This study focuses on students who are registered for the University of Pretoria's academic development programme, the Four-year Programme (FYP). The programme was introduced as a gateway for students who are under-prepared but have the potential to succeed. This programme helps them to then continue their studies in mainstream science programmes.…

Colleges throughout the United States are evaluating the effectiveness of the strategies used to decide whether to place students into college-level or developmental education courses. Developmental, or remedial, courses are designed to develop the reading, writing, or math skills of students deemed underprepared for college-level courses, a…

This participatory action research (PAR) study describes the Flagway program at New England College (NEC). The purpose of the study is to share the historical origins of the Flagway program, discuss how Flagway is being implemented with college students at NEC, and describe initial effects of the program on middle school students who score in the…

This case study examined the current assessment practices in the math school of a large research university in the United States. After reviewing a sample of course syllabi offered in the spring 2021 semester, we descriptively summarized the use of 19 assessment methods in the school and examined the assessment patterns by subjects, class…

A set of weekly optional online quizzes was used with 104 students on a Multivariable Calculus course (MC), via the Moodle online system. These quizzes contributed a maximum of two extra points, and this was awarded if the student scored more than 9 points (out of 20) on the exam. All the students got the same questions and could resubmit the…

The authors describe an Enhanced Formative Assessment and Self-Regulated Learning (EFA-SRL) program designed to improve the achievement of community college students enrolled in developmental mathematics courses. Their model includes the use of specially formatted quizzes designed to assess both the students' mathematics and metacognitive skill…

This study gathered, analyzed, and compared perspectives of students who were honors-eligible but never began the program, students who began in honors and discontinued their enrollment, and those who were persisting in honors. Broadly speaking (and not surprisingly), the responses of students persisting in honors reflected the most positive…

Little is known about the importance of instructional quality in American higher education because few recent studies have had access to direct measures of student learning that are comparable across sections of the same course. Using data from two developmental algebra courses at a large community college, I found that student learning varies…

Many students enter the Canadian college system with insufficient mathematical ability and leave the system with little improvement. Those students who enter with poor mathematics ability typically take a developmental mathematics course as their first and possibly only mathematics course. The educational experiences that comprise a developmental…

For a period of four semesters, the possibility was explored of using a "group quiz" as a learning activity that provides a collaborative learning environment, a review of the previous week's material, and a formative assessment for both the student and the instructor. Using both quantitative (i.e., student surveys) and qualitative (i.e., student…

The Bologna Declaration brought reforms into higher education that imply changes in teaching methods, didactic materials and textbooks, infrastructures and laboratories, etc. Statistics and mathematics are disciplines that traditionally have the worst success rates, particularly in non-mathematics core curricula courses. This research project,…

"Informed math self-placement," a program implemented at American River College in Sacramento, California, to determine students' readiness for college-level math, has been in place for three years. This case study describes the development and implementation of math self-placement at American River. Math self-placement consists of a…

This book contains a compilation of papers presented at the International Conference on Education and New Developments (END 2017), organized by the World Institute for Advanced Research and Science (W.I.A.R.S.). Education, in our contemporary world, is a right since we are born. Every experience has a formative effect on the constitution of the…

A battery of mathematics tests was developed to predict: (1) student success on the mathematics subtest of the Texas Academic Skills Program (TASP), basic skills tests required upon entry into public colleges or universities in Texas; and (2) student readiness for college level mathematics. The developed tests were intended to provide universities…

The University of Wisconsin-Madison is using a novel assessment process to find whether rising juniors have the quantitative skills needed for success in their chosen upper-division courses. Sampling from departments across the campus, information is gathered about quantitative skills used in specific courses and the extent to which students can…