TY - JOUR
T1 - Undergraduate course variations in precalculus through Calculus 2
AU - the Progress through Calculus Team
AU - Voigt, Matthew
AU - Apkarian, Naneh
AU - Rasmussen, Chris
N1 - Funding Information:
Support for this work was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under Grant number 1430540. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of NSF.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2020/8/17
Y1 - 2020/8/17
N2 - Precalculus and single-variable calculus courses are a critical early juncture for the success of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) students in the United States (US). The default course structure is often a required three-term sequence of precalculus, differential calculus, and integral calculus. In this paper we analyse variations to this structure, the nature of such variations, their frequency across US universities, and how instructional approach and performance rates in those variations compare to those in the standard course offerings. We found that course variations are relatively common, and are primarily targeting students with more math preparation, less math preparation, or those majoring in a specific discipline. We found that for less prepared students, who are typically at the highest risk of failing, course variations resulted in similar passing rates, essentially levelling the playing field for these students. Although we had conjectured that disruptions to the standard offering would allow for greater use of active learning strategies, no such difference was observed. Ways in which these course variations can redress systemic educational inequalities, opportunities for design improvement, and future research are discussed.
AB - Precalculus and single-variable calculus courses are a critical early juncture for the success of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) students in the United States (US). The default course structure is often a required three-term sequence of precalculus, differential calculus, and integral calculus. In this paper we analyse variations to this structure, the nature of such variations, their frequency across US universities, and how instructional approach and performance rates in those variations compare to those in the standard course offerings. We found that course variations are relatively common, and are primarily targeting students with more math preparation, less math preparation, or those majoring in a specific discipline. We found that for less prepared students, who are typically at the highest risk of failing, course variations resulted in similar passing rates, essentially levelling the playing field for these students. Although we had conjectured that disruptions to the standard offering would allow for greater use of active learning strategies, no such difference was observed. Ways in which these course variations can redress systemic educational inequalities, opportunities for design improvement, and future research are discussed.
KW - Calculus
KW - course variations
KW - curriculum
KW - precalculus
KW - undergraduate
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85085886624&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85085886624&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/0020739X.2019.1636148
DO - 10.1080/0020739X.2019.1636148
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85085886624
SN - 0020-739X
VL - 51
SP - 858
EP - 875
JO - International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology
JF - International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology
IS - 6
ER -