Evaluation of alternative delivery systems on academic performance in College Algebra.(Report)

College Algebra is a required, core course for many science and mathematics majors in community colleges. The course had the lowest passing rate of any class on campus. The administration expressed a clear intent to improve on this high failure rate and provided funds to accomplish this purpose. To increase the pass rate several different instructional methodologies were used; first, some sections of the class continued to use a traditional lecture method; second, other class sections used a computer-aided instruction (CAI) model; third, some sections used an online delivery method; fourth, one section used television. Results showed that the traditional lecture delivery system had the highest grade point average and one of the lowest failing rates of all teaching strategies.

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"The study of mathematics stands, in many ways, as a gateway to student success in education. This is becoming particularly true as our society moves inexorably into the technological age. Therefore, it is vital that more students develop higher levels of competency in mathematics. (Parnell, 1988)"

College Algebra is a required, core course for all majors at a community college in the southeast and successful completion of the course is considered a gateway to further success in higher education. College Algebra had the lowest passing rate of any course on the campus. High level administrators expressed a clear intent to improve on this low passing rate, and were willing to provide financial support to help achieve that goal.

Several changes were made to the curriculum and syllabus for College Algebra. Both online and televised variations of College Algebra were created and offered. Web support pages for on-campus sections were created and filled with thirty hours of streaming real-media and mimeo lectures, practice tests for each chapter, and quizzes for each section of the text. A course guide containing more than one hundred pages of worked examples, study tips, and additional support was written, and has been sold as a supplement to the course. Supplemental instruction and peer tutoring programs have been implemented to support College Algebra. Additionally, the math department established experimental sections of College Algebra that would abandon the text and internally developed support materials for the course in favor of a computer-aided instruction (CAI) model.

The purpose of this paper was to conduct an evaluation of the relationship between type of instruction (CAI, traditional lecture, online or television) and student learning of college algebra, where student learning was defined by grades in the college algebra course, controlling for instructor specific grading differences.

O'Callaghan (1998) assessed the impact of computer-aided instruction in college algebra at a southern university. O'Callaghan's study drew students from one class of CAI which he taught, one class of traditional lecture which he taught, and one class of traditional lecture taught by another instructor. Dependent variables included grade differential on pre- and post-tests of the students' understanding of function, and grades on a departmental common final examination. O'Callaghan concluded that CAI students exhibited a better understanding of functions, specifically in the component areas of modeling, interpreting, and translating.