Conference Session

Mathematics Division Technical Session 1

Collection

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Angela Minichiello, Utah State University; Ted Campbell, Utah State University; Jim Dorward, Utah State University; Sherry Marx, Utah State University

Tagged Divisions

Mathematics

engineering calculus course taught via synchronous broadcast at a mid-size,Western, public university. The instructional innovation required first year calculus students toparticipate in an asynchronous, online discussion forum for graded credit. Data, consisting ofwritten reflections and transcribed interviews, were gathered from three STEM faculty memberswho each played a different role in the change process: a mathematics instructor implementingthe online forum within his course; an engineering faculty peer-mentor assisting with theimplementation of the online forum; and a STEM education faculty member evaluating theimplementation and observing the process of change. Situated within the interpretive researchparadigm, this study uses exploratory

Conference Session

Mathematics Division Technical Session 1

Collection

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Janet Callahan, Boise State University; Judith A. Garzolini, Boise State University

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Mathematics

cohort, andhear again about ALEKS™ in several differentways. This includes hearing about it during theopening greeting to STEM students given by aSTEM academic leader, usually a Dean, in aslide. It also includes having a poster presentin the room, e.g. see Figure 1; through thewearing of “Ask me about ALEKS™” buttonsworn by peer advisors during orientation andby having fliers available on a table duringpreregistration. Following summer orientation,approximately one week later, a second emailis sent reminding students of the opportunity;this email garners the most responses withmany students electing to receive licenses oneto two weeks following STEM summerorientation. In addition, advisors who interactwith students also receive fliers and

Conference Session

Mathematics Division Technical Session 2

Collection

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Khalid El Gaidi, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH); Tomas Ekholm, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH)

Tagged Divisions

Mathematics

represent ideas and an awareness of the syntactic rules for writing symbols inan acceptable form”.Both procedural and conceptual knowledge may be deep or superficial and each of them maysupport the other. 19 A student with developed conceptual knowledge has the ability to understandmathematical concepts and apply them correctly to a variety of situations. She can also translatethese concepts between verbal statements and their equivalent mathematical expressions and”see” mathematical representations with her ”inner eye”. 15Although attempts have been made to develop conceptual understanding among universitystudents, the traditional procedure-oriented teaching to solve standard problems by fosteringprocedural learning widely prevails. 20 Faculty are

Conference Session

Mathematics Division Technical Session 2

Collection

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Doug Bullock, Boise State University; Janet Callahan, Boise State University; Susan E. Shadle Ph.D., Boise State University

Tagged Divisions

Mathematics

facilitated by lead instructor and peer learning assistant. - Additional and more involved weekly work with written feedback.The redesigned course was effective, but it was only one section of approximately a dozen taughteach semester. Its impact on student success was therefore muted, and, because it was limited toa single faculty member, any benefits were not institutionalized. In parallel with this focus on calculus content, we had begun engaging STEM faculty to considercourse design and evidence based instructional practices. This engagement was done primarilythrough a faculty learning communities (FLCs) strategy. An FLC is a type of community ofpractice in which a group of 8-10 faculty “engage in an active, collaborative, yearlong program