ABE Mathematics Working Committee
Annual Articulation Meeting
March 2 – 3, 2006
Native Education Centre, Vancouver
Co-Chairs: Robert Ferro, Yukon College
Costa Karavas, Vancouver Community College
Vice-Chair: Betty Drury, Capilano College
Present:
Peter Robins, Kwantlen UCLillian Prince, Native Education Centre
Jeannie Maltesen, Malaspina UCBarb Coombs, Selkirk College
Donna-Leigh Goodman, Okanagan UCGordon Danskin, Douglas College
Eldon Nast, NVITColin Lawrence, BCIT
Velma McKay, COTRJean Atkinson, UCFV
Ada Sarsiat, North West CollegePat Corbett-Labbatt, North Island College
David Batterham, Northern Lights CollegeCosta Karavas, VCC
Robert Ferro, Yukon CollegeMichelle McLeod, VCC
Betty Drury, Capilano CollegeMargaret Chen, VCC
Jane Morton, TRU-Open LearningAlison Bowe, Camosun College
Winona Cordua-von Specht, BCITBeth Carver, CNC
Lee Emery, Thompson Rivers University
Presenters:
Kate Nonesuch, Career and Academic Preparation, Malaspina UC, Cowichan Campus
Richard DeMerchant, Mathematics Coordinator, Ministry of Education, Victoria
Thursday, March 2, 9:00 am
1. Opening Remarks and Introductions
Robert welcomed everyone to the Native Education Centre and introduced Lillian Prince, our host. There was a round the fireplace prayer, both spoken and sung by our hosts.
There were introductions around the table.
2. Approval of the Agenda
Add Accuplacer under #2 on Friday – Gordon Danskin.
Add Provincial textbook – David Batterham.
Change #7a to Barb Coombs instead of Costa Karavas.
Motion: To approve the agenda.
Moved by Gordon Danskin; seconded by Velma McKay. Carried
3. Review Purpose of Meeting
Robert reviewed The Goals of Articulation Committees on page 19 of the Articulation Committee Handbook.
4. Approval of Minutes of March 3-4, 2005 meeting.
On page 2, #4 should read “Maggie O’Sullivan is our liaison with the Deans and Directors.”
Motion: To approve the minutes.
Moved by Ada Sarsiat; seconded by Jane Morton, Carried
5. Action Items Resulting from Minutes of 2005 Meeting
Robert will follow up on the letter sent from Paul Stacey regarding copyright for on-line courses.
6. Updating Members List and Transfer Guide
Forms and lists were passed around for updating.
7. Reports/Updates
a)ABE Steering Committee Meeting Report – Barb Coombs
Both Barb and Costa submitted a written report on the Steering Committee meeting held on April 21-22, 2005.
Some items in the report were:
Fundamental level students are having more problems with funding to access courses.
There are some problems with the on-line courses, such as there is only a virtual microscope for biology and no hands-on use of one. Fundamental students need more personal interaction.
SFU has made some curriculum changes and ABE was praised for already meeting these, such as critical thinking skills.
The method of counting FTEs has changed and will be not be the same at all institutions.
The next meeting will be held on April 27 and 28 at Malaspina College in Nanaimo.
The reports are attached.
b)BCCAT Chairs/Co-chairs & System Liaison Persons Meeting Report – Robert Ferro and Costa Karavas
The meeting was held on Friday, February 3, 2006.
Groups were formed to discuss the best and worst practices of articulation committees.
A summary of that is attached.
There was also interest in knowing what other articulation committees were doing.
There was concern about students being able to transfer to Alberta universities, which is where students in the eastern BC colleges tend to go.
There was concern about private colleges that articulate with our courses – how are they monitored?
Check the BCCAT website to keep updated.
The report is attached.
c)BCCUPMS Meeting Report – Costa Karavas
The meeting was held on May 26-28, 2005.
There were about 50 people attending from all institutions.
