Re: math requirement AA degree
margaret williamson (williamm@MILWAUKEE.TEC.WI.US)
Wed, 10 Apr 1996 09:56:33 -0500
At 03:33 PM 4/9/96 PST, you wrote:
> Greetings all,
>
> Would like to get some info on math requirements for
> the AA degree at your colleges. We have moved the
> intermediate algebra course (the prerequisite course for a
> precalculus course) to precollege level (no credit towards
> degree requirements even as an elective course).
>
> The requirement for an AA degree now becomes (1) a one
> quarter course in math that has intermediate algebra as a
> prerequisite, or (2) a one quarter course that has
> intermediate as a prerequisite and has an approved amount of
> "quantitative reasoning" in it.
>
> Naturally, there is a committee to determine the
> "approved amount", and I'm wondering whether any of you have
> gone through a similar activity, and how it was handled.
>
> At another level, I have some concerns that this math
> requirement for an AA degree is weaker than it should be.
> Do any of you have (or wish you had) stronger requirements
> in math for your degree program?
> Dick
>
> P.S. System has been acting up all winter, so I have just
> been lurking on the list. Appears OK now. (What's
> the symbol for crossed fingers? :-) )
>
>
> ***************************************************************
>
> Dick Benson rbenso@seaccc.sccd.ctc.edu
> Div of Science & Math
> Seattle Central Community College (206) 587 4076
> 1718 Broadway FAX: (206) 344 4390
> Seattle, Wa. 98122
>
> ***************************************************************
>
>Hi Dick!! I teach at Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC) in Wisconsin.
My courses have been mostly in the Associate Degree programs which we call
college parallel. The courses transfer to 4-year schools in various modes
-- depending upon the course the credits transfer fully or count as
electives in some cases. We require College Algebra for our degree with
Intermediate as the prereq (or entry based upon a math test administered by
the math dept). Most students drop out or fail if they have not had
intermediate or precalc before. Your "approved amount" sounds like a can of
worms to me!! A section of the faculty is trying to get us to lower our
requirement to just Intermediate -- but we fight them tooth and nail. The
worst part is that those who want to lower the requirement are in the
teaching department (we have a CUTEP program here which transfers 2 years of
college parallel to UWM for another 2 years which leads to a full 4 year
degree in Ed. BUT can you imagine placing a math instructor in a classroom
with only Intermediate as the highest level math course??? That, frankly,
scares the hell out of me!!) So we have not allowed that to happen yet.
Good luck!! I would not recommend going to just Intermediate at all!! Make
them work and earn the degree, not hand it to them because math is so "hard"!!
Peg Williamson
Liberal Arts & Sciences -- Math
E-Mail: williamm@milwaukee.tec.wi.us