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Author: Brian Kenneth Sanders Publisher: ISBN: 9781321609820 Category : Languages : en Pages :
Book Description
Community colleges serve as an open door and a critical access point to higher education for millions of students across our nation. In California alone, over two million students are enrolled across over one hundred community colleges (Sengupta & Jepsen, 2006), open access institutions with no entry requirements. A large majority of students beginning their educational path at a community college are placed into a remedial mathematics sequence that few will ever finish (Bailey, Jeong, & Cho, 2010a). These remedial pathways were designed to replicate the usual sequence of high school algebra courses (Brint & Karabel, 1989; Tucker, 2013), yet research demonstrates that these courses require algebraic skills beyond what is needed for success in most non-calculus-track transferable courses (NCEE, 2013). The result is that millions of community college students are being filtered out of their educational programs because of their inability to master algebra skills that they will not need in either future coursework or in their chosen careers. Researchers with the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement for Teaching developed a new approach called Statway designed to address this concern. The two-term program begins with students who assess into elementary algebra, focusing on statistical concepts while utilizing a just-in-time approach in which algebraic skills are introduced as needed, providing context and relevance for students. By the conclusion of the second term of the program, students have learned the content of typical freshman statistics as well as developed sufficient algebra skills to succeed in that material. Introduced via training hosted by Carnegie and reinforced by an ongoing community of practice, alternative pedagogy is employed to maximize student engagement and success. The purpose of this project was to study three community colleges that have adopted the Statway program and seek to understand the underlying conditions and processes by which they were able to do so. Further, the project examined the alignment between the colleges' processes and models of change theory discussed in the literature. Lastly, I examined how data was utilized in the adoption process and thereafter. The study utilized a qualitative case study approach based on transcripts from nineteen interviews and documents gathered at each of the three institutions visited. Transcripts and documents were coded by themes and analyzed using software. Conclusions were based on the most prominent and consistent themes identified across institutions. Findings included (a) the departments that adopted the program were supportive of experimentation, (b) at each institution a faculty champion was instrumental in carrying the program forward to implementation, (c) the departments did not deliberately follow models of change theory from the literature, but their processes aligned well with the models, (d) because I studied pilot programs, only national data was utilized initially, and (e) there was a relationship between the difficulty of the adoption process and the department's decision-making approach along the individualist-collectivist spectrum. Results of this study provide insight into ways mathematics departments approached and carried out significant curriculum change, insight into departmental characteristics most conducive to change, and recommendations gleaned from interviews as to how to maximize transferability and viability of alternative mathematics programs such as Statway.
Author: Brian Kenneth Sanders Publisher: ISBN: 9781321609820 Category : Languages : en Pages :
Book Description
Community colleges serve as an open door and a critical access point to higher education for millions of students across our nation. In California alone, over two million students are enrolled across over one hundred community colleges (Sengupta & Jepsen, 2006), open access institutions with no entry requirements. A large majority of students beginning their educational path at a community college are placed into a remedial mathematics sequence that few will ever finish (Bailey, Jeong, & Cho, 2010a). These remedial pathways were designed to replicate the usual sequence of high school algebra courses (Brint & Karabel, 1989; Tucker, 2013), yet research demonstrates that these courses require algebraic skills beyond what is needed for success in most non-calculus-track transferable courses (NCEE, 2013). The result is that millions of community college students are being filtered out of their educational programs because of their inability to master algebra skills that they will not need in either future coursework or in their chosen careers. Researchers with the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement for Teaching developed a new approach called Statway designed to address this concern. The two-term program begins with students who assess into elementary algebra, focusing on statistical concepts while utilizing a just-in-time approach in which algebraic skills are introduced as needed, providing context and relevance for students. By the conclusion of the second term of the program, students have learned the content of typical freshman statistics as well as developed sufficient algebra skills to succeed in that material. Introduced via training hosted by Carnegie and reinforced by an ongoing community of practice, alternative pedagogy is employed to maximize student engagement and success. The purpose of this project was to study three community colleges that have adopted the Statway program and seek to understand the underlying conditions and processes by which they were able to do so. Further, the project examined the alignment between the colleges' processes and models of change theory discussed in the literature. Lastly, I examined how data was utilized in the adoption process and thereafter. The study utilized a qualitative case study approach based on transcripts from nineteen interviews and documents gathered at each of the three institutions visited. Transcripts and documents were coded by themes and analyzed using software. Conclusions were based on the most prominent and consistent themes identified across institutions. Findings included (a) the departments that adopted the program were supportive of experimentation, (b) at each institution a faculty champion was instrumental in carrying the program forward to implementation, (c) the departments did not deliberately follow models of change theory from the literature, but their processes aligned well with the models, (d) because I studied pilot programs, only national data was utilized initially, and (e) there was a relationship between the difficulty of the adoption process and the department's decision-making approach along the individualist-collectivist spectrum. Results of this study provide insight into ways mathematics departments approached and carried out significant curriculum change, insight into departmental characteristics most conducive to change, and recommendations gleaned from interviews as to how to maximize transferability and viability of alternative mathematics programs such as Statway.
