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Louisiana State University

Course Implementation

Course Design

Louisiana State University’s (LSU’s) redesign model requires active participation and increased technology use by its 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 using MyMathLab
in a math lab .

The 275-seat Pleasant Hall Math Learning Lab is open 60 hours a week and is staffed with instructors, teaching assistants, and undergraduate tutors. In addition to puting 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 are dropped)
10 percent      Quizzes (2 lowest of 14 quiz scores are dropped)
45 percent      Tests (4 tests, lowest is 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 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 90 percent to a student’s final course grade.

Results and Data

A longitudinal view of College Algebra student success data shows that the adoption of MyMathLab has contributed to an increase in overall success rates, an increase in final grades of A and B, and a decrease in the drop/fail/withdrawal (DFW) rate. Note that in fall 2005, LSU instituted a drop policy that limits the number of drops a student is allowed, thereby producing more Fs and fewer Ws. Also note that fall 2005 data was omitted due to the impact of Hurricane Katrina.

Figure 1 illustrates that for fall students in College Algebra entering the university from 2000 to 2009 with an ACT math score of 19–24, the percentage of students earning Bs increased significantly after MyMathLab was introduced for all assessments, and the number of students earning As increased slightly.

Figure 2 shows that for the same population of students entering the university from 2000 to 2009, the success rate increased significantly since MyMathLab was introduced for all assessments.

The Student Experience

Students quickly learn that practice using 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 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.”