An Interdisciplinary Approach to Teaching Mathematics and
                     Composition

Dr. Joseph Kirtland & Dr. Steven Killion, Marist College, 
Poughkeepsie, NY 12601

     This approach to teaching mathematics is designed to
strengthen mathematical and writing skills among first-year
college students who indicate that they will not major in
mathematics or the sciences.  It incorporates pedagogical
techniques centered on the use of writing to learn mathematics,
an approach that has shown to improve comprehension and
understanding.  Yet, this method builds upon this idea by
explicitly using an integrated approach to teaching mathematics
and writing through a course cluster, where the same students are
enrolled in both an introductory level mathematics and writing
class.  The cluster creates an environment that reduces anxiety
and explores the interdisciplinary applications of mathematics
and writing.
     At Marist College, first-year students who indicate they
will not major in mathematics or the sciences are generally
placed into an introductory mathematics course called Excursions
in Mathematics I, and all but the very exceptional students are
placed into College Writing I.  During the fall semester, one
section of the Excursions in Mathematics I(taught by Dr.
Kirtland) and one section of College Writing I(taught by Dr.
Killion) are linked into a course cluster.  The students and both
teachers attend all classes, and as a result meet together four
times a week.  The class sessions are student-centered, with a
minimum of overt lecturing and a maximum of students learning
actively as they respond to the collaborative and joint
assignments that enhance the development, investigation, and
extensions of the concepts taught.
     The Excursions in Mathematics I class is a writing based
symbolic logic course with an emphasis on argument analysis and
problem solving.  It aims to improve the student's deductive
thinking and argument construction skills, skills crucial in
mathematics and all academic disciplines.  Utilizing the
composition skills taught in College Writing I, the students
learn to develop and present ideas clearly and effectively.
Similarly, the mathematical structure set up by symbolic logic is
used to develop writing in the English class.  In particular,
students learn to write clearer and more effective arguments.  In
addition, learning to apply these higher-order critical thinking
skills in their mathematics and college writing classes
encourages students to apply them deliberately as they read and
write in other academic areas as well.