April 21, 2017

April 2017 Newsletter: Grant Partners SJSU and East Side Union High School District on College Readiness

Photo: Provided by Tom Reisz
From left, Larry Bach (WC Overfelt); Gil Agoylo (Silver Creek); Victoriano Castillo, Jr. (Independence); Maria-Lai Tran (Independence); Tom Reisz (SJSU); and Mary Barrett-Wong (Silver Creek) discuss high school math curriculum during a workshop in Chino, Calif.

By David Goll

San Jose State University is seeking to increase the odds that incoming students are proficient at math before they even set foot on campus. SJSU has entered into a cooperative program with the East Side Union High School District to kick off a new math instructional curriculum known as Mathematics Reasoning with Connections (MRWC) in fall 2017 at five of the district’s campuses: Independence, Overfelt, Mt. Pleasant, Silver Creek and Santa Teresa high schools. The curriculum is designed to help students grasp the concept behind mathematical formulas as well as meet minimum standards for proficiency set by the California State University system.

SJSU is part of a consortium of several other CSU campuses, including Cal Poly Pomona and Cal State San Bernardino, along with high school districts, that has secured a state grant of nearly $1.3 million, the California Math Readiness Challenge Initiative Grant. The funding is being used to devise the new curriculum, cover operations beginning in the 2017-18 academic year and provide professional development number of math teachers districtwide, according to Tom Reisz, program coordinator for SJSU’s Early Assessment Program and Early Start Program.

Four other experimental math instruction programs — in consortiums led by Cal State Monterey Bay, Cal State Sacramento, San Diego State University and UCLA — have also received state grants of the same size, according to Reisz.

Preparing incoming students for study at the college level to increase their chances of earning a degree in four years is one of the university’s Four Pillars of Student Success Plan. Students who enter SJSU with remedial needs are less likely to graduate in four years, with only six percent of students with double remedial needs graduating in four years compared to the the overall four-year graduation rate of 14 percent for 2016. In fall 2015, 16 percent of students in Santa Clara County high schools fell short of the CSU math requirements, according to data from the California State University system. Among the freshman class admitted to SJSU in fall 2016, about 22 percent of students failed to meet the minimum math standards.

High schools students have several ways to show they are prepared for college-level math, through exemptions described online or by passing the entry-level math (ELM) exam. Those without an exemption or an acceptable score on the ELM are required to enroll in remedial math classes to prepare for general education (GE) math. CSU officials want to decrease the number of students needing those remedial courses through the Early Start Program, which seeks to improve the level of academic readiness among students entering the university with remedial requirements in math, English or both. Last summer, Reisz said 914 incoming students took remedial math classes both on campus and online.

“Students often leave high school with a better understanding of mathematical procedure than conceptual underpinnings of math topics,” Reisz said.

A math concept is defined as the “why” or the big idea of math — knowing the workings behind the answer. Math educators contend gaining knowledge of concepts reduces the need for having to memorize answers or formulas.

Reisz said instructing students in math concepts is emphasized in the Common Core State Standards that have been adopted by the California Department of Education, as they have in 41 other states nationwide. High school students who reach such advanced math disciplines as Calculus are familiar with an emphasis on learning concepts.

The new curriculum to be introduced this fall in the East Side district will emphasize this approach from Math 1 classes to Calculus, according to Lyla Hua, an instructional coach for the district. She will directly advise nine math teachers at the five participating schools in the new curriculum starting later this year, but preparation has already begun.

“The program may not begin until the fall, but we are all actively engaged in early conversations about the program,” said Hua, who attended a workshop about the California Math Readiness Challenge held in early March in the Los Angeles suburb of Chino with the teachers selected for the program.

Hua said the major benefits of the new approach to teaching math will be teachers and students using communication, collaboration, flexibility and creativity in solving problems.

“It promotes a conceptual understanding of math, not just the procedural,” she said. “Our district feels very positively about the program’s philosophy, and we are all very hopeful for its success.”

September 20, 2016

SJSU and Kyushu University Celebrate 10 Years of English Program

Kyushu Univeristy students hold up certificates after completing English-language courses at San Jose State University.

Kyushu University of Japan will celebrate the 10^th anniversary of its Silicon Valley English Program on Sept. 22, from 4-9:30 p.m., in the Student Union meeting room 2 (second floor). The university has partnered with San Jose State University to offer English-language instruction for the past eight years, with more than 770 Japanese students participating in intensive four-week programs.

Coordinated through the College of International and Extended Studies’ International Gateways, students visit SJSU for four weeks to gain English language skills along with relevant insight into American culture with homestays, visits to local companies and interactions with SJSU’s full-time students.

The event is open to the public and will include student presentations along with lectures from Kyushu University faculty members Professors Kiyoshi Toko and Chihaya Adachi. Special guests who are anticipated to attend include the Deputy Consul General Shoichi Nagayoshi, of the Consulate General of Japan in San Francisco, and Kyushu University President Dr. Chiharu Kubo.

For more information on SJSU’s International Gateways, visit www.sjsu.edu/igateways.

