City College of San Francisco - California Competes

THEME I
Concurrent with experimental approaches to structuring classroom instruction, one of CCSF’s precollegiate
basic skills Math tutoring programs, the Math Lab, 4 embarked on a journey of training, selfreflection,
and professional development in order to better address student needs in Math (largely relying
on Koret funding). The first step toward this improvement was to hire additional teaching assistants and
increase hours for current instructors and staff. This adjustment made possible a weekly meeting during
which tutors could discuss problems, collaborate on solutions, and cultivate knowledge in the field of
teaching and learning. Activities have included, but were not limited to: (1) exploring learning styles and
discussing classroom implementation; (2) improving and systematizing the peer-tutor training program;
(3) coordinating with the Learning Assistance Center for tutor training; (4) crafting a mission statement
with explicit goals for the Math Lab; (5) increasing knowledge of learning disabilities through research
and discussions with presenters from the Disabled Students Programs and Services at CCSF; (6) discussing
and researching issues of race, class, gender, and other cultural differences; and (7) investigating other
key topics such as instructional best practices, assessment, and techniques to improve study skills.
At this time the Math Lab comprises a group of highly motivated and engaged professional tutors and
teaching assistants. They are specially trained, in part through the Learning Assistance Center, to work
with a population of diverse and underprepared students. Functioning as a team, they share ideas about
how to improve student success, from classroom techniques to large-scale structural reform.
As with English, professional development will serve as the basis for many of the activities that the
Math Lab staff have been undertaking during Spring 2005-Fall 2005, with support from the Carnegie
and Hewlett Foundations. In particular, they are exploring issues relating to some of the work they have
already done surrounding learning disabilities, multicultural education, assessment techniques, collaborative
learning, and metacognition.
In the near future, Math Lab staff members will augment their current exploration by bringing in experts
in these fields to further educate the tutors and the Math Department faculty. Using their existing framework
for collaboration and self reflection as a base, the Math Lab staff will gather new information on
these topics and investigate how to implement their knowledge to improve student learning and success,
connecting with Math faculty activities as feasible.
The Math Lab will also focus on developing a philosophy of teaching and further refining their mission
statement, a process that will be informed by the professional development sessions. In addition, they will
develop ways to train and educate new tutors so they can be fully effective members of the instructional
team, in collaboration with the Learning Assistance Center.
In addition, the Math Department will explore a more efficient use of counselors. This past year, Math Lab
staff, with Koret funding, piloted two different methods of counseling involvement that were less effective
than hoped. In one case, counselors attended workshop sections and gave mini presentations with the
goal of encouraging students to sign up for classes. In the other case, counselors met with 8-10 students
at a time two times throughout the semester (also during the workshop sessions) to focus on time management,
study skills, and basic college success. Counselors and students alike felt that having the counselors
in the classroom took too much time away from learning. The current plan is to offer and test a halfsemester
class in which students focus on the same topics discussed above, but without taking them
away from their Math instruction.
4 Note that the Math Lab focuses on Math E (arithmetic) tutoring whereas the Learning Assistance Center provides tutoring for
Math 840 and above. Also, the Math Department, with Title III funding, is developing a new Math E computer tutorial lab
that will focus on academic support.
254 CITY COLLEGE OF SAN FRANCISCO