Author: Michael Frank Adkins (II) Publisher: ISBN: Category : Community colleges Languages : en Pages : 184
Book Description
Community colleges face an environment that requires them to increasingly focus on completion while simultaneously maintaining open admissions (Sydow & Alfred, 2013). Developmental math courses are a linchpin in improving college completion because approximately 60% of community college students are placed into developmental math courses, yet very few of those students make it through developmental courses and on toward degree completion (Bailey, 2009; Developmental Math Redesign Team, 2010). In 2009, the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) embarked on a system-wide redesign of developmental math courses (Developmental Education Task Force, 2009). However, such large-scale system change means challenges and previous experience highlights that approximately 50% – 80% of change initiatives fail to meet their goals (Black, 2013). This study evaluated the change process used to implement the VCCS developmental math redesign. A uniquely created survey based on Kotter’s (2012) change model was used to determine if faculty observed sound change practices at their institutions during the redesign. Using confirmatory factor analysis, the findings suggest that faculty saw evidence of Kotter’s (2012) change model in the implementation of the redesign. There were differences in how faculty perceived the change processes based on different demographic characteristics. There was evidence that Kotter’s (2012) model was fully implemented in the redesign, and there were some significant differences in faculty perceptions of Empowerment. This study concluded that positively framing the results of the redesign at the system level could have improved student outcomes and that it would be wise for colleges to assess the change processes they use.
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Publisher: National Academies Press ISBN: 0309496624 Category : Education Languages : en Pages : 123
Book Description
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: Brenda Catherine Frame Publisher: ISBN: Category : Electronic dissertations Languages : en Pages : 127
Book Description
Poor success rates of developmental mathematics courses at community colleges have currently received nationwide attention. Efforts to remedy the situation include complete course redesigns and intervention strategies. A recent intervention strategy in use is the implementation of success courses that are aimed at changing the learning perspectives of developmental students. The purpose of this mixed-method comparative study was to closely examine this strategy as it relates specifically to students studying developmental mathematics at the lowest level at one community college. Students taking the lowest level developmental mathematics course at the participating community college were designated into one of two groups: those taking mathematics with the success course and those taking mathematics without a success course. The study explored students' perceptions and belief structures regarding the study of developmental mathematics and focused on identifying any changes in student belief structures over the course of one semester. Descriptive statistics regarding grade achievement of the population with the student success course provide insight into the possible benefits of the success course for developmental mathematics students. Participants in the study, starting out in the lowest mathematics course offered at the community college, need more mathematics in order to obtain a degree or certificate from the college. Rate of registration for the subsequent mathematics courses were also analyzed in the study. Findings showed that the offering of a success course to students who are at-risk in developmental mathematics has made some improvements in the percentage of students who were able to satisfactorily complete the first level developmental mathematics course at one community college. It also showed that for students who did not pass the success course, there was a nearly one-to-one relationship with unsuccessful completion of a low-level mathematics course. Qualitative data helps explain how the two groups were quite different and also helps to explain findings.
