THE JOURNEY TO ACTIVE LEARNING IN PRECALCULUS AND CALCULUS TIFFANY LEDFORD, DEANN LEONI, GABRIELLE MCINTOSH EDMONDS COMMUNITY COLLEGE LYNNWOOD, WA American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges 41st Annual Conference New Orleans Thursday, 11/19/2015 1:50 p.m. – 2:40 p.m.

WELCOME Who we are and what we have to share Think — Pair — Share What do you think “Active Learning” looks like in the classroom? What challenges do you see to changing classroom instruction to be more “active” or “flipped”?

ACTIVE LEARNING CAN TAKE MANY FORMS Pre-class reading/video assignments to flip (or partially flip) the course Majority of class time spent doing activities Group sharing via small white boards or other presentation strategies

ACTIVE LEARNING CAN TAKE MANY FORMS Discovery or inquiry-based activities Work-along activities

CHALLENGES Students not doing assigned work before class Groups working at different paces on an activity Too many questions for one instructor to field Student resistance Missing “big picture” Content coverage Change in teaching role (unable to plan everything—no script) Increased grading (activities, pre-class assignments)

OUR JOURNEY Has been a journey and gradual progression Using more activities, worksheets and handouts Participating in Journal Club, hallway conversations Block schedule (MW or TTh rather than daily) Partners/colleagues/templates Dean (administrative) and peer support

RESOURCES THAT HAVE AIDED IMPLEMENTATION WAMAP template courses YouTube videos Google forms Desmos Pre-class assignment templates Activities bank for sharing

WHAT THE STUDENTS THINK (CALCULUS I, FLIPPED) “I absolutely loved the setup of doing actual work in the classroom. It was great that everyone was able to get help when they needed it the most. I would definitely choose this type of class over a lecture-based one.” “I enjoyed using the videos as a tool for learning. And help was always available.” “I really enjoyed how the class was organized. Working on the guided practices before the classes really helped to have an idea of what was coming the next day.” HOWEVER…

WHAT THE STUDENTS THINK (CALCULUS I, FLIPPED) HOWEVER… “I think the group activity doesn’t work well for me since I am [a] person who prefers to do work by myself.” “With the focus of class time being on group work, it was much more difficult when your group mates weren’t prepared.” “I would have liked more lecture as opposed to the Guided Practices for learning the necessary material. Otherwise a great course which I’ve learned quite a bit from.”

DATA FROM CALCULUS I Calculus I Grade Comparison “Traditional” Instruction AVERAGE % receiving C or higher 71.33% “Flipped” Instruction AVERAGE % receiving C or higher 79.52%

RESEARCH “Active learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics,” by Scott Freeman, et al. The (225) studies analyzed here document that active learning leads to increases in examination performance that would raise average grades by a half a letter, and that failure rates under traditional lecturing increase by 55% over the rates observed under active learning.

RESOURCES TO HELP YOU WAMAP / MyOpenMath Google site with list of Web sites, journal articles Google site Books & journal articles (see above site) Centers for Teaching & Learning (e.g. Univ. of WA)Univ. of WA flippedlearning.org Khan Academy YouTube: & James Sousa Us!

THANK YOU! Contact Us Tiffany: Deann: Gabrielle: We hope this has been helpful to you on your journey!