Case Studies
Louisiana State University
Textbooks in Use with MyMathLab
Trigsted College Algebra, 1e, Kirk Trigsted (eBook)
Key Take-Away
By enabling consistent, high-quality content delivery and assessments across 47 sections of 40 students each, MyMathLab’s coordinator course feature makes LSU’s already successful lab-based course redesign even more effective.
Course Implementation
Course Design
Louisiana State University’s redesign model requires active participation and increased use of technology from students. Students are required to spend one hour a week in a traditional classroom of 40 students and a minimum of three flexible hours a week in a math lab using MyMathLab.
The 275-seat Pleasant Hall Math Learning Lab is open 60 hours each week and is staffed with instructors, teaching assistants, and undergraduate tutors. In addition to putting in the minimum required hours in the learning lab, students can work additional hours in the lab or work at their convenience from a Web-accessible computer.
Assessments
All assessments are taken using MyMathLab. The final grade is determined as follows:
| 10 percent | Participation (5 percent for class participation, 5 percent for lab hours) |
| 10 percent | Homework (2 lowest of 29 homework scores will be dropped) |
| 10 percent | Quizzes (2 lowest of 14 quiz scores will be dropped) |
| 45 percent | Tests (4 tests, lowest will be replaced with final exam score if higher) |
| 25 percent | Final exam (departmental, group, cumulative) |
Use of MyMathLab
Homework assignments, quizzes, tests, and the final exam are created in MyMathLab by the course coordinators, thereby ensuring quality control and avoiding course drift.
Homework may be repeated an unlimited number of times prior to the due date. Quiz and test questions come directly from the assigned homework problems. Quizzes may be attempted up to 10 times before the due date and are drawn from a pool of questions with similiar objectives.
Test questions are also pooled. Tests are proctored, password protected, and taken in the university testing center during a three-day period.
Use of MyMathLab contributes to 90 percent of a student’s final course grade.
Results and Data
Table 1 shows the chronology of LSU–Baton Rouge’s College Algebra redesign efforts from fall 2002 through fall 2009 and the positive results those efforts have achieved: decreased drop rates, increased final exam scores, and an increased percentage of ABC rates.
“Those who attend both class and lab experience firsthand how powerful the program is,” say Phoebe Rouse, precalculus mathematics director. To test the impact of lab time, Rouse collected the College Algebra ACT scores from the school’s mainframe and cross-referenced them with the amount of time per week each student spent in the lab over a 15-week semester. She compared those figures with the student’s final grade. The results showed that students with low ACT scores who wouldn’t normally be expected to pass, can pass when they spend a reasonable number of hours in the lab. Similarly, Rouse found that students with high ACT scores and low hours in the lab were more likely to earn Ds and Fs.
The Student Experience
Students quickly learn that practice on MyMathLab during lab time reaps positive results.
- “MyMathLab was very helpful. I learned so much this past semester. In my opinion, the math lab is the perfect environment for learning math.”
- “I liked being able to work alone on the MyMathLab, but also having the reassurance of tutors to help when I needed them.”
- “If I hadn’t been required to spend three hours in math lab each week, I would not have spent as much time on math homework and studying.”
Conclusions
A goal of redesign was to retain the high rate of student success in College Algebra. Using the present, redesigned program with MyMathLab, LSU–Baton Rouge has improved on previous success rates (with the exception of the Katrina/Rita semester). “In addition to more and more students passing college math on their first try, students’ time management skills are improving—two key elements in increasing a student’s odds of graduating within six years,” says Rouse.
Louisiana State University
| Product Used: | MyMathLab |
| Course Name: | College Algebra |
| Credit Hours: | 3 |
"This student-centered approach to learning requires students to put in more time doing mathematics and less time watching mathematics, which is why their learning outcomes are measurably higher."