Author: Kimberley Lee Miller Publisher: ISBN: Category : Community college students Languages : en Pages : 0
Book Description
The purpose of this quantitative study was to measure the change in mathematics self-efficacy of students enrolled in a college mathematics course at a community college in Missouri. The change was measured over a single semester as a pre-test and post-test. The timing of this study is significant, given that it follows statewide changes in college mathematics curriculum. The changes made to Missouri college-level mathematics courses were done in an effort to increase student retention and completion of general education mathematics credit in the state, which had been a barrier for graduation. This study outlines how mathematics self-efficacy is one measure that may be used to assess how the new courses impact students. The data from a mathematics self-efficacy survey, administered to students during Fall 2019 and Spring 2021 semesters, were analyzed using descriptive statistics and tested for significance using t-tests and ANOVA. Changes in mathematics self-efficacy were examined based on whether or not the student was enrolled in an optimal mathematics course for their degree, gender, ethnicity, high school grade point average, and overall college mathematics course enrollment. Findings showed that there were significant differences in the change in mathematics self-efficacy based on gender, ethnicity, high school grade point average, developmental math course enrollment, and optimal mathematics pathway course enrollment. Students enrolled in a general education mathematics course for the fall of 2019 had an overall increase in mathematics self-efficacy. Male students showed greater overall mathematics self-efficacy at the start of the semester; gender was a significant factor in how much mathematics self-efficacy changed. White students had an overall significant increase in mathematics self-efficacy. Other groups with a significant increase were students with a high school grade point average of 3.0 or higher and students enrolled in a three credit-hour developmental mathematics course. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in obstacles that led to less robust data collection following the pandemic. Therefore, the Spring of 2021 data were not sufficient to aid in some of this research study. This research fills a gap in the literature on the mathematics self-efficacy of Missouri mathematics college students, but further research is needed.
Author: John Martin McHugh Publisher: ISBN: Category : Mathematics Languages : en Pages : 336
Book Description
This program evaluation case study examined the academic effectiveness of a developmental math program in a North Carolina community college (p. 5). Developmental or remedial college mathematics as used here includes courses for college students who were not ready for college-level math (p. 1). The CIPP evaluation model (context, input, process, product (p. 44): cf. Fitzpatrick, Sanders, and Worthen 2004, Program Evaluation: Alternative Approaches and Guidelines, 3rd ed.) was used as the framework for this program evaluation. (1) The research questions used to guide the research were (i) what are the conditions which make a developmental mathematics program at the college level necessary? (ii) what other attempts have been made to solve the problem? (iii) how does the implementation of the developmental program at this college align with recommendations for appropriate instruction of developmental math students? (iv) how is the developmental math program at the college being implemented? and (v) how effective is the developmental math program at the college? (2) Data collection consisted of qualitative and quantitative methods including interviews, surveys, a pretest and posttest of math achievement, and documentation review. The information from the surveys and documentation review was coded and then entered into an Excel spreadsheet and analyzed for frequency of occurrence by code. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, then coded. These data, along with the data from pretests and posttests, were then entered into SPSS software for analysis, and t-tests and analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests were conducted. (3) The research questions were answered as follows: (i) Without the help of developmental courses, many admitted students would not succeed at the college level (p. 110). (ii) The history of the developmental and remedial program at the college under study is sketched (p. 111). (iii) The researcher recommended that professional development be added for those working with underprepared students (p. 113). (iv) The majority of the current developmental math students (69%) and former developmental students (59%) who completed the surveys indicated they felt they had been placed correctly based on their placement scores (p. 114). Recommendations are made for revising the developmental math placement test rules. (v) According to the data collected and analyzed, the program is improving the arithmetic test scores of students (p. 117), and appears to be doing what it was designed to do.
Author: Stephanie Nicole Baker Publisher: ISBN: Category : Languages : en Pages : 666
Book Description
One purpose of this study was to determine if students in a non-traditional developmental mathematics course improved on five developmental mathematics noncognitive factors—math equanimity, math mindset, math self-efficacy, math belongingness, and college belongingness—believed to be relevant to student success. I also examined if changes in these factors predicted course achievement. Another purpose was to explore whether or not Foundations students would transfer their knowledge to place value problems involving varied bases and contexts. A final purpose was to investigate the utility of then-surveys that retrospectively measure participants’ pre-intervention noncognitive factors. In response to policy pressures to increase completion rates, community colleges are experimenting with research-based strategies that create demand for learning, increase students’ competence valuation, and improve their productive persistence. The New Mathways Project’s Foundations of Mathematical Reasoning course is built around one such strategy. In this exploratory study (N = 597), I investigated the impact of using Foundations on the development of students’ noncognitive factors and on mathematical success. My student measures included: pre-post-then-surveys of noncognitive factors, math course grades, math final exam grades, percent attendance, a place value assessment of transfer, and one-on-one interviews. I used multilevel models to analyze my quantitative research questions and created evidence markers for qualitative analysis of the transfer assessment. I conducted interviews to provide additional insight. Students significantly improved their math equanimity, but had stable, mid-range scores on the other factors. Positive changes in math self-efficacy and low initial math equanimity were associated with higher grades. Pre-surveys of equanimity may be more accurate than then-surveys, but pre-surveys of math mindset, math self-efficacy, and math belongingness may be interchangeable with then-surveys. Contrary to popular findings, the then-surveys did not provide larger estimates of program effects than pre-surveys. Overall, students evidenced minimal transfer. Interviewees exhibited greater changes in noncognitive factors and evidenced more transfer than other students. This study provides valuable information for the potential users of the NMP materials. It contributes to, and points out complications with, transfer research. Lastly, it adds to research on retrospective measures, which are rarely used in mathematics education research.
