Using Mindfulness/Contemplative Practices to Help Students Focus in Mathematics Classrooms

Can using mindfulness/contemplative practices help students become mindful, focused, and present in the mathematics classroom? In this study, mindfulness/contemplative practices were used in the mathematics classroom to determine if students were encouraged to be mindful, focused, and present or engaged in problem solving. During class time, students engaged in the following 2 contemplative practices: a “Mindful Minute of Deep Breathing” and “Beholding the Mathematics”. The one minute of mindful Deep Breathing took place usually at the beginning of class. Then, during a regular class period, students used Beholding to look more deeply at topics, probe questions, and investigate answers to questions. The survey responses indicated that the mindfulness/contemplative practices were very useful in the mathematics classroom to help students to be mindful (both inside and outside of the classroom), focus on the mathematics taught, and be present or engaged in the problem solving.

Impact of Practicing Mindful Breathing in Class

Many community college students experience high levels of stress due to the demands of coursework and stressors outside of the classroom. Contemplative practices such as deep breathing can reduce stress and increase focus, but students may not be familiar with or feel that they have time to engage in these practices. We hypothesized that introducing students to mindful breathing in our accounting and biology classes would help students manage stress during the semester, reduce test anxiety, and improve student performance. To test this hypothesis, we introduced some sections of our courses to mindful breathing techniques such as square breathing, alternate nostril breathing, and victorious breathing and set aside time at the start of each class to allow students to engage in these practices. At the end of the semester, we surveyed students to assess their past and present experiences with contemplative practices and their perceptions of the benefits of mindful breathing. We also asked students to rate their levels of exam stress and to rate the general feelings of stress they experienced during the semester, comparing their responses with responses from students in control sections that were not introduced to mindful breathing. The survey results indicated that mindful breathing was a new practice to some students and a familiar practice to others. Most students felt that the practice of deep breathing at the start of each class helped them reduce stress, develop a sense of connectedness, and improve focus. However, there was no consistent difference in self-reported exam stress or general stress between students in sections with and without in-class contemplative breathing. There was also no difference in course performance, as reflected by overall course grade, between sections with and without in-class contemplative breathing. Although it was not the focus of this study, we observed that in-class contemplative breathing practice seemed to improve the learning environment and helped build trusting relationships with students.

On the Mathematical Narration by Trans-Spectrum University Students

More than 80 years of literature support the idea that math attitudes and experiences differ by gender. However, such research treats gender as a simple and dichotomous variable, which it is not. As such, our understandings of math affective variables are completely dominated by a cisgender narrative and a false gender binary. In particular, I argue that it is important to research the lived experiences in the math classroom and the sense of belonging felt by trans-spectrum students. This qualitative study has employed a narrative methodology to analyze the semi-structured interviews of 6 participants who identify as trans-spectrum university students in order to explore the tactile lived experiences in the math classroom as it relates to gender, when gender is considered holistically. Overall, the participants indicated that while mathematics as a discipline is not gender-specific, the participants face discrimination and microaggressions around mathematics that help create a chilly atmosphere. The participants, then, narrate their sense of belonging in regard to a separation between mathematics as a discipline and mathematical activities. Collectively, all participants presented stories that highlight conflicts within various social binaries, such as male/female or private/public school.

Open Educational Resources in Business Law: Notes from the Field

Open educational resources (OERs) are an alternative textbook to publisher materials used by colleges and universities. OER materials have a cost advantage for students; many are published as free or cost-reduced textbooks for students. The authors developed and piloted an OER textbook for Business Law I in the Management program of the School of Business, Technology and Law. Over 800 Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC) students enroll in this course each academic year. The authors evaluated the cost savings for students compared to traditional publisher materials, and also examined student success rates in OER courses compared to traditional publisher courses. The authors’ assessment is that OER materials can save students substantial costs to attend college, and though there is some difference in student success between OER and traditional publisher courses, this variation is likely explained by other independent variables such as the course teaching modality. The process for receiving funding, developing OER-based materials on a publicly available and no-cost website, and distributing the materials to students is also discussed.

My First 51 Years Teaching Microbiology at The Community College of Baltimore County

I have had just one job interview in my life and it was for the position of Biology Instructor at Catonsville Community College. Having just completed my M.S. Degree at Northern Illinois University, I knew I needed employment because I was moving to Maryland prior to September 1970. After enquiring about the possibility of a teaching position at 4 Maryland community colleges, I was granted an interview at Catonsville Community College. On May 4, 1970, I found myself driving from Illinois to Maryland for a real job interview. I remember the date because I was listening on my car radio to the aftermath of the Kent State shooting earlier that day. The interview apparently went well because I was offered the position beginning in September for the amazing salary of $10,000! My professional life had begun. Armed with little more than a love of microbiology and a lot of patience and desire, I began the journey to hopefully become the best microbiology educator of which I am capable. Fifty-one years later I am still striving for that goal.

Can Students Learn to Use Textbooks Effectively?

Can a class assignment covering the reading help students do better in an introductory chemistry class for nonmajors? Two sections of the same course have been compared where one section had a reading assignment that "forced" the students to interact with the text while the other class had the typical homework, quiz assignments, and discussion posts. Both groups took 3 exams and the final exam. A t-test compared the means for each exam, the final exam, and the overall class average. The mean was higher for the group that had the reading assignment in each case. The mean for the class was 71.3% versus 66.7% (p value = 0.050). The mean for exam 1 was 73.0% versus 60.5% (p = 0.052). The mean for exam 2 was 73.3% versus 67.5% (p = 0.225). The mean for exam 3 was 76.9% versus 62.4% (p = 0.044). The final exam was 56.6% versus 55.3% (p = 0.445). The implication may be that students do not understand how to study or what is involved in effective studying. When reading the text is incentivized as an assignment, more students seemed to interact with the text, and more were likely to succeed in the class. This paper examines how interacting with the text for a class supports comprehension.

The Second-Year Retention Effect of Early Enrollment in a First-Year Seminar

Is early enrollment in a qualified first-year seminar (FYS) positively associated with second-year retention rates of new community college students? A large mid-Atlantic community college (MAC) believes that it is, and this belief is the basis for the hypothesis being tested in this research. Beginning in 2010, new first-time college and degree-seeking students were required to enroll in the newly developed FYS course in the first semester of attendance. Students who complied with this policy over the years 2010-2013 were matched on an array of observable and unobservable variables with similar students from the prior years 2006-2009 using the propensity-score matching (PSM) method. Using a logistic regression model, it was estimated that average treatment effect was a statistically significant positive impact of a 6.07 percentage-point increase in the likelihood of being retained into the second year. This result is in line with a common, but not universal, belief in the theory and other research that suggests that enrollment in a FYS would have such an effect. Although there are clear limitations to this result, the implications are positive for the community college that adopted this new policy and for the students it serves.