Ten new math classes at El Camino College will offer students the option to strengthen their fundamental understanding of arithmetic and algebraic expressions to prepare for transfer-level math courses.
Various math essentials for STEM classes, which comprise seven of the new courses, will cover factoring, expressions, functions, equations and include Math 508, titled “Crash Course on Trig,” according to the curriculum changes approved by the Board of Trustees in April.
The addition of these classes at ECC comes as Assembly Bill 1705, signed into law in 2022, requires that students enroll in transfer-level math classes to increase transfer rates at community colleges.
With this bill, students’ initial courses will be calculus or statistics.
Marlow Lemons, dean of Mathematical Sciences, said one way that funding is given to the college is the number of students that completed their transfer-level math and English within one academic year starting at the college.
“We know that, but the students don’t. And I think if we bring that awareness to students, that would encourage them to participate,” Lemons said.
Lemons said that AB 1705 was preceded by AB 705, which was created to eliminate placement tests to determine class level eligibility.
Lemons said AB 705 instead required colleges to look at high school GPA and the highest math and English classes taken by a student before college.
Those credentials would then place students in a transfer-level course at the community college level.
Charlie Mitchell, Associated Students Organization student trustee-elect and former senator of Mathematical Sciences, said the goal of AB 1705 was to wipe out lower-level classes as a whole.
“Originally, last year, the [California Community Colleges] Chancellor had stated that all lower-level courses should be taken out, to encourage students to take transfer-level courses,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell said that after outcry about the situation a new memo came out in February allowing students to take courses including Math 187, Transition to Calculus I, and Math 190S, a support class for calculus.
ECC currently offers Math 190S course sections and has approved Math 187 with the curriculum changes.
Mitchell said that AB 1705 was intended to remedy past discriminatory class placements for minority students.
“This bill was originally introduced because students who tend to be in minority groups were not being put into calculus or [statistics] straight off the bat, they were being put into lower-level courses,” Mitchell said.
AB 705, which became law in 2017, allowed students to take lower-level classes, whereas AB 1705 doubled down by making sure students go straight into transfer-level courses.
Lemons said AB 1705 has good intentions by creating more accessibility for minority students, although it creates challenges for professors who end up teaching ill-prepared students.
Mitchell said that even though the bill had fair intentions, it has had a reverse effect by improperly preparing students, resulting in higher rates of failure in transfer-level math courses.
Lower-level courses require more professors, but if students fail or drop transfer-level courses, the college loses funding if students do not retake them.
Mitchell said there is no research yet proving that this bill is causing students to not succeed, but from her own experience, she did not feel prepared to succeed with the current math setup.
Mitchell said she feels the bill will work to get people to transfer at a faster speed, but not help them succeed in the future.
If a student fails calculus three times, they are unable to take it at ECC again.
Susan Tummers, a math professor at ECC, said she feels the current math system is not working for all students and thinks there should be more pathways for students to be successful.
“A two week refresher course is wonderful for some, but when I have students who have never passed Algebra I attempting to do trigonometry — a quick two week refresher course, a four-week summer course is not going to give them the quality of a strong foundation in the algebra material they need,” she said.
Tummers believes in longer and more in-depth classes that give more quality instructions on the basics of math.
“I feel as though quality is being diminished, in the name of speed of pushing students to the next level,” she said.
Lemons said that the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office gave ECC funding to provide support programs for all students, especially underprepared students.
These support programs include increased tutoring availability for students, in and out of the classroom.
Lemons also said ECC offers a Math Academy program, which is a four-week bootcamp that takes place in the winters and summers.
The academy is free for students and doesn’t require a commitment to the program.
Starting this fall, ECC will be starting a non-credit math sequence consisting of two week, non-credit courses for a quick review on concepts leading up to calculus.
Lemons said that in his opinion, transitional classes and tutoring has been working to help with students’ success, but improvements can be made.
“I think it’s working, we have a ways to go. But I think that creating these systems and making them available to students is working. The thing is that, all colleges, including El Camino can work harder to market our support systems,” he said.
Lemons said the way ECC can do this is through the orientations that are offered to the college.
Lemons said that with the help of other staff members, he is trying to create scholar recognition for students who come into ECC and complete their math and English in one academic year.
Some ideas that Lemons mentioned was an extra seal that students can put on their degree, recognition at graduation by putting a mark in the graduation booklet.
Lemons said that he would like to make a display that recognizes all the students that completed this task.
He also said it is important for students to realize they are not less smart by using the support systems that are offered to them.
“You’re smart when you use them,” Lemons said.
