Similarly, changes at the state and national level in developmental education practice and policy are occurring quickly, and the department’s work will be well served by understanding these changes and their implications for developmental education at Sinclair. It is recommended that the department maintain an openness to substantially new and innovative approaches and structures, and a willingness to adapt as new best practices emerge in the field. Changes in the area of developmental education will be inevitable in the future, and the department will need to be prepared to take these changes in stride and, hopefully, help shape these changes. Without question, an important challenge for the department and Sinclair is identifying sound approaches to helping students accelerate their completion of basic skills so In progress Completed No longer applicable A new course, Dev. 0050, using the flipped classroom model was introduced this year. The department is continually implimenting new ideas into the classroom setting, such as using more activities in the classroom to not only engage the student but to provide the student with a more hands on approach. Why Me - Why Math is a new initiave that will be included in a few sections of each level starting in Spring of 2014. Each course will have students complete actitivies related to how math affects them and how math is used in different occupations. Students will be asked to write 1 page responses to various questions and discuss consequences of errors in the various occupations. Starting Fall 2014, the DMA Department has focused on one major curriculum redesign effort – to incorporate both student-centered and contextualized learning activities within the face-to-face classes. The redesign includes reducing the number of courses from four to three (shortening the pathway through the DEV math sequence), incorporating two contextualization components - the “Why Math – Why Me?” activities, and a group-based activity approach to teaching the content. The “Why Math – Why Me?” are aimed at student recognition of the uses of mathematics in various career fields/majors and the impact of the necessity of those mathematic skills on their career choices. Interviewing a person who is actively working in their career field of choice helps students realize the necessity and importance of mathematical skills within that career field. The interview is to address the following questions: Do you use math on a regular basis? Do you have to be good in math? Do you like math?
ongoing simultaneously, it may be a challenge for the chair and faculty leaders to stay on top of everything. It may be in the department’s best interest to determine which activities are most valuable and focus resources in those areas. While it is clear that all faculty in the department have strong feelings of commitment to their students, it is likely that some faculty have successfully developed approaches that are particularly effective and beneficial to students. It is recommended that the department identify best practices among its faculty based on clear evidence of student success in courses over time, communicate these practices and widely adopt those best practices that are supported by evidence In progress Completed No longer applicable Several of our faculty participated in the Global Skills initative and we are in the process of including those concepts into the various sections of our courses. Dr. Brian Cafarella, a professor in our department, completed his disseration pertaining to best practices in Dev. Math at urban colleges. He will be presenting some of his findings during our Department Learning Day in November and based on our discussion, plans will be made to share those findings with all faculty and to incorporate stragetgies into all sections. The current interim chair has encouraged all the full-time faculty in the department to seek funding to attend and/or present at national and regional conferences. Three faculty (out of 10 tenure-track and ACFs) presented at regional and national conferences during fall term 2014. Other presentations have/will have been made during spring 2015. On a related note, the department should identify those practices currently being piloted In progress Both the Math Academy and Boot Camps have increased in their offerings to better meet the needs of students .