Sandee House is a MyMathLab super-user. Over the last ten years, MyMathLab has served House as a supplement for her traditional courses, as an instruction replacement in blended courses, and as a key player in fully-online courses. Says House, “The flexibility of MyMathLab makes it uniquely suited to work in any of these formats.”
The student favorite within MyMathLab? Multi-media learning aids. House has incorporated her own videos through the media assignments feature in MyMathLab and students love the access. Especially for students in online classes, which House has been teaching exclusively for the last five years, this variety of learning aid is essential. “Students in online classes depend on these types of learning aids to replicate what would have been the instructional part of the course,” says House. An added bonus is that these learning aids are there students all the time – the learning, “doesn’t end at the end of class.:
Now that House teaches solely online, MyMathLab is an essential part of her course. She uses it to deliver homework, quizzes, and tests (with a proctored midterm and final exam.) House loves that MyMathLab lets her, “create personalized homework for students based on each one’s particular needs.”
House is no stranger to sharing her experiences with her peers. She most enjoys showing others how to ‘think outside the box’ when creating assignments, incorporating critical thinking activities, and designing courses. Like with many other Faculty Advisors, House sees the give-and-take relationship that forms between contemporaries.
I truly find that I learn as much or more than those I share with. Every time I work with another user of MyMathLab or conduct a training online, I learn great ideas about ways faculty around the country are using the software to reach and teach our digital-age students.
House also credits Pearson’s MyMathLab team with being an integral part in her success as a MyMathLab user and as a Faculty Advisor. She sees Pearson, faculty, and students as a family with each generation looking out for the one below. Pearson is the parent, working extremely hard to see that their children (MyMathLab users) have all the tools they need to have a better experience teaching than those in the past which ensures their grandchildren (the students) will achieve success. In House’s experience, “student success through faculty empowerment has been, and always will be, Pearson’s central focus.”
Overall House sees the experience of being a Faculty Advisor as something truly rewarding and she welcomes all the latest advisors into the program certain they will share her sentiments. “In the teaching world, where salaries are low, raises seem to be non-existent, and students often come under-prepared to do work, it is extremely refreshing to talk to so many others around the country who continue to see strategies to improve success among students.”
I think that most faculty can relate to this article. I first began using MyLab as a supplement to my face-to-face course. As the economy turned sour, more students poured into classes and demand outstripped our facilities. In the past 3 years, my college has seen a 34% bump in enrollment. Thus, I am offering more online classes.
ReplyDeleteIn the past, my goal as a professor was to choose the best book for the course. Now, I look at the best online platform that accompanies a book that I am happy with. Since more of my time is spent online with students, I need an online platform that allows maximum flexibility.
Pearson has been great with keeping its online platforms cutting edge and responsive to the needs of the users. As the new generation of students enters post-secondary education, more and more time will be spent in the online environment, thus I am glad to have the MyLab product to help with my evolving classrooms!