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Supporting Transitional Math Students through Math Labs

Supporting Transitional Math Students through Math Labs . Nanci Barker Carroll Community College. A Presentation at the 16th Annual AFACCT Conference January 2006. Trends in Transitional Students.

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Supporting Transitional Math Students through Math Labs

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  1. Supporting Transitional Math Students through Math Labs Nanci Barker Carroll Community College A Presentation at the 16th Annual AFACCT ConferenceJanuary 2006

  2. Trends in Transitional Students • McCabe found that half of the students entering community college enroll in one or more developmental courses but only half successfully complete (2003) • Kozeracki found 55% of community colleges reported the number of students in developmental courses increased over the past five years (2002) • McCabe, R. H. (2003), Yes we can! A community college guide for developing America’s underprepared. Phoenix, AZ: League for Innovation in Community College. • Kozeracki, C. A. (2002), ERIC review: Issues in developmental education. Community College Review, 29(4), 83-100

  3. Trends • The national rate of successful completion for developmental algebra courses is 50% (Journal of Developmental Education, Winter 2004) • Yet, developmental algebra students surveyed by Weinstein reported spending more time than their peers on homework (2004) • (2004). A new algebra approach for struggling students. Journal of Developmental Education, 28(2),40 • Weinstein, G. L. (2004). Their side of the story: remedial college algebra students. Mathematics and Computer Education, 38(2), 230-241.

  4. Per the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (2005) • More than half (53%) students are academically underprepared, i.e., taking transitional courses • 53% reported “often” or “very often” working harder than expected to meet their professors expectations (43% of academically prepared students reported) • Available at http://www.ccsse.org

  5. CCSSE Student Results (continued) • Helped them “quite a bit” or “very much” • 60% to solve numerical problems (44% academically prepared) • 70% to think critically and analytically (61% academically prepared) • Encouraged them “quite a bit” or “very much” • 75% to spend time studying (64% academically prepared) • 28% to cope with nonacademic responsibilities (20% academically prepared)

  6. CCSSE Conclusions • Academically underprepared students • Exert more effort • Experience greater academic challenge • Utilize more support services • Report more academic gain

  7. CCSSE reports • Colleges that develop strategies to retain these students • Offer students the opportunity to be successful in college • Level the playing field for these students

  8. CCSSE Reports • Students who successfully complete developmental courses are productively employed • Professionals 16% • Mid-level white-collar or technical positions 54% • High-skill blue collar workers 20% • Low skill jobs- only 9%

  9. Why math labs? • Research shows higher student interaction results in greater success • Assist students to pass their transitional math courses • Guided practice • Professionals to answer questions, to interact with students, to offer help • Tutoring software • Exam study materials

  10. Requirements • Each student registers for a weekly lab • Students complete practice and receive help • Grade included as component of course • Average of 10 labs • Count as unit test in course approximately 11.75 to 12.5% of course grade

  11. Evolving Structure • Pretest, practice then graded • Practice on tutorial software then graded • Practice then graded • Moving toward all practice

  12. Challenges • Large number of course sections • Progress varies among sections • Avoid initial instruction in the lab • Large Number of Labs • Staffing • Consistency • Grading

  13. Challenges • Missed Labs • Special make-up lab times • Mastery and Make-up • Dropping one or two grades • Efficient use of resources • Attrition • Scheduling to meet different needs • Cost

  14. Successes • Students perceptions generally positive • “Agree or strongly agree” Labs are beneficial • Range from 72-83% Students grade labs as “A” or “B” • “Agree or Strongly agree” Lab Instructors provide timely and supportive help

  15. Successes • Open ended evaluations consistently include positive comments about the help received • Former transitional students comment that they wish labs were available for their college level math courses

  16. Evaluation Challenges • Changes in course content or placement scores • Limited ability to compare results over different terms • No base period without labs • Lab grades compared to course grades • Initially lab grades higher • Recently lab grades have actually lowered some students’ grades

  17. Conclusion • Although outcome data is hard to determine, students think math labs are beneficial • We plan to look for more ways to evaluate outcomes and improve the labs

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