Week 5 Reflections

I’m excited to share one of my most favorite free-write activities in which I used flickr. Free-writes are used in dev ed math classes to utilize writing across the curriculum; I use it in my class to give the students a chance to think about math as more than just numbers. Around Week 8 of the 10-week quarter, the free-write topic is “design two math bumper stickers; one serious, one funny”. At first, the students look at me oddly and worry that they won’t come up with something good. I remind them that it’s not graded and just for fun, and a few minutes in, I hear giggles and students talking to themselves as they are writing. I removed any names and scanned the bumper stickers into a computer and uploaded them to flickr. The next class, after we get done with a quiz, I tell students to go to External Links on Blackboard, and then to the flickr link. I give them a small piece of paper and ask them to vote for their favorite bumper sticker. Again, there’s more laughs as the students browse through their classmates’ bumper stickers. My Dean even purchased some items (mini stapler, post-its, click eraser, etc.) for first, second, and third place winners. The following day, I reveal to students the bumper stickers that won and the designers claim their prizes. Click here for the link to my students’ bumper stickers. You can even tell me you favorite!

Two of the characteristics of instructional design resonated with me. The first characteristic, “instructional design is learner centered”, applies directly to my experience teaching at Baker College of Jackson. MyMathLab, an online supplement used in our dev ed math classes, makes each student’s experience a little more personalized; for example, homework is generated based on the student’s individual performance on a pre-assessment, so the exercises vary among students. Also, each student has the power to control his/her learning experience outside of the classroom; he/she can chose to do the MyMathLab work from any location with an internet connection, at any time of day, for any length of time, and as often as desired.

In regards to the third characteristic, “instructional design focuses on meaningful performance”, I think that this is an opportunity for improvement for Baker College. Baker College is a career college and focuses a lot on post-graduation employment. My experience with teaching dev ed math and tutoring higher math classes, shows a disconnect between classroom content and real world application. MyMathLab does have story problems , like one about a recipe that involves fractions, but what about using math in a career, in the real world? The Learning Support Services (LSS) staff and math teachers are often asked “why do I need to take math...I’m never going to use it”. Sometimes after finding out a student’s major, I can list a few examples. Most of the time I say, “because the math class is about more than just math...it’s about problem solving and critical thinking”. But really, how will the human services majors specifically use math? What about the criminal justice majors? Hopefully the opportunity for improvement is taken and we strengthen ourselves as a true career college.