About eighty percent 80% of the engineering students entering the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez start mathematics in the precalculus course. Project Precalculus was implemented to strengthen underprepared students' mathematical skills andto decrease the precalculus attrition rate. Project Precalculus has three main components: the Precalculus Intervention System, a system of training for precalculus teaching assistants, and a system of coordination of examinations and grading. ThePrecalculus Intervention System alerts students to their particular mathematical weaknesses and provides a structure to help improve these weaknesses. Precalculus teaching assistants undergo an intensive training to improve their teaching skills and toenrich their professional development in general. A stringent coordination system is in place to ensure the fairness and objectivity of grading. Since Project Precalculus has been implemented attrition rates in precalculus have dropped significantly.
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