Observational Course Journal Entry #1

Part 1: Site Information

The site I visited is the website of the Farmington, Utah Mathnasium Center. This Farmington center is one of over a thousand franchises that serve over 100,000 students in five continents with face-to-face math only instruction. Though the organization is a multinational company, the home page of the Farmington franchise does everything it can to feel local. It features a photo and bio of the center director, information about which local communities are served, and reviews from local parents. My problem of practice has to do with feedback, and I could see lots of evidence here through their promotional videos.

Part 2: Observation

This observation of the Farmington, Utah Mathnasium Center took place on March 16, 2021. 

Description

I saw a company trying to communicate to potential clients that they offer a service that compliments what local schools offer. They administer a diagnostic to each new student, create a customized plan for them, and then provide one-on-one interaction using that plan. Their brochure emphasized several core values that drove the system, including (a) every child can find success in math, and (b) math instruction from trained professionals is best. 

Interaction

The website featured three news stories about the Farmington center, two of which were four years old. One story said to text the center for more information. Small social media links ran along the top of each page, pointing to a highly localized and updated Facebook page, and updated but national-level Twitter feed and Youtube pages. While some of Facebook's posts pointed to ads that were also featured in the local school district's newsletter, there were no comments on its posts. Back on the website, customers could further log in for more interaction. A calendar of upcoming events highlighted things like hat day and double star day. Finally, 65 reviews were included, and all of them seemed to come from Farmington. They were all very positive. 

Analysis

This site appears to offer an up-beat atmosphere that helps learners overcome any notions about math being too hard or mysterious. While several comments from parents offered glowing reviews, still more mentioned the high price tag, which led me to believe that the services offered were not cheap. I was not able to ascertain how much it costs, although several buttons beckoned me to get a free assessment. Since mathematics is so logical and its concepts nested inside a hierarchy, I can understand how these assessments/diagnostics can be easier to create for math than for, say, writing. Thus, the organization's focus on math-only not only helps them offer a free diagnostic at likely low overhead costs, but it also helps them stick to a central service model they can keep polishing. Perhaps this Farmington center can add more luster to its four year old news stories, and find other ways to create more localized community connections through its social media channels.

Part 3: Readings

Bentley, T. (2009). Innovation and diffusion as a theory of change. In A. Hargreaves, A. Liberman, M. Fullan, & D. Hopkins (Eds.), Second international handbook of educational change (pp. 29-46). Springer Netherlands. 10.1007/978-90-481-2660-6

• Mathnasium operates like a non-profit, but is really a for-profit on purpose, thus they, like School of Everything, are able to bypass so much bureaucracy and focus on students. Happy parents will keep them sharp (30).
• This site embraces plurality, meeting students where they are. There are no grades, and progress is measured not by seat time (41).

Hargreaves, A., Lieberman, A., Fullan, M., & Hopkins, D. (Eds.). (2010). Introduction. In Second international handbook of educational change (Vol. 23). Springer Science & Business Media.

• We need to make sure not to focus just on what is happening in the formal school settings (xix).
• Mathnasium probably does not force every student into standardized testing every time just so they can keep their board of directors happy -- it would be a waste of time. Their business model's strength isn't in its standardization, but in its diversification of learning paths (xx).

Weick, K. E. (1976). Educational organizations as loosely coupled systems. Administrative science quarterly, 1-19.

• There is a loose coupling between what people want and what actually happens in educational systems. Perhaps Mathnasium overcomes some of this by following the francise method, which gives local ownership and incentive to thrive under a shell of company standards (4)
• If you call a franchise a decentralization, which I think I do, then the Farmington center is loosely coupled with the parent company (5).

Part 4: Integration

I am curious to continue looking at sites and systems that deal with the teacher-student-teacher-student cycle of teaching, feedback and response. Though Mathnasium likely has a higher per pupil expenditure than public systems and may therefore not be replicable, what about their methods could be found within the loose-coupled gap that exists in other systems?

Photos/Images

Home Page

Results Page

First Part of Brochure Featuring Values