Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Edit 6600: Final Update and Reflection
Project Website
Final Update
1) Issue
Every year there are greater numbers of students taking advanced placement (AP) classes as admission to colleges is getting more and more competitive. However, there is little diversity within these classes. On a national level, the percentage of African American students in AP classes is 6.9%, which is almost half the percentage of African American students in the total population (13.7). Specifically for AP Calculus, there is even more of a disparity. Nationally, calculus is predominantly White (64%), followed by Asian (16.1%), Hispanic (7.8%), and African American (4.3%). When compared to the actual population for the Hispanic (14%) and African American (13.7%) subgroups, these numbers indicate a vast problem within the AP Calculus community. At Brookwood High School there are also very few African Americans and Hispanics in AP Calculus classes. The achievement within these two minority groups is also the lowest among the AP population. On a grading scale of 1-5, where 3-5 will give students college course credit for the course, the average score for each group are: African American-1.94, Hispanics- 2.17, White-3.09, and Asian-3.17. Not only are African American and Hispanic students not enrolled in as many AP Calculus classes as White and Asian students, but they are also scoring significantly lower on the AP exams. (AP Report to the Nation, 2007) (Accountability Report-Brookwood High School, 2006)
There are many different factors that have been examined and attributed to cause this inequity in the diversity of the AP Calculus population. One widely expressed factor is that within minority groups there is pressure from peers to stay away from difficult classes/remain average (Freyer, 2006). Other factors include inaccurate academic tracking in 8th grade and lack of mathematical preparation in early years. (Thernstrom, 2003) There are many other factors that can affect this problem and they differ depending on the school and community. However, there is a consensus that this is a large problem facing our nation today.
2) Objective
The purpose of this project will be threefold:
1. Inform all students of the need/benefits to the AP Calculus course.
2. Encourage/motivate a more diverse population of students to take calculus.
3. Close the gap of inequity in AP Calculus by creating specific opportunity for lower achieving minorities to find success.
3) Description
The Lesson
I will create an instructional unit to guide students through choosing their senior math class. The process of the lesson plan will be as follows:
Day 1
Student Research:
The first part of the unit will be a research activity for the students.
1. Students will list 5 possible colleges of their choice
2. Students will list 3 possible majors/fields of study
3. Students will find out the math requirements for 3 majors at 3 different
colleges/universities.
Even if the students feel they know what college they are going to, they need an alternative plan, and likewise with the college major.
This will give the students the opportunity to discover for themselves what background they will need for a number of different college and major situations.
Students will be required to email the teacher with their findings, so he can use it for the presentation the following day.
This can be found at http://htmartin.myweb.uga.edu/research.htm.
Day 2
The day will begin with a discussion of the different majors and college choices, along with the math requirements for each. The instructor will note that if a student could ever possibly take Calculus, then they should first take it in high school.
Instructor Presentation:
The instructor has the option to present the PowerPoint presentation to the students, or view the online content found at http://htmartin.myweb.uga.edu/. The main ideas will be
1. Course Description
2. Course Requirements
3. Benefits of Course
4. AP Credit? –“Who needs it, who has received it in the past(score reports)”
5. FAQ
Student Activity:
Students will view the testimonial section of website containing student responses to taking Calculus. They will read the testimonials, and view the interviews provided by former and current students, along with professionals who have had experience with higher mathematics.
Found at: http://htmartin.myweb.uga.edu/testimonials.htm.
Student Reflection:
Students will write a three part report on this activity:
Part 1. Students will indicate their initial reactions to AP calculus, and discuss their feelings, attitude, and preliminary thoughts on taking the course.
Part 2. Student will reflect on their thoughts after viewing the Testimonial/interviews. They will consider how this has changed (if any) their initial thoughts about the course.
Part 3 Students will discuss the following: What is their final position on AP calculus? Has this activity affected their decision in any way? What way could this be improved?
4) Culture
There is a problem with the diversity among the AP community at Brookwood High School. I will emphasize the need for students from all cultures to take these classes. This project directly focuses on increasing the diversity of the individuals taking Advanced Placement courses. The project has primarily three main components that target the multicultural goals for the project.
