Mathematical fallacies have an embedded sense of awe and mystery that can be used effectively in a classroom to inspire students to tackle a fallacy and find the "hidden" violation. In doing so, the student may discover the consequence of a rule violation in a stimulating manner, thus making a lasting impact of the rule as well as providing the…

For a period of four semesters, the possibility was explored of using a "group quiz" as a learning activity that provides a collaborative learning environment, a review of the previous week's material, and a formative assessment for both the student and the instructor. Using both quantitative (i.e., student surveys) and qualitative (i.e., student…

The "Beyond Crossroads" document (American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges, 2006) contains the Standard for Assessment of Student Learning. Its implementation standard requires that faculty use results from assessment to improve instruction. In doing this, each faculty member is expected to employ multiple assessment techniques.…

Based on the results of a prior case-study analysis of mathematics placement at one university, the mathematics department developed and piloted a mathematics placement test. This article describes the implementation process for a mathematics placement test and further analyzes the test results for the pilot group. As an unexpected result, the…

We will first recall useful formulas in integration that simplify the calculation of certain definite integrals with the quadratic function. A main formula relies only on the coefficients of the function. We will then explore a geometric proof of one of these formulas. Finally, we will extend the formulas to more general cases. (Contains 3…

The purpose of this study was to determine if course format significantly impacted student learning and course completion rates in an introductory statistics course taught at Harford Community College. In addition to the traditional lecture format, the College offers an online, and a hybrid (blend of traditional and online) version of this class.…

Basic brain function is not a mystery. Given that neuroscientists understand its basic functioning processes, one wonders what their research suggests to teachers of developmental algebra. What if we knew how to teach so as to improve understanding of the algebra taught to developmental algebra students? What if we knew how the brain processes…

Two-year colleges have an important role in the educational and economic advancement of the United States, particularly during the current economic crisis. They offer access to higher education for economically and/or educationally impoverished students, as well as for those who have simply returned for further study. Two-year colleges provide…

This article presents the results of a study focused on the issue of how proctored testing affects student test scores in a formal Intermediate Algebra course setting. The study follows a model of assessment in which students in one group have taken two of their five unit exams as proctored tests along with a proctored comprehensive final exam,…

One prohibitory component to graduation rates in college is the lack of student success in college algebra. The current national passing rate of college students enrolled in college algebra is approximately 40 percent. Lack of success in college algebra creating higher enrollments in remediation courses for students has also been linked to…

The primary method of placement at Portland CC (PCC) is the Compass Placement test. For the most part, students are placed correctly, but there are cases when students feel that they have been placed too low. In such cases we use our newly created Placement Advisory Test (PAT) to help us place them appropriately. (Contains 2 figures.)

Textbooks, like many other resources teachers have at hand, are meant to be an aid for instruction; however there is little research with textbooks or on their potential to develop metacognitive knowledge. Metacognitive knowledge has received substantial attention in the literature, in particular for its relationship with problem-solving in…