A New Way of Teaching Math

I am teaching Finite Mathematics again this spring. The class is a bit different from other mathematics courses. We have a rapid fire approach and attack a lot of different practical problems. Because of that, I routinely advise students not to take the class.

I have taught MATH 106 many times, but this time is different. We will be using the new Enhanced Learning Model (ELM) for this class. It is designed around demonstrating competency rather than completing a list of assignments. Of course, for a credentialing class, that probably makes sense. It uses a modern project-based approach and students complete a handful of projects that require applying the ideas and techniques learned from the material. UMUC has a video about how it has worked out in the Graduate School you can watch on YouTube.

This is my first time working with the ELM and there will be some rough spots, some strange stuff, and who knows what else. But I am looking forward to trying something new here. I also hope that this will alleviate some of the cheating we are seeing more and more of at UMUC. Moving the focus off of rote-performance of basic problems and onto more bespoke projects for each student should make it more interest for the student and hopefully more meaningful.