1. Testimonials. This section of the project is designed to inspire students from diverse backgrounds to challenge themselves by taking AP Calculus. The testimonials will consist of quotes and interviews from former students, college graduates, and professionals who have been challenged in the past by higher mathematics and have benefited from taking these courses. The subjects will be a diverse group in attempt to provide every student with someone to relate to.This will be an attempt to show every student that others from the same background, race, or status have succeeded and benefited from AP Calculus
2. Prep Course. Because so many multicultural students are placed in lower track courses before they reach 11th grade, these students oftentimes lack the prior knowledge to be successful in AP Calculus. In effort to curb this inequity, I will provide a 3 day course during the summer for students from lower tracks (College Prep) to prepare them for the upcoming AP Calculus course. The focus of this preparation course will be covering concepts that were missed in the college prep classes as well as aiding through the completion of the AP Calculus summer assignment.
3. Study Groups. This section of the project is designed to close the gap of achievement for students from multicultural backgrounds in the area of AP Calculus. By providing these diverse students with an opportunity to obtain extra help in a setting in which they will be the majority, they will hopefully be more successful in the course. This has proven to be very effective in the Shaker Heights school district. After three years of implementing a similar strategy, the enrollment of African American students in AP classes increased by 50%. (Winerip, 2005)
5) Timeline
This lesson is designed to be implemented to 11th grade students prior to registering for classes for their senior year. The actual implementation will take place in January 2008 in Brookwood High School Precalculus classes. However, I was able to allow some students to view the project this summer and recieve feedback on the project.
Implementation
I was able to allow 5 upcoming seniors at Brookwood High School to view the project and provide me with feedback from the lesson. There were 3 males and 2 females in this small group. The demographics of the group were 3 White, and 2 African American (1 male & female). All of these students were in Precalculus this past year at Brookwood, and four out of the five are enrolled in Calculus for this next year.
Feedback
Although these students have already signed up for classes for the upcoming year, they were the closest to the target group of the project. They were able to provide me with excellent feedback. In general, they really enjoyed the explanation of the course and all of the information concerning AP courses. They also indicated that the initial assignment would be very helpful, as they are now beginning to really consider college options, and looking into the math requirements of different majors would have been a great activity. They did indicate that it would be helpful to have more colleges represented in the exam credit and math requirement sections.
As far as the multicultural elements, there was also great feedback. The students liked the opportunity to have study groups, and felt that if the students were motivated enough to take the high-level course, then they would probably be likely to participate in the multicultural groups. They also gave positive feedback concerning the prep course, and suggested offering the prep course for all students. The testimonials was probably the most exciting aspect of the lesson to these students, as they indicated it gave them a true sense of what to expect and how it had benefited former students. However, they also suggested that I could provide more extensive interviews with students as well as more of a variety of participants in the testimonials.
Revisions
There were three main suggestions that were provided from the implementation of the lesson with this group of students. The following revisions were made:
1. Provide math requirements and exam credit information for additional colleges
Updating these sections will be an ongoing process as new data will be given to me each time students complete the research activity. As students complete the research activity the new information will be added to the presentation/website prior to the implementation of the lesson.
2. Open up the preparation course to all students.
Although this is a possibility, I do think that this may take away from the benefit towards those students who truly need the additional preparation. This course is not designed to replace the summer assignment, but simply to provide students without the proper background a chance to succeed in AP Calculus. So, there will be no change in the specifics of this prep course.
3. Provide additional interviews and testimonials
This will also be an ongoing component of the lesson. As I find individuals who I can provide my students with helpful insight I will add them to the course. Also, I have been given the opportunity to interview some UGA football players, but due to the NCAA regulations, the interviews will have to wait until August to be completed. I intend for this part of the project to become an extensive library of feedback that will be available to students and will incorporate feedback from a wide variety of backgrounds, experiences, and fields.
Final Reflection
Final Reflection
When first beginning this project, I intended to create a presentation to encourage/motivate all students to take Calculus, with an emphasis on targeting low enrolled cultural groups. However, through the process of completing the project I realized first that the problem was greater than just there were low numbers of African American and Hispanic students taking Calculus, for these students were also performing at a much lower level than other groups of students. Due to this factor, I decided I needed to be more strategic with this project at not only targeting low enrolled groups, but also to provide intervention for the low performing. Through the discussions, readings, and suggestions from the 6600 class, I came up with the prep course, testimonials, and study groups sections of the project. These three components are the most influential parts of the project and all three together are addressing the equality issues of enrollment and performance in AP Calculus.