Author: Patricia A. Rehak Publisher: ISBN: Category : Educational psychology Languages : en Pages :
Book Description
This study provides a better understanding of how student and faculty perceive the developmental math classroom experience and the impact on students’ ability to successfully complete developmental math courses. A significant contribution of the study is the identification of a positive correlation between students’ attitudes and perceptions of the classroom environment and successful course completion. A second major contribution is a detailed description of pedagogical strategies and classroom leadership behaviors exhibited by developmental math faculty who do, and do not, have high student pass rates. The three research questions for this study were: 1. What is the relationship between students’ attitudes and perceptions of their developmental math classroom experience and their likelihood for successful course completion? 2. To what extent are student and faculty attitudes and perceptions of the developmental math classroom learning environment congruent? 3. What are the pedagogical strategies and classroom leadership behaviors exhibited by developmental math faculty who do, and do not, have high student pass rates in these courses? Two theoretical frameworks; Goal Theory Model of Achievement Motivation and Transformational Leadership; were used to guide this research. This mixed methods study was a case study of developmental math students and faculty from a medium sized rural community college in Texas, enrolled and teaching in the fall 2013. The sample included 661students enrolled in developmental math during the fall 2013 semester. There were a total of 17 developmental math instructors, of which three were employed full time, and 14 were employed part time. Quantitative data was collected from all 17 faculty and seven of these faculty were interviewed about the instructional practices they use when teaching developmental math students. A quantitative analysis was conducted of secondary course evaluation and student success data. A factor analysis was first conducted and reliability established for the course evaluation data. Next, a Pearson product moment r correlation was conducted in to determine the correlation between student perception and student success rates. The qualitative methods employed included 7 interviews (2 full time and 5 part time) with recruited developmental math faculty. Transcribed interview data were organized by thematic data analysis using a deductive process (Creswell, 2008) The Pearson product-moment r correlation conducted in this study found moderate positive correlations, r(14) = .64, p
Author: Patricia Anne Levine-Brown Publisher: ISBN: Category : Languages : en Pages : 324
Book Description
Developmental mathematics courses are intended to help underprepared students but often are a barrier for hundreds of students who fail these courses. High failure rates prevent students from achieving their academic goals, therefore; educational institutions are looking for methods to increase success in these courses. Such was the case at Florida State College at Jacksonville (FSCJ), where high failure rates in developmental mathematics presented problems to the institution and its students. To increase pass rates in developmental education courses, a college-wide redesign initiative introduced in 2009 led to the implementation of a research-based model for developmental education. This model would be implemented in the form of Academic Success Centers (ASC) incorporating practices tailored to increase student success and persistence. To examine success rates of students taking developmental education courses in the ASCs, the College conducted a longitudinal predictive analytics study known as the Chi-squared Automatic Interaction Detection (CHAID). The CHAID analyzed student success and retention of 10,051 developmental mathematics students over two academic terms. Additionally, the CHAID identified highly successful developmental mathematics teachers. These teachers, and the environment in which they taught (ASCs), became the basis of this qualitative study. The purpose of the study was two-fold. First, it focused on identifying pedagogical practices of highly successful developmental mathematics faculty who taught in the Academic Success Centers at FSCJ. Second, it focused on the areas of impact of the ASC as an environmental factor in student success. Data collected through observations, interviews, and documented analysis, along with the use of text mining, revealed that patterns emerged among participants in which they shared common beliefs about the importance of communicating with students, forming relationships with students, lecture and lab practices, the availability of physical resources, and the availability of academic support services within the environment where they interacted with their students. The intent of using the evidence from the key findings is to provide community college leaders with insight into pedagogical practices shared by highly successful developmental mathematics teachers and the role the learning environment serves in meeting students' educational needs.
Author: Brian Kenneth Sanders
Author: Brian Kenneth Sanders
Author: Michael Frank Adkins (II)
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Author: Brenda Catherine Frame
Author: Kimberley Lee Miller
Author: John Martin McHugh
Author: Stephanie Nicole Baker
Author: Patricia A. Rehak
Author: Mary Beth Angeline
Author: Patricia Anne Levine-Brown