Students enrolled in precalculus (MATH 1113) have been identified as a high-priority population at Georgia Tech as the course is a gateway to successfully progressing into and completing a STEM degree. While student athletes were typically the majority of our precalculus enrollment, as the Georgia Tech strategically expands access to student groups historically underrepresented in higher education, MATH 1113 enrollment is steadily rising (161.4% increase from Fall 2018 to Fall 2022). Furthermore, while a final grade of B is considered the threshold to successfully advance into a STEM major, only 15% and 18% of MATH 1113 students earned an A or B, respectively, in the fall 2021 and spring 2022 semester, indicating two-thirds of the students were not Calculus 1-ready by the end of the term in precalculus.
It is vital to examine institutional opportunities to better support our increasingly diverse undergraduate population as we welcome more first-generation college students and students from rural communities, as a student’s potential to pursue and succeed in a STEM discipline should not dictated by how well-resourced their high school math program is. We aim to reframe the perception of precalculus at the Institution as a viable entry point into a STEM major by cultivating a co-enrollment learning environment between the first-year seminar (GT 1000) and the precalculus program.
Our first Momentum strategy of 2024 entailed establishing precalculus success sections of GT 1000 aligned to the MATH 1113 course pacing to provide additional support specific to navigating the first year of college; these sections included elements of academic coaching, mindset development, and academic success strategies. Additionally, GT 1000 provides an avenue for key academic planning incorporating MATH 1113, which is not included in any Georgia Tech STEM degree map. Beyond course planning, holistic college roadmapping supports the development and realization of one’s purpose to help MATH 1113 students make appropriate major selections and provide motivation for successful completion of precalculus to advance into subsequent STEM courses.
The MATH 1113/GT 1000 academic support initiative will be evaluated on two levels: partnership development and student impact. The developing partnership between the Academic Success and Advising (ASA) team and the School of Mathematics is evaluated with consideration to the formation stage and the building stage. During the formation stage between March 2024 and June 2024, feasibility was assessed, companion course strategy was developed, and additional campus collaborators were identified. The building stage, which began during the Fall 2024 semester, is focused on developing infrastructure and capacity and fostering commitment.
Short-term student outcomes are evaluated by tracking how many MATH 1113 students enroll in the complimentary transition seminar sections and utilize academic services. Longer term student impacts will be measured by (1) DFWU rates and (2) the percentage of students earning an A or B (the likely threshold for success in a STEM major) compared to the baseline metrics in which Fall 2021 and Spring 2022 semesters had a combined DFWU rate of 44% and 35% received an A or a B.
Formation Stage (03/2024 – 06/2024)
Key partners signed onto the intervention from College of Engineering, School of Mathematics, Academic Success and Advising, and Transition Seminars. We staffed and scheduled four companion sections of GT 1000, with experienced advisors from the College of Engineering, Academic Coaching, Exploratory Advising, and Retention Initiatives agreeing to serve as instructors.
Building Stage (Development, Summer 2024)
Course Design: Led by Anna Holcomb (Director, Retention and Completion Initiatives), two course design sessions were held on June 26 and August 15 to align GT 1000 to the planned pacing for MATH 1113.
Reducing planned sections: Due to personnel shifts, we chose to move forward with the following three GT 1000 sections rather than four:
GT 1000-S01, Mondays at 11AM in Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons, Room 323. Section S01 is co-taught by our team from Academic Success & Advising— Nicole Leonard, Emmie Cass, and Devoni Williams.
GT 1000-S02, Fridays at 2PM in Skiles, Room 317. Chirag Patel, an experienced undergraduate academic advisor in the Aerospace Engineering program, will lead Section S02.
GT 1000-S03, Fridays at 2PM in Swann, Room 106. Lauren Morton, who supports Clark and Dean’s Scholar in the College of Engineering, will lead Section S03.
Building Stage (Launch, Fall 2024)
Marketing and enrollment: Leading up to the course add/drop period for Fall 2024, we conducted several email campaigns marketing the GT 1000 companion course to engineering students that were registered for MATH 1113 for the upcoming term. As enrollment for the companion course waned into the first week of the semester, a targeted communication strategy was deployed to call and email students individually, engage with academic advisors to build awareness for the course and eligibility requirements, preemptively issue permits to the section that best fit a student’s schedule, and visit the MATH 1113 lecture to advertise the course and its benefits for student success. Despite these extensive efforts to enroll first-year precalculus students in the GT 1000 companion course, registration ultimately dictated that we run only one section, GT 1000-S02, with 7 students.
Piloting: Despite the smaller than anticipated course enrollment, we are piloting one section of the GT 1000 companion course this semester and preliminary student data is promised. Of the seven students registered, only one student received a midterm grade of U-Unsatisfactory in MATH 1113 and the cohort has averaged 2.2 visits per student to our tutoring center so far in the Fall 2024 semester.
In our first attempt offering a GT 1000 companion section to MATH 1113, we delayed our marketing and enrollment push until after math placement exams were finalized. As we plan to offer the GT 1000/MATH 1113 success sections again in Fall 2025, our recruitment efforts will be adjusted to capitalize on the academic advising sessions during first-year orientation throughout the summer. We are also exploring options to auto-enroll first-year STEM majors requiring pre-calculus in an academic support companion course.
The success of GT 1000 companion section to precalculus ultimately depends on both our partnership development and student impact. Our ability to foster partnership between key campus stakeholders in the School of Mathematics, Undergraduate Transition Seminars, and the College of Engineering is a resounding success from the year. However, our challenges enrolling students in the course limits the potential impact on student outcomes.
This would be an ideal student population and course to implement the Mindset Learning Project if made available in Canvas. Currently, it seems MLP is only available in D2L formats, which is not our institutional Learning Management System.
