WvEB Mathematics: College Level, Web-Enhanced Algebra and Trigonometry Courses for High School Students in West Virginia Dr. Laura J. Pyzdrowski WvEB Project.

WvEB Mathematics: College Level, Web-Enhanced

Algebra and Trigonometry Courses for High School Students in West Virginia

Dr. Laura J. PyzdrowskiWvEB Project Director and WVU WvEB Algebra Coordinator

Dr. Mike Mays, WvEB Trigonometry Coordinator

Cecilia Fizer, Concord WvEB Algebra Coordinator

Steering Committee• V. J. Benokraitis Deborah Brown• Connie Dale Bruce Ebanks• Bruce Flack Elizabeth Dale• James Denvir Murrel Hoover• Carl Johnson David Kennedy• Larry Lamb James Miller• Diana Munza Mary Poling• Laura Pyzdrowski Gary Seldomridge• Deborah Seldomridge Judy Silver• Sue Steinbeck Joe Urbanski• Donna Watson

WvEB Algebra Design Sub - Committee

Jim Denvir (Marshall)

Bruce Ebanks (Marshall)

James Miller (WVU - Morgantown)

Laura J. Pyzdrowski (WVU, coordinator)

Judy Silver (Marshall)

Joe Urbanski ( WVUIT)

Diana Munza ( High School Teacher Representative)

WvEB Algebra 9-12 Sub - Committee

Murrell Hoover (Charleston)

Larry Lamb (State Mathematics Coordinator)

Diana Munza (Fairmont)

Debbie Seldomridge (Keyser)

Sue Steinbeck (Parkersburg)

WvEB Course

• A college-level mathematics course for high school students

• The structure of the course allows for concurrent enrollment.

GOALS

• To help students remain in a mathematics pathway while in high school, and allow for a smooth transition into entry level college mathematics

• Increase WV College Going Rates

• Increase WV Math ACT Scores

High School Students

• Experience the Pace of a University Course

• Gain Confidence in Mathematical Ability– Entice students into STEM fields

• Avoid Senior Mathematics Void

Design

• WvEB Algebra and Trigonometry target the “middle track”student.

• WvEB Calculus will target advanced track students.

• Courses are not meant to replace mathematics courses in the high school curriculum.

Design• Higher Education Instructor of Record

• High School Teacher Facilitator

• Use of Content Standards and Objectives– Algebra III credit

• Students are counseled as to course appropriateness.

Design• Students use a graphing utility/graphing

calculator.

• Students work in groups when appropriate.

• Students will be exposed to problem solving in context.

• Students make connections among tables of numbers, algebraic analysis, and graphs.

WvEB Mathematics Course Components

• Reading Assignments (Text Component)• Lectures (CD Component or video streaming)• Laboratories (School Lab/CD/Web Component)• Homework (Text Component)• Homework Quizzes (Web Component)• Tests (Given at High School Site and Proctored)• Facilitator Input• Instructor/Facilitator/Student Communication

(Web Component)• Pilot of Online Tutoring ( MathChat)

Facilitator• The facilitator for the project must be a certified

high school mathematics teacher,

• must apply to the institution of record,

• is the instructor of record for the high school credit portion of the course,

• and must attend professional development sessions to become familiar with the technological components of the course as well as the course material and requirements.

Duties of Facilitator

• Monitoring tests in a supervised setting

• Sending or giving student materials to the instructor of record

• Handing graded materials back to the students

• Facilitating with homework assignments

Duties of Facilitator

• Assisting and guiding students who need help with content of the course

• Supervising computer laboratories and guiding student groups when needed through difficult laboratory topics

• Making sure that the computer facilities are functioning and reporting malfunctions to the appropriate support staff and the instructor of record

Duties of Facilitator

• Assisting in counseling as to the appropriateness of the course for interested students

• Consulting with regard to content selection, and development

Duties of Facilitator

• The facilitator will be the "eyes and ears" for the higher education instructor of record and will provide information about student concerns and in-class performance.

• Serve as consultants on NSF CCLI grant. Dr. Michael Mays, CCLI PI

Dr. Laura J. Pyzdrowski, CCLI Co-PI

WvEB “Perks” ( WVU)

• “Salary” of $80/student for up to 10 students. For 10 students or more the “salary” is $1000

• To teacher if offered outside of school day

• To county if offered during school day

• No Minimum number of students required

StructureThe structure at each site will vary.

Students meet during scheduled times to discuss and do mathematics and take tests. ( Contact hours)

There are supervised group work for the interactive computer laboratories.

