Mastery Math Lab to boost passing rates

Katia Canete/ Contributing Writer

Algebra may now get a bit easier.

Last Wednesday, the University’ President Rosenberg cut the ribbon for the new Mastery Lab, a key component in the restructuring of math education.

Located in the Green Library, room 263, the lab brings computer-assisted instruction, which, according to Suzanna Rose, executive director for the School of Integrated Science and Humanity, has found to be useful.

“The passing rate is better… but we wanted to have our own unique features for FIU,” Rose said, adding that the the lab is part of a Title V grant and as a result was named the “High Tech High Touch Initiative.”

Rose explained that this initiative is very important not only because of the technology component but also the “high touch” component, which includes peer-assisted learning instruction.

High touch refers to “the people,” Boronat said. “That’s the learning assistants in the lab, the faculty in the lab. So, it’s not somebody trying to do their homework at home sitting on their bed by themselves, there’s people here who can help them right away, immediately, when they have a problem.”

Present at the Math Lab are peer-assistants, students who understand math and are also trained to teach it.

“I was surprised by the amount of students re-taking college algebra, now because students have to come in…they are forced to do the work and have extra help,” said Junior Pena, a peer-assistant at the Mastery Math Lab.

The lab is a requirement for MAC 1105.

A new change has also been implemented regarding College Algebra; content has been extracted to create Pre-calculus Algebra, MAC 1140.

“We know from research that students who pass college algebra on their first year are more likely to graduate in a timely way,” Rose said.

The University has an average passing rate of 33 percent, a low number when compared to other state universities.

“We realized that all of the other state universities had less content in their algebra because they had a subsequent course.”

The inclusion of the Mastery Math Lab will also require students taking algebra and intermediate algebra to visit the lab for a minimum of three hours a week.

According to Rose, a third of students who were taking college algebra were not able to meet or pass the basic minimum pre-test score for the Assessment and Learning in Knowledge Spaces test, otherwise known as the ALEKS test. Student placement is determined by the results of this exam.

According to Consuelo Boronat, director of the Office for Retention and Graduation Success, the new math sequence varies slightly, depending on what program each student is following.

The math sequence for business is: College Algebra, MAC 1105; Pre-calculus Algebra, MAC 1140; and Calculus for Business, MAC 2233.

The science student’s math sequence is: College Algebra, MAC 1105; Pre-calculus Algebra, MAC 1140; Trigonometry, MAC 1114; and Calculus, MAC 2311. MAC 1140 and MAC 1105 can be taken in whatever order the student prefers after taking MAC 1105, but both must be completed before moving on to MAC 2311.

Students in the humanities or social sciences do not need to follow the math sequence.

The math sequence is for students who are going into majors that require calculus, such as engineering, business, science, technology and computing.

In addition to the course changes, there are 210 computers, new furniture and two rooms next to the Mastery Math Lab, located in the Green Library, rooms 261 and 262. These rooms are also going to be utilized to teach an additional component in the new program.

The funds for the new Mastery Math Lab came from the student technology fee.

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