To fully address this issue, it would take a joint effort from all levels of education along with families and communities. However, this project deals with the issue at hand, and combats the factors that can be addressed at the current state. I feel that this project has evolved into an effective means of reaching all three project goals. Once the project is implemented on the actual target group this next school year, more accurate assessments to the actual impact and effectiveness of the project will be made
This project will be an ongoing process as I intend to request feedback from students following the implementation and consider how it may affect demographics in AP Calculus in the upcoming years. . I would like to have provided a greater number of interviews which I feel will greatly increase the value of this assignment, and intend to in the coming months. I will continue to add to the testimonial section of the lesson as I find individuals who could provide insight and motivation to the students. I have already created a website in which all math teachers will be able to provide the lesson for their students, and I am looking into providing an even more created instructional tool such as a podcast or Impatica presentation that could allow the instruction to be more self-sufficient. This would allow students from other schools to participate and benefit from the lessons.
Through this project, and the research that I performed I truly became more aware of the vast inequality among the AP community nationally and locally at Brookwood High School. This is a vast problem with many different factors. I feel that I will begin to incorporate many features of the class into my own teaching as now I am aware of a problem that is specific to my subject area. Since I teach at a predominantly white dominated school, I feel that I have become unaware of diversity and multicultural problems within the academic community and society. This class and working on this project has brought to my attention the importance of addressing cultural issues and I intend for it to become more of a focus in my teaching in the future.
So, like so many other situations that occur in academia that is intended to educate the students, this project has also served to change us as teachers. If nothing else beneficial comes from this project I feel that the change that has been brought about in my own life through this has made it worth it. However, I do expect to see great gains in the Brookwood AP community as a result of this project and look forward to updating, and revising this project in the future.
References:
Accountablitly Report-Brookwood High School (2005-2006)
AP Report to the Nation 2007
Fryer, R. G. (2006). Acting white.
Thernstrom A. & Thernstrom S. (2003). No Excuses: Closing the Racial Gap in Learning. Simon & Schuster
Winerip, M. (2005). How one suburb's black students gain. New York Times.pdf
Final Update
1) Issue
Every year there are greater numbers of students taking advanced placement (AP) classes as admission to colleges is getting more and more competitive. However, there is little diversity within these classes. On a national level, the percentage of African American students in AP classes is 6.9%, which is almost half the percentage of African American students in the total population (13.7). Specifically for AP Calculus, there is even more of a disparity. Nationally, calculus is predominantly White (64%), followed by Asian (16.1%), Hispanic (7.8%), and African American (4.3%). When compared to the actual population for the Hispanic (14%) and African American (13.7%) subgroups, these numbers indicate a vast problem within the AP Calculus community. At Brookwood High School there are also very few African Americans and Hispanics in AP Calculus classes. The achievement within these two minority groups is also the lowest among the AP population. On a grading scale of 1-5, where 3-5 will give students college course credit for the course, the average score for each group are: African American-1.94, Hispanics- 2.17, White-3.09, and Asian-3.17. Not only are African American and Hispanic students not enrolled in as many AP Calculus classes as White and Asian students, but they are also scoring significantly lower on the AP exams. (AP Report to the Nation, 2007) (Accountability Report-Brookwood High School, 2006)
There are many different factors that have been examined and attributed to cause this inequity in the diversity of the AP Calculus population. One widely expressed factor is that within minority groups there is pressure from peers to stay away from difficult classes/remain average (Freyer, 2006). Other factors include inaccurate academic tracking in 8th grade and lack of mathematical preparation in early years. (Thernstrom, 2003) There are many other factors that can affect this problem and they differ depending on the school and community. However, there is a consensus that this is a large problem facing our nation today.
2) Objective
The purpose of this project will be threefold:
1. Inform all students of the need/benefits to the AP Calculus course.
2. Encourage/motivate a more diverse population of students to take calculus.
3. Close the gap of inequity in AP Calculus by creating specific opportunity for lower achieving minorities to find success.
3) Description
The Lesson
I will create an instructional unit to guide students through choosing their senior math class. The process of the lesson plan will be as follows:
Day 1
Student Research:
The first part of the unit will be a research activity for the students.
1. Students will list 5 possible colleges of their choice
2. Students will list 3 possible majors/fields of study
3. Students will find out the math requirements for 3 majors at 3 different
colleges/universities.
Even if the students feel they know what college they are going to, they need an alternative plan, and likewise with the college major.
This will give the students the opportunity to discover for themselves what background they will need for a number of different college and major situations.
