ORMATYC SPRING 2005 NEWS LETTER

• President's Report
• Upcoming Institute
• Clackamas
• PCC-Cascadia
• Lane
• KCC
• PCC-Rock Creek
• COCC
• SOCC
• LBCC
• BMCC
  

PRESIDENT’S CORNER

Thanks to all of you for making a great conference this spring! We have been planning next year’s 2006 joint spring conference for several months. The results of the survey taken at this year’s meeting were strongly in favor of Skamania Lodge for next year’s site, as were the results from a survey done at Washington’s spring conference. A contract is now being negotiated. If you have been to Skamania Lodge for a previous conference, you will notice some changes—the conference meeting space has more than doubled, and an addition with over 50 new hotel rooms is now open. They have also been remodeling bathrooms (granite counters and tile floors). We plan to use the Best Western on the Oregon side, at Cascade Locks, for additional hotel rooms if needed.

There were record vendor contributions at this year’s conference—a special thanks to all of the vendors and to Frank Goulard for organizing this part of the conference. I would especially like to thank Kurt Lewandowski for all his work as President—he has a special gift for keeping everything running smoothly and making our board meetings enjoyable and productive. Thanks to Gary Parker, as he is continually working on our ORMATYC website which is very informational and well organized. Mariah Beck and Gary have organized the registration process so that it is easy to use and efficient. Frank and Mariah do work as secretary and treasurer behind the scenes that is also much appreciated.

Thanks to Virginia Somes and Garrett Gregor for the nice slide presentation with highlights from the previous ORMATYC conference, and for offering to continue working as photographer/historians. Finally, a big thanks to Pat Rhodes as she collects information, organizes and publishes our newsletter electronically.

Being a member of the ORMATYC Executive Team is a great experience! As we look ahead to next spring, we will be voting for a new President Elect. I encourage all of you to consider running for this position, or encouraging someone you think would be a good candidate.

I look forward to seeing all of you next Spring at the joint conference! Please feel free to email any ideas or suggestions that you have, including interesting keynote speakers. We want to make this a spectacular conference!

Ronda Kingstad

ORMATYC President

rkingsta@pcc.edu

­UPCOMING INSTITUTE OPPORTUNITY

Mathematics Across the Community College Curriculum: A Curriculum Planning Institute

Leavenworth, Washington

Deann Leoni & Rebecca Hartzler, Co-Directors

You are invited to attend the 6^th Annual “Mathematics Across the Community College Curriculum” (MAC³) summer institute sponsored by Edmonds Community College, August 9-12, 2005 at Sleeping Lady Conference Center in Leavenworth, WA. Funding for the institute is provided by a grant through the Department of Education.

Participants are encouraged to attend in interdisciplinary teams from their schools to create curriculum that integrates mathematics or quantitative reasoning (QR) into any discipline. Projects from previous participants have incorporated math or QR into disciplines including art, art history, biology, business, chemistry, English, environmental science, ESL, gerontology, health, labor studies, philosophy, physics, Spanish and theater. Teams should be comprised of a mathematics instructor who serves as a math mentor for at least one non-mathematics instructor seeking to enrich their curriculum or courses with mathematical or QR components. The institute will feature workshops on interdisciplinary teaching and bringing math/QR into other courses, a computer lab with Internet access, and time to work. Experienced MAC faculty and expert consultants from the National Numeracy Network will be available as consultants.

Registration for the institute is $100 and includes food and lodging for 4 days and 3 nights. A $60/day stipend will be paid to participants. Registration is due by June 10, 2005 or until filled (enrollment is limited to 40 participants).

Don’t miss this opportunity to work with your colleagues to create curriculum that will extend mathematics beyond the math classroom, all while enjoying a retreat setting in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains in Washington State.

For additional information about the institute and to register online, go to the MAC website at http://mac.edcc.edu or email Deann Leoni at dleoni@edcc.edu. For additional information about the conference facilities, see http://www.sleepinglady.com .

