Students Lindsey Maslow (from left), Ashley LeRay and Dayjah Young work together on a problem in Leah Rineck's Math 94 class. (UWM Photo/Pete Amland)
Cole Siegel (left) and Tatum Pulera work on a problem in Math 94. (UWM Photo/Pete Amland)
Students prepare problems before class so they can spend class time discussing them. Pictured here (from left) are Lexi Gutkowski, Celeste Lozano-Castillo and Lien Tang. (UWM Photo/Pete Amland)
Students Celeste Lozano-Castillo (left) and Lien Tang work on a problem in Leah Rineck's Math 94 class. (UWM Photo/Pete Amland)
Students Lien Tang (left) and Celeste Lozano-Castillo work collaboratively on a problem in Math 94. (UWM Photo/Pete Amland)
A new math program for students who need to get up to college level has shown great success in just a couple years.
The new approach emphasizes collaboration and active participation, flipping the traditional model on its head. Rather than listen to a lecture and then do homework, students prepare for class ahead of time and demonstrate their knowledge in front of the class.
“That forces the students to explain what they did to their classmates,” said Kyle Swanson, a professor of atmospheric sciences who led the Developmental Math Reform project. “That puts them in the position where they have to learn it well enough to teach it.”
