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The student success rates for three developmental mathematics courses (prealgebra, elementary algebra, and intermediate algebra) taught through four instructional methods (lecture, personalized system of instruction [PSI], hybrid, and online) were examined. The sample consisted of 9,211 students enrolled in a large Texas community college from fall 2009 through spring 2011. Student success was defined as a grade of C or better. Chi-square tests were used to compare the three developmental mathematics courses success rates. Statistically significant differences in student success were found between all four methods of instruction for all three mathematics courses (prealgebra: χ2 [df = 3] = 107.90, p < 0.001; elementary algebra: χ2 [df = 3] = 88.39, p < 0.001; intermediate algebra χ2 [df = 3] = 254.18, p < 0.001). Binary logistic regression modeling was used to determine to what extent age, gender, ethnicity, residency, Pell eligibility and mode of instruction accounted for the community college students’ course success for each of the three developmental mathematics courses. For prealgebra, the independent variables of gender, race, age, residency, and mode of instruction made statistically significant contributions to the model (χ2 [df = 14, n = 1,743] = 159.196, p < .001; Nagelkerke R2 = .119), with greater success among female, White, younger, out of country students taking the course through lecture. For elementary algebra, the independent variables of race, age, residency, and mode of instruction made statistically significant contributions to the logistic regression model (χ2 [df = 14, n = 2,731] = 816.223, p < .001; Nagelkerke R2 = .358), with greater success among , younger, out of country students taking the course through lecture, hybrid or PSI. For intermediate algebra, only race and Pell eligibility made a statistically significant contribution to the logistic regression, with greater success among White, Pell-eligible students, and mode of instruction did not contribute significantly to the model (χ2 [df = 14, n = 3,936] = 53.992, p < .001; Nagelkerke R2 = .019). Recommendations for research and implications for practice are provided.

Developmental mathematics is a problem for many college students due to high failure rate. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the redesigned course, Math 24. The evaluation examined success, retention, and persistence outcomes of the redesigned course compared to the previous developmental math course. The course's academic and environmental strengths and weaknesses were assessed from the students' and instructors' perspectives. The study utilized the theoretical and conceptual frameworks of Tinto's retention model, Astin's I-E-O model, and Wlodkowski's culturally responsive teaching. A mixed methods program evaluation was employed for the case study using an ex post facto analysis of quantitative data from the college's student database and interviews from 16 students, 4 faculty members, and 1 program director administrator. Quantitative data on persistence, retention and student success rates were analyzed using descriptive statistics to evaluate the outcomes of the redesigned course. Qualitative data from student focus groups and faculty interviews were analyzed using constant comparison analysis to evaluate redesign effect on students. The findings suggested that the redesigned math course's curriculum, resources, assignments, assessments, and the physical classroom setting had many advantages, and assignments and assessments posed major challenges. Online resources, peer collaboration, indirect instruction were strengths; word problems, and the final exam posed the biggest challenges for most students. Retention, persistence and success rates fluctuated over the years and the expected outcomes were not achieved. The social change implication of the redesigned developmental math project study is that faculty should seek students' feedback to help faculty with effective decision making.

This systematic review paper reviews instructional strategies for online developmental mathematics courses offered at post-secondary institutions. Adaptive learning technology was thoroughly reviewed as an intervention strategy. Success rates and other data from studies are compared to draw conclusions about the most effective instructional strategies for teaching online developmental mathematics. The following databases were used to examine literature in the subject area: Elton B. Stephens Co. (EBSCOhost), Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC), ProQuest, Wiley - Blackwell Publishers, Journal Storage (JSTOR), and Gale Cengage Learning. These databases were selected from the NovaCat Online Library system via the Nova Southeastern University website. The documents reviewed in this research paper were used as data to give a diverse, concise quantitative and qualitative discussion of results for the comparison of the studies. The implications of this study may be useful to students, faculty, administrators, researchers, etc. The results of this systematic review showed adaptive learning technology’s assistive nature in course design and implementation. Strategies and course design were critical to the outcome of each study reviewed that incorporated adaptive learning technology. Further research is suggested to identify specific combinations of methodologies for most success completion rates of developmental mathematics courses offered at post-secondary institutions.

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Despite innovative policy and pedagogical transformations, postsecondary achievement gaps continue to exist between African American males and other students. Low college credential completion rates by African American males have prevented an East Texas community college from meaningful participation in the President's 2020 postsecondary education attainment goal of increasing U.S. college graduates by 5 million. The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate a hypothesized connection between the independent variable, mode of instruction, and the dependent variables, mathematics course completion and college completion by African American males. Guided by Ogbu's cultural-ecological theory of minority school performance, a chi-square test of independence was used to compare 407 African American males who participated in the mode of lecture and 412 who participated in modular instruction. Findings included a significant relationship (p <.05) between mode of instruction and developmental mathematics completion (p = .000) with the lecture mode associated with higher achievement. No significant relationship existed between instructional mode and college credential completion (p = .503). These findings called the effectiveness of modular instruction into question and indicated that, at this research site, the instructional mode in developmental mathematics is insufficient to address the disparity in college completion rates of African American males. These results informed a policy recommendation paper, written to help local college administrators better understand African American male remedial math and college credential completion rates. This study contributes to positive social change by generating data-based local institutional policies that will promote African American male postsecondary achievement.

