HOW TO REDESIGN A DEVELOPMENTAL MATH PROGRAM USING THE EMPORIUM MODEL

Expanded Table of Contents

I. The Essential Elements of the Emporium Model

  • Redesign the whole course and establish greater course consistency.
  • Require active learning and ensure that students are "doing" math.
  • Hold class in a computer lab or computer classroom using commercial instructional software.
  • Modularize course materials and course structure.
  • Require mastery learning.
  • Build in ongoing assessment and prompt (automated) feedback.
  • Provide students with one-on-one, on-demand assistance from highly trained personnel.
  • Ensure sufficient time on task.
  • Monitor student progress and intervene when necessary.
  • Measure learning, completion, and cost.

II. Improving on the Essentials

  • Are You Teaching College-Level Math in Developmental Courses?
  • Are You Preparing All Students for STEM Majors?
  • Why Administer Diagnostic Assessments beyond Initial Placement Tests?
  • Cost Savings for Students

III. Getting Ready to Redesign

  • Assess Your Institution’s Readiness to Redesign
    • Campus Support
    • Financial Support
  • Prepare to Develop a Plan
  • Establish a Course Redesign Team
  • Take Advantage of NCAT Resources
    • Background Reading
    • Redesign Case Studies
    • Campus Visits
    • Redesign Scholars
  • Readiness Checklist

IV. How to Set Up the Lab

  • Choosing Software
  • Determining How Many Computers Will Be Needed
  • Identifying and Training Tutors
  • Scheduling: Tracking Student Participation and Smoothing out Demand

V. How to Make Course Policy Decisions

  • Assigning Course Credit in a Modularized Environment
  • Modularizing Student Progress
  • How Many Modules Are Needed?
  • What Level of Mastery Should be Required?
  • Assignment Settings for Homework and Quizzes
  • Student Attempts on Quizzes, Tests and Exams
  • Awarding Course Points
  • Partial Credit
  • Proctored Testing

VI. How to Reduce Instructional Costs

  • How redesign leads to reduced instructional costs
  • How to calculate the time instructors spend on the course: The Scope of Effort Worksheet
  • Three ways to restructure the course to reduce instructional costs
    • Have each instructor carry more students by
      a. increasing section size or
      b. increasing the number of sections each instructor carries for the same workload credit.
    • Change the mix of personnel from more expensive to less expensive.
    • Do both simultaneously.
  • Examples

VII. How to Assess Student Learning

  • How and when to obtain the data
    • Parallel Sections (Traditional and Redesign)
    • Baseline Before (Traditional) and After (Redesign)
  • Measures to use
    • Comparisons of Common Final Exams
    • Comparisons of Common Content Items Selected from Exams
    • Comparisons of Pre- and Posttests
    • Comparisons of Student Work Using Common Rubrics

VIII. How to Calculate Comparative Completion Rates

  • Definition
  • Why grades are not valid comparative measures of student learning
  • Why look at both completion rates and measures of student learning
  • Complexities of measuring course completion rates in a modularized environment

IX. How to Address Specific Faculty Concerns

  • Faculty Role
  • Faculty Workload
  • Faculty Training
  • Faculty Resistance

X. How to Ensure Student Participation

  • Introducing the Emporium Model
  • Attendance/Participation
  • What to Do When Students Won't Do the Work
  • What to Do If Students Don't Like the Redesign

XI. Planning and Implementing the Redesign: A Timeline and Checklist

  • Four phases of implementing a course redesign
    • Planning and Development
    • Conducting a Pilot Term
    • Making Revisions to the Redesign Based on the Pilot Experience
    • Fully Implementing the Redesign in All Sections of the Course
  • Planning and Implementation Checklist
  • Building Consensus among All Stakeholders

XII. Developing a Written Redesign Plan: Why It's Important

  • The Emporium Model and the Eight Essential Elements of Course Redesign
  • Lab Operational Description
  • Learning Materials/Software
  • Assessment Method
  • Course Completion Forms
  • Cost Reduction Strategy and the Cost Planning Tool.
  • Ongoing Consensus
  • Timeline
  • Project Budget

XIII. Building and Maintaining Consensus

  • Initial and Ongoing Faculty Consensus about the Redesign
  • Initial and Ongoing Consensus among Campus Offices
  • Initial and Ongoing Consensus among Senior Administrators
  • Ensuring Sustainability: The Fundamentals
    • Executive Leadership
    • Faculty Leadership
    • Ongoing Data Collection
    • Ongoing Communication
    • Orientation of New Personnel
    • Financial Plan
  • Sustainability Checklist