The Predictive Quality of High School Grade Point Average on the Outcomes of Under-prepared Students in a Mathematics Intervention Course for First-year Engineering Students: How Motivation and Effort Correlate to Student Success

Previous research on the impact of a mathematics intervention course on engineering students revealed a strong correlation between students’ high school grade point averages (HS GPA), academic conscientiousness and motivation. Further analysis revealed a better than expected graduation rate after this intervention course for students with higher than average HS GPAs, even for students with below average ACT Math scores. The increases in graduation rates were determined to be primarily due to increases in mathematics self-efficacy, while motivation and effort were only tangentially discussed. While these have been considered factors for success in previous studies, the focus of these studies has been primarily on students that are academically prepared for engineering programs (i.e., ACT Math >25). This paper focuses on a mathematics intervention course designed to remediate and increase the math placement level (MPL) of underprepared students in their first semester of engineering. The course utilizes both a lecture session, where engineering concepts in math are covered in a topic based linear approach, and an online browser-based program, where students can self-pace through pure mathematics topics. The course structure allows for tracking of time spent on self-paced tasks online and comparisons with lecture based assignments to aid in the determination of student motivation. Additionally, students retake the university math placement test twice during the semester in order to move ahead in the math curriculum through the remediation process of the course. In a population of underprepared first-year engineering students taking a mathematics intervention course, the objectives of this study are to determine if HS GPAs can predict student effort level (i.e., time-on-task), if that effort leads to superior outcomes (i.e., MPL and knowledge gained), and if course objectives incentivize student effort during course progression. The study covers 2 semesters of the course and includes 209 new direct from high school (NDFHS) students. Additional information regarding the 70 minority students and 35 female students that make up a portion of the 209 test subjects is also discussed. Applications of study outcomes are discussed in terms of targeted enrollment management and student success predictions. Background – Closing the Postsecondary Attainment Gap In recent years, there has been an increased push for Ohioans to complete postsecondary training to compete with the national and global market (NCHEMS, 2010; Ohio Higher Ed, 2016). The barriers to success most often discussed in the publications are cost and time. These issues are not the primary factors related to engineering degrees, however, as research has shown. (Alarcon, 2012; Bourne, 2014; Brown 2008; Connor 2007; DeFeyter, 2012; Hazrait-Viari, 2011; Komarraju, 2011; Lent 1984; Lent 1991; Moreira, 2013; Poropat, 2009; Robbins 2004; Wang, 2013). The issues related to increasing engineering degree attainment are created through the broadening of the incoming pool of NDFHS students, a clear majority of which, comes from underprepared students entering programs that are not designed to meet their needs or increase their chance of success. To better understand if opportunity exists to create support programs for underprepared students, previous studies endeavored to determine the role psychosocial factors play in achievement for some underprepared students (Bourne, 2014). The results of this study showed that motivation and conscientiousness play key roles in student outcomes, and these factors can be predicted using the measures of objective academic performance (MOAPs), HS GPA and ACT math scores. The combination of these MOAPs resulted in the creation of the Academic Performance-Commitment Matrix (APCM), which shows student-types based on a four-quadrant matrix of these MOAPs. Further study into these findings showed especially beneficial effects on mathematics self-efficacy of the Support Seeker quadrant of the APCM and lead to considerations that this group may benefit most from supportive academic environments and may be recruited more heavily as a part of an enrollment management policy of a university. (Bourne, 2015) Mathematics self-efficacy as an impact on achievement has been long studied and supports these findings. (Ayotola, 2009; Bndura, 1977; Barker, 2010; Burnham, 2011; Cordero 2010; Gore, 2006; Lent, 1996; Pajares, 1995; Vuong, 2010). Open enrollment institutions, like the one used for this study, allow students of all academic preparedness to enter engineering curriculums once they pass the prerequisite mathematics courses. Many students begin in developmental or college algebra courses where student types have not been extensively studied in the engineering academic environment. Where most research on students of this type has been focused on community college programs designed to limit early drop out, there is a dearth of research conducted on programs designed to not only retain, but aid in the retention and success of these students. The course at the Wright State University called Preparatory Math for Engineering (EGR1980) has been run since 2008, with the latest iterations being implemented in 2012. Students that place into either developmental math or college algebra are enrolled in the course. Many of these placements, however, are below where the student should be placed based on previously completed coursework. However, these students have scored a 24 or lower on the ACT math test, or have taken the university math placement exam and been placed at this level based on that score. Figure 1. Highest math course enrolled in three semesters after taking an introductory math class or EGR1980 by ACT Math Score Figure 1 shows the comparison between two available pathways for students seeking to obtain an engineering degree for two ACT math bins. The traditional route includes starting in the math remediation courses Developmental Math (DEV0970) or College Algebra (MTH1280) and upon successively completing them, move to pre-calculus/trigonometry, and then calculus. The math intervention course EGR1980 is the nontraditional route and provides students an opportunity to increase their math placement level (MPL) (sometimes multiple levels) in one semester. Data depicts the percentage of students qualifying for a given math class one year after taking either EGR1980 or DEV 0970/MTH 1280. Students taking the engineering math intervention course were retained in the college of engineering at much higher rates (over 70% versus roughly 56%) and were also farther along in the math curriculum one year later. This improvement is achieved by providing the students an opportunity to remediate and retake the math placement test in a given semester and by providing math-in-context examples through engineering based lectures. By providing an opportunity for students increase their placement score high enough to move more than one course through the curriculum, they are incentivized to work through and persist through any difficult topics. This may be a superior motivator for some students. In Fall of 2015 the course was modified again and began using an online math remediation tool called an Assessment of Learning in Knowledge Spaces (ALEKS). This web-based program allows students to log in and pace themselves through mathematics topics in need of improvement. At the beginning of the course, students take an assessment and are shown areas of deficiency in the math curriculum (algebra through pre-calculus). Students then move at their own pace through the online tool along with working as a group in the online activities. The goal of the course is to have the students place into the appropriate mathematics level based on their knowledge from high school and subsequent knowledge obtained in the course. Given that previous research showed a strong correlation between success in the classroom and incoming HS GPA, (Bourne 2014, Bourne 2015) it is easy to assume that the same correlation holds for the far underprepared student group. This assumption was not strong, however, as students that are far below the calculus standard have multiple curricular hurdles to overcome and HS GPA may not be an important factor effecting the academic outcome. Additionally, there is a research gap with respect to the cause of what behaviors are attributed to having a higher HS GPA as it correlates to academic conscientiousness. While ACT calls this measure “Commitment to College”, it is aligned with a state of mind, rather than an actual activity or action that students take. Given the structure, academic demographics of the student population, and the relative success of the course, it holds that a study into the impact of HS GPA in this context may yield a greater understanding of the breadth of conscientiousness in effort toward success, and may also provide detail into what that effort looks like.