1. Algebra Realignment Committee Report to the Math Department
April 22, 2017
Members of the Committee:
Clare Hemenway
Kathy Hopper
Alexey Kryukov
Janette Miller
Roger Peterson
Shubhangi Stalder
Carrie Tirel*

2. Committee Charge for ARC
(Assigned by the Executive Committee)
 Come up with a plan or options for any needed adjustments in content distribution or credit load for our MAT , 109, 103, sequence, in addition to perhaps considering MAT-099-like supplements or optional 1-hour discussion add-ons for a course or summer bridge courses…

3. Committee Charge for ARC
(Assigned by the Executive Committee)
…or to:
a. Satisfy the developmental/for-credit directives with the new placement test.
b. Integrate well with as many of the 4-yr UW schools as possible in regard to how our courses transfer to their corresponding courses in F17.
c. Keep the math path to AA from getting too long.

4. Overview and Timeline 
Work started in Fall 2016, but became more focused in Spring 2017.
A great deal of information was gathered and analyzed by the committee in order to make recommendations.
ARC’s charge shifted due to information gathered at the January workshop and changes to Associate Degree. 
The committee has met almost weekly.
Work started in Fall 2016, but became more focused in Spring 2017 after UW-System Workshop on system-wide goals and innovative curricular designs from Maryland, Texas and other institutions.
A great deal of information, including national trends and scholarly publications, was gathered and analyzed by the committee in order to make recommendations.

5. Committee Recommendations
Align course offerings and requirements to the student’s meta-major.
Adjust content for MAT 103 and MAT 110 courses to adhere to the new placement cut score guidelines and to increase transferability to other UW institutions.

6. Committee Recommendations (continued)
Design a developmental course MAT 096 “Mathematical Literacy for College Students.”
Develop an online Summer Bridge Program to help reduce the number of students placing into non-credit bearing courses.
Analyze the need for, and then design appropriately, support courses at all levels.

7. Recommendation #1: Align course offerings and requirements to the student’s meta-major.
Meta-Majors
A meta-major consists of a group of academic classes and sequence structures that introduce students to a broad set of career options, while meeting the academic requirements across multiple areas of study.
Requiring students to choose a meta-major in the first year helps nudge undecided students along a pathway conducive to their interests and learning skills.

8. Recommendation #1: Align course offerings and requirements to the student’s meta-major.
Meta-Majors
Use of meta-majors is now common across most Community Colleges and Universities.
Studies show higher retention of students in institutions where pathways based on meta-majors are used.

9. Meta-Majors in the UW Colleges
STEM
calculus
Business/Accounting
statistics
Social Sciences/Nursing
quantitative reasoning
Arts/Humanities
math for elementary teachers
Elementary Education

10. UW Colleges Math Pathways
*math literacy for college students (to be developed)

11. Prerequisites (other than placement score)
Course
Prerequisites (other than placement score)
MAT 096*
None
MAT 103
MAT 108
MAT 096* OR MAT 103
MAT 117
MAT 110, 124, 130, 132
*math literacy for college students (to be developed)

12. Updated Placement Grid

13. MAT 103: Add an introduction to exponential and logarithmic functions.
Recommendation #2: Adjust content for MAT 103 and MAT 110 courses to adhere to the new placement cut score guidelines and to increase transferability to other UW institutions.
Having compared course content at UWC, UW-Madison, UW-Milwaukee, UW-Parkside and others, the committee recommends the following adjustments:
MAT 103: Add an introduction to exponential and logarithmic functions.
MAT 110: Add induction and basic matrix theory.
Shubhangi

14. Recommendation #3: Design a developmental course MAT 096 “Mathematical Literacy for College Students.”
New Life Project Model
Led by Jack Rotman
Lansing Community College
Goals:
Create a pathway to credit-bearing math that contained fewer developmental math courses and which would prepare students for any major.
Provide students with a more relevant and useful mathematical background that would better serve their needs in life
Janette/Kathy

15. Recommendation #3: Design a developmental course MAT 096 “Mathematical Literacy for College Students.”
New Life Project Model
General idea:
less focus on algebraic manipulation
more emphasis on critical thinking, reasoning, and study skills
necessary mathematical skills are developed in tandem with applications
Much more information can be found here:
Janette/Kathy

16. Some options to consider: ALEKS PPL
Recommendation #4: Develop an online Summer Bridge Program to help reduce the number of students placing into non-credit bearing courses.
Some options to consider:
ALEKS PPL
Research shows that just 5 hours of review before placement exam allows 70-80% of students to place one level higher
Explore a more holistic approach to prepare students for college-level math courses.
(Example:
One-week Math Boot Camp structures…
Consider developing an online Bridge program to increase participation and sustainability.
Use ALEKS PPL for online bridge program
Research shows that just 5 hours of review before placement exam allows 70-80% of students to place one level higher
Use Jo Boaler’s course or other such holistic approach to prepare students for College level Math Courses. (See
Shubhangi

17. Make MAT 099 required for at-risk students on all campuses
Recommendation #5: Analyze the need for, and then adapt existing, or design additional, support courses at all levels.
Some ideas:
Make MAT 099 required for at-risk students on all campuses
Resources for teaching MAT 099 are already available on the department SharePoint site.
If necessary, we can tweak the guidelines and/or resources to fit curricular changes.
Shubhangi

18. Additional Notes
Students placing at the MAT 090 level will be advised to take MAT 096.
Calculus-bound MAT 105 level students will register for MAT 103. These students will not be harmed by the integrated review topics.
MAT 099 placement will be determined by the multiple measures placement process.