Development of Active Learning Calculus Course for Biomedical Program

Authors: Mikhail Bouniaev

Abstract:

The paper reviews design and implementation of a Calculus Course required for the Biomedical Competency Based Program developed as a joint project between The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, and the University of Texas’ Institute for Transformational Learning, from the theoretical perspective as presented in scholarly work on active learning, formative assessment, and on-line teaching. Following a four stage curriculum development process (objective, content, delivery, and assessment), and theoretical recommendations that guarantee effectiveness and efficiency of assessment in active learning, we discuss the practical recommendations on how to incorporate a strong formative assessment component to address disciplines’ needs, and students’ major needs. In design and implementation of this project, we used Constructivism and Stage-by-Stage Development of Mental Actions Theory recommendations.

Keywords: Active learning, assessment, Calculus, cognitive demand, constructivism, mathematics, Stage-by-Stage Development of Mental Action Theory.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI): doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1315855

References:

[1] R. Tyler, “Basic Principles of Curriculum and Instruction”. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1949.
[2] H. P. Ginsburg “The challenge of Formative Assessment in Mathematics Education: Children’s Minds, Teachers’ Minds”, Human Development, 52: pp. 109-128, 2009.
[3] P. L. Machemer and P. Crawford, “Students perception of active learning in a large cross-disciplinary classroom”, Active Learning in Higher Education, 8(9), pp.9-30, 2007.
[4] L. W. Anderson, D. R. Krathwohl, P. W. Airasian, K. A. Cruikshank, R. E. Mayer, P. R. Pintrich, J. Raths, and C. Wittrock “A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing: A revision of Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational objectives”, Longman, 2000.
[5] WeBWorK, MAA Mathematical Association of America Website, Accessed April 20, 2017, http://webwork.maa.org/intro.html.
[6] Low-Division Academic Course Guide Manual (ACGM), Accessed April 20, 2017, www.thecb.state.tx.us/reports/pdf/0407.pdf.
[7] Benjamin Braun, Editor-in-Chief, Priscilla Bremser, Art Duval, Elise Lockwood, and Diana White, (Contributing Editors). “Active learning in Mathematics, Part II Levels of Cognitive Demand”, 2015, Accessed April 20, 2017, http://blogs.ams.org/matheducation/2015/09/20/active-learning-in-mathematics-part-ii-levels-of-cognitive-demand/.
[8] Calculus, Volume 1. OpenStax College Website. Accessed April 20, 2017, https://openstaxcollege.org/textbooks/calculus-volume-1.
[9] Khan Academy, Accessed April 20, 2017, https://www.khanacademy.org/.
[10] Hippocampus, Calculus I, Accessed April 20, 2017, www.hippocampus.org/Calculus.
[11] M. Bouniaev and J. Mogilksi, “Formative Assessment of Active Leaning: Theoretical Perspective & Personal Experience”, Report on Active Learning Approaches in Mathematics Instruction: Practice & Assessment Symposium, August 2-3, 2016, pp. 15-17. Accessed April 20, 2017, https://www.macalester.edu/~bressoud/activelearningmagazine2.pdfpp.1.
[12] M. M. Bouniaev, “Stage-by-Stage Development of Mental Actions and Online Mathematics Instruction”, Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education International Conference 2004, Vol. 1, pp. 4366-4373, 2004.
[13] S. Freeman, S. L. Eddy, M. McDonough, M. K. Smith, N. Okoroafor, H. Jordt, and M.P. Weneroth, “Active learning Increase student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics”, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 111(23) 8410-8415, 2014.
[14] K. Gibson and C. Shaw, “Assessment of Active Learning”, International Studies Encyclopedia, Denmark, Robert A. (Ed.), Blackwell Publishing, 2010. Accessed August 1, 2016, http://www.isacompendium.com.
[15] J. Piaget, “The child’s conception of the world” (J. Tomlinson & A. Tomlinson transl.) Totowa: Littlefield, Adams & Co. 1976.
[16] M. Connell and M. Bouniaev, “Teaching and learning actions in mathematics: What we do and what we do it upon”, Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education International Conference 2003, Issue 1, pp. 2884-2891.
[17] H. Bauersfeld, “Language games in the mathematics classroom: Their function and their effects”, In P. Cobb & H. Bauersfeld (Eds.), The emergence of mathematical meaning: Interaction in classroom cultures. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, pp. 271-289, 1995.
[18] V. J. Shute, “Focus on formative feedback”, Review of Educational Research, 78, pp.153-189. 2008.
[19] M. Bouniaev and J. Mogilski, Calculus course laboratory component: active learning and assessment, Proceedings of 9th International Conference on Education, Research and Innovation (ICERI 2016), pp. 4820-4829.
[20] M. Heritage, J. Kim and T. Vendlinski, “From Evidence to action: A seamless process in formative assessment”, Paper Presented at the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, NY. 2008.
[21] Benjamin Braun, Editor-in-Chief; Priscilla Bremser, Art Duval, Elise Lockwood, and Diana White, (Contributing Editors), “Active learning in Mathematics, Part I, The challenge of defining active learning”, Accessed April 20, 2017, http://blogs.ams.org/matheducation/2015/09/10/active-learning-in-mathematics-part-i-the-challenge-of-defining-active-learning/.