September 17, 2016

September 2016 Newsletter: Development Efforts Support Student Success

Photo by David Schmitz
Students in the Spartan Scholars Program gather with a peer mentor after class. The Koret Foundation gave $2 million to SJSU to support student success initiatives, including the Spartan Scholars Program.

As Student Affairs and Academic Affairs staff and faculty launch initiatives to support student success, two recent gifts to the university are specifically earmarked to fund such efforts. University Advancement received a $15 million gift from Lupe Diaz Compean and a $2 million gift from the Koret Foundation last spring.

Compean’s gift will support student success initiatives and scholarships. The donation will also support the maintenance of SJSU’s newly renovated and expanded Student Union, and the many activities housed in this structure located in the heart of campus.

“San Jose State has been in conversation with the Compeans for the past two decades,” said Vice President for University Advancement Paul Lanning. “Throughout this time, Lupe Diaz Compean has been crystal clear that her motivation in making the gift was to benefit students, honor her family and her late husband by naming a facility, and demonstrating that by working hard and getting an education, anyone can achieve what she has in her lifetime.”

The new student union was dedicated in honor of her and her late husband on Sept. 1. The facility is now known as the Ramiro Compean and Lupe Diaz Compean Student Union.

In addition, SJSU received $2 million from the Koret Foundation as part of a multi-year $50 million initiative to support higher education at a dozen institutions in the Bay Area. SJSU’s funding will be used to create a new student information analytics system that will improve advising; support the Spartan Scholars Program, a newly launched summer bridge program that is aimed at increasing retention and graduation of underrepresented students; and provide scholarships for students with the most need.

“This is a significant start to our efforts to seek funding to support student success initiatives, and it will be complemented by what will ultimately be the $8 million Compean Endowment for Student Success Initiatives once that fund matures,” Lanning said.

The goals of the gifts are in line with SJSU’s Four Pillars of Student Success plan, which is focused on college readiness, advising, student engagement and clearing bottlenecks.

“The Koret Foundation is proud to fund this initiative that builds on and expands our longstanding commitment to these important Bay Area academic institutions,” said Michael Boskin, President of the Koret Foundation. “This program is designed to be a catalyst for new approaches to optimize student success, improve completion rates, and bolster career advancement opportunities, particularly among underserved populations.”

In support of the campus priority, Lanning created a new position in University Advancement to continue fundraising efforts around student success. Emily Lane, hired in August, is the new director of development for student success.

September 17, 2016

September 2016 Newsletter: High-Impact Practices Engage Students

Photo courtesy of Resa Kelly
Chemistry Professor Resa Kelly, second from the left, presented research on using visual animations in teaching chemistry this summer. Here she is pictured with colleagues at a meeting in Brazil.

A group of San Jose State University professors who work in the College of Science as part of the Science Education Program is offering their support to faculty who are interested in incorporating high-impact practices into their curriculum to support student success. Ellen Metzger, the director of the Science Ed Program and a professor of geology, attended a summer workshop on high-impact practices at the University of California, Los Angeles.

“It helped me understand the practices better and I am really grateful to be part of a team that is developing sustainable and interdisciplinary tools,” she said.

The Science Education Program also includes Resa Kelly, a chemistry professor, Cassandra Paul, a physics and astronomy professor, and Elly Walsh, a meteorology and climate science professor. The four are versed in curricular design, transformation and evaluation along with using technology to design and study learning. As part of SJSU’s Four Pillars of Student Success, high-impact practices are recommended to increase student engagement and help to clear bottlenecks in key courses.

Kelly began her teaching career at the high school level and is particularly interested in helping students make the transition from high school to college-level chemistry. Chemistry is a prerequisite for some majors that often causes a bottleneck due to a higher rate of failure or withdrawals than the average across other courses.

Using a grant from the National Science Foundation, Kelly’s research is aimed at developing visualizations to boost deeper learning. She has worked with SJSU animation artists and computer science students to create short videos about the atomic level details of chemical reactions where the outcomes conflict.

“The overall goal is that we shouldn’t tell students which animation is right or wrong,” she said. “We want to connect them to the evidence and hope over time, with practice, they will be able to justify why one model is preferred over another.”

Walsh is currently involved in research on understanding and supporting student engagement in socially controversial scientific issues, such as climate change causes and impacts. Paul is a member of the Physics Education Research group. She has experience in investigating the interactions between students and instructors in interactive classrooms and helped develop the Real-time Instructor Observing Tool (RIOT).

Metzger said the Science Ed team is particularly hopeful that plans for an interdisciplinary science building will allow them more opportunities to collaborate with colleagues from other colleges.

“Research has shown project-based learning and instruction is effective,” she said. “We need to think of innovative ways to be interdisciplinary.”

She also noted that project-based learning offers an opportunity for students to feel connected to their community.

“The key to equity is engaging students of all types in their learning,” she said.

Stacy Gleixner, interim AVP for Student Academic Success, and Amy Strage, AVP for Faculty Development and director of the Center for Faculty Development, also attended the summer workshop on high-impact practices. They are developing easy to implement “Faculty Matter” tips that are sent to all faculty weekly by email and archived on the Academic Spotlight blog.