There was more emphasis on lower level and undergrad math courses – first year, pre-calculus and lower, than there was on the third and fourth year courses.
On the second day the participants split into two groups.
The stats group discussed what is in first year stats courses, both math and non-math streams. There are many different departments that teach stats. There is a wide range of courses and of pre-requisites for these courses.
The on-line group expressed concern that although there are many offering on-line courses, there seems to be little communication among them.
There was some discussion of high tech methods of cheating.
The report is attached.
d)Fundamental Level Math articulation update
The group will be concentrating on updating English, so there is no report.
e)Ministry Update
Bonnie Wai is our new contact person in the Ministry.
The report is attached.
8. Articulation of New Math Courses
a)Intermediate
Motion: To make the last 3 topics in Learning Outcome #2 optional, to strike out “measuring and” in the 3rd and 4th outcome in #3 and to make iii), iv) and v) in the 3rd topic in #6 optional in the Intermediate Level Math.
Moved by Velma McKay; seconded by Ada Sarsiat.Carried
Motion: That the co-chairs make sure the numbers and letters are consistent in the Articulation Guide.
Moved by Pat Corbett-Labatt; seconded by Velma McKay.Carried
Motion: To accept Math for Trades as Intermediate Level Math when coupled with Math 050 (now renumbered 0750) from VCC.
Moved by Pat Corbett-Labatt; seconded by Barb Coombs.Carried
b)Advanced
Information: Barb Coombs announced that Math 080 and 090 at Selkirk College are to be struck from the grid.
c)Provincial – Algebra and Trigonometry
Motion: To accept MAT 060 as a Provincial Level Math course from North Island College.
Moved by Velma McKay; seconded by David Batterham.Carried
Note: This is an on-line course. To get a password to view this course, send an email to .
d)Provincial – Calculus (none presented at this time)
e)Discuss whether we should have all courses on the grid electronically stored somewhere.
It was decided by the group that it was not necessary to do this.
f)Question from committee members: How are other colleges managing to get students from the intermediate level to the advanced level without doing the developmental math? Some have found that students who go directly from intermediate to advanced usually flounder at the pace required.
It was noted that it is a big jump from one level to the next for all levels, not just between the intermediate and advanced.
Many colleges do the developmental math or part of it between the intermediate and advanced courses. Some colleges have self-paced courses. This allows students to have extra time.
9. Presentation by Kate Nonesuch, Career and Academic Preparation, Malaspina University-College, Cowichan Campus
Items that were discussed:
a)Presentation: What does research have to say about teaching numeracy to adults? The presentation focused on findings about instruction rather than about policy or curriculum, and included such topics as best practices, computer assisted learning, math anxiety, the practical-abstract continuum, and connections between literacy and numeracy instruction.
b)Consultation: Participants were asked to assess the relevance of the research findings to their teaching practice. Their feedback will be used in preparation of a manual that will assist practitioners in applying research findings to BC situations – small and large group instruction, multi-level self-paced classes, or one-on-one.
Meeting adjourned until Friday.
Friday, March 3, 2006, 9:00 am
1. Business Arising From Previous Day
There was none.
2. Other New Articulation Business
a)Accuplacer – Gordon Danskin asked if it is possible to use Accuplacer to successfully place ABE students.
Selkirk has been using it for about 10 years. All students entering the college must do the test. It can take up to two and a half hours and covers reading, sentence skills and three levels of math. One problem is that it kicks students out of the test when they reach a math section they can’t do, such as fractions, and they can’t try further sections that they might be able to do.
Thompson Rivers University uses it for all incoming students and charges $40 for it.
UCFV started using it about one year ago and had it normed for their college.
