A Sense of Scale: Expanding Effective and Flexible Implementations of The Math You Need

The Math You Need, When You Need It (TMYN) began as a project to build online modular student tutorials that 1) reduce the amount of time spent in the introductory geoscience classroom remediating math and 2) increase students’ quantitative abilities in general education classrooms. Successful pilots at University of Wisconsin Oshkosh and Highline Community College suggested that these asynchronous online tutorials were effective when used in conjunction with introductory college geoscience courses. Results from the pilots and a survey of instructors provided the impetus for a second study to support widespread use of the tutorials and investigate the effectiveness of asynchronous quantitative modules in a variety of introductory geoscience classrooms. We present our model for a three-phase expansion from two pilot institutions with faculty familiar with TMYN resources to the training of several dozen instructors at a range of institutions across the US over the next 3-4 years. During the completed Phase 1 of the expansion, we identified and individually trained four first round implementers (FRIs) - faculty from diverse institutions who indicated interest in remediating students’ quantitative skills - to integrate TMYN into their courses in Spring 2010. Data collected during these and previous implementations of TMYN were used to inform development of Phase 2 by identifying best practices, recognizing needed support for instructors, and demonstrating that these resources are flexible enough to use in a variety of collegiate settings. Phase 2 - expansion of TMYN to a larger group of up to 35 new institutions - involved revising our protocol for collecting quantitative data, designing a new survey mechanisms for gathering essential qualitative institutional data, and developing workshops focused on training a larger number of implementers in best practices and technologies used for TMYN. Phase 2, currently underway, involves three essential community-building activities: the incorporation of successful implementers as leaders in effective design of implementations at workshops, participation of interested instructors in training workshops and a set of new implementation pages with designs and discussions of best practices on the TMYN website. Phase 2 workshops will aid in the development of our planned Phase 3 - an online workshop to train many more faculty to effectively implement these resources. Ultimately, expansion of the project will result in accumulation of both qualitative and quantitative data about effectiveness and flexibility of TMYN, provide professional development opportunities for faculty to support the design of unique and effective implementations, and build a community of educators committed to increasing the quantitative content of introductory geoscience courses.