The federal government is giving the University of Wisconsin-Stout $450,000 to expand its innovative approach to improving math skills and to determine if the program could help at other campuses.
The university will receive the $450,000 grant over three years from the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education, commonly known as a FIPSE (fip’ sç) grant. The competitive grant program is sponsored by the Department of Education. This is the first time UW-Stout has received the award, and this was the only new FIPSE grant received by a university in Wisconsin in 2006.
The money will go to the Math Teaching and Learning Center. The university will use the money to expand a new approach to teaching introductory algebra courses.
The Math TLC was founded in 2004 to use a hybrid curriculum of classroom lectures, online homework and learning aids, and intensive personal tutoring to increase the success rates of students who place into beginning or intermediate algebra courses.
The Education Department, in awarding the grant, cited that the method has achieved a 61 percent reduction in failure and withdrawal rates in Beginning Algebra and 23 percent in Intermediate Algebra.
“Math is an important focus for our students,” Jeanne Foley, Math TLC director, said. “Studies show that success in first-year math courses is a strong predictor of retention into the second year of college. Not only will students stay in school when you increase their skill base in math, but you also give those students more choices of majors and technical concentrations. This is important as UW-Stout pursues a polytechnic designation.”
The lab is a technology-enhanced classroom dedicated to several sections of two first-year math courses. It is staffed with teachers as well as students trained as peer tutors. Special software gives students immediate feedback and also 24/7 online help for each problem. Homework assistance is available in class daily, and instructors closely monitor students’ progress.
UW-Stout officials will assess if the Math TLC encourages students to pursue courses in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The university will expand the program to include a summer pre-college preparatory program for incoming at-risk students and to higher-level math courses at UW-Stout.
Workshops will be developed so that other universities within the UW System can learn how to adapt the program to their campuses.
The initiative’s innovative approach is not lost on students, who have taken their own unique style to supporting it.
Marvin Ealy, a sophomore from Milwaukee, wrote and performed a rap song as a thank you to his first-year Math TLC instructors. He rapped, “If you’re struggling with your math, and you want to succeed, then the Math Lab is the place for you to be. M-A-T-H-L-A-B. It’s the Math Lab. It will help you achieve.”
For more information on UW-Stout’s FIPSE award or its Math TLC, contact Foley at (715) 232-5001 or foleyj@uwstout.edu.
Streaming video of Marvin Ealy performing his full rap song is available at http://www.uwstout.edu/lts/multimedia/streams/foleyj/mathlab.wvx
