Interaction Between Instructional Practices, Faculty Beliefs and Developmental Mathematics Curriculum


Book Description

One is a standard developmental algebra curriculum and the other curriculum is based on quantitative literacy. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, classroom observations and field notes. The results indicate an alignment between the professed beliefs and enacted practices for all but one instructor in this study. The findings imply that curriculum plays a significant role when its intended design correlates with instructors' belief systems. The study also discusses the differences in instructional practices across the quantitative literacy and elementary algebra curricula taught by the instructors in this study.




DOES MANDATORY SUPPLEMENTAL INSTRUCTION WORK IN DEVELOPMENTAL MATH EDUCATION? A STUDY OF STUDENTS ENROLLED IN DEVELOPMENTAL MATH COURSES AT A SUBURBAN COMMUNITY COLLEGE IN THE NORTHEAST


Book Description

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.




Improving Developmental Mathematics Education in Community Colleges


Book Description

Developmental education has the mission of enabling underprepared students to acquire the capabilities necessary for college success. A growing number of research studies document its failure, however; specifically, approximately two thirds of community college students referred to a remedial mathematics sequence do not complete it. In response to these findings, The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, with the Charles A. Dana Center as a principal design partner, is launching a comprehensive initiative to create two new pathways, the Statway and the Mathway, to enable developmental mathematics students to complete a credit-bearing, transferable mathematics course in one academic year while simultaneously building skills for long-term college success. The primary curricular goal of the Statway course sequence is to develop the mathematical proficiency of students pursuing non-STEM academic and occupational programs, with a special focus on statistical literacy. This paper describes the research-based Statway design and its intended learning outcomes, the processes and participants involved in its development, and the challenges of implementation. Appended are: (1) Statway Collaboratory Colleges; (2) Mathway Collaboratory Colleges; and (3) Members of the Carnegie Committee for Statistics Learning Outcomes (CCSLO). (Contains 4 figures and 3 footnotes.).







Inside the Community College Developmental Math Classroom


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




Analyzing Change in Community College Pre-statistics Developmental Mathematics Curriculum


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.




The Science of Learning and Development


Book Description

This essential text unpacks major transformations in the study of learning and human development and provides evidence for how science can inform innovation in the design of settings, policies, practice, and research to enhance the life path, opportunity and prosperity of every child. The ideas presented provide researchers and educators with a rationale for focusing on the specific pathways and developmental patterns that may lead a specific child, with a specific family, school, and community, to prosper in school and in life. Expanding key published articles and expert commentary, the book explores a profound evolution in thinking that integrates findings from psychology with biology through sociology, education, law, and history with an emphasis on institutionalized inequities and disparate outcomes and how to address them. It points toward possible solutions through an understanding of and addressing the dynamic relations between a child and the contexts within which he or she lives, offering all researchers of human development and education a new way to understand and promote healthy development and learning for diverse, specific youth regardless of race, socioeconomic status, or history of adversity, challenge, or trauma. The book brings together scholars and practitioners from the biological/medical sciences, the social and behavioral sciences, educational science, and fields of law and social and educational policy. It provides an invaluable and unique resource for understanding the bases and status of the new science, and presents a roadmap for progress that will frame progress for at least the next decade and perhaps beyond.




Examining the Effects of Inquiry-based Teaching Strategies on Community College Mathematics Students


Book Description

It is well documented that students are struggling in developmental and introductory mathematics courses at community colleges across the nation. However, the reasons that these students struggle are not as well known. While numerous researchers have investigated the effects of inquiry-based learning on K-12 students, the research on this topic at the community college level is lacking. For my dissertation work, I have collected attitudinal surveys, observational data, and final exams from eight sections of a developmental mathematics course and nine sections of College Algebra at a large Texas community college. Approximately half of the instructors involved in the study incorporated some level of inquiry-based teaching strategies in their classrooms (referred to in this dissertation as "student-led" sections) while the remaining instructors employed a more direct strategy (referred to as "lecture" sections). Using this data, I investigated the relationships between teaching methods and attitudes, teaching methods and content knowledge, and attitudes and content knowledge. The evidence showed that IBL teaching strategies have a greater effect on students' attitudes for students enrolled in a developmental mathematics course than those enrolled in College Algebra. IBL teaching strategies had no positive effects on developmental students' performance on a skills-based final exam, but student-led sections performed just as well as lecture sections. In College Algebra, participants in student-led sections scored significantly higher than lecture sections on two out of five objectives: write the equation of a line in slope-intercept form (p




Exploring Best Practices in Developmental Mathematics


Book Description

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.