Exploring Academic Achievement in a College Algebra Course

• In Event: Equity-Oriented Perspectives on Undergraduate Mathematics Teaching and Learning

Abstract

Nationally each year, only 50% of students earn grades of A, B, or C in college algebra (Herriott, 2006), meaning that half the students receive grades of D, F, or withdraw. This is extremely problematic, coupled with the fact that most colleges require students receiving a C or better. Racially minoritized students face additional barriers to achieving in mathematics courses due to deficit perspectives on what they cannot do (Harper, 2010), in addition to often being regulated and oppressed under the guise of teachers “doing what is best for their students.”

Researchers have explored various ways to help combat negative learning experiences for students of color by using culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) (Ladson-Billings, 1995). CRP’s first tenet of academic achievement is the idea that content students are learning should be grounded in rigor and not watered-down versions of required curriculum. It also includes equipping students with knowledge that will help them succeed not only in the short term, but also the long term. To this end, the research question that motivated this work was: What effect does culturally relevant pedagogy have on student achievement in a college algebra course offered at a HBCU?

This study utilized quantitative data collections through a pre/post-intervention design. Data was collected from two college algebra courses at a large HBCU in the Southeast during the Fall 2018 semester. The first section, the experimental group (n=25), received four lessons that were grounded in CRP during the second half of the course. The second section, the control group (n=24), also received four lessons that were grounded in “good” mathematics teaching practices, but not CRP. Data analyzed included course assessments, final grades, and the Precalculus Concept Inventory (PCI; Carlson, Oehrtman, & Engelke, 2010).

A t-test analysis revealed that students in the experimental course performed significantly better on their unit tests after the intervention (p<.0001). We observed an increase of 25 percentage points in scores compared to their performance before the intervention. The analysis did not find a significant difference in performance with students in the control group. Further analysis revealed that the effect size the CRP had on the experimental group was d=0.59, which indicates a medium effect on outcomes of the test averages from pre- to post-interventions. When looking at the two groups’ performances on the PCI, similar results arose. There was no significant difference in their performances at the beginning of the course on this (or any) instrument, and both groups performed better after their respective courses. However, the experimental group performed significantly better than the control group on the PCI after the course (p<.01).

This study found a positive correlation between receiving the CRP lessons and improvements in student achievement. Students consistently demonstrated mathematical learning gains through various pre- and post-assessments. This finding suggests providing students with culturally and mathematically rich pedagogy supports students’ understanding of the mathematical concepts. There are minimal applications of CRP in undergraduate mathematics. This study extends the positive findings from K-12 to undergraduate mathematics.

Author

• Gregory Alonzo Downing, North Carolina State University