An Activity Theory Approach to Examining the Implications of Developmental Mathematics Reform at an Urban Community College PDF Download

Author: Jennifer Ruth Zakotnik-Gutierrez
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Community colleges
Languages : en
Pages : 182

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Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309496659
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 123

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The Board on Science Education and the Board on Mathematical Sciences and Analytics of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine convened the Workshop on Increasing Student Success in Developmental Mathematics on March 18-19, 2019. The Workshop explored how to best support all students in postsecondary mathematics, with particular attention to students who are unsuccessful in developmental mathematics and with an eye toward issues of access to promising reforms and equitable learning environments. The two-day workshop was designed to bring together a variety of stakeholders, including experts who have developed and/or implemented new initiatives to improve the mathematics education experience for students. The overarching goal of the workshop was to take stock of the mathematics education community's progress in this domain. Participants examined the data on students who are well-served by new reform structures in developmental mathematics and discussed various cohorts of students who are not currently well served - those who even with access to reforms do not succeed and those who do not have access to a reform due to differential access constraints. Throughout the workshop, participants also explored promising approaches to bolstering student outcomes in mathematics, focusing especially on research and data that demonstrate the success of these approaches; deliberated and discussed barriers and opportunities for effectively serving all students; and outlined some key directions of inquiry intended to address the prevailing research and data needs in the field. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussion of the workshop.

Author: Kevin L. McCandless
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to compare the effects of a varied method of instruction on student achievement, knowledge transfer, situational interest, and course retention rates, relative to a non-varied method of instruction, in community college developmental mathematics. The varied method of instruction consisted of active learning teaching practices with foundations in social constructivism, whereas the non-varied method of instruction was founded in Cognitive Load Theory and consisted primarily of explicit instruction and individual practice. An initial sample of 139 students who enrolled in six sections of Beginning Algebra at an urban community college in Northern California participated in the study. Given the quasi-experimental nature of the study, considerable effort was taken to control for school, teacher, student, and curriculum implementation variables. As such, the six sections were divided equally among three instructors, with each instructor teaching one varied class and one non-varied class. Additionally, students were assessed on the following entry characteristics: preferences for working in groups, personal interest in mathematics, reasoning ability, verbal ability, and prior mathematics knowledge. The dependent variables were conceptual understanding, procedural application near transfer, far transfer, situational interest, and course retention rates. Conceptual understanding and procedural application were assessed three times throughout the study, whereas the remaining variables were measured after eight weeks of instruction. No statistically significant differences in conceptual understanding, procedural application, near transfer, far transfer, or course retention rates were obtained between the varied and non-varied classes while controlling for individual differences. There was a statistically significant difference of medium effect in situational interest; the students in the varied classes enjoyed their classes to a lesser extent than students in the non-varied classes. Overall, both methods of instruction were equally ineffective in teaching basic algebraic concepts and procedures. Therefore, it appears that manipulating methods of instruction is not an adequate solution to the high failure rates in developmental mathematics. Instead, developmental mathematics education may better benefit from other reforms, such as learning communities, contextualized curricula, and mandatory support services. Future studies may be conducted to investigate the effects of these reforms, both in isolation and in combination.

Author: Lisa Salinas Alcorta
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 492

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Success rates for students in developmental education are dismal. The greatest need for developmental education instruction occurs in mathematics, where high numbers of underprepared students generate great concern and the need for substantial changes in higher education institutions. With higher rates of students requiring remediation in the community colleges, the identification of effective policies and practices in developmental education is necessary to increase the achievement rates of developmental education students, and more specifically developmental mathematics students. This study explored the relationship between developmental mathematics student performance and developmental education programs of the Urban Community College District colleges. In addition, this study set out to identify institutional characteristics between colleges whose developmental mathematics students met state mandated academic outcomes at higher rates than their sister colleges.