Students will be required to email the teacher with their findings, so he can use it for the presentation the following day.
This can be found at http://htmartin.myweb.uga.edu/research.htm.
Day 2
The day will begin with a discussion of the different majors and college choices, along with the math requirements for each. The instructor will note that if a student could ever possibly take Calculus, then they should first take it in high school.
Instructor Presentation:
The instructor has the option to present the PowerPoint presentation to the students, or view the online content found at http://htmartin.myweb.uga.edu/. The main ideas will be
1. Course Description
2. Course Requirements
3. Benefits of Course
4. AP Credit? –“Who needs it, who has received it in the past(score reports)”
5. FAQ
Student Activity:
Students will view the testimonial section of website containing student responses to taking Calculus. They will read the testimonials, and view the interviews provided by former and current students, along with professionals who have had experience with higher mathematics.
Found at: http://htmartin.myweb.uga.edu/testimonials.htm.
Student Reflection:
Students will write a three part report on this activity:
Part 1. Students will indicate their initial reactions to AP calculus, and discuss their feelings, attitude, and preliminary thoughts on taking the course.
Part 2. Student will reflect on their thoughts after viewing the Testimonial/interviews. They will consider how this has changed (if any) their initial thoughts about the course.
Part 3 Students will discuss the following: What is their final position on AP calculus? Has this activity affected their decision in any way? What way could this be improved?
4) Culture
There is a problem with the diversity among the AP community at Brookwood High School. I will emphasize the need for students from all cultures to take these classes. This project directly focuses on increasing the diversity of the individuals taking Advanced Placement courses. The project has primarily three main components that target the multicultural goals for the project.
1. Testimonials. This section of the project is designed to inspire students from diverse backgrounds to challenge themselves by taking AP Calculus. The testimonials will consist of quotes and interviews from former students, college graduates, and professionals who have been challenged in the past by higher mathematics and have benefited from taking these courses. The subjects will be a diverse group in attempt to provide every student with someone to relate to.This will be an attempt to show every student that others from the same background, race, or status have succeeded and benefited from AP Calculus
2. Prep Course. Because so many multicultural students are placed in lower track courses before they reach 11th grade, these students oftentimes lack the prior knowledge to be successful in AP Calculus. In effort to curb this inequity, I will provide a 3 day course during the summer for students from lower tracks (College Prep) to prepare them for the upcoming AP Calculus course. The focus of this preparation course will be covering concepts that were missed in the college prep classes as well as aiding through the completion of the AP Calculus summer assignment.
3. Study Groups. This section of the project is designed to close the gap of achievement for students from multicultural backgrounds in the area of AP Calculus. By providing these diverse students with an opportunity to obtain extra help in a setting in which they will be the majority, they will hopefully be more successful in the course. This has proven to be very effective in the Shaker Heights school district. After three years of implementing a similar strategy, the enrollment of African American students in AP classes increased by 50%. (Winerip, 2005)
5) Timeline
This lesson is designed to be implemented to 11th grade students prior to registering for classes for their senior year. The actual implementation will take place in January 2008 in Brookwood High School Precalculus classes. However, I was able to allow some students to view the project this summer and recieve feedback on the project.
Implementation
I was able to allow 5 upcoming seniors at Brookwood High School to view the project and provide me with feedback from the lesson. There were 3 males and 2 females in this small group. The demographics of the group were 3 White, and 2 African American (1 male & female). All of these students were in Precalculus this past year at Brookwood, and four out of the five are enrolled in Calculus for this next year.
Feedback
Although these students have already signed up for classes for the upcoming year, they were the closest to the target group of the project. They were able to provide me with excellent feedback. In general, they really enjoyed the explanation of the course and all of the information concerning AP courses. They also indicated that the initial assignment would be very helpful, as they are now beginning to really consider college options, and looking into the math requirements of different majors would have been a great activity. They did indicate that it would be helpful to have more colleges represented in the exam credit and math requirement sections.
As far as the multicultural elements, there was also great feedback. The students liked the opportunity to have study groups, and felt that if the students were motivated enough to take the high-level course, then they would probably be likely to participate in the multicultural groups. They also gave positive feedback concerning the prep course, and suggested offering the prep course for all students. The testimonials was probably the most exciting aspect of the lesson to these students, as they indicated it gave them a true sense of what to expect and how it had benefited former students. However, they also suggested that I could provide more extensive interviews with students as well as more of a variety of participants in the testimonials.
