Case Studies
Henry Ford Community College, MI
Mathematics faculty were concerned that students were not doing homework. After a MyMathLab presentation to the division and after unanimous agreement that the program could possibly encourage students to do homework and thus improve their skills, the department required the use of MyMathLab in all Intermediate Algebra and College Algebra sections starting in fall 2007.
Since implementation of MyMathLab, communication has greatly improved. MyMathLab provides students with immediate feedback on their assignments, and instructors use the program’s tools—including announcements, the Gradebook, and the search/e-mail-by-criteria option, to provide students with ongoing feedback on their progress. Most important, students are doing their homework. As a result, instructors are spending less time collecting and grading assignments and more time teaching.
According to a winter 2008 survey, the majority of students credit MyMathLab with helping them improve their skills and increase their success rates. Data provided by instructors for that same semester backed up the students’ claims: courses using MyMathLab had an average of approximately 10 percent higher pass rates than those not using it.
Surveys also reflect that students like MyMathLab and want to continue using it. Henry Ford Community College has since decided to expand its use of the program to all Precalculus and Beginning Algebra courses.
Henry Ford Community College
