View All Case Studies

University of Mississippi (Ole Miss)

Course Implementation

Course Design

Each week, College Algebra students meet for 100 minutes in a classroom and 50 minutes in the mathematics computer lab. Students complete their work either in the lab during the 50 minutes required each week or on their own computers on their own time. Students have access to tutors while in the lab; those working on their own rely on online tutorials and help features for assistance.

Assessments

Use of MyMathLab

Homework assignments (some customized) are completed in Trigsted MyMathLab, and students are encouraged to use the program’s student help aids, including Ask My Instructor, Show an Example, tutorials, and videos.

Trigsted MyMathLab contributes 17 percent to a student’s final course grade.

Results and Data

Table 1 and figures 1–3 show grade distributions, ABC rates, D/F/W rates, and average final exam scores collected during a spring 2010 pilot in which Brian Zimmerman, instructor, used Trigsted MyMathLab in one on-ground and one online College Algebra class. All other sections of College Algebra used Hawkes Learning Systems.

Homework assignments mirrored each other as much as possible, no changes were made to the course during the pilot, and the final exam is departmental and does not vary. The only difference was the online program in use for homework.

The results are clear and, across a variety of metrics, fall positively in favor of Trigsted MyMathLab.

• Seventy-three percent of the students using Trigsted MyMathLab in the on-ground course earned an A, B, or C, compared with 64 percent of the students using Hawkes Learning Systems.
• Classes using Trigsted MyMathLab had significantly lower D/F/W rates than did the classes using Hawkes: 27.2 percent compared with 34.7 percent.
• The average final exam score was higher in classes using Trigsted MyMathLab than it was in classes using Hawkes Learning Systems. The average score of students using Trigsted MyMathLab was 61.5 percent (123.2 points out of a possible 200 points), compared with 57 percent (114.1 points) in those classes using Hawkes Learning Systems.

Table 2. Comparison of Spring 2010 College Algebra Course Grades (n=104)

The Student Experience

Students using Trigsted MyMathLab benefited from the program’s wealth of learning aids and interactive tools. Students were supported exactly when and where they needed it—in the context of learning.

“Communication was really good with the students using Trigsted MyMathLab,” says Zimmerman. “Not many students had issues, but those who did were able to send me an e-mail through the program and I was able to answer their questions within a few minutes, which was much faster and easier than with the other software.”