Placement

• Hosting Higher Education Institutions use individual placement requirements.

WvEB Eligibility• An overall GPA of 3.0

• An earned “C” or better in Algebra 1, Algebra 2, and Geometry – in addition, WvEB Trig requires a “C” or better in WvEB

Algebra

• High School permission for the student to take the course – Some High Schools have additional requirements.

• Meet other institutional entry requirements

Software/Hardware Requirements:

• Windows 98, Me, 2000 or XP system

• Internet Explorer and Media Player

• A sound card and CD-ROM drive

WvEB AlgebraWVU-Morgantown Sites

• Clay-Battelle High School • Elkins High School • Hedgesville High School• Liberty High School • Moorefield High School• Morgantown High School• Robert C. Byrd High School• Roane County High School• South Harrison High School• Trinity High School• Tygarts Valley High School• University High School• Preston County High School (Fall 2007)

WvEB AlgebraOther Sites

• Concord: Cecilia Fizer – Pike View High School

– Interest from Princeton and Bluefield High School

• Fairmont: Switched to WVU sites in Fall 2006

– Fairmont Senior High

– Fairmont East High School

– Marion County Technical Center

– North Marion High School

WvEB TrigonometryWVU-Morgantown Sites

• Clay-Battelle High School • Elkins High School• Fairmont Senior High School• Liberty High School• Morgantown High School• North Marion High School• Robert C. Byrd • Roane County High School• Trinity High School• Tygart’s Valley High School• University High School• Preston County High School (Spring 2008)

WvEB AlgebraInitial Results

• 29 Student Participants in Fall 2000

Grade A B C D F WNumber 6 11 4 1 7

WvEB AlgebraInitial Results

Course WVU WvEB Algebra Total WvEB Algebra WVU On Campus AlgebraSemester Fall 2000 Fall 2000 Fall 2000

Grade Avg. 2.9 3.1 2D/F/W rate 10% 28% 47%

WvEB AlgebraResults Fall 2000

Table t Test For Pre and Post Accuplacer Scores For WvEB Fall 2000

Time of Test M SD t

Pre 36.81 17.29-3.37 *

Post 49.04 22.29

* p< .005

Scores on Accuplacer

• Scores of 40 or less : < 20th percentile

• Scores of 41 to 62: 20th - 50th percentile

• Scores of 63 to 85: 50th - 80th percentile

• Scores of 86 to 102: 80th - 90th percentile

• Scores of 103 to 120: 90th - 100th percentile

WvEB Student Participation

WvEB Algebra Student Participation WvEB Trigonometry Student Participation

Fall 2000 29 students

Spring 2001 50 students

Fall 2001 20 students

Spring 2002 107 students

Fall 2002 105 students

Spring 2003 67 students Spring 2003 83 students

Fall 2003 218 students

Spring 2004 100 students Spring 2004 161 students

Fall 2004 181 students

Spring 2005 94 students Spring 2005 165 students

Fall 2005 196 students

Spring 2006 111 students Spring 2006 158 students

Fall 2006 257 students

Spring 2007 95 students Spring 2007 174 students

WvEB Algebra2003-2004 Results

• 318 Student Participants

• 8 percent D/F/W rate

Grade A B C D F WNumber 152 113 27 15 3 8

Accuplacer ScoresWvEB Algebra; n=265Fall 2003 - Spring 2004

Table t Test For Accuplacer Scores For WvEB Alg Fall 2003-Spring 2004

Time of Test M SD t

Pre Alg 43.24 17.7*-9.7

Post Alg 54.9 21.6

* p< .0001

Scores on Accuplacer

• Scores of 40 or less : < 20th percentile

• Scores of 41 to 62: 20th - 50th percentile

• Scores of 63 to 85: 50th - 80th percentile

• Scores of 86 to 102: 80th - 90th percentile

• Scores of 103 to 120: 90th - 100th percentile

WvEB TrigonometrySpring 2004 Results

• 161 Student Participants

• 4 percent D/F/W rate

A B C D F W I99 48 8 1 2 2 1

Accuplacer ScoresWvEB Trig; n=53

Spring 2004 Table t Test For Accuplacer Scores For WvEB Trig Fall 2003-Spring 2004

