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ERIC Number: ED367422
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1994-Feb
Pages: 10
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Revising the Mathematics Department.
Seese, Lillian
In the past 5 years, the Mathematics Department at Saint Louis Community College (SLCC) in Meramec, Missouri, has made major curricular modifications and changed the role of faculty members in helping students succeed. These changes have been made in an effort to bring the curriculum in line with the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics' 1986 standards for K-12 education; to implement the proposals of the Calculus Reform Movement; and to accommodate students with poor math preparation. Changes that have taken place within many mathematics departments throughout the country include the following: (1) mathematics departments are more accepting of the use of technology and computer-managed instruction, offering underprepared students an alternative to traditional classroom situations; (2) faculty are working with increasing numbers of disabled students to identify the academic adjustments that will help them succeed; (3) faculty are facing the attitudinal effects of grade inflation; (4) faculty teach study skills during the course of the semester, and many feel the loss of prestige associated with teaching developmental classes; (5) faculty are involved in making referrals to college writing centers, study skills labs, and tutoring centers on campus; (6) mathematics departments are more accepting of the use of calculators and computers in mathematics courses; and (7) department chairs are more involved in facilitating classroom instruction. Among the change-related issues still to be resolved are the difficulty of involving aging faculty in staff development activities that will help them adjust to changing students and instructional technologies; the need to involve part-time faculty in departmental meetings and professional development activities and to provide them with needed support systems; and the difficulties associated with developing assessment instruments, policies, and procedures. (KP)
Publication Type: Opinion Papers; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Note: Paper presented at the International Conference for Community College Chairs and Deans (3rd, Phoenix, AZ, February 23-26, 1994).