Dr. Barbara Illowsky on “The State of Math in the State”
November 6, 2015 — Twenty-seven educators (19 faculty and 8 tutors) from six colleges convened in the green environs of Golden West College on a breezy, sunny Friday to listen to three great speakers, Dr. Barbara Illowsky, Dr. Greg Brigman, and Dr. Erin Craig, present on ways and means to enhance student success in mathematics in community colleges.
Discussion was lively, and some takeaways included never underestimating the importance of developing positive relationships with students and caring about their success. Guests also learned about effective ways to integrate tutoring into instruction, and the audience also received an introduction to various curricular and programmatic redesign efforts to increase student success, such as acceleration and course-embedded tutoring and counseling.
Dr. Brigman presented an array of cognitive re-framing techniques to help students improve memory, combat math anxiety, and stimulate focus and concentration. The audience tried out many of these techniques, including physical response memory strategies and visualization and relaxation techniques.
One valuable resource shared at the meeting is a site for free, open textbooks for math. The Cal State University system accepts the transfer-level books on this site. Three books (statistics, US history, and an upcoming astronomy text) are co-authored by California Community College faculty members: www.openstaxcollege.org.
Colleges in attendance included Golden West College, Fullerton College, Santa Ana College, Rio Hondo College, Coastline Community College, and De Anza College.
For more information on 3CSN events for professional learning for community college educators, please contact Danny Pittaway (danny@3csn.org).
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