Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

IMPORTANT: The required book for MTH 58 is a workbook intended to be written in. It is looseleaf and you will need a binder for it. This workbook is also used for MTH 98.

PCC should not be selling used copies, but if they are don't buy one! Only new books purchased from PCC will have a cardboard insert that has a code for the ALEKS online homework system (do not throw away the cardboard insert that comes with purchase of a new book!!!) 

If you aren't sure about staying in this class, do NOT remove the plastic wrap on the book and keep the receipt so you can return it. A temporary code will be given for ALEKS so you can do the homework while you decide.

Is MTH 58 the right class for you?

MTH 58 is the first course in PCC's Math Literacy Pathway (see more information below). If you only need MTH 58 for your degree or certification, great! If you plan on transferring to another college and need MTH 105 (Math in Society) or STAT 243 (Statistics), this is the right course.

If you need Calculus, you need to be in the STEM Pathway. There is more information below about PCC's 2 math pathways. If you have questions about this, please contact a PCC advisor or email me.

More about how MTH 58 is taught

This course involves teams of students who investigate math together. The textbook is intended to be used by students to develop mathematical thinking. This means that students come up with ideas, share them, and consider how they wish to approach the questions. Sometimes there will not be one approach or even one correct result! When there are options, what matters is that students can defend their choices and the team values input from everyone. 

Here is a PCC video that shows how a bit about how this course is taught.

There are two main reasons this approach is used:

1. Deeper Learning
   Research on how humans learn shows that learning is strengthened when we engage with others. Unfortunately, learning math has been often been a very solitary experience for most people. This does work well for some, but not most.
   
   Discussing math ideas and approaches in a community of learners often results in deeper understanding of the concepts. Explaining a topic often strengthens the knowledge. In fact, teachers often say, "I really learned it after I taught it the first time."
   
   Sometimes students can more quickly understand where another student is stuck than a teacher can. I can think of many times I tried to explain something and got blank stares and another student cleared up the problem in a 1 sentence.
   
   
2. High on List of Employer's Top Wants
   Employers list "teamwork" as one of their top needs for employees. This is a skill to be developed. Working successfully with others in a team requires a deep awareness of self, knowledge about differences with others (which can be individual and culturally based), and the ability to manage frustration appropriately -- and as well as coming prepared to engage with others. 

Research shows that most humans seem to learn best by working with others; however, most is not all. Teams sometimes work fast and sometimes work slowly. Sometimes team members like to jump into a problem and others like to read and think a bit before sharing. If you have concerns about working with others, please email me to discuss your concerns and if you are willing to try a group with certain qualities. Above all, I want class to be a place where everyone feels comfortable to share and we spend the first week talking about classroom agreements and how to make the class a brave/save space. We all have days that are not-so-good. For those days, it is ok let your teammates know that you won't be participating as much or at all (no reason is needed).

Course Assignments
There will likely be the following

• in-class work (in teams)
• weekly application problems (from the workbook)
• weekly online homework (ALEKS)
• 2 exams
• 1 group project
• 10 technology assignments
• comprehensive final

How problems are different in MTH 58/98 compared to algebra pathway
Math 58 and MTH 98 are two of my favorite classes to teach because instead of being given an homework where there are 15 to 30 equations like 2x + 7 = 15 to solve, instead we look at math grounded in context and how it could be used in the world. For example: An artist is making necklaces where the fixed cost is $550 and supply costs are $4.75/necklace. She thinks she can sell each necklace for $42. Find the equation for profit and find how many necklaces need to be made and sold to have a profit of $1000. 

There is no one way of working the problems - reasoning, tables, algebra, graphs will be discussed and students can approach problems in a way that makes sense to them.

Calculators are allowed on all assignments and exams. Technology will be using spreadsheets (google or excel).

Some students who have never enjoyed algebra find that this class is different (and can even be fun - some say it was their favorite class!)

More Information about math pathways