Foundations Newsletter

First of all we would like to congratulate you all for the exemplary work done in 201310! The system-wide pass rate of 84% in FND M010 & 85% in FND M020 was the fruit of your hard work. Your flexibility, dedication and tremendous support enabled both of us to rapidly  settle into our new responsibilities as Regional Math Chairs. The implementation of ALEKS as the key teaching and learning resource for FND M020 would not have ended up as a success story without your total commitment. ALEKS has enabled us to implement student-centered and differentiated teaching and learning strategies far more effectively than in the past. The success of ALEKS implementation has given us the confidence to move forward and implement two new measures in 201320 to improve the quality of Foundations Math course delivery at HCT:

1.       ALEKS curriculum for FND M010 with 220 topics
2.      A new ALEKS curriculum for FND M020 with 400 topics

Both implementations will help our students to build a very strong foundation in Math and thereby become more successful in BAS programs. 201310 provided us with the opportunity to get settled with the new management structure and implementation of ALEKS course.

Moving on, the key teaching and learning focal points for 201320 are:

1. Effective use of the ALEKS reports for individual monitoring, feedback and remediation
2. Efficient implementation of LBD activities in line with the curriculum
3. Identification and development of new resources to support independent learning and develop deeper conceptual understanding.
4. Pilot of new HCT Math Placement tool

We are indeed grateful for your sincere involvement and contributions towards curriculum review of FND M010 & FND M020. We also thank all those who were involved in the development of the new HCT Math Placement Test tool, along with Paul Barney and Mary Varghese. With such a great team, the level of synergy has been second to none in ensuring nothing but excellence in the teaching of our courses. Plans are being finalized for the PD week. An ALEKS representative is expected to join us from the US during this week. Once again, let us make PD week an opportunity for sharing our best practices.

We look forward to working more closely with you all. Wishing you all a very successful semester!

Dimitri and Johnson