. If you want to do some group work, no group work, or all group work, those options are also available.

The MyMathLab course will have many additions as well including additional focus problem packages, printable homework sets so that pages don't have to be taken out of the book, answers to book homework posted to MyMathLab instead of the text so instructors can hide them or make them available, more conceptual questions, many more videos, and online appendices to support students who need prerequisite content or intermediate algebra bridge material.

The new edition will be out in June and the MyMathLab course will be available some time this summer so that the text can be used this fall.

NOTE: The sample section shown is from the annotated instructor's edition. Blue annotated answers and instructor notes are included.

Math Lit 2e update and group quizzes

I've been a bit MIA on the blog for the past several months as Heather and I are knee deep in the creation of the second edition of Math Lit. It will be coming out this year. A blog with more info on it will be coming soon. We are very excited about it and what we can provide instructors and students in math literacy pathways courses.

If you are beginning your semester with a pathways course, consider using group quizzes if you haven't before. I was a skeptic about the idea of students assessing together, outside of projects, because of the fear of grade inflation. That has never been an issue because I don't quiz that often in groups, just once per unit, and my quizzes aren't a large part of the student's overall grade. I have many quizzes in MyMathLab that are individual.

So why use group quizzes?

Without question, I see students interact and engage during group quizzes than any other time in class. The reasons are simple: I give them hard problems where they need each other and points are attached, which automatically increases a student's level of concern. Because of these two components, students will really talk to each other, debate, and listen. There has been a great give and take. It's always really interesting and fun to watch and it reminds me why I believe in pathways courses so much: because they work. They expose students to meaningful math in ways they are not used to and they give students the opportunity to dig into problems instead of just rushing through a myriad of skills. There are many skills, of course, in pathways courses but they're not the focus. Problem solving, critical thinking, and creating 21st century learners are the goals. Group quizzes are one tool to encourage all of these.

If you're looking for good problems for group quizzes, consider using homework problems from Math Lit and/or the quizzes available in the Instructor Resource Manual of the Instructor Resource Center in the MyMathLab course for Math Lit.

AMATYC presentation slides

Here are the slides from today's presentation on using Excel in a pathways course, like Math Literacy for College Students.

Using Excel to Build Understanding AMATYC 2015 from kathleenalmy

Math Lit: In the Classroom webinar recording

Here is the recording of the webinar I did last week about using Math Lit in the classroom. Focus problems, a typical day, MyMathLab, and group work are among several topics covered in the webinar.

New Orleans bound - AMATYC 2015

Next week is the AMATYC conference in New Orleans, Louisiana. I'll be speaking with Heather Foes on using spreadsheets in a pathways class.  Here is the information. I hope to see you there!

Using Excel to Build Understanding in a Pathways Course                              

Pathways courses use rich, realistic problems as opportunities to apply concepts and improve problem-solving skills. Instead of focusing exclusively on algebraic techniques, Excel spreadsheets can be used to develop deeper understanding and highlight alternate perspectives. Sample activities and problems for this approach will be shared in the session.

Thursday, November 19, 10:20 - 11:10 am

Another webinar coming soon

Next week I'll be doing a follow-up webinar to one I did recently on the Math Lit course. This webinar will be about classroom-level issues.

Math Lit: In the Classroom

Thursday 11/5/15 | 4:00 PM
Eastern Time

Are you planning to teach a pathways course? This session will delve into the nuts and bolts of using Math Lit in the classroom. We will discuss topics that include the cycle structure of the book, how a lesson works, how book homework and MyMathLab work together, focus problem projects, features of the MyMathLab course, and instructor resources. Suggestions for teaching with groups will also be shared.

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