MATH IS A TOOL

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MATH IS A TOOL

• (Psst, It Doesnt Matter Whether or Not You Like
  It)

Bio-Link Summer Fellows 2007 Lisa Seidman Madison
Area Technical College
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• DNA is present in a stock solution at a
  concentration of 1 µg/mL.
• You need 50 pg of DNA for a reaction. How much of
  the stock do you need?

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Convert the weights to the same unit
? 0.00005 mL 0.05 µL
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WHAT DOES STUDENT NEED TO KNOW?

• What is a microgram, picogram, and so on
• Conversion strategy
• Distinguish concentration and amount
• Strategy to calculate amount needed
• Understand dilutions
• Contextual information
• What the question is asking

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MATH APPLICATIONS

• Math itself is relatively simple --
  multiplication, division, fractions
• but
• Lots of applications vital tool
• Hands-on applications, all word problems
• Math problems arise when students are focusing on
  something else

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• Vocabulary, context unfamiliar
• Units essential and are often unfamiliar
• Errors have serious consequences

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RESULT

• Students often frustrated
• Math barrier to success for many
• High attrition in first semester of program

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APPROACHES TO HELP STUDENTS WITH MATH

• Sending students to take math courses either
  before beginning program courses or concurrently
• Unsuccessful

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Math is a Tool
Math is Beautiful
The Biotechnologist
The Mathematician
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NEXT APPROACH

• Evaluated needed math skills and incorporating
  into first lab class
• Ratios and proportions
• Metric system
• Graphing
• Concentration and dilution
• Growth curves
• Mean and standard deviation

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NOT THE ANSWER

• Because
• Too much time taken from lab skills
• Not enough math time for some students
• Too much time for others, want to do biotechnology

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SUCCESSFUL SOLUTION

• New course in biotechnology laboratory math
• Required for some students based on test scores
• Addresses needs in a biotech lab -- Math as a
  tool
• Low key
• Lots of practice
• Independence
• Collaborative

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COURSE HAS IMPROVED STUDENT SUCCESS

• Students develop confidence, reflected on
  evaluations
• Students skills improved
• Students attitudes improved
• Lower attrition in first lab classes
• Some students go on to take more math courses

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WHY DID WE CREATE OUR OWN COURSE?

• Logistic, scheduling
• Technical math serves several programs and they
  have different needs

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LATEST APPROACH

• Required for all students
• On-line, independent study version is available