Staff Photo by Matt Fields-Johnson
Freshman Amanda Wofford and junior Rich vande Bovenleamp take notes during a college algebra class at the UTC Engineering Math and Computer Sciences Building.

Math classes have become a major headache and turnoff for students at UTC, a recent survey shows.

So administrators are looking at blowing up the school's traditional model for teaching math.

"(Students) described 'bad math teachers' and having to take remedial math courses over and over again," according to a study of student attitudes and behaviors at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. "One student said she liked math, but wouldn't major in anything related to math so that she could avoid UTC's math department."

In hopes of addressing concerns over the math curriculum at UTC, administrators have set aside $360,000 to build a new interactive math lab that eventually could replace lecture-style math classes.

"We want to improve student success in math," said UTC Provost Phil Oldham. "This will improve graduation rates."

The math lab, also being called a math mall, is being modeled on similar labs at the University of Alabama, Mississippi State University and Virginia Tech. Interactive math curriculum is becoming the standard on many college campuses as schools try to make math less of a student fear, Dr. Oldham said.

Many students begin their four-year degree program unprepared for college-level math, he said. Fifty percent of incoming freshmen this fall were required to take remedial courses, which the UTC study shows many students find frustrating.

Dr. Oldham, who helped bring a math lab to Mississippi State before he came to UTC, said the outcomes from such labs are impressive. Overall, there is a 30 percent improvement in the success rate for college algebra, he said.

Cleveland State Community College implemented an interactive math curriculum last year and has seen vast improvement in student performance in developmental math, officials said.

The passing rate in math at Cleveland State jumped from 62 percent to 71 percent once students began to use the math lab, said Cleveland State President Carl Hite.

"If students don't get past the math they don't get a college degree," he said. "Our retention rate has increased significantly because of the new approach to math."

Jim Catanzaro, president of Chattanooga State Community College, said his school is looking at making similar changes in math education.

UTC officials now are looking for an appropriate campus location for the math mall, and Dr. Oldham said it should be up and running by next fall.

While the new curriculum isn't developed, students using the math mall will be required to spend there, working through problems, he said, and tutors will be available to assist every step of the way. He said he was unsure how many lecture-style math classes will continue under the new math curriculum.

"It is really a creative way of getting students to do math," Dr. Oldham said. "Math, like a lot of subjects, you learn by doing. You don't learn it by sitting and listening about math."