Mid-South Community College students succeeded at a record rate in Developmental Math and College Algebra during the fall semester, according to departmental figures released recently.
“Fall 2014 was a good semester for the Math Department; success rates were our best ever,” said Stephanie Krehl, MSCC lead instructor for Developmental and Technical Math. “We’re excited and encouraged by the students’ positive response to our efforts to help them succeed, and we are working to maintain that momentum during the spring semester.”
The greatest improvement came in Developmental Math III, the final step before College Algebra. Students passed the classes at a 73.2% clip, 21.3% better than in Fall 2012 and 26% better than Fall 2013.
Fall 2014 College Algebra students recorded the highest success rate at 74.3%, almost an 18% improvement over Fall 2013 and Fall 2012 (56.4%).
Developmental Math I students succeeded 69% of the time, increases of 19% and 16.4% over Fall 2013 and Fall 2012.
In Developmental Math II, the improvement rates neared 13% (12.9%) over Fall 2013 and 4% (3.7%) over Fall 2012.
When the success rates were adjusted for students who stopped going to class but did not officially drop their courses, the numbers looked even better: 79% for College Algebra, 78.4% for Developmental Math I, 66.3% for Developmental Math II, and 80.0% for Developmental Math III. The improvements ranged from 6.5% to 38.9%.
The number of students completing multiple developmental classes also climbed. For Fall 2014, 13 students finished two courses, compared to 11 and 8 in 2012 and 2013, respectively; 12 completed all three, compared to 9 and 4 in 2012 and 2013, respectively.
“We tried several new things in Fall 2014 to encourage our students,” Krehl said. “In College Algebra, we added attendance incentives for students who missed minimal times. Each instructor chose a benefit that ranged from more makeup exam flexibility or the opportunity to skip the final exam.”
Instructors offered similar attendance incentives in the developmental sequence. The department also devised creative ways to motivate class participants.
“We focused on encouraging our students in any way we could find,” Krehl said. “This included crossing off completed modules on their lesson sheet, handing out stickers for completed modules, and sending out weekly email updates which included names of all students who had finished their course early. We gave extra special recognition to students who had finished a second or third course. We also encouraged them with prize opportunities for their success.”
Krehl said the math department also implemented pre-testing that gave students the opportunity to move ahead if their scores met specific criteria.
“The pre-test tool included questions from each of the modules in that course, and students who scored score a minimum of 80% were allowed to move to the next level of developmental math.”
For students who did not score high enough, instructors analyzed their test results carefully to see what individual modules could be bypassed based on their expertise.
“This process gives students a truly individualized course in which they can focus on the material they truly need to learn,” Krehl said.
In Fall 2014, five students tested out of Developmental Math I, and 78 (out of 172) showed enough subject mastery to skip modules.
“This individual analysis process helped almost half of our Developmental Math I students get a head start to completing Developmental Math I from the first week of class. To encourage students to continue to push even harder, we created ‘Fast-Track’ lesson order sheets that gave students the pacing dates to complete two courses in a single semester.”
Math faculty actually started the encouragement process before classes began. Instructors “made a special effort to call all students who had previously been in developmental courses and gave them the opportunity to continue from where they left off,” Krehl said. “We were trying to get those students who were close to finishing back into class in order to finish.”
Additional incentives for developmental students included a competition to see which class could complete the highest percentage of modules for the semester. The classes and students who finished multiple courses gathered at the end of the term for Developmental Math Celebration (pizza party).
For information about math or other educational opportunities at the College, visit the campus at 2000 West Broadway in West Memphis, call (870) 722-6728, email admissions at admissions@midsouthcc.edu, or see the website at www.midsouthcc.edu.
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