Metacognitive Assessments for Undergraduate Mathematics Courses in the Time of COVID-19

ABSTRACT

In this paper, we assess the pedagogical approaches we employ in our US-based undergraduate mathematics courses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our goal is to share anecdotal evidence on the use of math journals, oral exams, and learning portfolios in the synchronous online mathematics classroom. We reflect on our experience using artifacts of student materials, feedback, and dialogues.

KEYWORDS:

• Student assessment
• undergraduate mathematics
• early college
• oral exam
• learning portfolio
• math journal
• COVID-19
• virtual classroom

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Amanda K. Landi

Amanda Landi received her PhD in Applied Mathematics from North Carolina State University (NCSU). She also received a Certificate of Accomplishment in Teaching from NCSU upon graduation. In 2015, Amanda became an assistant professor at Bard College at Simon's Rock, serving the department of mathematics. The institution is an undergraduate early college, and the appointment is primarily a teaching professorship with academic advising responsibilities. Amanda has 7 years of experience teaching undergraduate mathematics courses to this unique student population. Additionally, over her time at Simon's Rock, Amanda has developed curriculum alongside her colleagues. Along with this article, Amanda has published research with undergraduates and a forthcoming paper involving a mathematics outreach program.

Kaethe Minden

Kaethe Minden: PhD The Graduate Center, City University of New York (CUNY) BS, University of California Los Angeles. Kaethe started teaching mathematics at Bard College at Simon's Rock as an assistant professor in 2019. Before Simon's Rock, Kaethe taught at Marlboro College as a mathematics fellow and while a graduate student at CUNY. Her research lies the fields of logic and set theory—particularly large cardinals and forcing. Some recent work with undergraduate students connects to combinatorial group theory, involving infinite latin squares.