Case Studies
Montgomery College
At Montgomery College (MC) in Conroe, Texas, approximately two-thirds of entering students test into developmental mathematics. Recognizing that success in both academia and the workforce is unattainable without success in mathematics, MC faculty investigated alternative pedagogy aimed at increasing student success. They kept coming back to assessment—and how today’s literature repeatedly asserts that the traditional, one-shot final approach is an ineffective tool for student learning. With that in mind, faculty teamed with Pearson Education and devised the Mathematics Learning Outcomes Assessment Laboratory program (MLOAL). The program was piloted in spring 2003, beginning with the lowestlevel developmental course. It was then evaluated, improved, and implemented on a broader level, and by fall 2004 approximately 100 developmental math sections with 2,500 students were participating in the program. Today faculty and students overwhelmingly embrace the Mathematics Learning Outcomes Assessment Laboratory program, which is now a standardized program across the department for all developmental math courses.
The MLOAL is the heart of a student-friendly program that utilizes MyMathLab to deliver assessments based on desired course outcomes. Lab hours span from early morning to late at night Monday through Thursday, with morning hours on Friday and Saturday. Students may take the assessments at any time the lab is open, may make as many as seven attempts at any one assessment, and are required to pass all outcomes lab assessments in order to pass the course. MyMathLab’s grade distribution program sends grades to instructors on a weekly basis, thereby enabling instructors to track student participation and progress and to intervene if necessary with tutoring or other support services.
Courses typically require 8 to 10 concept-based assessments. This kind of regular assessment empowers students to take charge of their learning. By continuously evaluating their strengths and weaknesses via the immediate feedback provided by MML, students know exactly where they need further study and are less likely to fall behind early in the semester, when it is hardest to rebound.
Three of MC’s primary goals were to increase the success of mathematics students at all levels, to increase the number of students enrolled in higher-level mathematics courses, and to increase levels of student satisfaction with the educational process. Faculty, students, and administration agree: MLOAL has fulfilled these goals and more. From fall 2004 to spring 2005 there was a statistically significant difference between the pass rates of students who had completed outcomes assessment in the previous course and those of students who had not. College algebra saw the most significant pass rate difference: 73 percent for those who had successfully completed outcomes versus 55 percent for those who did not. Other positive outcomes include subsequent success and an increase in mathematics course enrollment. For example, enrollment figures for calculus have increased 80 percent since last spring.
The MML-powered MLOAL has resulted in a winwin- win situation for the college: The faculty is delighted with the increased pass rates. The administration is thrilled with the recognition the program is gaining for the college. (So far, the program has been nominated for the prestigious Bellwether Award; has earned a 2007 Award from the National Council of Instructional Administrators, an affiliate of the American Association of Community Colleges; and is currently awaiting word on an award from the 2007 International Conference on Technology in Collegiate Mathematics.) And, perhaps most important, the students love it. Maureen Loiacano, mathematics and education department chair, says, “Upon using MML, one student asked me, ‘Where did this come from? This is just wonderful!’"
“Without MyMathLab—its superb technical support, the communication it affords us among faculty and between faculty and students, and its remarkable flexibility— we could not have achieved this level of student or college success,” says Loiacano. “I know I sound like a commercial for MyMathLab, but that’s really the way we all feel about it!”
