• Developing the Report
• Philosophy of the Report
• Relationship to South Carolina Mathematics Framework
• Organization of the Report

III. Statement of the Problem

Specific Details of the Process

Broadly stated, the problem addressed was the sometimes difficult transition of the secondary student into the post-secondary educational system in mathematics. In order to make this transition more orderly and more successful, the Commission on Higher Education placed the problem before a committee composed of experienced educators and representatives from the business community. The final outcome is to be recommendations for improving the first year college mathematics experience of South Carolina students; these recommendations are to be widely distributed throughout the state.

Developing the Report

The committee of mathematics educators and representatives from the business community contributing to this report included representatives from high school, two- and four-year colleges, technical colleges, and comprehensive and research universities. The membership of the committee is as follows:

Mary B. Martin, Chair, Winthrop University

Roger Allen, Francis Marion University

Eddie Brown, Burkett CPAs

Charles Cleaver, The Citadel

Lin Dearing, Clemson University

Ron Goolsby, Winthrop University

Hugh Haynsworth, College of Charleston

John Long, Midlands Technical College

Mary Ellen O’Leary, University of S. Carolina, Columbia

Julia Robbins, Rock Hill School District III

Suzie Schembri, Northwestern High School, Rock Hill

Wade Sherard, Furman University

Chris Tisdale, Winthrop University

Jane Upshaw, American Management Association

Keith Wilks, Rock Hill High School, Rock Hill

The committee met at various times, each time addressing different aspects of the report. Between meetings, the results from previous meetings were compiled and reviewed with additional topics and adjustments proposed for future meetings. This report, along with summaries compiled for parents and students, is being disseminated widely throughout the educational community in South Carolina. There is also a version of this report posted on the "Web" at http://www.winthrop.edu/mathsuccess and is thus readily available to students, parents, guidance counselors, and teachers.

Philosophy of the Report

The first priority of the committee was to determine the audience and the parameters of the report. The obvious segment of the post-secondary population to consider is the traditional 17-18 year old, full-time college freshmen; this is the most homogeneous portion of the population. Additional portions of the population include part-time students, older students and students having special learning disabilities. Since mathematics is such a carefully structured system of information, most of the recommendations within this report will apply equally to the different segments of the post-secondary education population. Accordingly, unless otherwise noted, the report makes recommendations which should be applied to students entering technical colleges, two and four year colleges, and comprehensive and research universities. In the case where additional specific recommendations can be made for a specific subgroup, these have been noted. In most cases, these special subgroups have needs which apply to all of their educational experiences and are not specific to their mathematics experience. It is the scope of other reports and other information sources to provide general educational recommendations in these instances.

This report includes within the definition of post-secondary education attendance at technical colleges, two-year or four-year colleges, comprehensive universities, and research universities. The experiences at a technical college and at a research university are not identical, nor should they be. On the other hand, the mathematics learned at a technical college – which is of a collegiate level – generates transfer credit; therefore, the transferability to collegiate course credit determines a natural division between secondary and post-secondary mathematical material. Generally speaking, material which will not transfer as college credit is considered secondary material even though it may be taught in a post-secondary setting. (There are of course exceptions to this rule.) There are two points in the report where this distinction is important.

First, within the definition of success it is assumed that the goal for the student is to be prepared for post-secondary mathematics at the chosen post-secondary institution. For example, if a student chooses to go to a technical college, the student should still be prepared to take a course not offered in the high school curriculum. While the opportunity to repeat high school material at the post-secondary level needs to be available, the student who actually does this is not considered to have made a successful transition to post-secondary mathematics within the context of this report. Nevertheless, this student can benefit from the recommendations within this report as can the educational community responsible for meeting the needs of this type of student.

Second, the section recommending specific content for courses depends on a definition of where post-secondary mathematics begins. The consensus of the committee as it represents the mathematical community is the basis for these recommendations; it includes the assumption (a nationally valid assumption) that true post-secondary mathematics is post-algebra mathematics.

In the context of this report, post-secondary includes two- and four-year colleges, technical colleges and comprehensive and research universities. In most instances, "college" will be used instead of "post-secondary" in order to facilitate clarity. The few cases where the distinction between college/university learning and technical or two-year colleges needs to be made are clearly identified as such.

Throughout the process, the goal of the committee has been to construct a document that emphasizes implementation. While this report may be "non-philosophical", it is a highly focused document. The importance of this report, and its potential impact, will rely entirely upon how many and which of the recommendations are implemented. Therefore, the emphasis and focus of this report is the development of implementable actions which will address the transition from high school to college mathematics. Nevertheless, for the record, it is the committee’s assumption that the educational community as a whole ascribes to the following philosophies:

• Mathematics is culturally valuable.
• Mathematics is important in its own right as a discipline.
• Mathematics is a critical tool of the sciences.
• Mathematics can be exciting, fascinating and enjoyable to teachers and students alike.
• An understanding of mathematics is part of being an educated human being.
• It is important to instill an appreciation of mathematics into our students.
• At this time, society does not appreciate nor value teaching and teachers, yet educators have to work within this context.

These philosophies, and their explication, have been eloquently stated in many of the reports referenced in the Literature Review. Consequently, this report will not philosophize further regarding the nature of mathematics, its beauty, its importance, nor its relevance. We will simply repeat that for this report to succeed in fostering change, the members of the mathematics community must stand behind as many of these recommendations as possible and lobby strongly anywhere and everywhere to attain the needed changes.

Relationship to South Carolina Mathematics Framework

The purpose of this report is to provide specific recommendations for implementation in order to improve the transition from secondary mathematics to college mathematics in South Carolina. As such, the report is not meant to replace other pedagogical or curricular documents nor other reports documenting the state of mathematics education. In particular, the recommendations of the South Carolina Framework for Mathematics still are critical to the development of mathematics education in the state. The South Carolina Framework for Mathematics presents curricular goals for high school graduates in South Carolina, whether or not they will attend college. The task of this report is to refine the achievement levels in order to ensure success in college mathematics. In both instances, one necessary condition to improve mathematics education within the state is to undertake a commitment Chapter 7 of the Framework and the principles expressed there.

Organization of the Report

The report naturally divides into three groupings – a definition of success in post-secondary mathematics, three sections of specific concerns and recommended actions dealing with the effective teaching and learning of mathematics, and a section recommending an interface between this report and the training of teachers. Different constituencies will be reading this report for different purposes. Certainly, all the sections can be useful; however, each section will appeal strongly to a particular subgroup of persons. Therefore, the committee recommends the following:

• Students will most benefit from reading Sections IV, V, and VII.
• Parents will most benefit from reading Sections II, IV, VI, VII, and IX.
• Teachers will most benefit from reading Sections I-IX.
• Guidance counselors will most benefit from reading Sections II, IV, VI and VII.
• Administrators will most benefit from reading Sections III, IV, and VI - IX.

Anyone who has time to read the entire report is encouraged to do so; except for certain sections of material related to content recommendations (Section V), the recommendations here do not require extensive mathematical background.

Visitors since April 30, 1999

Last updated: May 11, 1999
Site design by Tim Humphrey, zzhumphreyt@kagi.com