Glossary
College readiness in mathematics: Representatives of UW System and Wisconsin Technical College System institutions; the Wisconsin Mathematics Council, Inc. (WMC); and the Wisconsin Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators (WI-AMTE) drafted this . Both WMC and WI-AMTE have endorsed the statement. UW System is in the process of seeking approval from UW math departments and as of Oct. 25 has received that from 10 institutions.
Co-requisite (single semester): Co-requisite instruction is one strategy some UW System institutions are using to improve success of students in developmental and gateway mathematics in their first year. Co-requisite mathematics is defined, for purposes of the Math Initiative, as follows: Students receive developmental instruction while enrolled in a traditional single-semester gateway math course, delivered through an aligned developmental course. A co-requisite math course differs from a pre-requisite math course, which is completed before enrollment in the gateway math course. The UW System Math Steering Committee recognizes the potential of co-requisite math courses to provide developmental instruction for students who have placed just below a gateway math course and developed .
Developmental Education: Required instruction and support for students who are assessed by their institution of choice as being academically underprepared for postsecondary education. The intent of developmental education is to educate students in the skills that are required to successfully complete gateway courses, and enter and complete a program of study. (Source: Core Principles for Transforming Remedial Education: A Joint Statement, by Charles A. Dana Center, Complete College America, Inc., Education Commission of the States, and Jobs for the Future, 2012)
Gateway Courses: The first college-level or foundation courses for a program of study. Gateway courses are for college credit and apply to the requirements of a degree. (Source: Core Principles for Transforming Remedial Education: A Joint Statement, by Charles A. Dana Center, Complete College America, Inc., Education Commission of the States, and Jobs for the Future, 2012)
Gateway College Algebra Course Description: The study of the properties of elementary functions, such as polynomial, absolute value, radical, rational, exponential, and logarithmic functions. Topics include equations, inequalities, functions, and their graphs. Students will formulate, analyze, solve, and interpret mathematical and real-world problems. This course is intended to provide the algebra skills required for calculus.
Gateway Early Childhood / Elementary & Middle School Mathematics Learning Outcomes: This course sequence is designed for prospective teachers. Content strands include number and operations, algebraic reasoning, geometry, measurement, statistics, and probability. This course sequence is aligned with state and national standards.
Gateway Quantitative Reasoning Course Description: This course is designed to teach students mathematical skills needed for decision making. Its emphasis is on mathematical reasoning and its practical application in a variety of contexts. Quantitative Reasoning develops a habit of mind, competency, and comfort in working with numerical data. Students will learn to reason and solve quantitative problems from a wide array of authentic contexts and everyday life situations, develop the ability to reason mathematically, and make and evaluate logical arguments supported by quantitative evidence.
Gateway Statistics Course Description: Topics in this course include descriptive statistics, both graphical and numerical, elementary probability, general and sampling distributions, and the fundamentals of statistical inference, including confidence intervals and hypothesis testing, simple regression and correlation. Students who have successfully learned this material will be prepared to interpret data from the field they are studying.
Institutional Change Team: A campus-based team of faculty and staff to collect and represent institution-level input, inform system-level decisions, and help implement system-wide change. For the UW System Math Initiative, each team includes a provost-selected change leader, Math Steering Committee member, data analyst, freshman academic advising representative, and transfer representative. In 2018 faculty members represented each of the following broad fields of study: arts and humanities, social and behavioral sciences, and STEM. In 2019 the teams will include faculty members representing business, education, and nursing.
Math Pathway: Mathematics course or sequence of courses that students take to meet the requirements of their program of study (Dana Center definition).
Math Steering Committee: A committee consisting of provost-selected mathematics faculty members from each UW System institution, with committee-selected faculty members as chair and vice chair and responsibilities including development of system-wide math gateway course descriptions and learning outcomes.
Quantitative Literacy: Quantitative Literacy (QL) – also known as Numeracy or Quantitative Reasoning (QR) – is a “habit of mind,” competency, and comfort in working with numerical data. Individuals with strong QL skills possess the ability to reason and solve quantitative problems from a wide array of authentic contexts and everyday life situations. They understand and can create sophisticated arguments supported by quantitative evidence and they can clearly communicate those arguments in a variety of formats (using words, tables, graphs, mathematical equations, etc., as appropriate). (Source: Association of American Colleges and Universities Quantitative Literacy VALUE Rubric)
Additional Resources
UW System Center for Placement Testing
- Contents of Mathematics Placement Test
- Early Math Placement Tool
- Early Math Placement Tool FAQ
- Mathematics Placement Test Committee
- Regional Placement Testing for UW-Madison
- Regional Placement Testing for other UW System institutions
UW System Math Initiative Meeting Materials
Find meeting agendas in events on the Meetings page of this website.
Additional materials are housed in Canvas courses: Math Steering Committee (both ICT and MSC meeting materials and recordings), Gateway Mathematics Transfer, Active Learning for Equitable Instruction, and Co-req Training Site. Contact Sandra Kallio, sandra.kallio@wisconsin.edu, regarding access.
UW System Math Initiative SharePoint
The Math Initiative Project Team is using the Canvas learning management system for materials as noted above. Some historical documents remain on the SharePoint site. Math Initiative participants who need access are asked to contact Sandra Kallio, sandra.kallio@wisconsin.edu.
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