Auburn University
Course Title: Pre-Calculus Algebra
Contact: Michel Smith
Auburn University plans to redesign Pre-Calculus Algebra, which has traditionally been offered in two formats. Large auditorium classes of 150 students are typically taught by full-time faculty assisted by two graduate teaching assistant (GTA) graders. GTAs also hold office hours to help students with specific content questions. Small sections of 25-40 (size is dependent upon room capacity) are taught by GTAs or adjunct faculty. Enrollment for the past four years has averaged 600-700 students in the fall and 300-400 in the spring semesters.
The traditional course suffers from a less than desirable success rate. Grade distributions are typically bi-modal. Although a substantial number of students are well-prepared, 30% to 35% do not succeed in the course.
Auburn will use the Emporium Model to redesign the course. Students will be required to spend a minimum of three hours per week working with MyMathLab software in a lab staffed by GTAs and undergraduate teaching assistants (UTAs), who will provide on-demand, individualized assistance. Students may go to the lab whenever they wish, but they must meet scheduled deadlines for homework, quizzes and tests. Staffed computer labs will be available for a total of 42 hours per week at times determined to be popular by the students. The GTAs and UTAs will be trained to help students learn to work through the mathematics by directed discovery (problem solving) pedagogical methods.
The redesigned course will enhance the students’ educational experience, making them active and engaged learners. They will be able to assimilate the course material at their own rates and receive immediate feedback on their online work. Their progress will be monitored, and those experiencing difficulties will be identified and receive individual assistance to overcome the obstacles. GTAs and UTAs will also encourage students to work in groups and to help each other with the material during lab hours. All of these techniques are expected to improve success rates.
Auburn plans to assess student learning outcomes in two phases. In the first phase (fall 2008), half of the students will be in two traditional sections of 160 students each and half will be in one large redesigned section (320 students). In the second phase (spring 2009), students will be divided between six small class sections of ~34 students each taught by GTAs and one redesigned section of 200 students. In both phases, a common final exam will be used to assess student performance.
The redesigned course will reduce instructional costs by reducing the number of sections from 23 to 2, reducing full-time faculty from three to two, eliminating five part-time faculty and reducing GTAs from 21 to 14. These actions will reduce the cost-per-student from $128 to $75, a 41% reduction. The cost savings will allow Auburn to teach fewer auditorium classes, free up a faculty member to teach upper-level courses and increase the number of GTAs who can teach small sections of other math courses.
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