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College of the Sequoias

MyMathLab Course Structure

Course Design

This traditional course meets four hours per week. Outside of class, students complete a MyMathLab homework assignment for each section covered in the text. They can work each problem as many times as they like. They take two quizzes via MyMathLab for each chapter. The first quiz covers the first half of the chapter, and the second quiz covers the second half of the chapter. Students get two attempts at each quiz, with only the better score counting. There also are six in-class, paper-and-pencil exams.

The standard grading policy is as follows:

• MyMathLab homework: 8.33 percent (1 per section)
• MyMathLab quizzes: 8.33 percent (2 per chapter)
• Pencil-and-paper exams: 50 percent (1 per chapter)
• Final exam: 33.33 percent

To promote the use of MyMathLab, its direct impact on the final grade is explained. Students who do not do any of the homework or quizzes would need to average at least 84 percent on the exams and the final to earn a C in the course, and they would need to average at least 96 percent to earn a B. An A is impossible without MyMathLab. If they earn perfect MyMathLab scores, they would need at least 64 percent on the exams and the final to earn a C, at least 76 percent to get a B, and at least 88 percent to earn an A.

The Contract. Students who meet the following criteria may complete a final cumulative assignment instead of taking the final exam. In such a situation, students keep the grade they had before the final.

• No more than two absences. Students benefit from being in class and suffer from not being there.
• Perfect scores on all MyMathLab homework. Students can retry problems until correct and remediate themselves through MyMathLab’s support features, at the Math Lab, by working with a group of classmates or by asking the professor.
• MyMathLab quiz average of at least 80 percent. Students have two attempts, thereby eliminating the chance for “typos” to hurt a student’s grade. It also offers students an opportunity for self-remediation.
• Exam average of at least 70 percent.

Developmental math students lack confidence, and many have a fear of the final exam. Such fear motivates many students to come to class daily, to do homework in a timely fashion, and to learn and understand the material being covered. Following is the developmental math grading policy:

• MyMathLab homework: 12.5 percent
• MyMathLab quizzes: 12.5 percent
• Pencil-and-paper exams: 75 percent

Assessments

Students take two quizzes per chapter via MyMathLab. The first quiz covers the first half of the chapter, and the second quiz covers the second half of the chapter. Students are allowed two attempts on each quiz, with the higher score counting. Students take an exam in class at the end of each chapter, and there are six tests during the semester.

MyMathLab Implementation

MyMathLab homework and quizzes are used in the course. For students using the contract, MyMathLab contributes 25 percent to their final course grade; for those not using the contract, MyMathLab contributes 16.7 percent.

Grades are not imported into MyMathLab from other sources; however, class exams are entered as off-line items.

MyMathLab Course Results

Of the 54 students who began the course, 49 completed it—a retention rate of 90.7 percent. More important, 37 of the 49 students passed the course, for a success rate of 68.5 percent. See Table 1 for a comparison of this course with two intermediate algebra courses taught the previous semester (spring 2007), as well as campuswide data for the same course in fall 2007.

Table 1. Contract and MyMathLab Efficacy in Intermediate Algebra, Spring 2007–Fall 2007

Use of a contract—as described on the previous page, a method to increase student usage of and time on MyMathLab—in one year has proved to be a successful motivational tool with significant results. Success rates for the semester in which the contract was used were 19.1 percent higher than those for semesters in which the contract was not used and were 20.2 percent higher than the campus average for the same period. Similarly, the failure rate was 14.3 percent lower using MyMathLab with a contract than it was when using MyMathLab without a contract, and 11.6 percent lower than the campus average. The retention rate was 4.8 percent higher for the semester in which a contract was used than for the semester without a contract, and 8.6 percent higher than in courses taught campuswide.

Using MyMathLab with a contract also resulted in a noticeable improvement in test scores. See Table 2.

Table 2. Test Score Averages, Spring 2007–Fall 2007

And homework scores improved considerably, because the contract motivated students to earn perfect scores on each assignment. See Table 3.

Table 3. Homework Averages, Spring 2007–Fall 2007