Revisions
There were three main suggestions that were provided from the implementation of the lesson with this group of students. The following revisions were made:
1. Provide math requirements and exam credit information for additional colleges
Updating these sections will be an ongoing process as new data will be given to me each time students complete the research activity. As students complete the research activity the new information will be added to the presentation/website prior to the implementation of the lesson.
2. Open up the preparation course to all students.
Although this is a possibility, I do think that this may take away from the benefit towards those students who truly need the additional preparation. This course is not designed to replace the summer assignment, but simply to provide students without the proper background a chance to succeed in AP Calculus. So, there will be no change in the specifics of this prep course.
3. Provide additional interviews and testimonials
This will also be an ongoing component of the lesson. As I find individuals who I can provide my students with helpful insight I will add them to the course. Also, I have been given the opportunity to interview some UGA football players, but due to the NCAA regulations, the interviews will have to wait until August to be completed. I intend for this part of the project to become an extensive library of feedback that will be available to students and will incorporate feedback from a wide variety of backgrounds, experiences, and fields.
Final Reflection
Final Reflection
When first beginning this project, I intended to create a presentation to encourage/motivate all students to take Calculus, with an emphasis on targeting low enrolled cultural groups. However, through the process of completing the project I realized first that the problem was greater than just there were low numbers of African American and Hispanic students taking Calculus, for these students were also performing at a much lower level than other groups of students. Due to this factor, I decided I needed to be more strategic with this project at not only targeting low enrolled groups, but also to provide intervention for the low performing. Through the discussions, readings, and suggestions from the 6600 class, I came up with the prep course, testimonials, and study groups sections of the project. These three components are the most influential parts of the project and all three together are addressing the equality issues of enrollment and performance in AP Calculus.
To fully address this issue, it would take a joint effort from all levels of education along with families and communities. However, this project deals with the issue at hand, and combats the factors that can be addressed at the current state. I feel that this project has evolved into an effective means of reaching all three project goals. Once the project is implemented on the actual target group this next school year, more accurate assessments to the actual impact and effectiveness of the project will be made
This project will be an ongoing process as I intend to request feedback from students following the implementation and consider how it may affect demographics in AP Calculus in the upcoming years. . I would like to have provided a greater number of interviews which I feel will greatly increase the value of this assignment, and intend to in the coming months. I will continue to add to the testimonial section of the lesson as I find individuals who could provide insight and motivation to the students. I have already created a website in which all math teachers will be able to provide the lesson for their students, and I am looking into providing an even more created instructional tool such as a podcast or Impatica presentation that could allow the instruction to be more self-sufficient. This would allow students from other schools to participate and benefit from the lessons.
Through this project, and the research that I performed I truly became more aware of the vast inequality among the AP community nationally and locally at Brookwood High School. This is a vast problem with many different factors. I feel that I will begin to incorporate many features of the class into my own teaching as now I am aware of a problem that is specific to my subject area. Since I teach at a predominantly white dominated school, I feel that I have become unaware of diversity and multicultural problems within the academic community and society. This class and working on this project has brought to my attention the importance of addressing cultural issues and I intend for it to become more of a focus in my teaching in the future.
So, like so many other situations that occur in academia that is intended to educate the students, this project has also served to change us as teachers. If nothing else beneficial comes from this project I feel that the change that has been brought about in my own life through this has made it worth it. However, I do expect to see great gains in the Brookwood AP community as a result of this project and look forward to updating, and revising this project in the future.
References:
Accountablitly Report-Brookwood High School (2005-2006)
AP Report to the Nation 2007
Fryer, R. G. (2006). Acting white.
Thernstrom A. & Thernstrom S. (2003). No Excuses: Closing the Racial Gap in Learning. Simon & Schuster
Winerip, M. (2005). How one suburb's black students gain. New York Times.pdf
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
New Update:
To produce a more efficient and useable project I have created a website that other teachers can use as they present the information to all students at Brookwood High School. I realized that if the project remained in its current state, that I would be required to perform the instruction. However, through the website the instruction is now self-sufficient. I will continue to revise the website as well as update the blog. The url for the websit is http://htmartin.myweb.uga.edu/.
