Academic Progress in Developmental Math Courses: A Comparative Study of Student Retention

Abstract

The majority of college students are not ready for college-level math courses, which, when completed, have been shown to increase graduation and transfer rates among college students. To address this problem, the Math My Way (MMW) program was developed to integrate module-based curriculum and mastery learning approaches. The purpose of this study was to investigate if the MMW program improves progression rates and academic achievement. The program is based on the retention formula of Seidman, who postulated that early identification of student deficiencies followed by early, intensive, and continuous intervention increases student retention and success. A quasiexperimental, nonequivalent treatment-control group evaluation was used. Students in the treatment group (n = 124) were enrolled in the MMW program; those in the control group (n = 78) were enrolled in a traditional basic-skills math course, which used lecture-style instruction. Survival analysis revealed that students in the treatment group were significantly more likely to progress through their math sequence than students in the control group (hazard ratio = 1.49, p = 0.04). Further, an independent, 2-sample "t" test revealed that students in the treatment group had significantly higher math grade point averages (GPA) than their counterparts ([delta]GPA = 0.45, p = 0.02), with no significant difference for cumulative college GPA. It is recommended that the MMW program format be further studied for different curricula and scalability to other colleges. Completing higher-level math courses may lead to greater graduation and transfer rates for all students, including minorities and nontraditional students. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone [phone]. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]