Promote smooth instructional delivery transitions for dual enrollment math
Promote smooth instructional delivery transitions for dual enrollment math
High school dual enrollment teachers moving fully online from a face-to-face setting during COVID had the added challenge of remaining in sync with their college partners, but classes already using Pearson’s MyMathLab for School’s (MMLS) online platform pre-pandemic have hardly missed a beat.
As the pandemic hit, educators asked:
- How do we keep students engaged?
- How do we provide ample practice opportunities?
- How do we monitor student progress?
- How do we administer assessments?
- How do we make ourselves fully available to our students?
- How do we help our students accomplish their learning goals?
- And as a dual enrollment course, how do we maintain continuity with our post-secondary partner institution?
Pre-COVID use of MyMathLab for School helped smooth transition to remote
For some teachers the transition to remote learning was a smooth one because their dual enrollment courses already used Pearson’s MyMathLab for School (MMLS). David Woods, Ryan Skyta, and Lauren Morris are all high school math instructors teaching dual enrollment college algebra courses in partnership with Louisiana State University (LSU). Each of these teachers utilized MMLS prior to COVID and acknowledge the multiple benefits the program has provided them and their students during the pandemic.
Having prior experience with MMLS benefited both students and teachers, according to Ryan Skyta, math teacher at Brother Martin High School in New Orleans:
“I feel like since we, as an entire school, used the program before the pandemic, within every department in our school, we were probably in the best shape because the kids regularly have used the program for the past couple of years, so they are very familiar with it. We didn’t have to train them on how to use it and it was an easy transition.”
...And helped relieve teacher stress
The pandemic created ever fluctuating circumstances for educators. Being equipped with a fully sustainable, comprehensive online environment like MMLS can relieve some of the tension, worry, and uncertainty. For David Woods, dual enrollment math teacher at Liberty Magnet High School in Baton Rouge, having used MMLS for years prior to the pandemic eased the considerable amount of stress he felt while transitioning to remote instruction. He believes it could have done the same for others, as he heard firsthand how other teachers struggled and it made him thankful for the multiple resources MMLS offered him and his students.
“I can’t reiterate enough the fact that MyMathLab for School allowed us to have such a smooth transition. I know I have a lot of colleagues around the country that were struggling. How am I going to assess my students? How am I going to provide them this opportunity? Does anybody know anything that’s out there that my students could possibly be doing, or that I can be using as a teacher? MyMathLab for School was a huge component in sparing me from that because we already had a digital platform that the students could continue to use that was already equipped with videos, activities, lessons, quizzes, and assessments. We could just roll through it and since we were already using it, there was no learning curve.”
“View an example” and “Help Me Solve This” features help students work independently
Lauren Morris, dual enrollment math teacher and department chair at St. Joseph’s Academy in Baton Rouge, found the View an Example and Help Me Solve This features were the most impactful and heavily utilized aspects of MMLS once fully remote. Lauren noted that students relied greatly on those features because they were no longer in the classroom asking questions and receiving immediate responses from teachers. She felt it gave them resources to rely on, when needed.
View an Example helped Ryan Skyta’s students work independently at home.
“If we didn’t have MyMathLab for School we certainly would have had much bigger issues when it came to students trying to figure things out. They love the View an Example feature when it comes to doing their homework. That was definitely a huge advantage.”
Whether fully remote, hybrid, or face-to-face, the Pearson MMLS online platform offers students stability and dual enrollment teachers' confidence their courses maintain rigor and remain in sync with their college partners.
Learn more about MyMathLab for School
Check out Pearson’s dual enrollment offerings
About the author
Hilary Duplantis
Hilary Duplantis has been a research consultant with Pearson for over 3 years. As a consultant she conducts interviews and administers surveys to instructors and students in K-12 and Higher Education to get a better understanding of their perceptions of and experience with a variety of educational software. She uses that data to create assets for evidence-based marketing and selling, as well as to provide feedback to product teams in an effort to help them develop quality products that enhance educational experiences for educators and students alike. Hilary holds a master’s degree from the University of Louisiana at Monroe. Before working with Pearson, she was the director of a home health agency. Outside of her work with Pearson, she loves to chase around her 3 active children, get outdoors to hike, and take care of her ever-growing chicken flock.
