Collin College professor named Professor of the Year

To the newest U.S. Professor of the Year, the nation’s lagging math skills are serious business.

“This problem is not going to be solved if we can joke about it,” said Collin College veteran professor Rosemary Karr. “If you couldn’t read and write, would you be laughing? How can we fix this problem in mathematics - that people think it’s OK not to do mathematics?”

Karr is in Washington, D.C., today to collect the highly coveted award sponsored by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The award, which began in 1981, is the highest honor bestowed on a collegiate-level educator. Karr competed with professors from colleges and universities from across the nation.

Karr’s award marks the school’s third Professor of the Year honor since 2000. In 2006, psychology instructor Jennifer O’Loughlin Brooks was named top college or university professor in Texas, and, in 2000, theatre professor Brad Baker also was named U.S. Professor of the Year.

Israel noted that only six other institutions - including the University of California-Berkeley, Rutgers University, and Williams College — have more than one U.S. Professor of the Year on the faculty. Collin is the only college or university in Texas to have two national honorees.

“Dr. Karr is the first community college math professor ever to be chosen for this award,” said Dr. Cary Israel, president of Collin College. “More importantly, she’s the first professor of developmental education to receive this award.”

Honoring the work of a math professor is even more important given the nation’s deteriorating in math skills, he said, echoing Karr’s own concerns.

There is a crisis as it relates to college readiness. It’s not just at community colleges; It’s at universities too. Forty percent of all students at community colleges need development remediation, 20 percent to universities,” he said.

Karr is best known around campus for her talent in reducing math anxiety among students, Israel said.

“A lot of people fear math. We need to focus not only on remediation, but solutions and acknowledge professors like Dr. Karr,” Israel said.

Karr, who is based at the Spring Creek campus, is a driving force behind many of Collin College’s innovative developmental math program, Passport, which helps students move into credit math courses.

Passport revolves around the idea that not every student must start at the beginning of the textbook. Students can skip over the concepts they’ve mastered and move directly into the areas where they need help, Karr said.

“Particularly in beginning algebra class, students don’t always need the first few chapters,” she said. “In Passport, students start wherever they are. We say let’s start you where you need help.”

The class is self-paced, but not self-taught, she said. Two instructors deliver eight short lectures per session designed to meet the needs of that particular classroom. Students can elect to attend only the lectures in topics where they need more help.

“The student will be able to assess what they know and what they don’t know. They become responsible for their own learning,” Karr said.

Karr has been on the faculty at Collin College for 17 years, and while her honor marks a milestone for Collin College, the professor would rather talk about why students must study and learn math. Understanding the value of math is key in helping students learn the concepts, she said.

“Applications always help you understand mathematics,” she said. “If I teach somebody mathematics, I want to teach them why it works. I want to go beyond the rules.”

Recognizing that math students come to Collin College with varying skill levels is part of what makes Karr a favorite among students.

“I have spent 28 years in the classroom, at the high school level, at the university level, and now the community college level. I have a unique perspective in where students have come from and where they’re going. I think I have a good understanding, regardless of their plans, of what they need to know. I know how to establish a foundation,” she said.

Contact Lynn Proctor Windle at lwindle@acnpapers.com

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