In the movie "A Beautiful Mind" there is a scene where future Nobel prize winner John Nash is captivated by a fellow student's tie. When asked about his behavior Nash quips, "There has to be a mathematical explanation for how bad that tie is." (Grazer & Howard, 2000) In this light moment, director Ron Howard attempts to show us that the mind of a…

Imagine a mathematics instructor and English instructor sharing an office; scribbled equations litter one desk, snatches of poetry the other. Our learning community, "Space on Earth," grew from conversations in just such an office where we bridged our own disciplinary gap and discovered a shared passion for helping students apply the concepts and…

As a college biology instructor, I often see graphs in lab reports that do not meet my expectations. I also observe that many college students do not always adequately differentiate between good and poor (or misleading) graphs. The activity described in this paper is the result of my work with students to improve their graphing literacy. The…

Many students see mathematics as a required, but unpleasant subject. They perceive mathematics as isolated, having no relationship to life, no relationship to future career needs, and no connections to other college courses. Student attitudes and beliefs in mathematics quite often block the knowledge that we as instructors want them to obtain.…

Concerns about the quality of math and science education in the elementary grades often focus on the shortage of well qualified teachers at that level, a shortage that reflects both a lack of interest among prospective teachers in teaching mathematics and science (Committee on Science, 2007), and the need for solid preparation in mathematics for…

We did not set out in 1999 to create a national curricular reform project. We started by wanting to make a local impact on our campus, and the project grew slowly and steadily to the current national MAC3 project coordinated by AMATYC. Over recent years we've been asked how MAC3 evolved. In this article we hope to share our experience as leaders…

The role of evaluation is to determine whether a project achieves what it sets out to do. Using a strategy often referred to as "backwards planning" or "backwards research design," the evaluation process operationalizes project goals and then, asking the question "What would success look like?" identifies measurable indices of success (Friedman,…

The nation is facing a crisis in its community colleges: more and more students are attending community colleges, but most of them are not prepared for college-level work. The problem may be most dire in mathematics. By most accounts, the majority of students entering community colleges are placed (based on placement test performance) into…

Recommendations and standards from various stakeholders in the mathematical preparation of teachers, such as "The Mathematical Education of Teachers" (http://www.cbmsweb.org/MET_Document/chapter_2.htm) and "Beyond Crossroads" (http://beyondcrossroads.amatyc.org/doc/CH6.html), call for courses that emphasize connections within topics in…

Population models are often discussed in algebra, calculus, and differential equations courses. In this article we will use the human population of the world as our application. After quick looks at two common models we'll investigate more deeply a model which incorporates the negative effect that accumulated pollution may have on population.

At a Shabbat lunch in Madrid not long ago, the conversation turned to the question of boiling eggs. One of the guests mentioned that a Dutch rabbi he knew had heard that in order to make it more likely that boiled eggs be kosher, you should add an egg to the pot if the number you began with was even. According to the laws of Kashruth, Jews may not…

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,…

When properly implemented, the vision of "Beyond Crossroads" will result in classrooms where students are actively engaged and responsible for their learning. They are able to share their thinking and the teacher, in turn, can use the emerging understanding as a foundation for learning. According to "Beyond Crossroads," students will be expected…

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.)