{"id":1632,"date":"2012-09-21T15:59:41","date_gmt":"2012-09-21T22:59:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www2.nau.edu\/news-p\/wordpress\/?p=1632"},"modified":"2012-10-23T10:44:21","modified_gmt":"2012-10-23T17:44:21","slug":"new-formula-for-mathematics-success-on-display-during-gov-brewer-visit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/new-formula-for-mathematics-success-on-display-during-gov-brewer-visit\/","title":{"rendered":"New formula for mathematics success on display during Gov. Brewer visit"},"content":{"rendered":"

Saying \u201cthe traditional way of teaching college math leaves far too much to chance,\u201d Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer got a firsthand look Thursday at how the\u00a0Lumberjack Mathematics Center<\/a>\u00a0at Northern Arizona University is improving the odds of student success.<\/p>\n

Brewer toured the center after a round of speeches and a ribbon-cutting attended by local political figures and NAU administrators, faculty and staff. During the visit, Brewer saw faculty serving as guides and mentors while students navigated a computer-driven program of instruction in a series of first-year courses.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was thrilled with the opportunity to experience first-hand the new Lumberjack Mathematics Center,\u201d Brewer said. \u201cNAU has been a true pioneer of education innovation, and this emporium is the latest example of its steadfast commitment to its students. I applaud the university for establishing a tool that will foster long-term success not only in mathematics, but in life after graduation.\u201d<\/p>\n

The center, which came online this semester on the fourth floor of the Health and Learning Center on NAU\u2019s Flagstaff campus, is one of the most visible beneficiaries of an increase in state funding approved by Brewer.<\/p>\n

NAU received $3.3 million in its FY13 funding from the state as its share of an allocation for course redesign and classroom technology.<\/p>\n

During her remarks, Brewer questioned the loss of potential when students are pushed away from \u201ca deeper understanding\u201d of mathematics. \u201cFar too often in the first year,\u201d she said, \u201cstudents struggle and transition to less math-intensive fields of study.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the same time, she said, Arizona needs more graduates in science, technology and engineering, all of which require \u201ca firm foundation\u201d in mathematics.<\/p>\n

Brewer went on to credit NAU President\u00a0John Haeger<\/strong>\u00a0for his \u201csteady leadership in keeping higher education accessible and affordable throughout the state. It seems like anywhere you go in Arizona, NAU has a presence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brewer at first spoke over the shouts of a small group of protesters who arrived to take issue with border policies.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s wonderful that we live in America and we believe in our First Amendment, isn\u2019t it?\u201d she said to applause from the audience.<\/p>\n

At the mathematics center, more than 1,900 first-year students in three newly designed courses meet during regularly scheduled times during the week. But unlike their experience with a traditional course, they have immediate access to faculty, graduate students, tutors and math coaches, in addition to the self-pacing software.<\/p>\n

NAU\u2019s center is based on a \u201cmath emporium\u201d model that has proven to decrease D\u2019s, F\u2019s and withdrawals among first-year students. Increasing retention is more important than ever for the university as its funding becomes more tied to performance metrics that emphasize degree completion.<\/p>\n

During the event\u2019s opening remarks, Haeger noted that students coming to NAU are different than those who arrived 10-15 years ago because \u201cthey come with a certain level of technology expertise.\u201d<\/p>\n

What students today are looking for, Haeger said, is the opportunity to combine the sophisticated technology that is readily available to them with personal contact, emphasizing that easy access to excellent faculty \u201chas always been our hallmark as an institution.\u201d<\/p>\n

The mathematics center constitutes one element of the newly launched\u00a0University College<\/a>, which is the organizational umbrella over NAU\u2019s growing list of initiatives to increase freshman retention and overall student success through curricular change, coaching, mentoring and the integration of technology into course delivery.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Saying \u201cthe traditional way of teaching college math leaves far too much to chance,\u201d Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer got a firsthand look Thursday at how the\u00a0Lumberjack Mathematics Center\u00a0at Northern Arizona University is improving the odds of student success. Brewer toured the center after a round of speeches and a ribbon-cutting attended by local political figures…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":1682,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1632","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research-academics"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1632","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1632"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1632\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1682"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}