Assessment Details
Academic Year: 2019-2020 Level: Undergraduate
Campus Department: Morrissey College of Arts & Sciences [UG and Grad]
Program Type: Major [UG] / Program [Grad]
Program Name: Mathematics BS (Link)
Description of Data Collection:
The department procedure is to collect evidence in two ways, direct and indirect.
i. The Undergraduate Committee periodically reviews final exams in specifically identified courses and rates carefully chosen problems with regard to the
learning goals.
ii. The Undergraduate Committee reviews student evaluations for those identified courses. In some cases, instructors are asked to add extra questions, designed by the Committee, to directly address the learning goals.
Review Process:
The department’s Undergraduate Committee, chaired by the Assistant Chair for Undergraduates, is charged with assessment. The committee reviews the data described in item 3 during the fall semester, with the goal of recommendations to the full department in the spring.
Resulting Program Changes:
(i) In the fall of 2017 two sections of MATH2216 Introduction to Abstract Mathematics were conducted, on an experimental basis, in a full Inquiry Based Learning format. This means that there were rarely formal lectures, but instead students were required to work on unfamiliar material (individually or in groups) and present their results to the class. Two traditional sections of the course were also offered. This fall the instructors will meet to discuss their experiences and student evaluations will be examined and compared.
(ii) In the spring of 2019 the Undergraduate Committee reviewed the syllabus for MATH1101 Calculus II. As a result of this review, we developed a pilot project for MATH1101 and ran two sections taught by Prof. Juliana Belding in spring 2020; total enrollment was 51 students. The revised syllabus incorporates more material relevant to life science and economics majors, such as functions of several variables, optimization and elementary linear algebra. The pilot was very successful, so we have decided to incorporate the new syllabus in all our sections of MATH1101, beginning in spring 2021.
(iii) In the spring of 2019 we revised the syllabus of MATH1105 Calculus II to remove several topics that students are familiar with from their AP Calculus background, so as to allow more time for advanced topics from in the sequences and series. These changes went into effect in fall 2019. In addition, beginning in fall 2020, we are replacing MATH1105 with MATH1103; the course content is equivalent, but the course numbered 1103 has an additional fourth hour recitation. This improvement brings all our calculus courses
(1100, 1101, 1102, 1103 and 2202) into the same format, with three lecture hours and one recitation hour.
(iv) In the spring of 2019 the Undergraduate Committee designed and implemented an exit survey for our senior math majors. The survey revealed a strong interest in applied mathematics among our majors, and a desire for more offerings in this area. Consequently, the Undergraduate Committee is discussing adding an applied mathematics track to our major. As a first step, we will offer a pilot 3000-level year-long Applied Analysis sequence next year, taught by Prof. Rennie Mirollo. Our idea is that along with a 3000-level sequence in Applied Algebra, these four semester courses would form the core of the applied major track. As of this writing, the enrollment is a healthy 16 students.
Date of Most Recent Program Review:
(i) In the fall of 2017 two sections of MATH2216 Introduction to Abstract Mathematics were conducted, on an experimental basis, in a full Inquiry Based Learning format. This means that there were rarely formal lectures, but instead students were required to work on unfamiliar material (individually or in groups) and present their results to the class. Two traditional sections of the course were also offered. This fall the instructors will meet to discuss their experiences and student evaluations will be examined and compared.
(ii) In the spring of 2019 the Undergraduate Committee reviewed the syllabus for MATH1101 Calculus II. As a result of this review, we developed a pilot project for MATH1101 and ran two sections taught by Prof. Juliana Belding in spring 2020; total enrollment was 51 students. The revised syllabus incorporates more material relevant to life science and economics majors, such as functions of several variables, optimization and elementary linear algebra. The pilot was very successful, so we have decided to incorporate the new syllabus in all our sections of MATH1101, beginning in spring 2021.
(iii) In the spring of 2019 we revised the syllabus of MATH1105 Calculus II to remove several topics that students are familiar with from their AP Calculus background, so as to allow more time for advanced topics from in the sequences and series. These changes went into effect in fall 2019. In addition, beginning in fall 2020, we are replacing MATH1105 with MATH1103; the course content is equivalent, but the course numbered 1103 has an additional fourth hour recitation. This improvement brings all our calculus courses
(1100, 1101, 1102, 1103 and 2202) into the same format, with three lecture hours and one recitation hour.
(iv) In the spring of 2019 the Undergraduate Committee designed and implemented an exit survey for our senior math majors. The survey revealed a strong interest in applied mathematics among our majors, and a desire for more offerings in this area. Consequently, the Undergraduate Committee is discussing adding an applied mathematics track to our major. As a first step, we will offer a pilot 3000-level year-long Applied Analysis sequence next year, taught by Prof. Rennie Mirollo. Our idea is that along with a 3000-level sequence in Applied Algebra, these four semester courses would form the core of the applied major track. As of this writing, the enrollment is a healthy 16 students.
Attachments (if available)