Case Studies
Quinsigamond Community College
Quinsigamond Community College (QCC) was established in 1963 to provide a first-rate education for residents of central Massachusetts. The college offers more than 60 associate degree and certificate career options to a diverse population of more than 7,000 day and evening students.
Roughly 93 percent of QCC’s incoming students test into at least one level of developmental math. They typically have a high level of math anxiety, a long history of math failure, poor study skills, and an overall lack of preparation for college-level math. In 2001 the number of developmental math students started to rise. QCC knew it needed a plan—a systemized and measurable way to ensure that these students received the kind of high-quality education QCC was created to provide. The award of a $1.7-million, five-year Title III grant gave the school the resources they needed to do just that.
Faculty and administration assessed the challenges that lay ahead—large numbers of developmental math sections, large numbers of part-time faculty, inconsistent delivery of objectives and grading, poor student performance, and diverse student educational goals— and in 2002 embarked on the Developmental Math Program. The program borrows heavily from the theory of Universal Design for Learning,12 with MyMathLab as one of its delivery vehicles.
Pass rates in all three developmental math classes—basic math, beginning algebra, and intermediate algebra—significantly increased, with beginning algebra showing the most striking average increase from the program pilot in 2003 through spring 2006: nearly 42 percent!
Steadily rising pass rates convinced even the most skeptical faculty members, and today MyMathLab is standardized across the QCC developmental math program. Master Courses, created with MML, enable all instructors to copy a complete, predesigned course.
One of the most visible changes has been an increase in the number of students utilizing math resources on campus. “Math Resource Center attendance figures went up significantly,” says Andreana Grimaldo, assistant professor of mathematics and developmental mathematics coach at QCC. “The increase was dramatic and an indication that students are taking responsibility for their learning. They’re engaged in math and enjoy the immediate feedback of getting 100 percent on their homework.”
Standardized courses give students more options when help is needed. “Faculty, math center tutors, the textbooks, MML, and the students are all on the same page,” says Grimaldo. “Everyone knows what everyone else is doing, which means students have any number of resources for help.”
Faculty and adjuncts appreciate the standardization. “Everyone knows exactly what they need to do—no guesswork,” says Grimaldo. “It saves time—time that can be spent teaching and working one-on-one with students.” And by combining MML and QCC’s unique instructor resource manual, QCC can keep nearly 70 faculty and adjunct instructors on target and communicating. Instructors have many opportunities to meet and discuss what works best in the classroom and to share how they use MML to keep students excited. “Standardizing the courses has opened a space for sharing and discussion and enabled us to learn from each other. In a community college, the population is always changing and the dynamics are always shifting. The constant sharing of new ideas is important for us,” says Grimaldo.
MML is also helping QCC improve retention. Its Gradebook and multiple reporting features facilitate close tracking of students’ attendance and performance, thereby leading to early intervention. “The moment they start slipping, you can see it,” says Grimaldo. “There’s no need to wait for an exam to find out.” MML’s e-mail feature enables instructors to communicate with students. “Every time you connect with students, you increase your chances of retaining them. It lets the students know that you care.”
The average age of a QCC student is 27 years old. The college has a high proportion of adult, learningdisabled, part-time, nonnative English-speaking, and evening students. These generally underserved populations have benefited as well.
“About 10 percent of our population have accommodations for learning,” says Grimaldo. “MML provides us with the resources to help them. They have video options and audio options, and they can enlarge text to a size that suits them. I have a student who is very intelligent and has cerebral palsy. She can run the computer beautifully, but she has trouble interacting with people. Because homework is almost exclusively online, she’s been able to succeed in my class.” English as a Second Language students also find extra support in MML. “They can go back and practice English, review assignments, and listen to the audio as many times as they need to,” she says.
Even those students who’ve had frustrating experiences and faced constant failure in math are empowered by MML. “It’s incredible to see them succeed,” says Grimaldo. “It increases their self-esteem and thus their potential to succeed in life. They learn math, but also technical reading and comprehension. MML teaches them how to follow directions, use a math symbol palette, and overlay it on a present need. These skills will serve them the rest of their lives.”
MML works with every type of student and every student’s learning style: those who are embarrassed to ask questions in class can send an e-mail, returning students who need more support can watch videos, and those who have the ability appreciate that they can get in and get out without repeating what they already know or can quickly learn. “They all like using it,” says Grimaldo.
Grimaldo and the rest of the QCC faculty are pleased with the successes they’ve derived from standardized use of MML on campus and online. Students are achieving at higher levels and instructors are thriving in an atmosphere of professionalism and collaboration. Says Grimaldo, “This couldn’t happen if everyone wasn’t on the same page.”
12Universal Design for Learning is an approach to design of course instruction, materials, and content to benefit people of all learning styles. It provides equal access to learning by allowing the student to control the method of accessing information while the teacher monitors the learning process and initiates beneficial methods. The design enables the student to be self-sufficient, although the teacher is responsible for imparting knowledge and facilitating the learning process. Those who benefit the most from this approach include students who speak English as a second language, international students, older students, and students with disabilities.
