Participants:  Jennifer Laveglia, Mathematics, and Ron Taplin, Counseling/Human Development
School:  Bellevue Community College, Bellevue, Washington

Brief Description of Project: 
Design a coordinated studies course that consists of Math 099 (Intermediate Algebra) and Human Development (HD) 120 (Learning Strategies for Student Success).  This course consists of 8 credits (5 for Math 099 and 3 for HD-120).  It is anticipated that thirty to thirty-five students from two Math 099 sections will enroll in the HD-120 section.  A typical section of HD-120 does not focus specifically on learning strategies for math courses.  However, a special effort will be made to focus the HD-120 learning strategies in support of the Math 099 sections.

Jennifer will attend all class meetings of the HD-120 course, and the learning strategies taught in HD-120 will be reinforced in the Math 099 class meetings.  In addition, she will incorporate pre and post testing as a means to document knowledge gained from the course.  The pre/post assessment strategy will also be implemented in the HD-120 section.

Our primary outcome goals for this coordinated studies course are to:

• Empower students to become active, responsible learners via learner-centered strategies as discussed in both the math and the human development portions of the class

• Instill the foundation for intellectual curiosity and life-long learning

• Demonstrate improved retention and success in Intermediate Algebra

Explicit correlation between math and non-math content: 

Texts & Related Materials:

• Intermediate Algebra, Functions and Graphs (softcover workbook) by Yoshiwara and Yoshiwara

• On Course: Strategies for Creating Success in College and in Life (4e)by Downing

• Online learning styles surveys

• http://www.metamath.com/lsweb/dvclearn.htm
• http://www.VARK.learn.com/english/index.asp

• Selected readings and exercises from Becoming a Master Student by Ellis
• Online resources for note-taking methods, specifically the Cornell Note-Taking Method, as well as SQ3R, etc.
• Selected readings from The Self-Talk Solution by Helmstetter