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Assessing the Mathematics Major at Saint Peter’s CollegeAppendix 2Survey Sent to Alumni In preparation for a review of its accreditation by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, the department has undertaken a self-assessment. One of the methods that we have decided to utilize is a survey of alumni/ae who have graduated since 1980. The survey has two parts. The first asks your personal educational and vocational history since graduation. This will help us to identify the careers that current students might pursue and to review our program in that light. The second part of the survey asks you to reflect on the mathematics courses that you took at Saint Peter’s and to assess their contribution to your career path. We are also interested in identifying content areas where you feel you were under-prepared when you entered the workforce or attended graduate school. Please be frank in your responses. The answers will remain completely confidential. Identifying information will be removed before the surveys are analyzed. If the mathematics department is to remain viable in a changing world, it is essential that you, our alumni/ae, provide guidance for us in this task of departmental assessment. In past survey efforts, our alumni/ae have been very cooperative. We hope that we can count on you to continue that tradition and to help make a good mathematics department even better. Sincerely,
The Assessment Team Please return survey to: Name _________________________________________________Year _________ Address _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ Phone: __________________Fax: ________________E-Mail:____________________ (If this is a temporary address only, please indicate its expiration date if known, and write your permanent address on the back of this page.) Mathematics was my _____First ______Second major 1. Educational History
Professional Certificates Credentialing Organization ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ 2. Occupational History Firm Position Held Years in Position ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ If additional space is needed, please attach a separate sheet 3. Course Evaluation Please rate the mathematics courses you took in terms of their value to your post-graduation employment and educational experiences.
What two courses in your mathematics curriculum do you think were most helpful in your career choice? ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ What two courses in your mathematics curriculum do you think were least helpful in your career choice? ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ If you have taught at any time during your career, please answer these education-specific questions. 4. Teacher Certification
Are you certified? Yes ____ No ____ Did you receive your teaching certificate as a Saint Peter’s Undergraduate? ______ As a Saint Peter’s Graduate? ______ What do you think is the biggest problem/obstacle for first-year teachers of mathematics? ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ In considering the areas of teacher preparation (subject content, classroom management, discipline, etc.) state the area for which you were best prepared. ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Compared with other colleagues, state the area for which you were least prepared. ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Compared with other colleagues, state one thing that would have better prepared you for teaching. ________________________________________________________________________ Appendix 3 Results from Transcript Analysis
* Demographic data includes female / male and Asian – Pacific Island / Hispanic / White (non-Hispanic). Hispanics and blacks are significantly underrepresented in comparison to the statistics for the overall student body. Also, 27 of these 90 graduates have gone on to complete advanced degrees (30%), including four Ph.D.s (all women). (All subsequent tables give percentages, not actual numbers of students.) first math course 1980-1985 1986-1991 1992-1997 1998-2003 GPA below calculus 3 6 0 13 3.34 elem. calculus 21 6 28 26 3.14 major calculus 67 69 61 39 3.36 above calculus 9 19 11 22 3.54
Min. & 2nd Maj. 1980 - 1985 1986 - 1991 1992 - 1997 1998 - 2003 C.S. 27 63 33 34 Ed. 0 0 11 34 prerequisites followed / didn’t followed GPA / didn’t GPA overall 74 / 26 3.33 / 3.34 1980-1985 70 / 30 3.24 / 3.19 1986-1991 75 / 25 3.56 / 3.67 1992-1997 94 / 6 3.37 / 2.81 1998-2003 65 / 35 3.26 / 3.44 Appendix 4 Results from Alumni Survey
Appendix 5 Letter from an alumna in response to the survey I recently received a survey in the mail from the St. Peter's College math dept. It seemed very focused on teaching and so although I answered the questions, I really didn't think that they reflected my experience with the math department and how it has benefited me, so I thought that I would send you a quick note in addition to the survey. I was a double major in Accounting and Math, but I chose to follow the accounting path for my career. However, when I returned to school for my MBA, my math background was invaluable in understanding a lot of the finance concepts, especially in areas such as options, financial derivatives, and fixed income securities. Especially helpful were differential calculus and statistics, which are essential to understanding the financial models. In addition, just having a background in math helps a great deal in my job, where I work in a Strategic group as a financial analyst. Although computers are used for most of the analysis, having a knowledge of the basic math concepts that are being applied gives me a deeper understanding and makes me a lot more effective in decision making and in explaining the results we get from a PC. Just wanted to take a chance to let you know how valuable my math degree has been to me, even in a financial/accounting position. |
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