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The Northwest’s Autumn Harvest 
of 
Faculty Development Activities

Ann Sitomer (Portland Community College) and Mark Yannotta (Clackamas Community College) are continuing their doctoral studies in mathematics education at Portland State University.  Both are writing research proposals for their dissertations.  Ann will be investigating how students in a community college arithmetic course use their proportional reasoning abilities when doing assigned coursework.  Mark will be investigating the connections students make between elementary group theory and linear equations in one variable.

For the past five years, Mark has coordinated the development of Math 299: A Bridge to University Mathematics. The aim of this course is to facilitate the transition of community college STEM students to more advanced coursework.  The Math 299 curriculum utilizes abstract algebra materials designed by Sean Larsen (Portland State University).  Sean is also the principal investigator for the NSF grant Teaching Abstract Algebra for Understanding (TAAFU).  Mark serves as both a community college instructor and researcher on the TAAFU grant.

Ann and four Portland Community College colleagues, Michele Marden, Dennis Reynolds, David Froemke and Kelly Mercer, will continue working on a small research project Ann started last spring. The community college study examines whether adult student experiences impact their problem-solving abilities.  Data collected from 476 students enrolled in developmental algebra courses was analyzed. The team plans to present the research findings at the ORMATYC meeting next spring, and later publish the findings in the MathAMATYC Educator.

Last Winter Ann and Mark organized a Portland State University seminar on  community college mathematics issues.  Two questions guided the discussion: (1) In what ways is community college mathematics similar to and different from mathematics at the K-12 and university levels? (2) Why conduct research in mathematics education at community colleges?  The seminar participants read and discussed the first chapter of Cohen and Brower’s The American Community College, and a pre-print of an article by Vilma Mesa on community college teaching.  In conjunction with the seminar, Helen Burn (Highline Community College) gave a talk entitled Factors that Shape Curricular Reasoning.  Helen described a multi-case study of three community college mathematics faculty members who were implementing a new college algebra curriculum.  In addition to Helen’s presentation, seminar participants also discussed curriculum frameworks from a chapter in Stark and Latucca’s College & University Curriculum: Placing Learning at the Epicenter of Courses, Programs and Institutions.