KU has an algebra program that's envied by many other universities. But still.. Algebra + Students + GTAs =
Math Problems
Story by
R. Adam
+ Ward
Art by
+ Lili
Barriientos
T
he requirement of passing a second level math course, such as calculus or statistics, could seem like an obstacle to graduation. The fact that sometimes those classes are taught by inexperienced students adds to the difficulty of these courses, said Sara Donnelly, Kansas City, Mo., junior.
Donnelly twice had to drop Math 002, intermediate algebra, because of the graduate teaching assistant who taught it. She had the same GTA both times.
She said that her GTA would describe a concept and then skip through it without giving a thorough explanation.
He seemed more concerned with keeping the class on schedule than with making sure that everyone understood the concepts, she said.
The GTA tried to rush through things so quickly that he even forgot to say his name during the first day of
class. she said.
Stacy Renfroe, Derby junior, had a similar experience with Math 002. Considering that it is the most basic math course students can take at the University, it is entirely too hard, Renfroe said.
She also said that the GTA she had was so bad at explaining concepts that Renfroe had to ask her friends for help.
But the faculty in the mathematics department defends its use of GTAs and undergraduates to teach classes.
The mathematics department uses GTAs and further supplements its teaching staff with undergraduate teachers.
Carol Lucas is the coordinator of the Kansas Algebra Program, which covers Math 002 and Math 101 at the University of Kansas. She said the intensive train
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ing program for Math 002 instructors minimizes the difference in the experience of GTAs and undergraduate teachers, called group leaders.
As for students who complain about the English skills of their teachers, Lucas said the department did have four instructors of Math 002 who did not speak English as their first language.
But Lucas said that staffing classes with native speakers did not eliminate complaints.
She said she had one student who explained about a teacher from New York. The student complained that the teacher spoke too quickly, and the student asked to be allowed to switch sections.
Lucas said if students had a concrete reason for wanting to change teachers, she usually would allow them to change.
one said when a student had a specific complaint, she or one of her observers would attend the class and make recommendations to the teacher.
But recommendations don't alter students' attitudes if they have a bias against math, Lucas said. Some students come to class with a negative attitude because they did not take algebra or weren't successful in high school.
Math anxiety makes it easy for some students to skip class or not do homework, she said.
But Math 002 has an overall grade average of C or better for 70 percent of the students, Lucas said.
She said that the rate of success was higher than average, and many other universities had tried to emulate the University's algebra program.
Robert Brown, associate chairman of the mathematics department, said that despite the occasional negative student experience, the 70 percent success rate was an indication that the Math 002 program was working.
The program worked because it was so structured and because the students had so much help available outside of class. Brown said.
He also said that small classes of approximately 25 students, the ability to get homework checked and being able to retake tests added to success.
But Brown said that the department was suggestions, and every year it timed with gram a little bit.
Brown said that rather than impinging the progress, GTAs were often more suitable problems of students than the professionals of the math department would be.
But some students don't believe administrators' explanations and have sought alternative ways to fulfill the university's requirements.
One way to get around the requirements is by taking classes at Johnson County Community College.
Alan Scherstuhl, Lleneza junior, said that he preferred taking math at Johnson County because the classes were easier, and it had a more lenient policy about retaking classes. Students who don't get a good grade can retake it. If their grades improve, the original grade won't appear on their records.
Scherstuhl decided to take Math 002 at Johnson County for that reason. He took it more than once there, but he said that was still better than math at the University.
Weird topics
Lead Story
Among recent passings of note; in January, in Arlington, Va., W.M. Croker, and in December in Oklahoma City, William Death. In February, a 44-year-old man was killed on the shoulder of Interstate 95 in Rhode Island after being hit by a truck while standing between two other trucks — one hauling granite slabs for tombstones and the other belonging to the Yates Casket Co.
Two Danish Scientists, writing in the journal Nature in December, reported
Weird Science
finding a previously unknown, 0.01 inch-long organism whose habitat is the lips of Norwegian lobsters. The organism can reproduce either sexually or asexually, and although it is born with a brain, the brain completely disappears during adolescence and reappears at the onset of adulthood.
In December, scientists at the Japan Atomic Power Co. in Takasaki reported that bombarding cheap wine and whiskey with a deadly (for humans) dose of gamma rays actually improved the taste. According to researcher Hiroshi Watanabe, irradiation supplies a blending that poorly made wine and whiskey lack. In fact, he predicts that irradiation will be used by the year 2000 to improve the taste of common foods.
In December, United Nations health organizations announced stepped-up campaigns against several African maladies, including Guinea worm disease. The disease manifests itself within a year of a person's ingesting water fleas infected with the larvae, at which point stringlike worms up to three feet long emerge from painful blisters.
A New York City physician, writing in the August issue of the journal Consultant, described a case of "megacolon," a condition in which feces are retained in the colon for an abnormally long time. In the case reported, a 27-year-old man had 12 pounds of feces surgically removed.
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People With Too Much Time On Their Hands
In December, the Arizona Republic profiled animal psychologist Krista Cantrell, who attributes her success to her ability to communicate telepathi-
1
cally with dogs and therefore get to the bottom of most master-dog relationship problems. Satisfied clients sang praises for Cantrell's work, including the owner of a horse that was on the verge of being put to sleep but was able to tell Cantrell that he was simply overmedicated. Five weeks later, the horse won a race.
A mental health institution in Kansas City, Mo., set up a "Chiefs Grief Hotline" for distraught fans trying to deal with the football team's loss to the Indianapolis Colts in January, which ended the Chiefs' Super Bowl hopes.