I am cross posting this to be on the safe side, it is also listed in the postsecondary education thread…
Hello,
I have really bad math l.d. and in the fall I am going to start up as a transfer student at a private Catholic University, because going to a private University will make it easier for me to earn a BA. This University has me taking Math 101, which works fine for me. But, I looked up the course in order to prepare for a meeting I have with the L.D Student Support Services Head and I found out the following…This math class is on cd rom and you have to work through everything on the cd rom while you are in class, and the instructor will be available for all students if they have any questions while the class is in session. The quizzes are built into this cd rom and at the end of the semester you take a placement test to see if you can take math 105, which is a College Algebra/Trig hybrid course or something.
My issues are that I know I will not be able to work as quickly as the other students in the 50 minute time period this class meets because I have a really slow computation speed and I also wonder how I should go about speaking to the L.D. Student Support Services Head because I figure that I could work ahead or something in this class because I am really sure that I cannot “work at my own pace” because if I were to work at my own pace I would be taking this class until the year 2929. What is odd is that where I went to University before, I was told to take math online because I could not take notes well-and so, I am kinda one step ahead with regards to how to utilise a computer I am just new to utilising a computer in accordance with actual professor involvement. If anyone has any advice, then let me know.
Re: An Inclass University Math Course On Cd Rom? Accomodation ?
I also posted on the other thread. I suggest finding out if there are several sections of this course, as there ususally are, and getting the LD office to give you an accomodation to go to *all* of them. Except for a few terminally nasty people, most math instructors would be overjoyed to see someone who actuallyt wants to work more. The only limitation would be the number of computer stations, but considering the dropout and absentee rate in basic math, within a few weeks space should free up.
It’s sort of painfully amusing when the people who think of these great “work at your own pace” ideas get confronted with someone who’s “pace” isn’t what they expected :-) The good news is that usually people who are using these materials *are* interested in reaching students and getting them through the material, as opposed to the teachers who think math courses are there to Weed Out The Unworthy.
Do you know what the program is called? (I’ve seen one or two of them.)
I think you’ve got a good handle on the issues and should just present them to the L.D. Support Services (and possibly the professor but the Support Services may already know him/her and can tell you the best way to deal with him/her). Basically, you’re going to need more than classroom time. I can’t believe you’re the only one when I think of my students - often without disabilities - who spend hours and hours getting through Pre-Algebra. They really *do* spend two or three hours outside the classroom for every hour inside.
Does the school have other math support? We have apeer tutoring place where you could bring the ol’ CD and pull it up and get peer tutoring help (though peer tutoring quality varies a lot). We have “facilitated study groups” where a teacher sort of has an extended office hour for students in different courses that have high failure rates. (You might ask what the pass rate for the course is, just to know; if it’s low, there *should* be supports in place.)