New approach leads to math boom at Moses Lake college

Big Bend Community College continues to show strong gains in the number of students enrolling in math and technology fields. The gains are especially striking among Hispanic students.

In just six years, Big Bend Community College has increased the number of Hispanic students taking math and technology classes by 187 percent.

2 female students in math tutor lab — Student tutor Angie Foster, right, helps student Krystal Huffman with a math problem at Big Bend Community College in Moses Lake, which offers learn-at-your-own-pace math classes, called “emporium math.” (Mike Siegel / The Seattle Times)

The Moses Lake school has boosted the number of classes it offers in pre-calculus I from 3 to 11. Pre-calculus II has gone from one class to five. And statistics classes increased from four to 12.

Those are some of the numbers the school released last week to show that a $4.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education, now in its fifth and final year, is paying off.

“It is cool to witness the emergence of a new campus culture,” said Big Bend spokesman Doug Sly in an email.

Big Bend received the federal grant in part because it is designated by the education department as a Hispanic Serving Institution; about 42 percent of the college’s 2014-15 enrollment is Hispanic. It used the money for a variety of initiatives, including redesigning college-level math to include emporium-style math courses that allow students to progress at their own pace, using a computer.

The number of Hispanic students enrolled in science, technology, engineering and math courses has grown from 24 in 2008-09 to 473 in 2014-15.

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