A group of Basic Math classes at Florida State College at Jacksonville improved from a 66.75% passing rate in Fall 2011 to 84.5% average in Fall 2012 after using Learning Upgrade courses.
Dr. Sarae Mathews shared the results from her Basic Math MAT0018 classes. Students completed the Pre-Alebra Upgrade 60-lesson online course from Learning Upgrade. In addition, they completed the Math XL program traditionally used in the classes.
With the addition of the Pre-Algebra Upgrade in the 2012 school year, scores improved significantly for the classes:
This semester my overall success rate was 85%, which signifies a huge improvement for this course. In addition, I had no Withdrawals.
Here’s the breakdown.
TR 5:30 class: 83% success
15 out of 18 passed with an A, B, or C
3 failed with an F or FN (failure for nonattendance)
MW 1:00 class: 81% success
17 out of 21 passed with an A, B, or C
1 received a D
1 signed a contract for an I (incomplete) grade – she has up to 8 wks to finish her work
2 failed with an F or FN
MW 10:00 class: 89% success
17 out of 19 passed with an A, B, or C
2 failed with an FN
TR 1:00 class: 85% success
17 out of 20 passed with an A, B, or C
1 received a D
2 failed with an F or FN
I think the following contributed to these great results:
- by front loading the course with LearningUpgrade lessons, the foundation was laid for the MathXL work
- LearningUpgrade was most engaging – it “forced” the students to WORK intently the first month of the term
- 45% of the students completed the course early, by Thanksgiving, so I could spend more time helping the slower learners.
Feedback from Students:
LU was engaging: SA & A 91%
LU was easy to complete: SA & A 77%
LU was clear: SA & A 82%
LU helped me with MathXL: SA & A 96%
I liked LU online program: SA & A 69%
I feel prepared for Elementary Algebra: SA & A 100%
I feel I am more successful in solving math problems: SA & A 100%
Dr. Matthews plans to continue using the Learning Upgrade courses in the Basic Math classes for next semester and develop best practices to improve the passing rate.