Time of Test M SD t

PreTrig 50 18.5*-3.30

Post Trig 59.55 25.9

* p=.0017

Scores on Accuplacer

• Scores of 40 or less : < 20th percentile

• Scores of 41 to 62: 20th - 50th percentile

• Scores of 63 to 85: 50th - 80th percentile

• Scores of 86 to 102: 80th - 90th percentile

• Scores of 103 to 120: 90th - 100th percentile

Accuplacer ScoresWvEB Math; n=53

Fall 2003 - Spring 2004

Table t Test For Accuplacer Scores For WvEB Math Fall 2003-Spring 2004

Time of Test M SD t

Pre Alg 39.58 15.3*-5.9

Post Trig 59.55 25.9

* p< .0001

Scores on Accuplacer

• Scores of 40 or less : < 20th percentile

• Scores of 41 to 62: 20th - 50th percentile

• Scores of 63 to 85: 50th - 80th percentile

• Scores of 86 to 102: 80th - 90th percentile

• Scores of 103 to 120: 90th - 100th percentile

WvEB AlgebraFall 2004 Results

• 181 Student Participants

• 1.7 percent D/F/W rate.

Grade A B C D F WNumber 98 61 19 1 1 1

WvEB AlgebraSpring 2005 Results

• 94 Student Participants

• 4.5 percent D/F/W rate.

Grade A B C D F WNumber 38 45 7 1 3

WvEB TrigonometrySpring 2005 Results

• 165 Student Participants• 6.3 percent D/F/W rate

A B C D F W I96 45 16 2 2 2 2

ACT Test

• Most students in West Virginia high schools take the ACT test .

• At the time of the study, there was an ACT Math Task force in West Virginia.

• Similar studies in follow-up courses such as Trigonometry are being analyzed.

Data Analysis Fall 2004-Spring 2005

• As a group, students enrolled in WvEB Algebra improved their mean ACT scaled score from 21.22 to 22.74.

This analysis was done using an ANOVA to assess whether there were differences between the ACT pretest and the ACT posttest . There was a significant difference between the tests, F(1, 227) = 37.356, p < .001, such that students performed better on the posttest (M =22.74, SD = 3.99) than on the pretest (M = 21.22, SD = 3.95).

Matched Pair Study in Fall 2004

• 59 students enrolled in the WvEB College Algebra course from one local high school were matched with students enrolled in on-campus College Algebra.

Matched Pair Study in Fall 2004• The goal of the matched pairs was to get a

homogenous sample of the on-campus students for comparison against the WvEB students.

• Matched according to gender – papers drawn from a hat and coin tosses– done by research assistant

Matched Pair – On Campus

• Completed Algebra I, Algebra II, and Geometry in high school with a “C” or better

• At least a 3.0 high school grade point average

• On-campus students were first semester freshman who had just graduated from high school

Data Analysis

• Using scaled scores, paired-samples t-tests were used to determine whether differences existed between the two groups on the ACT.

Data AnalysisFall 2004

Group N Mean SD t Sig.

ACT Pretest WvEB 59 20.19 4.99 0.808 0.423Campus 59 20.78 2.96

ACT Posttest WvEB 50 21.12 3.63 2.302 .026*Campus 50 22.66 2.94

Note: The asterisk (*) denotes statistical significance at the .05 level.

Scaled ACT analyses for matched-pairs of WvEB and on-campus students enrolled in College Algebra.

Discussion

• In 2005, West Virginia’s math ACT average of 19.3 as compared to the National average of 20.7 had West Virginia tied for having the 5th lowest average math ACT score in the nation.

Discussion

• Campus pre score of 20.78 and post score of 22.66 are less than the score of 23 required.

• Students are also admitted into the course – algebra workshop – departmental placement test score

• It is conjectured that students are not putting in the effort that they would in a real ACT testing.

Ongoing Efforts for WvEB 04-05 Study

• Track through subsequent math courses

• Analysis of questionnaire given to high school students in the fall 2004 semester

Research Design for College Algebra Fall 2004

• High School Questionnaire

In the News

• Flat Math Score Trends with More AP courses– “U.S. high school students are taking tougher classes,

receiving better grades and, apparently, learning less than their counterparts of 15 years ago.”

From The Los Angeles Times, Thursday, February 22, 2007. See http://www.latimes.com/la-me-student23feb23,0,2368105.story

Rigorous College Level Courses

• First and foremost a college level course– Supervised or taught by higher education

faculty members

• Support High School CSOs with more rigor and relevance in freshman level mathematics courses

West Virginia Higher Education Math Task Force - 2002

• For those students entering a liberal arts/business major, it is strongly recommended that the senior year course promote algebraic thinking skills.

What Comes Next?

• WvEB Calculus, WvEB Number Theory – www.wvebmath.ws

? Questions ?

• This slide show available– www.wvebmath.ws

• For more information, email: – [email protected]– [email protected]– [email protected]