Morehead State University
Course Title: College Algebra
Contact: Dora Ahmadi
Morehead State University (MSU) plans to redesign College Algebra, a course enrolling ~550 students annually in 19 sections of 30 students each. College Algebra has the highest enrollment among all general education mathematics courses at MSU. The course is currently offered in the traditional format of 150 lecture minutes per week. A mixture of professors and instructors teach the course. While they follow a general outline of the curriculum to be covered, they are free to work through the material in whatever way they see fit, including creating homework assignments, quizzes, tests and other forms of assessment.
The College Algebra course faces two problems. First, the student success rate is less than desirable. A review of performance from spring 2007 to fall 2008 revealed that 60% received a grade of C or better. Second, there is a lack of consistency across sections. Although there is agreement about course content, there is no common assessment and there are differences in coverage from one class to another. College Algebra is a prerequisite for several science and technology courses and is required for degree programs in business administration, veterinary science, biology, environmental science, radiological science, imaging science, industrial technology, technology management and geology. Any student whose major requires a mathematics course higher than College Algebra but who is not ready for the required course also enrolls. Research has also shown that success in mathematics is highly correlated with success in college. Improving the performance of students in this course will support MSU’s strategic initiative to improve overall retention.
MSU will redesign College Algebra using the Emporium Model. Students will be required to spend a minimum of three, flexibly scheduled hours in a math laboratory. Class time will be reduced from three hours to one. Students will be actively engaged in learning mathematics, doing more independent problem-solving, working in small groups and accessing individualized assistance as necessary. The Hawkes Learning System software will be used for homework and assessment. It allows students to rework assignments as often as needed to achieve an 80% mastery level. The redesign coordinator will prepare course syllabi and tests to ensure consistency in course delivery across sections.
The redesigned course will enhance the students’ educational experience, making them active and engaged learners, and provide a consistent learning experience for all students. Prompt and automated feedback will improve the quality of their learning experience, actively involving the students who will be able to track their own progress, which will also be closely monitored. Personal, face-to-face assistance from faculty in the laboratory will also keep the students more connected to the course.
The impact of the course redesign on student learning outcomes will be measured during the pilot in two ways: comparing performance on common final exams and scores on pre/post-tests in parallel sections. By adding coherence and coordinated assessment to the redesigned College Algebra course, the team will pave the way for continuous improvement in future semesters.
The MSU team will reduce instructional costs by decreasing the number of full-time faculty teaching the course from three to two, while keeping section size the same. Because the software will do much of the work such as grading student homework and exams and because of the reduced lecture time, faculty will be able to handle three sections, whereas previously they had only handled two. The cost-per-student will decrease from $196 to $121, a 38% reduction. The cost savings will be used to increase the number of upper-level mathematics courses offered at MSU.
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