Students taking courses in developmental mathematics do so in one of three modalities - some take the classes face-to-face in a classroom with a professor who is physically present, others take the classes in what is known as a blended or hybrid mode in which the professor uses a combination of classroom and online time to teach the course, and another group takes the classes completely online. Increasingly, a growing number of students are taking these courses in a hybrid mode or completely online, and this phenomenon is causing educators to redesign their programs, offering more courses in these two modalities. However, some program leaders do so without any data about the achievement and course completion rates of students in the different modalities. This research 1) investigated the achievement rates of students taking an eight week developmental mathematics course, taught in three different modalities and 2) investigated the course completion rates of students taking an eight week developmental mathematics course, taught in three different modalities. Specifically, the purpose of this study was to examine the achievement and course completion rates of students enrolled in an eight week developmental mathematics course, Elementary Algebra, based on the delivery modality. The study was conducted at a large multi-campus institution located in the southeast United States as the research site. The theories used to frame the research were the Information Processing Theory and Cognitive Load Theory.

During the past decade, there has been a dramatic increase by postsecondary institutions in providing academic programs and course offerings in a multitude of formats and venues (Biemiller, 2009; Kucsera & Zimmaro, 2010; Lang, 2009; Mangan, 2008). Strategies pertaining to reapportionment of course-delivery seat time have been a major facet of these institutional initiatives; most notably, within many open-door 2-year colleges. Often, these enrollment-management decisions are driven by the desire to increase market-share, optimize the usage of finite facility capacity, and contain costs, especially during these economically turbulent times. So, while enrollments have surged to the point where nearly one in three 18-to-24 year-old U.S. undergraduates are community college students (Pew Research Center, 2009), graduation rates, on average, still remain distressingly low (Complete College America, 2011). Among the learning-theory constructs related to seat-time reapportionment efforts is the cognitive phenomenon commonly referred to as the spacing effect, the degree to which learning is enhanced by a series of shorter, separated sessions as opposed to fewer, more massed episodes. This ex post facto study explored whether seat time in a postsecondary developmental-level algebra course is significantly related to: course success; course-enrollment persistence; and, longitudinally, the time to successfully complete a general-education-level mathematics course. Hierarchical logistic regression and discrete-time survival analysis were used to perform a multi-level, multivariable analysis of a student cohort (N = 3,284) enrolled at a large, multi-campus, urban community college. The subjects were retrospectively tracked over a 2-year longitudinal period. The study found that students in long seat-time classes tended to withdraw earlier and more often than did their peers in short seat-time classes (p < .05). Additionally, a model comprised of nine statistically significant covariates (all with p-values less than .01) was constructed. However, no longitudinal seat-time group differences were detected nor was there sufficient statistical evidence to conclude that seat time was predictive of developmental-level course success. A principal aim of this study was to demonstrate—to educational leaders, researchers, and institutional-research/business-intelligence professionals—the advantages and computational practicability of survival analysis, an underused but more powerful way to investigate changes in students over time.

Due to anxiety, low confidence, and inadequate content knowledge, many college students struggle to complete their developmental math coursework. As colleges redesign their programs to address these issues, careful research is imperative to determine the factors that best meet the needs of these struggling students. The purpose of this study was to analyze the impact of one college's redesigned program (integrating online, mastery, and project-based learning) compared with the traditional program. Using Weiner's attribution theory of achievement motivation and emotion as a guide, this mixed methods case study used a quasi-experimental nonequivalent control group design in conjunction with a qualitative examination of student interviews. The study used archived quantitative data and interview data from community college students in the Western United States. The quantitative data was analyzed using multiple regression, and a thematic analysis was used for the interview data. The results indicated that students in traditional courses achieved higher final exam scores than those in the revised courses. However, the revised and traditional math students did not exhibit significantly different attitudes toward math. Some of the key factors that directly impacted student success included the availability of student support services, student collaboration, and self-concept and motivation. Based on these results, the participating college and similar colleges will be able to make more informed decisions to improve the efficacy of their developmental math programs. These revisions will then help to improve student attitude and success in mathematics, will motivate students to persist in their education, and will better equip students to positively contribute to their future communities and workplaces.

The purpose of this research was to document the types of contextual approaches used in developmental education in the California community colleges and compare the effectiveness of those contextual courses to standard basic skills courses. The study used a mixed method design to identify colleges and courses using basic skills math instruction in the context of an occupational program. Survey respondents reporting contextual basic skills math courses provided course materials as evidence of contextualization and the basic skills math level. Logistic regressions were used to analyze student level data from the California community college system office database for contextual and non-contextual basic skills math courses identified at 34 of the responding semester colleges. Contextualization of pre-algebra mathematics was shown to increase the likelihood of successful remediation, accelerated entry into college-level coursework, and success in college-level and transferrable coursework for students in the California community colleges. The increased likelihood of success in college-level courses for students in the contextualized instruction group was evident in both the initial semester when the math course was taken and the subsequent semester. Contextual math instruction was found to be most effective for Black, Hispanic, and Other Non-White students. While there was no significant difference for White students, Asian students were more likely to pass standard basic skills math courses than they were contextual math courses. The research also documents the scarcity of this effective format of remediation in the California community colleges. The research suggests that recent policy changes may be contributing to this scarcity. Policies and practices to direct students into standard math sequences that meet transfer course prerequisites are not only increasing the scarcity of these types of innovative ways to provide engaging remedial coursework but are moving students into remediation that almost guarantees limited success at the community college.