NEWS FROM AROUND THE STATE

Clackamas CC

Alice Hayden has been teaching at CCC since 1977, and is retiring at the end of this academic year. We have been graced with Alice’s cheerful presence. After her retirement, she will continue to teach for CCC in a part-time capacity, and we will continue to be graced!

Carie Carendar will be joining us as a new full-time mathematics faculty member starting in the Fall. Carie is originally from Texas, and received a master’s degree in statistics from Oklahoma State University. (Carie tried high school teaching for one semester, prior to graduate school!) In addition to her community college teaching experience, Carie has worked in industry as a statistician, trainer, quality engineer, and sales account manager. Aside from teaching math, Carie is a group exercise instructor and spends time with her husband and their two dogs.

We have a group of students who, after taking all the mathematics we offer, were asking for more! Stefan Baratto (our dept. chair) created a special Math 299 offering, which is being taught this term. For the first few weeks, Adam Hall taught an introduction to proofs. Stefan Baratto is teaching an introduction to topology, and Mark Yannotta will be teaching an introduction to group theory.

Denise Conklin, who runs our math tutoring center, has started MathLink. MathLink enables students to get on-line tutoring, or join an on-line study group.

This is our first year of teaching Math 60 / 65 / 95 out of the Mathematics in Action (MIA) books, from the Consortium for Foundation Mathematics. The focus is on activity-based learning, and has been an adjustment for the faculty and students. Not surprisingly, the instructors are seeing both positives and negatives in the use of these materials.

PORTLAND CC (CASCADIA)

Matthew Funk is planning on presenting at AMATYC this year, in San Diego, basically the same presentation hedid a few years ago regarding the teaching of the function concept to liberal arts students.

They are finishing the pilot version of our 2-term MTH 95 course, and the official numbering starting this fall will be as MTH 91-92. Data will be collected and analyzed in the fall as well, regarding success rates of those who signed up for MTH 111 immediately following the pilot sequence.

Lane CC

Charlotte Behm from LCC and her twin sister Harriet (who teaches chemistry at LCC) recently published a book, that includes a chapter on Math. Here is a summary of some of the points - a new paradigm.

They have recently talked about the math chapter on both NPR in Oregon and Minnesota, as well as on Air America. Recently, the book was covered in the Springfield News, Eugene Weekly, Eugene Register Guard, Just Out in Portland, Seattle Times, Bay Windows in Boston, MA, Springfield News, Vanguard in Britain, and Buzzflash.

Here is an excerpt from the book. You may want to check out their website at www.cluelessatthetop.com

Math Can Be Your Friend

“I hope this workshop offers some new ideas that can help us,” Diane says to her daughter Lauren. “No doubt we need to look beyond the usual solutions to find something that will work for you.”

“Do the other young people here suck at math like I do?” Lauren asks as she looks around the classroom.

At the end of the first session, Adeline, the workshop facilitator, tells the class that their first homework assignment is to interview others about their experiences and feelings about math.

Adeline opens the second session by describing learning styles. “Some people learn in a linear fashion,” Adeline says. “In this style, we pass through steps, similar to walking down a straight path between two end points. We could think of it another way — as stacking up facts, one on top of the other. Learning each new fact depends on understanding facts presented earlier in the progression. This linear thinking depends on the students’ ability to learn, or merely accept and then remember, the previous steps as the process moves along. If students miss one point, they have trouble moving to the next.”

A high school student responds by describing the results of his homework assignment. “I interviewed a man who told me he knows an alternative way to approach math. Our tribe also uses this approach to teach our language. First, the teacher describes the big picture using real-world examples, or metaphors. In this way, the teacher discusses the patterns and priorities of the problems before writing symbols and equations.”

