After the updates to the Math Lab were applied, I decided to have a round two of interviews so I could ask students about their thoughts on the updates and compare it to how the felt about the Math Lab before.
What do you think of the new updates?
Two out of the eight students I interviewed had said that the they didn’t really like the updates and they weren’t very useful. However, the two who said the updates were somewhat helpful said that it gets people talking more and understanding more about things they didn’t get before with the direct instruction and workshops.
Is what we’re doing in the Math Lab more helpful than before?
All of the students said the workshops are somewhat helpful, but everything else seems the same. It’s not much more different than before except we have workshops that are kind of helpful, and community activities in the beginning of class that students don’t necessarily like.
Are the workshops in the beginning of class helpful?
To some, the workshops are slightly helpful. Often, the workshops include activities that they haven’t reached or have already passed, so they’re not helpful at the same time. Students who are in calculus, they just do their regular work, since the workshops don’t really apply to them. They’ve just have been doing the same thing they’ve been doing since the beginning of the year.
What do you think of the community activities at the beginning of class?
It’s a good change, but since students have gotten into a flow where they prefer to get right to their math work, the activities in the beginning of class disrupt them. One student suggested that instead of having like little greetings and talking about our weekends and how we feel, we should have a critical thinking activity in the beginning of class to get our brains working.
Have you seen a change in the math lab community since the updates, if so what?
All except one of the students I interviewed had said that they didn’t really see a change in the math lab since the updates, but the one student had say that some student have progressed a lot faster now that they’re getting help with what they’re struggling with. Others, there hasn’t been much change. She said she had thought it all had to do with mentality, and whether or not the students willing/able to grow with the help that teachers are giving them, and I agree with her.
From the interviews, I took that the updates didn’t really change the math lab. When having the second set of activities I took into mind that I should interview the same students I previously interviewed. I did this to see if their feelings had changed about the math lab since the updates. Sadly everyone felt the same and the updates didn’t really change much. I mean workshops are somewhat helpful, but they could probably be better. Please leave suggestions and visit my blog again to help make the math lab better.
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