Transition Mathematics Project

National and Regional Expertise:

Rose Asera, is a Senior Scholar at the Carnegie Foundation.Rose directed the Carnegie project on Strengthening Pre-collegiate Education in Community Colleges (SPECC), a multi-site action-research project that focused on teaching and learning in pre-collegiate mathematics and English language arts courses at 11 California community colleges. From 1995-1999, she was director of research and evaluation at the Charles A. Dana Center at the University of Texas at Austin and studied high-performing schools serving high poverty populations. From 1992-1994, she lived in Uganda and was a Fulbright Scholar at the Institute of Teacher Education at Kyambogo and worked with UNICEF on development of health education materials for parents. Asera has an undergraduate degree from Empire State College, State University of New York, a master’s degree from Antioch University, and a doctorate in education from University of Colorado, Boulder. She has substantial experience in applied qualitative research and evaluation in higher education with a focus on access and equity.

Keynote Address

The Statistics Pathway Network: Building a "Joyful Conspiracy"

Also on hand to support Rose's keynote address, will be Deborah Harrington, Los Angeles Community College District & Project Director, California Basic Skills Initiative. The Basic Skills Initiative addresses the developmental education needs of nearly three million basic skills students. This faculty-driven initiative provides California community colleges with theory, resources and practice focusing on innovative and effective programs to increase student success.

Click on the link here to take you to an interactive site that supports the 2009 ESL/Basic Skills Professional Development Grant in which Deborah is a part.

Visit the Sessions Resources page to view Rose's powerpoint presentation and other companion documents

__________________________________________________________

 

Mike Burke is a Professor of Mathematics at the College of San Mateo.  He has been a participant in the Integrative Learning Project, sponsored by the Carnegie Foundation and AAC&U, and the Carnegie Foundation's CASTL Institutional Leadership Program.  He is a Carnegie CASTL Scholar (2005-2006 cohort).  His pedagogical interests include integrative learning, writing across the curriculum, and quantitative literacy, with a particular emphasis on the use of mathematics as a tool to explore important political, social, and environmental issues.  He is currently at work on a manuscript that uses the examination of compelling contemparary issues to motivate the study of mathematics and to encourage, in his students, a scientific way of thinking.

Session Title:

An Application-Driven Math Curriculum

We can begin to think about quantitative literacy by reversing the relationship between the mathematics curriculum and the applications we teach.  That is, rather than selecting applications to support an unquestioned mathematics curriculum, I propose that we begin with important, compelling applications, and use these to drive the curriculum.  I plan to illustrate this approach with examples, and to talk about the implications of this approach for the teaching of quantitative literacy.

Visit the Sessions Resources page to view Mike's powerpoint presentation and other companion documents

_________________________________________________________

 

Dr. Jon F. Hasenbank is an Assistant Professor of Mathematics Education at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.

"As a mathematics educator, I am interested in how students come to understand mathematics. My background and current research is focused on procedural understanding in algebra and algebraic thinking"

For more about Jon and his work click here.

Session Title:

A Framework for Procedural Understanding: Theory into Practice

We will review a variety of instructional strategies aimed at enhancing students' understanding of mathematics, including a Framework for Procedural Understanding adapted from recommendations of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. After examining key results from the research, we will consider a continuum of strategies -- from simple to systemic -- for facilitating students' deep procedural understanding of mathematics.

Visit the Sessions Resources page to view Jon's powerpoint presentation and other companion documents

__________________________________________________________

 

Dr. Brock Klein is director of Pasadena City College’s Teaching and Learning Center (TLC), which is committed to helping under-prepared, first-generation college students move successfully from basic skills to transfer-level courses.  Dr. Klein developed the TLC in 2000 with funds from a US Department of Education Title V grant and has since managed the college’s grants from the Hewlett/Carnegie Foundations, “Strengthening Pre-Collegiate Education in Community Colleges” (SPECC), and the Irvine Foundation, “Student Support Partnership Integrating Resources and Education” (SSPIRE).  He has presented extensively on basic skills education and specifically on program design, management, evaluation and professional development in California (e.g., the UC Berkeley Tillery Institute, Hewlett Foundation, Student Success Conference), nationally (Achieving the Dream, American Association of  Community Colleges) and internationally (International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning). Dr. Klein is currently involved in the development of California’s Basic Skills Initiative Leadership Institute and Regional Learning Networks.

and

Jay Cho is a professor of mathematics at Pasadena City College (PCC) and has participated in the development of several innovative programs offered by the college's Teaching and Learning Center (TLC) since 2003.  Mr. Cho developed the curriculum and teaches in two summer bridge/first-year experience programs: .XL, initially funded by the Hewlett/Carnegie Foundations' initiative, “Strengthening Pre-Collegiate Education in Community Colleges” (SPECC), and Math Jam, initially funded by the Irvine Foundation's, “Student Support Partnership Integrating Resources and Education” (SSPIRE).  He also piloted the National Science Foundation-funded MathPath, an accelerated basic skills algebra program.  In addition to teaching, Mr. Cho is currently involved in the Math Division’s basic skills curriculum re-development efforts. 

Session Description:

Transforming Pre-algebra Teaching and Learning through Faculty Inquiry

Faculty inquiry is a process that instructors can use to ask questions about their teaching and learning and work individually or collaboratively to find answers and transform their practice.  Jay Cho and Brock Klein, from Pasadena City Co llege in California, describe the process that Jay and his colleagues in the math department followed to develop learning outcomes, conduct action research, transform curriculum, and engage their students more actively in a summer bridge prealgebra program.

Our keynote speaker, Rose Acera, will be on hand at this session to share some lessons learned from the SPECC Project and support Brock's and Jay's work.

Visit the Sessions Resources page to view Brock's and Jay's powerpoint presentation and other companion documents

________________________________________________________

 

Peter Wildman is an instructor of mathematics at Spokane Falls Community College. He has taught mathematics for the last 27 years at both the high school and college level. Prior to moving to Spokane last year he was department chair at Casper College in Casper Wyoming. His interests include using technology effectively in the classroom and mathematics across the curriculum

 

Session Description:

An application of the Teaching for Understanding Framework in a developmental math course

In this session the presenter will discuss how he used to the Teaching for Understanding Framework to develop and implement a term project involving linear equations and data analysis in a beginning algebra course. The project involved using data from the United Nations Millennium Project. The presenter will discuss the development of the project and its implementation. Student work will be presented.