A woman, obviously excited about what she learned in her interviews, says, “A faculty member at an historically black college described the same holistic teaching style to me. Once students have the big picture, they can fit in the details. They have a structure or understanding on which to hang the information and the facts that come later. It’s like meeting people and getting a feel and understanding for them before we learn all the details of their lives. ”

Adeline responds to her students. “Many students have trouble understanding math and science, not because they’re innately unable to comprehend the material, but because they’re not instructed to organize and process it in ways that make sense to them. Many students who don’t ‘get it’ are looking for something that’s usually not there in traditional math teaching. These students search for a personal connection with the material, that will allow them to feel comfortable with math and feel confident about the content. They’re asking why or wondering what it all means, searching for the bigger picture that’s available in other subjects. ”

“Do you mean that I’m not crazy or dumb because I’m always wondering why we do what we’re doing in math class, forever asking what’s really going on?” Lauren asks.

“No, you’re not crazy or dumb, Adeline answers. “You’re looking for the big picture, trying to see how all the pieces fit together.”

Diane and Lauren are quiet as they walk to the bus stop. Eventually, Lauren says, “Mom, this class has changed my view of math. I’m not going to give it all that power over me that I used to. ” Diane is thrilled.

Klamath CC

At Klamath Community College we are looking forward to the coming academic year. We have seen some changes in the recent past that will allow us to expand in the coming year. Our enrollment numbers have been holding, and in the Mathematics Department we have seen an increase in demand for higher level courses. Given our size and location, we have been relying on Oregon Institute of Technology to provide our Math 112 class. We have been fortunate enough to have grant money to purchase seats in OIT classes for our Math 112 students. Due to increased demand from our students, beginning next year we will be offering those classes on our campus.

Last year we developed two new developmental classes. The first was a fractions course. Although it is a tough sell, the students who have chosen to enroll have seen remarkable success in their other math classes. It is difficult to convince a student who dreads fractions to enroll in a class that is nothing but the thing they hate the worst. We have been struggling with enrollment numbers for this class, but we hope the word is out to increase success of enrolling the right student. The second new class introduced was a computer based self-paced Math 20-70 course. Being a new non-lecture course for us, we had to learn a few things the hard way. Needless to say, we are ready for the upcoming fall term to see a growing success for students who succeed in this type of learning environment.

There has also been an overhaul in faculty contracts. In the past, all faculty members have been hired for a 12 month contract. Beginning July 1, two of our three mathematics faculty will be moving to the traditional nine-month contract. It goes without saying, they are looking forward to the summer vacation they have never had while at KCC.

Saving the best news for last, Klamath Community College is now accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. Until now, we have been accredited through an agreement with Portland Community College. We will be forever indebted to them for helping us get to this point. As you all know any accreditation visit is nerve-racking, but we were feeling an even larger amount of pressure to become fully accredited.

Portland CC - Rockcreek

Portland Community College – Rock Creek hosted this year’s annual MathFest on Saturday April 9. We had an excellent turnout of about 400 enthusiastic Junior High and High School students who participated in a day of math exams and games. Students who earned the top scores in each level – Pre-Algebra, Geometry, Algebra I and II, and Advanced I and II – went on to compete at the state level.

Due to the recent budget approval, the Rock Creek Mathematics Department now has two new full-time temporary faculty positions open. While these positions will be filled internally, they will become full-time permanent positions next year and will be open to all eligible applicants.

Central Oregon CC

It's been a busy few months here in Central Oregon. With Jack McCown and Mike Sequeira retiring at the end of this year, we've hired two new full time faculty members -- David Liu and Mariko Shimizu. David Liu will join us from Lower Columbia Community College and Portland Community College, and Mariko Shimizu comes to us from the University of Alabama. David Liu has a bachelor's degree from Beijing Normal University, a master's in teaching from Pacific University, as well as additional graduate course work in developmental mathematics. Mariko Shimizu holds a B.S. from Miyagi University of Education, and a master's in mathematics from the University of Mississippi. We're looking forward to working with both of them.

Monte Cheney was just promoted to Associate Professor based on his continuing excellence in teaching, his work in teaching across the disciplines (he frequently helps faculty outside mathematics integrate statistics into their classes), as well as his work assisting fellow employees to make better use of statistics.

