75.031 - Deepening Our Understanding of Student Mathematics Knowledge in Community Colleges

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

Despite increasing attention to low rates of credential completion in community colleges and evidence of mathematics as a barrier to success, little research explores mathematics knowledge and learning in the community college setting. This session will present new findings from three studies that explore mathematical conceptions in developmental arithmetic, algebra, and trigonometry courses. The session will highlight emerging evidence on the mathematical competencies that community college students possess and lack and provide insight on how these findings may be used to improve curriculum and instruction. The discussant will draw on his expertise in adult learning, developmental mathematics instruction, mathematics curricula, and faculty development to provide feedback, delineate overarching themes, and suggest implications for future research and educational practice.

Sub Unit

• Division J - Postsecondary Education / Division J - Section 1: College Student Learning and Development

Chair

• Nikki Edgecombe, Teachers College, Columbia University

Papers

• When Memory Fails: Community College Developmental Math Students' Deference to Memory Over Meaning - Karen B. Givvin, University of California - Los Angeles; Belinda Thompson, University of California - Los Angeles

• Preparing Students in Developmental Math for College and Beyond: An Assessment of Student Understandings - Susan Bickerstaff, Teachers College, Columbia University; Madeline Joy Trimble, Teachers College, Columbia University

• An Analysis of Conceptions of Inverse Trigonometric Functions - Vilma M. Mesa, University of Michigan

Discussant

• Steve Hinds, Active Learning in Adult Numeracy