This document contains the annual report for the 2001-2002 academic year, and an explanation of what happened in the 2000-2001 academic year. The Mathematics Department is firmly committed to assessment and its value in providing quality instruction to students at Carthage. As part of our continuing effort to provide quality instruction to all students, we focused our attention on general education courses.
In 2000-2001, we were poised to evaluate the effectiveness of instruction in evening sections of Math 103 and Math 104 using means similar to those employed in 1999-2000. However, at that time when data was to be collected, the department assessment coordinator contracted chicken pox, and the data was never collected.
The Mathematics Department has set specific goals for all mathematics courses which can be used to fulfill Carthage quantitative literacy requirement. Our objective was to determine the effectiveness of mathematics instruction in Math 103 Applied Mathematics in achieving these goals, specifically that we give the students an accurate perception of what mathematics really is. To this end, we administered this instrument to gage their perceptions at the beginning of the Math 103 course, then again at the end of the course. Math 103 Applied Mathematics is a course designed specifically for non-majors.
The Mathematics Department selected several classes (three sections of Applied Mathematics—usually taken by freshman students not majoring in the sciences, a section of Mathematics for Elementary Teachers—a freshman-level class, a Calculus I section—the entry-level class for science students, and one class of Abstract Algebra—an upper level class only taken by Math majors). Each student in these classes received a form with a list of adjectives which could possibly be associated with mathematics, and was asked to indicate those that they felt applied to mathematics. Typically, students would write "Math is/Math is not" in front of each adjective. A copy of the form can be seen at this link. The same procedure was repeated at the end of the semester, after which the results were tabulated and compared. Responses were anonymous, although each student identified his/her form with a self-chosen code, so that answers from the beginning and end of the semester could be compared.
The results were summarized in spreadsheets and presented to the department for review. The department later met to discuss the information.
The information obtained from the study is included in the table at this link. Fields with shaded background correspond to those categories for which a "negative" (i.e., "Math is not") response could be preferred.
Some of the main conclusions that we obtained from the analysis of the data are the following:
| After completing a full semester of mathematics at Carthage, more students gained an appreciation of mathematics as a creative discipline. |
| Large percentage of students modified their attitudes towards mathematics to find that it is a discipline which deals with beauty and not necessarily only with numbers. |
| A semester of mathematics at Carthage did not, in general, make students more aware of the logical nature of mathematics. |
| After taking a mathematics class, students did not necessarily find that mathematics is a practical discipline. This was somewhat surprising, especially in classes like Calculus I and Math for Teachers, in which many practical applications of mathematics are usually presented. |
The information obtained and the data summarized in the paragraph above will be of great value as the department discusses the content and teaching approach for its classes. After analyzing the responses to the words "practical" and "logical", the department agreed that we must put special emphasis in the practical applications of mathematics throughout the curriculum as well as include Financial Mathematics among the topics covered in Applied Mathematics. We also agreed in the need to stress the logical development of mathematical arguments, rather than simply presenting the final results to the students.
The department was pleased with students' responses to the categories "creative" and "about numbers". We feel that we are being successful in some of the goals of the department: showing to students that the scope of mathematics goes far beyond "just numbers" and that mathematics not only makes use of but also can show high levels of creativity.
In the future, the Mathematics Department would like to review in detail the transcripts of mathematics majors who graduated in the last decade. We would like to obtain information about the number of upper level courses taken by our students as well as the particular courses that students chose to take.
Report prepared by:
Silvia La Falce and Mark Snavely
Last updated::
8/27/03
Academic Year: 2001-2002