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 - Differential Calculus
MATH 1420 (Calculus I): Students will demonstrate the following knowledge and skills: differentiation of standard mathematical functions, application of the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus to the evaluation of integrals, and using calculus techniques to solve optimization problems.
Indicator
Course Assessment - Mth142
All students enrolled in the program are required to complete Mth 142. Students will be administered a final exam developed and approved by the department faculty. The exam will require them to demonstrate the knowledge and skills mentioned in the objective.
Criterion
Optimization Using Calculus Techniques
On the final exam, 70% of the students will use 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
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
Fundamental Theorem Of Calculus
On the final exam, 70% of the students will correctly use the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus to evaluate a given integral.
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
Improve Communication Between Department And Its Majors
Communicate to our mathematics majors more and better information pertaining to internships, research opportunities, scholarships. etc.
Objective
Improve Communication Between Department And Mathematics Majors
Communicate to our mathematics majors more and better information pertaining to internships, research opportunities, scholarships. etc.
Action
Have A Winter Meeting For All Mathematics Majors And Minors
In January 2015, the chair will host an hour-long meeting of all mathematics majors and minors. This meeting will inform all students of summer REU opportunities (application deadlines typically in February), graduate school opportunities (deadlines in March) and new courses avaiable for Fall 2015/Spring 2016.
All faculty will be invited, and slides will be prepared in order for students not able to attend to have the opportunity to receive the same information. These slides will be made available on the departmental website.
An announcement will be made via email 3 weeks before the date, with a reminder sent one week prior.
Other actions will include the possibility of hosting a departmental Twitter account maintained by the office to better inform students of new sections of courses opened, advising deadlines, etc.
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 on the role of proof and technology in communicating mathematics.
Criterion
Project Assessment
At the end of the semester, 70% 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 Assess
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.