The impact of taking a college pre-calculus course on students¿ college calculus performance

Autores: G. Sonnert, Philip M. Sadler
Localización: International journal of mathematical education in science and technology, ISSN 0020-739X, Vol. 45, Nº. 8, 2014, págs. 1188-1207
Idioma: inglés
DOI: 10.1080/0020739x.2014.920532
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Resumen
- Poor performance on placement exams keeps many US students who pursue a STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) career from enrolling directly in college calculus. Instead, they must take a pre-calculus course that aims to better prepare them for later calculus coursework. In the USA, enrollment in pre-calculus courses in two- and four-year colleges continues to grow, and these courses are well-populated with students who already took pre-calculus in high school. We examine student performance in college calculus, using regression discontinuity to estimate the effects of taking college pre-calculus or not, in a national US sample of 5507 students at 132 institutions. We find that students who take college pre-calculus do not earn higher calculus grades.