University of New Orleans Partners with Benjamin Franklin High School to Offer Dual Enrollment Math Courses
Math 1125 students will use Khan Academy videos for supplemental instruction
The University of New Orleans plans to partner this fall with Benjamin Franklin High School to offer high school students pre-calculus algebra training for college credit. As added instruction, UNO faculty will use online YouTube videos made by the Khan Academy, which allow students to review the material at their own pace and at home.
The University shares a campus with Ben Franklin and is working daily to expand learning opportunities and strengthen relationships at this feeder magnet school, said UNO President Peter J. Fos.
Fos applauded when state assistant superintendent of schools Ken Bradford announced the partnership and experimental effort on Monday at "Reimagining Education: A Town Hall Meeting with Sal Khan," a two-hour event hosted by UNO, Benjamin Franklin High School, Tulane University, 4.0 Schools and Propeller: A Force for Social Innovation. Khan is the founder of Khan Academy, a series of more than 7,000 educational videos and interactive quizzes offering complete curricula in a wide range of elementary school to college-level topics.
UNO will offer several sections of pre-calculus algebra (MATH 1125) in a dual enrollment course at Ben Franklin, said Tumulesh Solanky, chair of the UNO Department of Mathematics. The classes will be designed for and taught solely to Ben Franklin students, who will receive both high school and college credit for passing the course.
"The Math 1125 students at Ben Franklin campus would utilize the Khan Academy videos to get an introduction to the mathematical concepts," said Solanky. "This would be followed by technology based interactive teaching style which UNO uses in its Pre-Calculus Algebra class."
The mastery-based and differentiated learning teaching style "creates an active student learning experience under which roughly half of the classroom time is used for hands-on problem solving sessions," said Solanky. "The students who need additional help are provided individualized instruction."
Solanky said that UNO instructors will ensure that every Ben Franklin student is able to do five to six problems in class so that they are prepared to do a similar set of problems as homework. The videos are available for added instruction or refresher tutorials at home, where students can watch, re-watch, stop, pause and replay until they gain mastery.
"The use of technology provides instant feedback to the students," Solanky said.
