Deliver A Lower-Level Curriculum With Appropriate Discipline Specific Skill Sets
The curriculum will provide freshman and sophomore students with opportunities to develop the skills typically required of professionals in the area of study.
Objective
Foundation Areas - Calculus I
Mth142 (Calculus I): Students will demonstrate the following knowledge and skills: differentiation of standard mathematical functions, apply the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus to evaluate integrals, and use calculus techniques to solve optimization problems.
Indicator
Course Assessment - Math1420
All students in the program are required to complete Math1420. Students will be administered a final exam containing some common questions developed and approved by the faculty teaching Math1420. The exam will require the students to demonstrate the knowledge and skills mentioned in the objective.
Criterion
Differentiation Of Mathematical Functions
On the final exam, 70% of the students will provide the correct derivative for a given mathematical function.
Finding
Differentiation
Of 176 final exam problems concerning optimization, 129 ( or 73%) received a passing grade on that problem.
Criterion
Optimization Using Calculus Techniques
On the final exam, 70% of the students will use the appropriate calculus techniques to solve an optimization problem.
Finding
Optimization
Of 176 final exam problems concerning optimization, only 72 ( or 41%) received a passing grade on that problem.
Criterion
Fundamental Theorem Of Calculus
On the final exam, 70% of the students will correctly evaluate a definite integral using the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus
Finding
Integration
Of 176 final exam problems concerning optimization, 127 (or 72%) received a passing grade on that problem.
Action
Need To Work On Optimization Applications
We clearly need to pay more attention to the performance of our students pertaining to applications of the derivative, particularly optimization problems. Difficulty often arises not only whe applying calculus, but earlier, in the setup of the problem. Our new precalculus course, MATH 1410, is designed to help with some of these deficiencies. It's too early to tell whether or not this new course is helping the performance of our calculus students.
Goal
Deliver An Upper-Level Curriculum With Appropriate Discipline Specific Knowledge
The curriculum will address the discipline specific knowledge dictated by professional societies and/or professionals in the workforce for upper-level instruction in mathematics.
Objective
Advanced Areas For Majors
Students preparing to graduate will demonstrate advanced mathematics knowledge and skills.
Indicator
Euclidean Geometry Project - Math3363
Students will complete a project requiring them to use technology to create conjectures and then provide a proof of their conjecture.
Criterion
Project Assessment
At the end of the semester, 85% of the students submitting their project will receive a rating of 8 out of 10 or better according to the attached rubric.
Finding
3363 Project
Of the 25 students that participated in the project, 20 received a score above 80%. The mean grade on the assignment was an 88%.
This is better than we had hoped for in the objective.
Action
Continue To Monitor Success
We will continue to monitor the progress of our students in this course. While it is a required course for future secondary teachers, enrollment is not that high (25 in 2014). more monitoring is therefore necessary.