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A practitioner's perspective on math, education & change.

Almy Education Information Almy Education Information

With change comes discomfort

When it comes to improving something, such as your health, a policy, or a math program, assessment is always an integral part of the process. As you assess, know that it's common with any substantive transformation to feel a bit of discomfort along the way.

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Kathleen Almy Kathleen Almy

Math Redesign: Working with administrators

If you're a faculty member and you'd like to address a problem, pause before approaching your administrator. Administrators are incredibly busy. They're usually scheduled to the minute the entire day with meetings and struggle to find time in the day for that work. So many will work evenings and weekends regularly. It's a grind that lasts 12 months of the year.

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Almy Education Information Almy Education Information

Boosting student momentum in a distracted world

I can’t imagine being a college student today. Not only are there many distractions, such as personal and professional setbacks and opportunities, but there are pandemics, world events, and so forth. It’s no shock, especially with everything happening around them, that enrollment is down, and colleges are struggling to fill seats.

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Almy Education Information Almy Education Information

Math Redesign: evolution - Not Revolution

If you worked on a math redesign of any kind last year and you didn't reach your goal, that's not unusual. Change with such considerable elements takes a lot of people, resources, and time. The secret is to just keep going. Redesign is an evolution, not a revolution.

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Research Kathy Almy Research Kathy Almy

According to research: Corequisite results over time

It’s easy to perceive corequisite remediation is a subpar substitute for a full developmental math course. The “just in time” approach doesn’t appear to provide students with the natural development of all the topics we believe are necessary to fully understand mathematics. However, the data doesn’t bear this out. tudents are more successful having taken a corequisite, not only in the college level math course needed but also with other metrics like graduation and motivation

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Educational Reform Kathleen Almy Educational Reform Kathleen Almy

How Successful Course (Re)designs Help Eliminate Equity Gaps

It’s no secret that higher education has an equity gap problem. But this isn’t a new issue or one caused by COVID-19. This has been an ongoing concern for far too long. Let’s take a look at what educational equity is, how it’s affecting our education system, and how implementing effective developmental math redesigns can aid in eliminating equity gaps.

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Educational Reform Kathy Almy Educational Reform Kathy Almy

Redesign Doesn’t Happen in a Vacuum

Redesign always takes longer and is more involved than we first expect it to be. With many unforeseen components, those simple suggestions to “improve a course” or “enhance a placement policy” don’t stop there. Instead, they’re simply starting points. In this post, I give you practical information on the role of buy-ins, funding, and other impacted areas that will help you navigate your own redesign.

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eLearning Guest User eLearning Guest User

How do I teach math online?

Teaching math online opens the door to teaching math as a concept rather than a set of skills. Use breakout groups included in web conferencing software to promote student interaction and critical thinking. One idea for a good discussion prompt is described with more to follow in the next blog post.

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