Search for: All records

Norwich University, a private military college that serves both civilian and Corps of Cadets students, secured an NSF S-STEM award to develop a program to attract and retain highly talented, low-income students. Norwich recognizes that students who enter college with less experience in mathematics are less likely to graduate with a degree in a STEM discipline. With that in mind, the project aims to measure the benefits of a corequisite implementation of precalculus and calculus to help students complete the required calculus sequence by the end of their first year. In the first year of the study, 34 engineering students among 72 total STEM students that placed into precalculus by an institutional math placement exam were randomly allocated into either precalculus or a pilot corequisite calculus course with precalculus review. The content, delivery, and outcomes of the first semester offering of the corequisite implementation of precalculus and calculus will be discussed. The short-term success of the corequisite course using survey results, DFW rates, and retention in the engineering major will be examined.