According to the MAA Instructional Practices Guide, deep learning requires student engagement with content both inside and outside the classroom. Hence, mathematics instructors must work to engage students in the learning experience. Higher education research often equates engaged learning and active learning, but what does engaged learning mean…

The percentage of college students receiving unproductive grades in introductory mathematics courses is a concern for post-secondary institutions across the country. Many factors can be targeted as potential explanations for this lack of success, yet none of these issues are more noteworthy than the fact that many students enter college…

String art can be easily used in introductory calculus to capture the interest of students, to motivate mathematical investigations, and to deepen mathematical understanding.

Students entering health sciences programs may face challenges on their road to successful completion and possible entry to medical school in the area of preparedness in quantitative skills. At our institution, faculty analyzed evidence of these challenges including performance on the ACT Math Test, an in-house math placement test and quantitative…

Quantitative Reasoning for Business is a two-semester sequence that serves as an alternative to elementary and intermediate algebra for first-year business students with weak mathematical preparation. Students who take the sequence have been retained at a higher rate and demonstrated a larger reduction in math anxiety than those who take the…

The inverted classroom allows more in-class time for inquiry-based learning and for working through more advanced problem-solving activities than does the traditional lecture class. The skills acquired in this learning environment offer benefits far beyond the statistics classroom. This paper discusses four ways that can make the inverted…

In many post-secondary, introductory mathematics courses failure and withdrawal rates are reaching as high as 50% and average GPA is steadily decreasing. This is a problem that has been witnessed across the globe. With widespread reforms taking place in K-12 mathematics education, many innovative teaching strategies have been created, implemented,…

By understanding what motivates students to learn mathematics, instructors can adapt their teaching strategies to help students achieve a level of engagement conducive to learning mathematics. There is a substantial body of research on motivations and academic achievement at the elementary and high school levels, but less is known at the college…

This article proposes a discrete mathematics course in which games from "The Price Is Right" are used to engage students in a deeper, practical study of discrete mathematics. The games themselves are not the focus of the course; rather, the mathematical principles of the games give motivation for the concepts being taught. The game examples are…

Encouraging students to make independent discoveries is an effective way to get them excited about mathematics, and sharing their triumphant moments (their light bulb moments) helps to spread this excitement to their peers. A Mathematics for the Liberal Arts course is a perfect venue for the sharing of light bulb moments, as it helps to correct…

We discuss approaches to develop and improve habits of mind in our students. Several illustrations and strategies are offered and we demonstrate how popular culture and mystery can be used to motivate students. We offer an approach to assessing the work ethic efforts of our students based on an historical approach used at the United States…

During the last two years we have developed a precalculus course customized around biology by using the scientific method as a framework to engage and motivate biology students. Historically, the precalculus and calculus courses required for the Suffolk County Community College biology curriculum were designed using examples from the physical…

This article describes key elements for mathematics teachers, through the faculty development process, to increase student engagement and motivation in learning mathematics. It addresses common barriers facing student motivation and achievement in the field of mathematics and provides potential remedies from a faculty development viewpoint to…

We apply a research-based analytical framework (MALA, for motivation, activity, learning and attribution) to better understand two student-centered college mathematics classes. We demonstrate ways in which the framework can be used to systematically identify problems with classroom management, to generate meaningful suggestions for improvement of…

The reform movement, with its bold and innovative approaches that focus on student-centered learning, has been able to uncover the richness in undergraduate mathematics. The most outstanding pedagogical practices take into account the environment in which learning occurs as well as the background of the student body. Mathematics educators should…