Course Redesign Developments to Increase Math Student Success

~ From Carol A. Twigg, National Center for Academic Transformation President and CEO

Changing the Equation Selects 38 Institutions

The National Center for Academic Transformation (NCAT) has selected 38 two-year institutions* to participate in Changing the Equation, a new program focused on redesigning remedial/developmental math supported by a $2.3 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Institutions participating in the program will improve student learning outcomes while reducing costs for both students and institutions using NCAT's proven redesign methodology. Collectively, these 38 redesigns will impact more than 100,000 students annually.

Each participant in Changing the Equation will redesign its entire developmental math sequence-all sections of all developmental courses offered-using NCAT's Emporium Model and commercially available instructional software (ALEKS, Carnegie Learning, Hawkes Learning Systems and MyMathLab.) Each redesign will modularize the curriculum, allowing students to progress through the developmental course sequence at a faster pace if possible or at a slower pace if necessary, spending the amount of time needed to master the course content.

Scaling a Proven Innovation

Changing the Equation builds on NCAT's ten years of experience in conducting large-scale course redesign programs that improve learning while reducing costs. Math redesigns at NCAT partner institutions have

  

• increased the percentage of students successfully completing a developmental math course by 51% on average (ranging from 10% to 135%), while reducing the cost of instruction by 30% on average (ranging from 12% to 52%), and 
• increased the percentage of students successfully completing a college-level math course by 25% on average (ranging from 7% to 63%), while reducing the cost of instruction by 37% on average (ranging from 15% to 77%) 

*Institutions selected to participate in Changing the Equation include:

·        Anne Arundel Community College

·        Bowling Green Technical College

·        Cecil College

·        Cochise College

·        College of Central Florida

·        Cossatot Community College of the University of Arkansas

·        Cumberland County College

·        Dakota College at Bottineau

·        Delgado Community College

·        Genesee Community College

·        Guilford Technical Community College

·        Hazard Community and Technical College

·        Heartland Community College

·        Henderson Community College

·        Iowa Western Community College

·        Laramie County Community College

·        Leeward Community College

·        Lurleen B. Wallace Community College

·        Manchester Community College

·        Mercer County Community College

·        Mesabi Range Community and Technical College

·        Miami Dade College

·        Mid-State Technical College

·        Mountwest Community & Technical College

·        Nashville State Community College

·        Northern Virginia Community College

·        Northwest-Shoals Community College

·        Northwest State Community College

·        Oakton Community College

·        Pearl River Community College

·        Robeson Community College

·        Somerset Community College

·        Stark State College of Technology

·        Volunteer State Community College

·        Washington State Community College

·        West Kentucky Community and Technical College

·        West Virginia University at Parkersburg

·        Wilbur Wright College

~CS Robinson