Kathy Smith and her husband Brady are the proud new parents of Sela May, who was born on April 10. The whole family is doing well, and Sela is the most popular person in the department whenever she comes to visit.

Charlie Naffziger is the winner of this year's COCC Faculty Achievement Award. This award is given to one faculty member at COCC each year, recognizing outstanding achievement in teaching and leadership for the college.

”At its Faculty Convocation, COCC honored Charlie Naffziger, associate professor of mathematics, with the Faculty Achievement Award. Presented annually since 1986, the award recognizes excellence in teaching. A member of the COCC faculty since 1995, Naffziger was lauded for his distinctive and thoughtful professionalism and commitment to students and teaching.

"Students are remarkably consistent in their comments about his classes, noting year after year, that he is always well prepared, always energetic, always clear, always kind," commented Kathy Walsh, COCC's vice president for instruction. "Students also appreciate his humor and the fun he brings to his classes."

Naffziger received his first excellence in teaching award in 1993 while teaching at the University of Arizona, where he received his master's degree in mathematics in 1991.”

This is the fourth time that a member of the math department has won the award. Charlie joins Jack McCown, Mike Sequeira, and Julie Keener as honored and deserving recipients of this prestigious award.

Southwestern Oregon CC

Perpetual Greetings from the Southwestern Oregon Coast (Coos Bay):

The faculty and staff at SOCC are pleased to announce that Dr. Judith Hansen will become our new president, effective July 1. Dr. Hansen's previous position was president of Independence Community College in Kansas (www.indycc.edu). Interviews for a new dean of instruction were recently completed, and that position is expected to be filled by July 1 as well.

For the second year in a row, all six full-time members of the mathematics department were able to attend the annual ORMATYC conference in Lincoln City due to the support provided by the Staff Development committee (and other institutional sources). One of the department members even gave a presentation at the conference for the first time in over a decade.

In response to a recent Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) report, our administration is requiring the development of explicit competencies for all the courses we teach at SOCC. Thus, the mathematics department will soon be in the throes of developing competencies for all of our courses. The mathematics department at COCC has graciously shared information which they have developed regarding course competencies.

For many years, SOCC has subscribed to mandatory placement testing and/or prerequisites for mathematics and writing courses. An informal study conducted by our mathematics department (approximately five years ago) concluded that the results provided by the placement tests we utilize are often inaccurate. Consequently, we are considering the adoption of a different placement test, and we are particularly interested in Accuplacer. We invite comments and opinions on the effectiveness of this placement test from anyone in the ORMATYC community who has experience with this test.

Finally, we anticipate (contingent upon available funding) filling a full-time tenure-track position for a mathematics instructor at SOCC, to begin Fall 2006. When this position becomes official, we will post an announcement on the ORMATYC website.

Linn-Benton CC

At Linn-Benton CC, May 2 - May 6 was Math Awareness Week. The winner of the annual t-shirt design contest featured "Math Rocks" and a catapult launching rocks into the air, which went well with the theme of "Math and Physics," to honor the 2005 Year of Physics. The faculty sold hot dogs, soda, ice cream, and root beer floats (an LB staple) as participants answered physics questions, estimated weight and volume of a rock, guessed the number of rock candies in a jar, played logic games, and made math buttons. The highlight of the week was the team contest in which teams of four students launched grapes and plastic animals from their homemade catapults, judged both for distance and accuracy.

Blue Mountain C C

We are currently searching for a full-time mathematics instructor. Hopefully we will fill the position before the start of Fall quarter.

We have instituted exit exams in all sections of Elementary and Intermediate Algebra and have been collecting data on this for the past year. Students must pass the exit exam to pass the course. Our hope is that students will make a smoother transition from one course to the next. It seems to be going will. We will post an analysis as soon as we have the data and time to do so.

Bob Hillenbrand and Gary Parker will be hard at work this summer on their algebra text. They hope to post the first draft some time in the Fall.

THE END