Author: Brian V. Cafarella
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Community colleges
Languages : en
Pages : 246

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Currently, many community colleges are struggling with poor student success rates in developmental math. Therefore, this qualitative study focused on employing best practices in developmental mathematics at an urban community college in Dayton, Ohio. Guiding the study were the following research questions: What are the best practices utilized by a group of developmental mathematics instructors at an urban community college? How do these instructors employ such practices to enhance student learning? Participants consisted of 20 developmental mathematics instructors from Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio who had taught at least six developmental math classes over a two-year period and who self-reported success rates of at least 60% during that time. This study employed a pre-interview document and a face-to-face interview as the primary research instruments. Using the constant comparison method (Merriam, 2002a), the researcher constructed findings from both approaches regarding best practices in developmental math. Such practices included communication with students, the art of organization, collaborative learning, frequent low stake assessments, technology supplements, the use of mnemonics and memorable wording, and manipulatives, visuals and real-life applications. When addressing the topic of acceleration, the participants reported that this strategy is a proper fit for some students but not all. The following conclusions were based on the findings from this study. Effective communication should be established between developmental math instructors and students as well as among developmental math instructors. Developmental math faculty ought to work with their students in developing their organizational skills. Developmental math instructors should couple the implementation of frequent low stake assessments with student outreach. Collaborative learning can be beneficial to some developmental math students, but instructors must take into account the composition of the class as well their own comfort level with collaborative learning. It is also important for developmental math instructors to employ some creativity in their classes. Accelerated instruction should be reserved for higher ability developmental math students with a strong work ethic. Lastly, college administrators must recognize and respect instructor comfort level. The findings from this dissertation will assist both new and veteran developmental math instructors with implementing practices that will enhance student success in their classes. The findings are also intended to aid community college leaders in gaining an understanding of the culture of developmental math and assist these leaders in the implementation of policy and practice regarding developmental math.

Author: Karen M. Rosen
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Developmental studies programs
Languages : en
Pages : 480

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The purpose of this exploratory, phenomenological study was to understand developmental mathematics in community college by examining the beliefs and worldviews of developmental mathematics instructors. This study interviewed 11 instructors in 4 demographically different community colleges within a single state with decentralized developmental mathematics programs in order to understand instructors' perceptions of the mission and outcomes of developmental mathematics, and suggestions for improving outcomes in developmental mathematics. This study also examined how instructors differentiated teaching developmental and college-level mathematics. Central to this study was an examination of instructors' personal theories of practice, which included instructors' epistemological worldviews. Although not all instructors differentiated teaching developmental and college-level mathematics, this study revealed that many instructors perceived developmental differences in student metacognitive skills and affective behaviors. Colleges whose faculties perceived a difference in developmental and college-level mathematics were in agreement as to how to improve outcomes in developmental mathematics. Instructors in this study understood the goal of developmental mathematics in pragmatic terms: helping students progress into the college-level mathematics required by their degree or certificate program. However, the metrics used by instructors to assess the success of developmental mathematics were neither uniform nor linked to the program goal. Instructors reported problems related to student learning, lack of progress, placement, instruction, and instructor preparation, and suggestions for improving outcomes that were college-specific and called for college- or system-level action. Examining instructors' worldviews using vignettes revealed that (1) instructors did not identify with one particular worldview, and (2) instructors intentionally held multiple worldviews. This study examined the applicability of Schraw and Olafson's (2002) worldview typology with instructors in higher education, and raised the possibility of a student support worldview. Developmental instructors in community colleges practice within their own understandings of developmental mathematics, without the guidance of a formal theory or philosophy. This study contributed to the theory that self-regulation is a key distinguishing characteristic between developmental and college-level students in community colleges, and supports the notion that the role of the developmental mathematics instruction is the promotion of self-regulation (Ley & Young, 1998; Wambach & Brothern, 2000).

Author: Garth B. Johnson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Arkansas Department of Higher Education data show that approximately 75% of Arkansas community college students are required to take at least one developmental education class (Arkansas Higher Education Coordinating Board, 2012, p. 7.2). This is significantly higher than the approximately 30% average (Provasnik & Planty, 2008, p. 11) of community college students across the US. Developmental mathematics is the most commonly needed subject within Arkansas, with over 40% of community college students enrolling in at least one developmental mathematics course (Arkansas Higher Education Coordinating Board, 2012, p. 7.3). Despite being common, few institutions that teach Developmental Education perform and then publish research about the success (or non-success) of their students. Although limited studies are available concerning specific areas, no existing studies evaluate all of the departmental and institutional policies for a single population. Specifically, this study evaluated the association between the institutional and departmental policies that developmental mathematics students encounter with their final grades and success in their classes. This study evaluated these policies applied to the developmental mathematics program at one small community college in the Arkansas Delta—Mid-South Community College. These policies include Math Placement Tests, Incomplete Policy, Continue Policy, and Persistence Policy. This analysis used a Systems Theory theoretical approach to evaluate three research questions: Were placement tests associated with mathematical success in the current class? In their next class? Was the Incomplete policy associated with long-term mathematical success? Was student rate of progress associated with mathematical success? This analysis used the Registrar’s archival data which included 11,226 classes taken by 5,489 students over 23 semesters, analyzed through Frequency Analysis and Linear Regression Analysis. This study concluded that Math Placement Tests were weakly linked to student success, Incompletes were linked to mixed success in students’ current class and lower success in the student’s next class, and students with a slow rate of progress had lower grades than those who completed classes quickly.

Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Dissertations, Academic
Languages : en
Pages : 732

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Author: Jennifer Lynn Travis
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Self-regulated learners continually monitor and adjust the learning process through a recursive loop of forethought, learning enactment, and reflection. The literature review for this study used a systematic approach with defined criteria to evaluate the effects of self-regulated learning interventions for college students. The review revealed a shortage of rigorous achievement-based research in authentic settings. This study evaluated a study-journaling intervention for developmental mathematics students at a large urban community college. Two weekly study journal worksheets were designed, based on self-regulated learning theory. In each of nine pairs of intact classes, one class was randomly assigned to the treatment (study journal) condition and the other to control. The mixed methods research design had two strands: a confirmatory strand that evaluated the intervention's effect, and an exploratory strand that sought information about the students' study habits. The statistical analysis had two phases: propensity score matching to strategically trim the groups so they had similar distributions of starting characteristics, and logistic regression to estimate the intervention's effect on binary variables representing course success and final exam success. Departing students were counted among the unsuccessful. Due to implementation shortcomings, the original sample (117 treatment, 140 control) was replaced by a modified sample (60 treatment, 77 control). Propensity score matching trimmed this sample further (54 treatment, 54 control). Control students experienced significantly higher course success rates and slightly higher final exam success rates. Treatment students were significantly more likely to leave the class than control students (odds ratio 2.94). However, qualitative data from focus groups and surveys indicated the study journals may have positively affected study habits. Taken together, the qualitative and quantitative results suggest the intervention increased students' awareness of study habit inadequacies and time constraints. This position was supported by qualitative analysis of the study journal entries. This study shows that study journals have potential to improve achievement. However, caution is advised, as the journals may also influence students to leave the class due to increased awareness of problems. Research recommendations include combining study journals with training, feedback or peer support; and collecting subsequent-semester data and data on students' reasons for departure. The electronic version of this dissertation is accessible from http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/152547

Author: Kristina Corey Legge
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 98

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The number of students entering the community college in need of developmental math has not changed, remaining at a steady 60% over the past seven years. This study compared the success rate of Mandatory Supplemental Instruction (MSI) sessions within four sections of a developmental math course compared with the success rates of students enrolled in both the Traditional Classroom setting and the Individualized format at Suburban Community College (SCC) during the Fall 2009 semester. These MSI format courses were compared with both the Individualized format of MAT 060 and the Traditional Classroom format of the same course. The students included in these sections were a combination of students who were: 1) suggested by advisors to enroll in this developmental math course after receiving a low score on the college's Accuplacer placement test for algebra or continuing the progression of developmental math from the lower level arithmetic class; 2) mandated to attend MSI after successful completion of the Jump Start Math Program, or 3) self-selected into the MSI group anticipating the need for additional help in the course. The two primary data sets available for this study are student math final grades and student participation/attendance records. Secondary sets of data include informal focus group notes, final exam scores, student attendance records for both class lectures and MSI sessions, and Supplemental Instruction Leader anecdotal records. The findings of this study conclude that success rates of students enrolled in the MSI sections of developmental math do not differ significantly from those enrolled in the Traditional Classroom format of developmental math; however, both groups did differ significantly from the Individualized format of developmental math, in that the students enrolled in the Individualized format succeeded at a lesser rate and withdrew at a greater rate than their MSI or Traditional Classroom counterparts. This study also concluded that female, full-time students succeeded at a greater rate across the board, which is consistent with the literature. These findings were significant for a number of reasons. Although the difference between the treatment group and the Traditional Classroom group was not significant, there are a variety of reasons at the program level as to why this may have been so and there are many future constructs that SCC can put in place to strengthen and reassess the MSI program. Although this study was focused on the MSI treatment, the data revealed a greater issue existing in the Individualized format of developmental math at SCC. Future considerations can be made in this particular delivery method to improve success rates of students involved in this program. Future research on MSI in the form of persistence and retention rates, graduation rates, transfer rates, subsequent math course grades and success in other college-level classes can be explored to provide the MSI program with more data to determine if particular groups of students are benefiting from this format.