Date of Award

2014

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Curriculum, Instruction, and Media Technology

First Advisor

Susan Kiger

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the differ ences in the achievement rates of developmental mathematics students when a student s uccess course was taken in combination with mathematics. The study investigated changes t hat occurred in the developmental mathematics completion rates of the learners by exa mining age and the course sequence of mathematics in conjunction with a student success c ourse at a large community college in central Florida. Age was of interest as it related to the time lapsed from high school graduation and potential for mathematics atrophy. Course sequence was valued to determine if taking a student success course during or within one year of develop mental mathematics could enhance mathematics course completion. These attributes we re further divided and assessed according to the two specific developmental mathematics courses. Level 1 consisted of learners in deep remediation needing the most basic developmental ma thematics course. Level 2 was composed of people who placed into the developmental mathema tics course just below that of 100-level coursework. The results of the study from multiple analyses of association revealed that developmental mathematics course completion was sig nificantly correlated to student success courses. Students who took a student success cours e as a corequisite to their developmental mathematics course completed their mathematics cour se more often than those who took mathematics alone. Additionally, students in the h igher level developmental mathematics course also performed significantly better when a student success course was taken before but within one year of their developmental mathematics course. In the age groups of participants in the study, st udents who had been out of high school longer did not experience any observable mathematic s atrophy when taking mathematics without a student life skills course. As compared to young er students (20 years of age or younger), older students had a significantly higher course completi on rate. Moreover, all age groups in the study were shown to have benefitted significantly from th e inclusion of a student success course. Younger learners in the lowest level developmental mathematics course, however, benefitted most. This study provides implications for practic es and policies that enhance developmental mathematics course completion and facilitate academ ic momentum to degree completion in community colleges. It also provides insights to e nhance developmental mathematics curriculum success from an approach peripheral to the discipli ne.

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