Graduate Thesis Or Dissertation
 

Quantitative Study of Math Excel Calculus Courses

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https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/graduate_thesis_or_dissertations/v118rh265

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  • About twenty years ago, a large, rural, doctoral granting institution with an undergraduate population of approximately 24,000 in the pacific northwest of the United States established the Math Excel program. Students would attend lectures three times a week for 50 minutes like a traditional course, and they would also attend two workshops per week that are two hours each, in contrast to traditional courses with a 50 minute recitation once per week. For several years the university would offer a few sections of Math Excel for several 100- and 200-level mathematics courses each term. During the 2013-2014 academic year, the university dedicated all sections of Math Excel to a particular section of calculus and implemented a Math Excel section of a calculus every quarter with the sequence of courses consisting of differential calculus, integral calculus, and vector calculus. A Math Excel version of differential calculus, integral calculus, and vector calculus were offered during fall term, winter term, and spring term respectively. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate how students in the Math Excel calculus courses performed compared to students in traditional calculus courses. First, a logistic regression model will be used to model the relationship between pass rates and enrollment in a Math Excel calculus course after controlling for predictor variables and a two-sample t-test will be performed to compare pass rates of students in a Math Excel calculus course and a traditional calculus course. Next, a linear regression model will be used to model the relationship between grade points and enrollment in a Math Excel calculus course and a two-sample t-test will be performed to compare grade points of students in a Math Excel calculus course and a traditional calculus course. Finally, a two-sample t-test will be performed to examine if there is a difference in average grade earned for students that took a Math Excel calculus course in the previous term and students that did not. In each of these cases I found that there is not significant evidence that the Math Excel program has a greater effect on student pass rates, grades, or future grades in calculus courses than traditional versions of the calculus courses. Based on these results, I suggest that more data is gathered to see if there is a change in the results, an in depth analysis of students’ demographics and activities outside the classroom, and looking at the instructor effect and execution in the classroom in order to understand how and whether the Math Excel program benefits students in different ways.
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