Daily Archives: September 30, 2009

Becoming Brent’s Math Teacher

Part of my goal this semester is to review pre-Algebra with Brent so he can take a math class next semester at LCC. So I purchased the LCC textbook kit for MTH050.
The book is PreAlgebra from Pearson – it includes MyMathLab, A set of videos keyed to each section in each chapter, the textbook and an exercise book produced by the LCC Math faculty. I definitely like the material and the book – it is pricey at over $120 – but looks well worth it.

I am struggling with where to start and how to structure Brent’s learning. I don’t want to start with one-on-one tutoring as the first learning style – so that suggests starting with reading the book or watching the video.

I am a little nervous about starting with MyMathLab – my daughter had a class that used MML and she hated it because the teacher used it to pound them with boring homework that he did not have to grade. I wish I had a trial account to see if MML had nice adaptive teaching and learning paths were MML could help schedule and drive him toward learning objectives. I don’t want to activate his account now and then have to pay another $120 in the Winter. SO I will hold off on MyMathLab.

My first approach will be to use the videos as “lectures” while he looks at the book and has a problem set on paper “in hand”. I have skimmed the video lectures and I like them a lot. They use simple technology like a human teacher and a whiteboard and a camera.
Wish me luck – Home math class for Brent starts tomorrow…

Note: One of the strange aspects of the LCC math assessment process is that it seems poorly aligned with the entry-level course (MTH050). In essence, it seems that to get *into* MTH050, you need to have the first half of MTH050 mastered and demonstrated on the assessment test. So effectively the ideal study materials to qualify to get into MTH050 are the MTH050 materials themselves (Chapters 1-5 and 8). This is fine because several passes over the material is a good thing – but to be honest I think that LCC teachers would do a better job of teaching this material than I will – I wish I could simply pay them to teach this material that is completely appropriate for him – but they won’t let him into the course until he demonstrates that he already knows 70% of the material from the course. And I bet the LCC faculty already know how to fit MyMathLab into his learning – something I probably will not figure out in time. Ah well.