Student-faculty collaboration will improve intro math classes

EDITORS: For more information, contact Morton Brown (mbrown @umich.edu, 734-764-9402); B.J. Orandi (borandi@umich.edu); or Gwen Arnold (arnoldg@umich.edu).

ANN ARBOR—Some 6,000 freshmen and sophomores take introductory math classes at the University of Michigan every year. Not surprisingly, when the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts’ student government surveyed students about their academic concerns, those classes ranked high on the list.

A number of students, it turned out, found the department’s use of innovative—and to many, unfamiliar—teaching techniques difficult to understand. In particular, the assignment of group homework and a “try it first, hear the explanation later” approach to problem solving were frustrating for many students and, indeed, for those instructors who had little or no experience with collaborative work in mathematics.

B.J. Orandi, immediate past president of the student government organization, says that from the beginning the students were determined to make their study a collaborative rather than an adversarial effort. “We knew we wouldn’t get anywhere without goodwill and cooperation on both sides,” he says.

The study was conducted by the group’s Academic Affairs Committee, chaired by Gwen Arnold. “We made a real effort to gather hard information from the students,” Arnold says. “We didn’t want to be perceived as whiners. Instead, we were anxious to give the department useful data, so that they can conduct the classes in a way that helps students learn more effectively.”

The committee gathered student input through written surveys and roundtable discussions in which students described both positive and negative experiences with introductory courses and identified aspects of the courses that most concerned them. The responses were grouped into categories that included quizzes and homework, grading and policies, group homework, and consistency of teaching quality and method among sections. The group homework issue elicited the greatest number of concerns from students and also from department faculty and administrators, so it became the focus of the committee’s efforts during the 2000-2001 academic year.

Prof. Morton Brown, who initiated the new format in 1992, is enthusiastic about the student government project. “Teamwork has many benefits beyond just learning the immediate assignment,” he says. “It helps students get to know other students that they might not ordinarily meet, to help each other in ways which supplement learning from the text or the instructor, and even to tackle more challenging questions than might appear in an individual assignment.

“I’ve had students come back three or four years later and tell me that the teamwork skills they learned were the most valuable part of the class to them.”

“When we started out, the perception was that group homework just wasn’t working,” says Arnold. “But Prof. Brown provided background information on the pedagogical theories behind the practice. Once we had studied it and realized how good those theories were, our emphasis shifted toward trying to change their application, to make the practice match the theory.”

The students’ report, presented at a department meeting in January, contained a number of suggestions aimed at improving the team homework process. Those suggestions included incentives to encourage students to work in groups, ways to make group work more efficient and rewarding, and monitoring techniques instructors could use to identify and solve problems within groups.

The committee presented its results, and a number of specific suggestions for improving group homework, at a department meeting in late February. It was a very constructive meeting, says Arnold. “We had a two-hour conversation that ranged over a number of concerns, not necessarily just those directly related to group homework. The people at the meeting were very anxious to talk, and obviously were looking for ways to improve the course,” she says. Brown concurs with her assessment, saying, “their presentation to about 50 faculty members was extremely well received. As far as I know, this is the first time the University has seen this kind of collaboration between the faculty and student government.”

“From the very beginning, the Math Department’s response has been extremely open minded. They are obviously very interested in getting student input to improve the courses,” adds Orandi. The students hope to attend a staff meeting in early September, to give their message to a wider audience, including new instructors.

The entire process has worked so well that the student government now plans to explore one department in depth each year, identifying the strengths and weaknesses, especially, of the large introductory courses that impact large numbers of students.

The College of Literature, Science, and the Arts’ student government organization exists to be the students’ voice in dealing with curriculum and programming issues and on various standing committees. It also handles funding for student groups and conducts ongoing outreach communications to identify key student concerns.

E-mail: jsteeh@umich.edu

mbrown @umich.edumathAcademic Affairs Committeestudent governmentjsteeh@umich.edu