Kwantlen uses it for English placement but not for math.
b)Textbooks – The list of textbooks used by each college was circulated for updates. Robert will update the list and email it to everyone on the committee list.
c)Grading Systems – It was noted that there is a difference among colleges in the letter grading system, perhaps giving some students an unfair advantage over others when applying to university. Some colleges submit percent grades along with the letter grades. It was suggested that we might all ask our colleges to allow us to submit percent grades in addition to letter grades.
d)Use of ABE Listserve – It has never been used for its original purpose and there are some problems with the formatting. It seems that email is easier to use. Since it is already in place and we might want to make more use of it some day, we will just leave it as is.
e)Problems With Representation at Articulation Meetings – Some colleges are reluctant to send representatives to these meetings and make it difficult. One requires written justification for why they need to go, what they do there, etc. They also do not approve requests to attend the meetings for non-transferable courses such as EDCP and computers. Another pays for only one night’s stay, even though it is a long distance away. It was suggested that this should go to the Steering Committee.
3. Long Range Plans (two to three years in the future)
a)Any items that need to be reviewed – The courses are good and there seems to be no need to revise any at this time.
b)There is a growing requirement for specialized math courses for trades, etc. Next year we should look at developing some of these.
4. Discuss UBC’s New Requirement for Grade 12 Provincial Final Exam Marks
UBC requires the grade 12 provincial exam marks for entry into the university. Since our students don’t write these exams, their option is to do first year math at the college and then transfer to UBC.
5. Election For Co-Chairs and Vice-Chair of Committee
Motion: That Robert Ferro and Costa Karavas continue as co-chairs and that Betty Drury continue as vice-chair for one more year.
Moved by Jeannie Maltesen; seconded by Velma McKay.Carried
Suggestions for future meetings:
It was useful to have publishers at our meeting last year and it was decided that we should invite them to come every two years.
Several people were suggested as being able to offer useful training events or professional development at our meetings, but for some there would be a cost, such as paying their sub for the day. There was a suggestion that perhaps lower mainland colleges, which have a much lower cost for articulation meetings than others, could contribute some money towards bringing someone in.
On-line math was suggested as a useful workshop topic.
It was noted that research people come at no charge. (as Kate Nonesuch on Thursday)
Send any ideas for workshops or people to Robert or Costa.
6. Summary of New Business
New courses were articulated.
There will be follow up with BC Campus.
It was requested that each college around the table state their tuition cost for ABE and their enrollment trend for this year.
CollegeTuition CostEnrollment Trends
SelkirkfreeNelson campus okay, others down
about 10%, many are taking fewer
courses
BCITno ABEpre-entry okay
Kwantlennon-grads are freedown about 10%
grads - $110/cr
$340/course
Okananganfreedown
CamosunfreeFundamental English down
other courses okay
Malaspina$50/coursedown slightly
(a commitment fee)
NVITfreeokay
TRUnon-grads and Fund freedown, mainly at Fund & Int levels
$100/course Intermediate
$200/course Adv & Prov
Capilano freeokay
VCCnon-grads, Fund & Int freedown 10 – 15%
grads - $340/course
Yukon$87.50/course Funddown a little
$150/course Int & higher
$350/term below Fund
Douglasnon-grads & Fund free10% lower, English higher
grads - $110/creditthan math because students with less
math $450, Eng $600than C+ in Eng 12 must take ABE
English
COTRfreedown a bit
NWCfreedown in English & math
science very high
NICfreedown slightly in math, science high
CNCfreedown
UCFV$400/coursedown, especially Fund & Int
NLCfreeokay but more students are part-time
NECfree15 – 20% lower
7. Selection of Next Meeting Location and Dates for 2007
The next meeting will be held on March 1 – 2, 2007 at Kwantlen College, Richmond Campus.
The meeting for 2008 will be held at Camosun College in Victoria, dates TBA.
8. Other Business – There was none.
9. Presentation by Richard DeMerchant, Mathematics Coordinator, Ministry of Education, Victoria
Mr. DeMerchant is responsible at the Ministry for revision of the Math K-12 curriculum.
Items that were discussed:
a)Refinement to the BC Mathematics 10-12 curriculum starting in September 2006 for grade 11 and September 2007 for grades 10 and 12.
b)Western and Northern Canadian Protocol (WNCP) Common Curriculum Framework (CCF) revisions for grades 10-12, which start in 2010. These will replace the refinements mentioned in “a” above.
c)The finalized post-secondary report.