To produce a more efficient and useable project I have created a website that other teachers can use as they present the information to all students at Brookwood High School. I realized that if the project remained in its current state, that I would be required to perform the instruction. However, through the website the instruction is now self-sufficient. I will continue to revise the website as well as update the blog. The url for the websit is http://htmartin.myweb.uga.edu/.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
6600 Project
Questionnaire
To better understand the problems with diversity in AP classes at Brookwood High School I interviewed students from different ethnic backgrounds and posed the following questions:
How do you feel as a minority at Brookwood High School?
What are the biggest obstacles that you face?
How do people in your subgroup view academics as a whole?
Why are the AP classes not very diverse?
Why do African Americans and Hispanics shy away from particularly AP Calculus?
What steps could be taken to encourage/motivate a more diverse student population of AP students?
After discussing the project with prospective and current students I have decided to make a couple of revisions.
Also two large revisions were made following discussions in the 6600 class.
1. Groups for particular subgroups of students
There is no way for me to reschedule classes so that we segregate females, African Americans, Hispanics into environments that they feel more comfortable and can succeed in. However, I can offer additional help to students in these more successful environments.
2. Preparation class for students
Probably the greatest difficulty with reaching all students with AP courses, is that a great part of the problem is with tracking that occurs three years prior to their senior year. Once students begin a college prep track instead of honors or gifted, it is hard for the student to overcome this obstacle. A large portion of Hispanics, African American, and lower SES students are found in the College Prep course levels. So one of the main problems with these students taking AP Calculus is that they are not prepared for it by their Senior year. A three day preparation class should serve enough time to review any material that is not covered in the CP math class, and give extra help with the summer assignment.
Note: The summer assignment is simply a review of Precalculus. If a student can master the summer assignment they will have a great chance of being successful in AP calculus.
Following the suggestions of high school students and changes brought about by the readings and discussions from 6600 the lesson will be as follows:
Day 1
The first part of the unit will be a research activity for the students.
1. Students will list 5 possible colleges of their choice
2. Students will list 3 possible majors/fields of study
3. Students will find out the math requirements for 3 majors at 3 different
colleges/universities.
Even if the students feel they know what college they are going to, they need an alternative plan, and likewise with the college major.
This will give the students the opportunity to discover for themselves what background they will need for a number of different college and major situations.
Students will be required to email the teacher with their findings, so he can use it for the presentation the following day.
Day 2
The day will begin with a discussion of the different majors and college choices, along with the math requirements for each. The instructor will note that if a student could ever possibly take Calculus, then they should first take it in high school.
Instructor Presentation:
The instructor will present a PowerPoint presentation to the students. The main ideas will be
1. Course Requirements
2. Benefits of Course
3. AP Credit? Who needs it, who has received it in the past(score reports)
4. FAQ
Student Activity:
Students will view the presentation of student responses to taking Calculus. They will read the testimonials, and view the interviews provided by former and current students, along with professionals who have had experience with higher mathematics.
Response:
Students will write a three part report on this activity:
Part 1. Students will indicate their initial reactions to AP calculus, and discuss their feelings, attitude, and preliminary thoughts on taking the course.
Part 2. Student will reflect on their thoughts after viewing the Testimonial/interviews. They will consider how this has changed (if any) their initial thoughts about the course.
Part 3 Students will discuss the following: What is their final position on AP calculus? Has this activity affected their decision in any way? What way could this be improved?
To better understand the problems with diversity in AP classes at Brookwood High School I interviewed students from different ethnic backgrounds and posed the following questions:
How do you feel as a minority at Brookwood High School?
What are the biggest obstacles that you face?
How do people in your subgroup view academics as a whole?
Why are the AP classes not very diverse?
Why do African Americans and Hispanics shy away from particularly AP Calculus?
What steps could be taken to encourage/motivate a more diverse student population of AP students?
After discussing the project with prospective and current students I have decided to make a couple of revisions.
Also two large revisions were made following discussions in the 6600 class.
1. Groups for particular subgroups of students
There is no way for me to reschedule classes so that we segregate females, African Americans, Hispanics into environments that they feel more comfortable and can succeed in. However, I can offer additional help to students in these more successful environments.
2. Preparation class for students
Probably the greatest difficulty with reaching all students with AP courses, is that a great part of the problem is with tracking that occurs three years prior to their senior year. Once students begin a college prep track instead of honors or gifted, it is hard for the student to overcome this obstacle. A large portion of Hispanics, African American, and lower SES students are found in the College Prep course levels. So one of the main problems with these students taking AP Calculus is that they are not prepared for it by their Senior year. A three day preparation class should serve enough time to review any material that is not covered in the CP math class, and give extra help with the summer assignment.
