Placing More Freshmen into College-level Mathematics Courses

Helmut Knaust

Director, CircLES Program

Associate Dean of the Colleges of Science

and Engineering

April 5, 2003

Overview of PresentationOverview of Presentation

• UTEP’s Science and Engineering Program• CircLES and MIE at UTEP• Summer Orientation • Math Placement• Evaluation and Assessment• Reference and Acknowledgements

Fall 2001 EnrollmentFall 2001 Enrollment

16,224 students

2,010 in Engineering+ 904 in Science  2,914 or 18% of total

enrollment

Fall 2002 EnrollmentFall 2002 Enrollment

17,232 students

UTEP’s Model for STEM Student SuccessUTEP’s Model for STEM Student Success

TimeLine TimeLine

GoalsGoals

The goal of the CircLES program is to ...

• increase student retention

• improve their academic performance

• add value to their college education

ORIENTATION

CLUSTERS

ADVISING

STUDENT LEADERSHIP

DEVELOPMENT

StructureStructure

CircLES - One Week-Long OrientationCircLES - One Week-Long Orientation

CONNECTIONS TO UNIVERSITY

SERVICES

DEVELOPMENTAL MATH REVIEW AND PLACEMENT

STUDY SKILLS RESEARCH MODULES(Science or Engineering)

Math ReviewMath Review

• Duration: 3 days, 2 hours each day

• Students solve math problems in small groups of 4 or 5 students

• Math review is led by peer facilitators

• The accompanying text focuses on short explanations and practice problems

• After the math review is complete, students retake UTEP’s math placement exam

Placement Before and After Math ReviewPlacement Before and After Math Review

Before After

Math Review2001(n=359)

Before After

Math Review2002 (n=386)

2002 Math Review: Mathematics Course 2002 Math Review: Mathematics Course Taken by Students Initially Placing into Taken by Students Initially Placing into Intro to Algebra (n=78)Intro to Algebra (n=78)

2002 Math Review: Math Course Taken by 2002 Math Review: Math Course Taken by Students Initially Placing into Intermediate Students Initially Placing into Intermediate Algebra (n=146)Algebra (n=146)

2002 Math Review: Mathematics Course 2002 Math Review: Mathematics Course Taken by Students Initially Placing into Pre-Taken by Students Initially Placing into Pre-Calculus (n=111)Calculus (n=111)

Pre-Calculus Passing ratePre-Calculus Passing rate

Intermediate Algebra Passing rateIntermediate Algebra Passing rate

ReferenceReference

Benjamin C. Flores, Jana Renner Martínez, Helmut Knaust, Ann Darnell, Lilly Romo, and Connie Kubo Della-Piana:“The Effectiveness of a Mathematics Review for Student Placement into College-Level Mathematics”.Submitted to: “Proceedings of the 2003 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition”, 2003.

All Questions Answered,All Answers Questioned*

* Borrowed from Donald Knuth