EVALUATION OF THE IMPACTS OF MATH COURSE PLACEMENT IMPROVEMENT ACHIEVED THROUGH A SUMMER BRIDGE PROGRAM

摘要

A summer bridge program for incoming engineering and computer science freshmen was conducted in 2009. The primary purpose of this program was to improve the mathematics course placement for incoming students who initially place into a course below Calculus I as determined through our math placement examination. The students retake the university's math placement examination after completing the bridge program to determine if they may enroll in a mathematics course more advanced than the one into which they initially placed. If a student improves his or her math placement, the program is considered successful for that student. The mathematics portion of the bridge program centers on using the ALEKS software package for targeted, self-guided learning. In 2009, the program took place exclusively in an on-campus format and also featured a required residential component and additional engineering activities for the students. The program's duration was 4 weeks, and students were expected to improve their math placement by at least one semester. It is expected that improving their math placement will reduce the student's time-to-graduation which should in turn improve retention rates and eventually graduation rates. However, the program will not effectively reduce the time-to-graduation if students do not succeed in their subsequent math courses. Data from the 2009 cohort have been collected and analyzed to judge the effectiveness of the program with respect to the students' performance in future math courses. It was found that in all categories of bridge program students, the students performed as well as the class average, while some categories of students clearly benefited from attending the summer program. In addition, further factors were considered with regards to the students' success in the bridge program. These factors resulted in some changes which were implemented in the 2010 summer bridge program. The 2010 program saw a larger percentage of students improve their math course placement, with 83% of the students improving their math placement in 2010 vs. 68% in 2009. These factors are discussed as well.