Note: The summer assignment is simply a review of Precalculus. If a student can master the summer assignment they will have a great chance of being successful in AP calculus.
Following the suggestions of high school students and changes brought about by the readings and discussions from 6600 the lesson will be as follows:
Day 1
The first part of the unit will be a research activity for the students.
1. Students will list 5 possible colleges of their choice
2. Students will list 3 possible majors/fields of study
3. Students will find out the math requirements for 3 majors at 3 different
colleges/universities.
Even if the students feel they know what college they are going to, they need an alternative plan, and likewise with the college major.
This will give the students the opportunity to discover for themselves what background they will need for a number of different college and major situations.
Students will be required to email the teacher with their findings, so he can use it for the presentation the following day.
Day 2
The day will begin with a discussion of the different majors and college choices, along with the math requirements for each. The instructor will note that if a student could ever possibly take Calculus, then they should first take it in high school.
Instructor Presentation:
The instructor will present a PowerPoint presentation to the students. The main ideas will be
1. Course Requirements
2. Benefits of Course
3. AP Credit? Who needs it, who has received it in the past(score reports)
4. FAQ
Student Activity:
Students will view the presentation of student responses to taking Calculus. They will read the testimonials, and view the interviews provided by former and current students, along with professionals who have had experience with higher mathematics.
Response:
Students will write a three part report on this activity:
Part 1. Students will indicate their initial reactions to AP calculus, and discuss their feelings, attitude, and preliminary thoughts on taking the course.
Part 2. Student will reflect on their thoughts after viewing the Testimonial/interviews. They will consider how this has changed (if any) their initial thoughts about the course.
Part 3 Students will discuss the following: What is their final position on AP calculus? Has this activity affected their decision in any way? What way could this be improved?
Thursday, June 14, 2007
1) Issue
Every year there are greater numbers of students taking advanced placement (AP) classes as admission to colleges is getting more and more competitive. However, there is little diversity within these classes. At Brookwood High School there are very few African Americans, Hispanics and students with low socio-economic status in specifically the AP Calculus classes. All students should be encouraged to take AP courses.
2) Objective
2) Objective
The purpose of this project is to provide all students with information regarding Advanced Placement classes (specifically AP Calculus) in effort to motivate more students to take these rigorous courses. The project will focus on encouraging all students to take AP classes by bringing attention to the availability of AP courses along with the benefits to students who take these courses.
3) Description
I will create an instructional unit to guide students through choosing their senior math class. The focus of this guide will be towards encouraging students to pursue Advanced Placement Calculus. This unit will have the following components:
3) Description
I will create an instructional unit to guide students through choosing their senior math class. The focus of this guide will be towards encouraging students to pursue Advanced Placement Calculus. This unit will have the following components:
1. General Information
The course will be outlined in this section and will include the syllabus, course outline and pacing guide, content information, etc. Along with this basic information, there will be a section for Frequently Asked Questions, general benefits, and misconceptions about the course.
2. Collegiate
This section will take a look at how Calculus benefits the student during college. Included in this will be a list various college majors that require calculus, and how they vary from different institutions. Also, I will include testimonials from college students and alumni about the benefits they have experienced from taking calculus in high school.
3. Career
The last section will be a look at different careers where Calculus is a requirement or a great asset. Along with general information and explorations of different careers where calculus is present, there will be a section of interviews with individuals from these different careers.
The focus of the 2nd and 3rd sections will be to highlight successful students/adults from all ethnic and cultural backgrounds to be interviewed. With the help of these interviews, students should be able to identify with someone from their ethnic and cultural background and be encouraged to aspire to pursue this high level mathematics course.
The subjects that will be presented with this unit, will be juniors at Brookwood High School who are participating in summer activities at the school. All ethnic and cultural backgrounds will be represented by this group of students.
4) Culture
There is a problem with the diversity among the AP community at Brookwood High School. I will emphasize the need for students from all cultures to take these classes. This project directly focuses on increasing the diversity of the individuals taking Advanced Placement courses.
5) Timeline
5) Timeline
The majority of the time spent on this project will be on the construction of the unit. A good deal of research will be needed to sufficiently target all student groups that are present in the school. Adequate time will also be needed to obtain interviews with the various individuals. Only a short time is needed for students to view the unit and give feedback on the quality of the project.
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