1. Tammy Muhs General Education Program Mathematics Coordinator University of Central Florida NCAT Redesign Scholar Course Redesign: A Way To Improve Student Success and Faculty Productivity

2.  University of Central Florida Metropolitan university 56,235 students (expected to reach 59,000+ in fall 2011) 2 nd largest university in U.S.

3.  Annual enrollments – 4000+ students ◦ Issues with course drift due to the many different instructors  Large lectures - 384 students per class (3 hours lecture, 1 hour recitation)  Independent sections-49 students per class (3 hours lecture)  Mixed mode sections -21 students per class (1 hour lecture with online component) ◦ Withdrawal rate more than double traditional, lower success rate, lower cost, less space

4. Success Rates: Pass rates were down, withdrawal rates were up Space: Too many students, not enough classrooms Budget: We needed to do more, with less

5.  UCF Goal – “Fix” College Algebra  NCAT Goal - Increase learning outcomes and success rates while decreasing cost  Received the NCAT Grant in Spring 2008 ◦ Grant actually cost us money-we received knowledge ◦ Create a student-centered learning environment

6. Change the mix and number of faculty teaching the course Combine smaller sections into one larger section 5 6 7 50 1 350 50 4 3 1 1 2

7.  Coordinate all sections of the same course by using a Course Coordinator  Benefits ◦ Remove redundancy resulting in improved productivity ◦ Prevent course drift resulting in consistency in course content  Drawbacks ◦ Faculty buy in ◦ Weak Coordinator may result in many sections with issues as opposed to a single or couple of sections

8.  Emporium (Lab) Model***  Replacement (Hybrid) Model***  Fully Online Model  Supplemental Model  Buffet Model *** Typically produces the best results in terms of student learning and cost for Mathematics courses

10.  Students spend one hour in class ◦ Review concepts from the previous week ◦ Highlight upcoming material ◦ Receive administrative information ◦ Classroom Response System (iClicker) is used to keep students engaged

11. Students spend a required three hours in the Mathematics Assistance and Learning Lab (MALL) Online hw and quiz assignments are completed for the most part in the lab Proctored environment MALL staff provide on-demand assistance for students

12.  Testing is completed online in a proctored environment using a password system ◦ Immediate feedback ◦ Free response questions or multiple choice ◦ Challenge week ◦ ADA time accommodation adjustments ◦ Integrity violations almost non-existent ◦ Cost savings

13.  Faculty  Peer tutors  Undergraduate and graduate mathematics students  Graduate Teaching Assistants ◦ All are required to complete assignments ◦ Become test proctors during testing weeks ◦ Complete training about 14 hours a semester  College Reading & Learning Association International Tutor Program Certification

15.  Actual dollar savings  Capacity to serve more students in the same space  Reduction in repeated course attempts

16.  Course improvement or redesign  Offering additional courses  Serving more students  Distance learning sections  Reduction in teaching load  Training  Balance the budget

17.  Renovated Space for the Mathematics Assistance and Learning Lab (MALL)  Provides funding for six faculty members committed to improving learning in General Education Program Mathematics  Provides funding for peer tutors and MALL expenses

18. From Renovation to Completion Phase I - 95 computers (Spring 2010) Phase II - 100 computers (Summer 2010) Phase III - 120 computers (Spring 2011)

19.  Students register in sections of 19 students  Creates a learning community In-class community Virtual community  Between 15 and 18 of these 19 student sections meet together, at the same time, in a large lecture hall one hour each week

20.  Top GTAs are called Mentors ◦ Meet with teaching team weekly ◦ Communicate with students ◦ Hold seminars and test reviews ◦ Help with classroom management  Progress Monitoring ◦ Students Progress is monitored weekly ◦ Faculty meet with at risk students ◦ Students receive weekly feedback via email Communication has been shown to have an important role in learning and understanding mathematics (Knuth & Peressini, 2001)

21. Historical Success Rate:

24. Course Grade Distribution Summer 2009 Traditional Section n=226 students Summer 2009 Redesigned Sections n=162 students Fall 2009 Traditional Sections n=851 students Fall 2009 Redesigned Sections n=1174 students A11.9%20.4% 28.7%27.7% B26.1%36.4% 26.8%33.7% A & B38.0%56.8% 55.5%61.4%

25.  Anonymous student surveys in fall 2009 with similar results in fall 2010  90.79% of the students felt the redesigned course offered at least as much instructional interaction as their other courses  60.97% indicated that there was considerably more interaction when compared to their other courses

26.  Producing favorable results Active learning has been shown to be an effective method of improving learning outcomes (Prince, 2004, Twigg, 2003)  Increased course offerings Intermediate Algebra fall 2010 Precalculus spring 2011 Trigonometry fall 2011

27.  AASCU and UCF Grant  Working with 20 collaborating institutions  Blended Learning Course Redesigns  Math, English, and Other courses

28.  Supported Math Course is College Algebra ◦ Other courses include Intermediate Algebra, Precalculus, and Basic Math  Course delivery fall 2011 or spring 2012

29.  Two group math training sessions are scheduled  Coursesites Template course for a model  Actual course with homework and assessments that can be copied and modified  Institution will schedule an initial consultation to review and discuss their particular needs

30.  Ongoing discussion throughout the duration of the project  Opportunity to submit course deliverables to receive feedback prior to and during the delivery of the redesigned course  Generic training to adapt an existing curriculum to a blended learning format considering established effective practices

31. Please feel free to contact me at Tammy.Muhs@ucf.edu