10. Adjournment
Motion to adjourn.
Moved by Velma McKay; seconded by Beth Carver.Carried
2006 Minutes—ABE Math Articulation MeetingPage 1 of 9
ABE Steering Committee Report 2005 – 2006
ABE Curriculum Guide
Thank you for your continued hard work in keeping the 2005/2006 abe curriculum guide one of the most interesting documents on the web. In 2005 we welcomed a new working group – First Nations so we continue to progress. This document can be accessed at For your information, pages 110 – 111 outline the history of the formation of the curriculum guide. Special thanks to the chairs to insure that newly articulated courses are added to the grid and that new members names and addresses are updated.
ABE Fundamental Program Access Challenges
The Fundamental Working Group prepared a letter dated March 4, 2005 outlining the struggles for financial assistance for students trying to access fundamental level programs. The letter was well received by Deans and Directors and it is good to continue to call attention to this struggle. The following publication seeks to address this issue and it will continue to keep this struggle in the forefront. If you are interested please access the following document.
"A Path Out of Poverty:
Helping BC income assistance recipients upgrade their education" by
Shauna Butterwick with Caroline White published by the Canadian Centre
for Policy Alternatives. Download a copy at
ABE Literacy Challenges
Literacy BC (
In the throne speech of Feb 2005, the provincial government stated their goal was “to make BC the most educated, most literate jurisdiction on the continent”. To that effect the premier has formed the Premier’s Advisory Panel on Literacy. A copy of the Panel’s exhaustive interim report, presented to the Premier in Feb of 2005, can be obtained from Literacy BC upon request. The government is preparing its formal response to its Plan for Literacy in late 2005. The response to date has been a ministry reorganization with the Ministry of Education taking the lead in Adult Literacy therefore, there is a need to coordinate with the Ministry of Advanced Education. For more information and a list of important dates that may be of interest to those interested in attending workshops and/or submitting proposals visit the website noted above. This initiative is highly supported by Deans and Directors.
Online Learning Opportunities/Challenges
ABE programs are now offered through Bccampus and we welcome programs that are going to provide access to ABE students that could not access ABE courses through traditional means. The ABE Fundamental and Science groups continue to point out that Fundamental students need face-to-face interaction and for science folks, labs and lab safety continue to be an issue with on-line learning. There is an interesting document to access as follows:
Learning Online: Distributed Education in 2004. Spring 2005[online] in CISO Information Paper [available] Paper Vol 3. No. 1
BCCAT (
This website contains some interesting information regarding ABE students bound for University. It’s Advising Degree Bound ABE students in the Advisor and found at the website above. BCCAT are in the process of recalibrating the BC Transfer System to make it more amenable to students. If you are interested you can respond to This website also contains the dates of articulation meetings so it is important for working groups to establish the date and location of their upcoming meeting (ie 2007) for the ABE Steering committee so this information can be published on the website.
Another interesting document that outlines student movement between BC post secondary institutions should be available on this website by Feb 28 2006.
And last but not least; a new formula for counting FTE’s
Counting FTE’s in 2005/2006 “22 institutions” was presented at deans and directors by Patty-Beatty Guenter. We will be inviting Patty to the 2006 ABE Steering Committee to be held at Malaspina University College on April 27 and 28.
ABE Math Working Group Committee / Native Education CentreMarch 2 – 3, 2006
Report
The ABE Articulation Steering Committee Meeting held at Camosun College, Victoria, BC on April 21 - 22, 2005.
by: Costa Karavas (VCC)
BC Campus and Online Program Development and Delivery by Thorne Won (BC Campus):
Thorne gave a four-part talk on the Development, Delivery, FTE Counting, and Maintenance of the range of BC Campus courses, with an emphasis on ABE.
Development: There are three funding sources for development: